Goals and Purposes

Mission Statement:

"Our vision is a world in which all children are treated with dignity, respect, understanding, and compassion. In such a world, every child can grow into adulthood with a generous capacity for love and trust."

Our goals are:

1. To provide critical information on parenting, with special regard to pregnancy and early childhood

Since December 1996 we have provided a wealth of information on all aspects of parenting, with a focus on early childhood, at our Natural Child Project web site. 

The site currently includes 100+ articles by noted writers. The site also includes an extensive collection of parenting advice on many subjects, child advocacy documents and research articles, and unique parenting resources. Our website has become well-known and highly-regarded. We are receiving thousands of visits per month from all over the world. The web site has won numerous awards and has been featured on CNN Headline News, Canada AM TV, and elsewhere.

2. To increase public awareness of the importance of parent-child bonding, and the legitimacy and critical importance of children's emotional needs at all stages

Our director, Jan Hunt, M.Sc. Psychology, has had many opportunities to speak to the public through workshops, media interviews, and magazine articles. Many of her articles are available in Spanish, Portuguese, and Italian, and her book The Natural Child has been translated into several languages. The unique research section of our web site offers critical information on attachment parenting studies.

3. To undertake projects which further our vision of the world in which all children are treated with dignity, respect, understanding and compassion.

As a fundraising project, Jan has created Parenting Cards, which parents can use for encouragement, inspiration, and support. She has also written a highly-regarded parenting book, The Natural Child: Parenting from the Heart, and A Gift for Baby, a children's picture book that celebrates attachment parenting. Jan and her son Jason co-edited the book The Unschooling Unmanual.

Jan's essay "10 Tips for Shopping with Children" has been reprinted widely on the Internet and in many newspapers, and is distributed free in many cities during the holiday season.

As our funding increases, we plan to offer more local parenting workshops and free counseling for parents in need. We also hope to establish a local children's art gallery, similar to our online gallery.

Jan has many professional affiliations. She is on the Board of Directors of Attachment Parenting International, Holistic Moms Network, and the Child-Friendly Initiative. She is often consulted on early childhood issues by both professionals and parents.