Helping Kids Thrive Parent Conference is a free annual event providing hands-on practical information for parents, caregivers, and guardians to help children of all ages grow in positive ways. Registration

EVENING PROGRAM

5:00 - 5:30 pm - Registration, Dinner & Resource Tables 

5:30 - 7:00 pm - Session A                                              

7:15 - 8:45 pm - Session B

Choose TWO of the following classes:

The Toddler Years (ages 0-2): Building New Bonds (Session A only) - Children experience tremendous growth in the first two years. Parents play a critical role from nurturing an infant to helping a 2-year-old deal with limits and temper tantrums. Learn more about the physical and emotional development patterns in this stage of your child's life.

The Early Years (ages 3-5): Creating a Blueprint for Success - What a child experiences and learns between the ages of 3 and 5 form the foundation for future growth. Understand the physical and emotional development patterns of the young child and the adult’s role in helping children grow up healthy.

The Elementary Years (ages 6-11): Foundation for Healthy Growth  - During these years, children learn to solve problems for themselves and gradually develop their independence. Learn to balance your child’s need for structure and support while helping them build the skills necessary to problem solve and make good choices on their own.

The Teen Years (ages 12-19): Framing Boundaries and Expectations  - Adolescent years can be a frustrating time for everyone. As an adult, you may want to help, but don’t know how. Find new ways to manage both respect for your teen's search for identity and the increased need for independence with appropriate rules and limit setting.

Parenting the Love and Logic Way® - Love and Logic provides simple, practical techniques to help parents change a child’s behavior for the better. Parenting the Love and Logic Way provides loving support from parents while at the same time expecting kids to be respectful and responsible. Kids will become more self-confident, accountable, and better at making decisions.

Empowering Successful Kids: Raising Confident, Caring Young People - As parents, we spend a lot of time thinking about what we don't want our children to do or become. It's even more important, though, to have a clear idea of what we do want. Using a strengths-based framework, we can work together to help raise healthy kids.

Stress Busters for Parents: Put Your Oxygen Mask on First - Parenting children of any age can be stressful. With the stress of parenting, jobs, relationships, and finances, your physical and emotional well-being can be impacted. We often think of our own emotional needs last. When the stress in your life feels overwhelming, it’s time to take a break and take a breath. Learn to take stock and identify what in your life you can control. Learn tools to refocus, take action, and move forward in a healthy, productive way.

The Teen Brain: What Are They Thinking? – Do you find yourself constantly asking your teen, "What were you thinking?" Together we will solve the mystery by exploring the brain development and behaviors of young people, and how we can impact 'new pathways' through positive experiences. We'll talk about scientific findings with easy-to-understand terms and learn new ways to better understand and connect with our young people.

Parenting After Trauma (Session A only) - Trauma in childhood may take many forms: neglect, separations, witnessing or experiencing violence, natural disasters, or accidents. Children who have experienced trauma often display behaviors that are mistaken as defiance or disrespect and may need a different approach with additional understanding, care and support. Whether you are a birth parent, adoptive or a kin parent, learn what experts say about early trauma to help you care for your child and build a home of safety, stability, and love.

Creative Co-Parenting (Session B only) - Co-parenting can give your children stability and connection with both parents—but it's rarely easy. Setting aside your own relationship issues in order to co-parent can be stressful. In this class, we’ll delve into communications, managing your stress, handling conflict, solving problems, helping your children transition between homes, and much more.

Parenting in a Digital World  - Experts estimate that we see and hear more than 7,000 media messages every day. How can you know what’s influencing your child? The apps and texts kids use can help them build each other up or can bully and shame. Learn about some of the media they’re using, how you can monitor their usage, and offer them support.

Helping Your Child Tame Their Anxious Mind  - Does your pre-teen/teen struggle with stress and anxiety? Come learn a few techniques to help your child tame their anxious mind. We will discuss and practice effective coping skills including mindfulness and relaxation and you’ll learn how to teach these skills to your child. This class is for parents and caregivers of children ages 12-19.

NEW! How Good Nutrition and Lifestyle Decisions Can Support Learning, Mood, and Decision-making (Session B only) - The way our children’s brains function and their ability to focus, remember and learn, can be significantly affected by what they eat. This class provides information, ideas, and tips for busy parents on how to increase children’s learning and engagement through nutrition.  You will learn about our food system, how to make simple changes to support learning and mood, along with easy recipes to make at home. 

NEW! How To Help Your Kids Feel Safe When Their World Feels Out of Control (Session B only) - After any type of mass tragedy, parents and caretakers often struggle with what to say and what to share with their children. How do we keep kids safe and secure in a world that doesn’t feel safe and secure? This class will cover how to help kids cope, what vicarious trauma is and how to spot it, how to communicate openly and appropriately, and available resources to address these situations with children of all ages.

NEW! Caring for LGBTQ Youth (Session A only) –Children who identify as LGBTQ or who are gender non-conforming need the same unconditional love and support from their parents and other caring adults as all children do. This class will help parents navigate what may be unfamiliar terrain and provide information and resources on how to support and advocate for our LGBTQ and gender non-conforming youth.

About Jefferson Center