Parent Workshops
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“Help Your Child Build Inner Controls Without Losing Control Yourself!”
Parents often feel dissatisfied when they find themselves yelling at and nagging their children—yet it seems that alternatives can be difficult to find. This workshop presents a framework that sets the stage for more positive behavior as well as providing effective techniques for helping children learn self-control and responsibility.
“The Good Life Vs. The Life of Goods: Transmitting Values to Children”
Images of materialism surround us daily. It is a challenge for parents to counter the wish to acquire things, and to help foster children's ability to give as well as to receive. Families master this challenge in many creative ways, and this workshop provides strategies for creating family traditions that focus on positive emotional connections as well as providing an opportunity for parents to share their own experiences.
“Siblings Without Rivalry—The Impossible Dream? How to Reduce the Competition and Build Community Within the Family”
Few parents expect their children to get along perfectly—but many long for relief from the constant bickering! This workshop presents a way for parents to reflect on their own feelings about their children, examine the ways they approach interactions, and use this understanding to intervene more creatively and positively when conflicts arise.
“The Bullying Stops Here! Creating Community at Home and at School”
Parents frequently become worried and confused over the issue of bullying behaviors. It is essential to understand the difference between typical teasing among young children and purposeful bullying that is meant to cause harm. This workshop presents a framework for understanding this difference, and offers strategies for parents to explore their children's experiences with peers, including coaching them to respond productively to teasing, as well as to work with them to encourage considerate and respectful behaviors on their part.
“Building Children’s Self-Esteem Through Understanding and Accepting Their Feelings”
Parents often feel confused about the need to accept children’s feelings while setting limits on their behavior. This workshop provides strategies for raising confident children who feel understood even when they don't always get what they want.
“Kindergarten Readiness: What Parents Should Do, and What Parents Should Expect From Schools”
Increasingly, parents of preschoolers are feeling pressured to ensure that their children will be “ready for kindergarten.” This workshop provides guidelines to help parents understand what kindergarten readiness really means (which is NOT that all children should have basic math and reading skills by the time they enter kindergarten!), including how they can help their children, what preschools should be doing, and what parents should expect from their elementary schools as well. It provides a blueprint for helping parents become appropriate and effective advocates for their children throughout their school experience.
Note: “The Agony and the Ecstasy of the Kindergarten Transition” is a similar workshop to “Kindergarten Readiness,” but it is aimed specifically at parents whose children will be entering kindergarten very soon and includes strategies to support children before and during the transition into kindergarten itself.
“Understanding Child Development: What to Expect at Different Ages and Stages”
Parents can often be mystified by their young children’s behavior. They worry that specific behaviors might become permanent parts of their child’s personality. This workshop provides an overview of typical developmental struggles related to developmental stages, with specific behaviors that often emerge during these periods. Understanding what is “typical” and “developmentally appropriate” can help parents worry less while implementing more effective strategies that this workshop provides to manage such troubling behaviors.
“Responding to Children’s Fears”
Most young children will go through periods of being fearful. Sometimes their fears will be confusing or worrisome to parents who want to provide comfort without “giving in” to what may at times seem like unreasonable demands emerging from these fears. This workshop will discuss typical fears that emerge at various phases of development, along with strategies to help children master them and feel more secure.
“Talking to Children About Sex: When, Where, and How?”
Children ask questions that parents find difficult to answer. This workshop explores common questions about sex and reproduction that children ask, and suggests methods of assessing what the child really wants to know, while offering strategies for helping parents have a dialogue that is meaningful and relevant to the child's developmental level.