Family Workshops
Supporting the whole child both at school and at home.
Family workshops support student learning beyond the school building by providing parents and caregivers with insights and strategies they can use at home. As part of our comprehensive holistic model, our family workshops can be conveniently delivered either virtually or in-person. Workshop content is carefully tailored in collaboration with the school and/or organization to bridge the gap between school and home learning effectively.
WORKSHOPS OFFERED
Social-Emotional Learning
Disability Awareness & Inclusion
Unpacking Social-Emotional Learning
Though social-emotional learning has become an education buzzword with good reason, many parents and caregivers are unfamiliar with the term or unaware of all that it encompasses. In this informative workshop, we unpack the five key competencies, outline the specific skills that make up social-emotional learning, and discuss SEL’s essential role in students’ lifelong success.
Supporting Social-Emotional Learning at Home
Looking to engage parents and caregivers in supporting students’ social and emotional well-being at home? Participants in this workshop explore a variety of strategies they can integrate into their households with learners of all ages. We review a bank of valuable resources parents and caregivers can access for additional information about supporting students’ SEL in intentional ways to build empathy, kindness, and an inclusion mindset.
Using Literature to Promote Social-Emotional Learning at Home
From picture books to graphic novels and chapter books, reading is an engaging opportunity for students to explore the full range of social-emotional learning skills. In this workshop, we talk not only about popular titles, but also explore strategies for helping learners make connections between characters and events in literature and their own lives that support social and emotional development.
Facilitated Forum for SEL
Facilitated by Changing Perspectives, this forum invites parents and caregivers to ask questions, voice concerns, share experiences, and explore resources around students’ social and emotional well-being. This format encourages community building through discourse to learn from one another and to consider how social-emotional learning can best be supported at home.
What Is Disability Awareness?
Disability is the world’s largest minority and touches all of our lives in some way. But knowing disabilities exist and being truly aware of disabilities are not the same thing. In this workshop, we define the concepts around disability awareness to answer the fundamental questions: What is disability awareness? Why is it important? How is disability awareness related to self-confidence and empathy?
Disability Awareness in Action
In this collaborative, discussion-based opportunity for parents and caregivers and their students with disabilities, participants engage in guided conversation and activities around disability awareness to explore self-advocacy skills such as self-awareness, understanding your rights, recognizing the difference between a want and a need, knowledge of supports, and proactive communication methods.
Using Literature to Foster Disability Awareness at Home
Children’s literature is an enjoyable, effective, and safe vehicle for helping students learn about others, explore similarities and differences with peers, and broaden their understanding of what it means to be kind and empathetic. Empathy is a 21st century skill and awareness is the foundation of empathy. If we want students to have empathy for their peers with disabilities, reading offers abundant opportunities to build essential awareness.
Fostering Self-Advocacy
Self-advocacy is an invaluable skill for youth with disabilities; however, many young people with disabilities lack the skills to advocate in the most productive ways. Effective self-advocacy requires a solid understanding of one’s strengths, challenges, and needs, along with the ability to communicate this essential information clearly. In this workshop for parents and caregivers of youth with disabilities, participants learn about strategies and resources that can help them to empower their students to feel confident in their uniqueness so they can collaborate and communicate with their peers in safe, respectful ways while getting their needs met. Discussion topics include:
- Talking effectively with your young person about their disability/disabilities
- Helping your young person recognize their strengths and challenges
- Supporting your young person in gaining a better understanding of their identity
Our school loves the parent night and in-person assembly with the students. We received a lot of positive feedback,
Changing Perspective helped us clarify our vision for social-emotional learning in the district and how we can support all of our stakeholders–our students, teachers, the community, and our parents.
