Lesson Tag: talking

Conversation is a pathway to developing and sustaining a healthy and trusting relationship with your child. Hormones, attitude, and personality? Welcome to the tween and teen years. Learn to parent your independent, emerging adult, while still nurturing the playful child. You will have the opportunity to explore and prepare for real-life situations. 

As children enter adolescence, they have a natural desire for independence. Teenagers’ desire for freedom can be scary for parents/caregivers, however, it is what gradually turns your adolescent into a healthy adult.  

When teens feel like they can talk to their parents they are less likely to take risks with sex, drugs, and violence. Talking isn’t lecturing and this class will strengthen your listening as well as talking skills in ways that will help protect your teens and maybe even save your sanity.

Are you feeling like you and your child are missing out on activities with other kids and families?  

Are you wanting to explore other options for school this year?  

Are you also worried about you and your family getting sick?  

Forming a pod with other families might help.  

A pod is a small number of families who are committed to each other’s health and well-being, agree to shared rules and practices, and spend time together while physically isolating from the rest of the world. Pods can also be a mode of education for your children. 

This provides information on what pods are, how they work, and what to consider when forming them. After this class you will be able to: 

• Apply strategies to identify those families with whom you could form a pod 
• Recognize key issues you may want to consider when approaching another family 
• Identify approaches to build shared understanding and trust once you agree to form a pod 
• Consider modes of education based on pods 

There can be a fine line between encouraging healthy habits in our children and creating negative thoughts on body image and self-perception. We want the best for our children, but often forget that they are watching how we treat ourselves and model their own behaviors after that.  

When teens feel like they can talk to their parents they are less likely to take risks with sex, drugs, and violence. Talking isn’t lecturing and this class will strengthen your listening as well as talking skills in ways that will help protect your teens and maybe even save your sanity.

Learning to have romantic relationships and deal with sexually maturing bodies are essential tasks of healthy teen development. As the parents, you may feel as unprepared as your kids feel to navigate this ever-changing stage. While adolescents sometimes act like they know it all, they often feel vulnerable and unprepared for the social and sexual realities of romantic relationships. And the same may be true for you – maybe you are wondering how do I support exploration and independence while keeping my child safe, especially during these challenging times.

Participants in this class will be able to

• Apply steps to navigate teens’ romantic relationships with trust, compassion, clarity and consistency
• Identify strategies to balance monitoring with trust
• Recognize the connections between physical and romantic relationships with parental relationship health

Making plans with teens to try doing things on their own can help them succeed. Working together on independence can also put your mind a little more at ease.

We all want our kids to grow up to be capable, competent people who can find their own way in the world. But the steps to getting there can seem daunting.

How do we know when our kids are ready to do things on their own? How do we keep them safe and set them free at the same time?