Saturday, January 10, 10 a.m. — 2:30 p.m., Senior Center
— from Susan Anderson, Executive Director, Children’s House —
Rena Patty
Empathy can provide precious companionship for the stresses, challenges and joys of parenting. Empathy gives children a stable foundation of knowing that they matter and are loved through all the opportunities and challenges they face in life. And empathy offers families predictable pathways to deeper connection, closeness and creative cooperation. Fortunately, with practice, empathy is an easily learnable, doable skill.
Rena Patty will present “Empathy for Parenting,” 10 a.m. -2:30 p.m., Sat., Jan. 10th at the Senior Center. A certified trainer with the Center for Nonviolent Communication, Patty is recognized for her mediation and workshop facilitation through the Orcas Healing Arts Center. The presentation, developed for families of preschool-age children, will include hands-on learning activities so families can practice “listening with empathy,” and learn to “transform conflict into empathy for self and others.”
The workshop is part of the “Strengthening Island Families” series developed by and offered to families of Children’s House, Kaleidoscope, Montessori and Salmonberry. Evidence shows that children who experience sensitive care-giving in the first five years have better social-emotional, language and learning outcomes, which later translate into positive behavior and academic success in school. Armed with this knowledge and funding support from an OICF grant with matching ECEAP funds, the four local preschools are working together to ensure families on Orcas have adequate, affordable and consistent access to quality programs that support these critical years of young parenting.
The centers support their families by providing care free of charge for students whose parents will be attending the series. The programs, care and lunch are free, but reservations before January 2nd are required to ensure adequate food and caregivers are available. Reservations can be made to any of the Preschools.
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