Illustration courtesy of AETNA

Whoever said raising
children is easy,
was never a parent!

Who we are

THE PARENTS RESOURCE NETWORK® is a nonprofit community service agency founded by Gail Reichlin in 1984 in Skokie, Illinois. Our mission is to provide avenues of parenting support and education to moms and dads with young children (newborn through age 5). We believe that learning communication and discipline skills during the early years can help parents plan ahead to prevent many crises as well as deal more effectively with those that can't be avoided.

What we do

Operate a "warm line'' that offers parents referrals, support and advice of a non-medical nature.

Provide names of professional speakers on family-related issues to corporations, schools, hospitals and organizations.

Sponsor lectures by childcare experts on topics such as sibling rivalry, boosting a child's self-esteem, disciplining effectively and solving children's sleep problems.

Offer our audiocassette PRN Lecture Library, consisting of 35 tapes, each 90 minutes, to public libraries, corporations, child care centers and hospitals so that parents may use them at no cost. For a price catalog, call 847-675-3555 or email us at: info@pocketparent.com

Why we do it

Beyond burping and bathing lies a whole field of uncharted territory for new parents. Parents today are under a great deal of stress in trying to do it all and do it well, in addition to working fulltime and often without the support of extended family nearby. By providing avenues that draw parents with common concerns together, moms and dads realize they are not alone in their fears, anxieties and issues.

We feel that adding an element of humor to our services is a most effective therapeutic touch that enables parents to laugh and release some of their tension and anxiety. It is our goal that parents leave our web site, our warm line, our programs, somewhat comforted and rejuvenated. We hope they can try some new ideas, while knowing that parenting is not an easy job, and that they are good parents.

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PRN's Executive Director

Gail Reichlin is dedicated to making a positive difference in the lives of families. She knows firsthand that raising children today is often quite challenging and that all parents can use some tips, compassion and humor to ease their occasional feelings of anxiety, guilt and incompetence when things don't go as planned.

As a parent educator, Gail is well known for her wit and wisdom relating to positive discipline and effective communication skills. She lectures frequently and her parenting articles and interviews have appeared in numerous publications, including the Chicago Tribune, the Chicago Sun-Times, American Baby Magazine, Parenting Magazine, the national corporate newsletter Work and Family, and many others. She has been interviewed by Deborah Norville as well as by many local radio and TV personalities for her views on raising children today.

Gail was nominated as a candidate for citizen of the year in her hometown for her many years as a volunteer serving her community as the founding executive director of THE PARENTS RESOURCE NETWORK® in Skokie, Ill. Since November of 1984, PRN, a non-profit, all-volunteer organization, has provided avenues of support and education focused on strengthening families with young children.

She is proud to have sponsored more than 600 parenting lectures/discussions in a variety of communities, featuring noted childcare experts from around the world as well as local professionals. Additionally, Gail established a telephone help line called THE PARENTS RESOURCE NETWORK® Warm Line, welcoming parents to call for help BEFORE a true crisis occurs.

Because Gail recognized and understood that busy parents craved easy access to sensible child rearing information, she developed and published the THE PARENTS RESOURCE NETWORK® Lecture Library, consisting of thirty-five (90-minute) audiocassette tapes featuring experts addressing a variety of parenting concerns. The Lecture Library received accolades from Library Journal and can be found in more than 800 public libraries, hospitals, schools, organizations, and corporate human resource departments throughout the world. Gail is also a 30-year veteran preschool teacher. She began her teaching career as a bilingual Head Start teacher in the Pilsen community, a Spanish speaking sector of Chicago’s inner city. She then spent the next twenty years teaching a variety of classes in nursery schools located in Chicago’s North Shore suburbs. She especially enjoyed working with the children and their mothers in her Moms and Tots classes.

Gail continues serving families with her best-selling parenting book, co-written with Caroline Winkler, called The Pocket Parent. It is an A-Z quick-read guide for parents of 2- to 5-year-olds. Hundreds of fast answers organized in an easy access format help today's often frazzled parents make good choices in communicating more effectively with their children. Peppered with compassion and humor, The Pocket Parent, published by Workman, offers instant relief as well as long-term understanding to both mothers and fathers facing the everyday challenges their children present. To date there are 151,000 books in print, available in Target, bookstores, and on the internet. There also is a Spanish edition, called "Manual Para Padres'', published by Oniro. An autographed copy of the book can be purchased through our sister website,
http://www.pocketparent.com.

Gail created the informative and interactive web site for parents of 2-12-year-olds, pocketparent.com, with journalist and webmaster Jo Hansen. Gail, Jo and other parenting advisers answer questions about a variety of parenting issues.

Gail resides in Skokie, Illinois and is the mother of three grown children, Aaron, Rachel, and Joshua.

Custom-tailored presentations can be designed by Gail to the particular needs of your school, hospital, organization or corporation. She can provide 1-2 hour presentations for parents, half- or full-day teacher trainings on positive discipline, as well as shorter teacher in-services.

To contact Gail,

email her at:
info@pocketparent.com

or

call her at:
the PRN Warm Line at (847) 675-3555.