Modern parenting is defined by an unprecedented level of overprotectiveness: parents who rush to school at the whim of a phone call to deliver forgotten assignments, who challenge teachers on report card disappointments, mastermind children’s friendships, and interfere on the playing field. As teacher and writer Jessica Lahey explains, even though these parents see themselves as being highly responsive to their children’s well being, they aren’t giving them the chance to experience failure—or the opportunity to learn to solve their own problems.

Overparenting has the potential to ruin a child’s confidence and undermine their education, Lahey reminds us. Teachers don’t just teach reading, writing, and arithmetic. They teach responsibility, organization, manners, restraint, and foresight—important life skills children carry with them long after they leave the classroom.

Providing a path toward solutions, Lahey lays out a blueprint with targeted advice for handling homework, report cards, social dynamics, and sports. Most importantly, she sets forth a plan to help parents learn to step back and embrace their children’s failures. Hard-hitting yet warm and wise, The Gift of Failure is essential reading for parents, educators, and psychologists nationwide who want to help children succeed.

The best part? The tools Lahey describes that boost learning, motivation, and engagement are also some of the best, most effective tools for preventing substance use in kids, as she explains more fully in her most recent book, The Addiction Inoculation: Raising Healthy Kids in a Culture of Dependence. 

In her bestselling book, The Whole-Brain Child, co-written with Daniel Siegel, Tina Payne Bryson introduced that the brain is significantly shaped by the experiences we offer our children. Georgie Wisen-Vincent will build on this ground-breaking science with her insights as an accomplished play therapist. Georgie will join the Walden community to share the innovative PlayStrong approach for parents. Learn to leverage what kids do best and learn from most — playing — to produce lasting improvement in your children’s behavior and mental, emotional, and relational growth. Join us to learn simple “how to” steps to help kids of all ages develop socially and emotionally, avoid chaos and conflict, shift out of stress mode, and rebuild developmental skills and resilience.

In this workshop, Emmalinda MacLean, sexual health educator and co-founder of More Than Sex Ed, will outline healthy and age-appropriate social-emotional development in early elementary school students, as expressed through friendship and crushes. Participants will gain skills for discussing relationships and attraction, emphasizing consent and respect for boundaries, and laying groundwork for future conversations as children grow. We’ll practice responding to sexual topics without instilling shame or fear, while communicating your family’s values, and keeping the door open to further discussion. 

The evening will begin with mingling and refreshments at 6:30 p.m., followed by the Parent Ed talk at 7:00 p.m. Child care is available for current K-6 Walden students for $10/child and includes a pizza dinner.

The foundation of a Walden education is viewing the classroom as a learning community. As such, a guiding question for this work is, how do we create and curate a space that nurtures true belonging for all students?  

To kick off this year’s Parent Education series, we invite parents and caregivers to experience first-hand how we build these brave spaces of belonging where students are fully seen and heard. Please join us in this interactive workshop led by Monique Marshall, expert DEIJB trainer and a long-time friend of our community. All participants will experience Walden's process of belonging through a variety of exercises and group conversations. We will also explore and unpack the reasons behind offering affinity groups based on social and cultural identities to strengthen our community.

The evening will begin with mingling and refreshments hosted by Walden Equity (W.E.) at 6:30 p.m., followed by the Parent Ed talk at 7:00 p.m. Child care is available for K-6 students for $10/child and includes a pizza dinner.