Parents interested in more deeply understanding their children have several upcoming opportunities to learn from experts in the fields of education and child development.
Tonight at 6:45 p.m., educators from the Cornell Cooperative Extension will be at the John Jermain Memorial Library in Sag Harbor for the first in a series of Parent University workshops. This one will dive into the subject of children’s temperaments. On Feb. 13 the topic will be “winning ways to talk with kids,” and on March 19 the topic will be parenting styles. “Raising responsible children” will be the subject on April 16. Parents have been asked to register for the programs online at johnjermain.org.
The East Hampton School District is launching a Parent University workshop series of its own, which will focus on topics like discipline, electronic device use, and teen and adolescent behavior.
The first East Hampton Parent University workshop series, titled Discipline Is Not a Dirty Word, begins on Tuesday and will continue on Jan. 23 and Jan. 28, with each session from 3:30 to 5:30 at the John M. Marshall Elementary School. Cindy Allentuck, the district’s director of pupil personnel services, has recommended that parents and guardians attend all three dates. There will be a Spanish translation service, and child care will be available.
The East Hampton School District’s next three-part Parent University series is for those who have children in middle and high schools. It is titled Parenting Adolescents, and will be offered on Feb. 4, 11, and 27 at East Hampton High School, also from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. Finally, a session called Your Family and Screens will be offered at John Marshall on March 10, and one titled Why Teens Do What They Do will be held at the high school on April 15, again from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m.
The Eleanor Whitmore Early Childhood Center is continuing its educational series for parents in the new year. A session titled Helping Children Through Difficult Moments: Healthy Social Emotional Development and Resilience is planned in English on Monday and in Spanish on Wednesday. Both sessions, which focus on children from birth to age 5, are from 6 to 7 p.m. Child care will be provided during the classes. Parents and guardians can call the center at 631-324-5560 to sign up.