November 3, 2021 Promoting Mental Health and Family Well-Being in Today’s World Workshop Series Are you interested in learning more about promoting familial mental health and well-being? Join Brazelton Touchpoint Center for a series of three sessions on various ways that professionals can support the families that they serve. Sessions This series features three sessions, each costing $35 or $90 for all three sessions. Registration is available online. October 20: Enhancing Partnerships Between Parents and Staff October 27: Understanding Depression and Fostering Resilience November 3: Talking with Children about Difficult Issues More Information Social-emotional wellness is essential for young children, their families, and the providers who work with them. Yet, promoting wellness and responding to the mental health needs of children and families may be challenging, especially during the ongoing pandemic. In this three-part series, you will learn knowledge and skills to strengthen relationships with adults and children and promote family well-being. You will: Learn practical strategies for building strong partnerships with families Learn the signs, symptoms, and causes of depression Explore communication challenges that can occur between staff and parents, and how to overcome them Enhance your understanding of resilience and how to partner with families to strengthen their resilience Learn how to talk more effectively with children about difficult issues Enhance your ability to support families seeking access to mental health services This series is for all professionals who work with families of young children, including early care and education providers, family child care providers, home visitors, and more.
October 27, 2021 Promoting Mental Health and Family Well-Being in Today’s World Workshop Series Are you interested in learning more about promoting familial mental health and well-being? Join Brazelton Touchpoint Center for a series of three sessions on various ways that professionals can support the families that they serve. Sessions This series features three sessions, each costing $35 or $90 for all three sessions. Registration is available online. October 20: Enhancing Partnerships Between Parents and Staff October 27: Understanding Depression and Fostering Resilience November 3: Talking with Children about Difficult Issues More Information Social-emotional wellness is essential for young children, their families, and the providers who work with them. Yet, promoting wellness and responding to the mental health needs of children and families may be challenging, especially during the ongoing pandemic. In this three-part series, you will learn knowledge and skills to strengthen relationships with adults and children and promote family well-being. You will: Learn practical strategies for building strong partnerships with families Learn the signs, symptoms, and causes of depression Explore communication challenges that can occur between staff and parents, and how to overcome them Enhance your understanding of resilience and how to partner with families to strengthen their resilience Learn how to talk more effectively with children about difficult issues Enhance your ability to support families seeking access to mental health services This series is for all professionals who work with families of young children, including early care and education providers, family child care providers, home visitors, and more.
October 20, 2021 Promoting Mental Health and Family Well-Being in Today’s World Workshop Series Are you interested in learning more about promoting familial mental health and well-being? Join Brazelton Touchpoint Center for a series of three sessions on various ways that professionals can support the families that they serve. Sessions This series features three sessions, each costing $35 or $90 for all three sessions. Registration is available online. October 20: Enhancing Partnerships Between Parents and Staff October 27: Understanding Depression and Fostering Resilience November 3: Talking with Children about Difficult Issues More Information Social-emotional wellness is essential for young children, their families, and the providers who work with them. Yet, promoting wellness and responding to the mental health needs of children and families may be challenging, especially during the ongoing pandemic. In this three-part series, you will learn knowledge and skills to strengthen relationships with adults and children and promote family well-being. You will: Learn practical strategies for building strong partnerships with families Learn the signs, symptoms, and causes of depression Explore communication challenges that can occur between staff and parents, and how to overcome them Enhance your understanding of resilience and how to partner with families to strengthen their resilience Learn how to talk more effectively with children about difficult issues Enhance your ability to support families seeking access to mental health services This series is for all professionals who work with families of young children, including early care and education providers, family child care providers, home visitors, and more.
October 12, 2021 New Resources for Parents and Caregivers New resources have been added to the Trying Together website for families and caregivers. These resources further Trying Together’s mission to supports high-quality care and education for young children by providing advocacy, community resources, and professional growth opportunities for the needs and rights of children, their families, and the individuals who interact with them. New Resources DAP Series Parts VII, VIII, and IX As an early childhood nonprofit, Trying Together recognizes that a child’s parent is their first and most important caregiver. That’s why we created the Developmentally Appropriate Parenting (DAP) Series to assist parents and caregivers in creating high-quality learning experiences at the earliest stages of their child’s life. The series features digital and print content that provides information on critical early childhood topics. New topics in the DAP Series include Part VII: Childhood Mental Health; Part VIII: Race and Equity; and Part IX: Transitions & Routines. Families and caregivers may also access previous parts of the DAP Series: Part I: Developmentally Appropriate Practice; Part II: Childhood Physical Health; Part III: Child Care; Part IV: Early Intervention and Inclusion; Part V: Safety and Emergencies; and Part VI: Social-Emotional Development. Resources will continue to be added through 2022 as additional Parts are finalized. Additionally, families and caregivers may now request a set of cards in the mail at no cost. These cards provide an overview of each part of the DAP series with a quick reference to local and regional organizations. Parenting Together Pathway The Parenting Together Pathway is a video-based learning series to provide high-quality information on early childhood development to parents and caregivers in Allegheny County and surrounding areas. Launched in April 2021, the Parenting Together Pathway provides families the opportunity to learn more about: brain development; play; interactions and relationships; technology; child care; and advocacy to better support their children’s healthy growth. Two additional videos have been added to the Parenting Together Pathway: Early Intervention and Safety and Emergencies.
January 28, 2021 Virtual Conference: Finding Joy through Playful Learning Finding Joy through Playful Learning aims to bring together educators, researchers, policymakers, and practitioners who have a variety of experiences related to education, play, and learning. The conference will take place via Zoom over the course of several days covering six topics related to playful learning. The goal is to generate dialogue among different stakeholders and share best practices to support children and families in learning through play. About Join Playful Learning Landscapes Action Network, Playful Pittsburgh Collaborative, and Trying Together in February for a virtual conference bringing together educators, researchers, policymakers, and practitioners to discuss and share best practices to support children and families in learning through play. Act 48 and PQAS credits are available. PPID and PD Registry numbers will be collected during the sessions. The following discount code is available for early educators who wish to participate in individual sessions or the entire series: EDU-ALL for $25 price for all six workshops EDU-CHOOSE for $5/per workshop Available Sessions Rethinking Education During and Post COVID-19 Wednesday, February 3, 2021 | 3 – 5 p.m. Join featured speakers Dr. Kathy Hirsh-Pasek, Dr. Scott Miller, and the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy for discussions of how playful learning can change education during and after COVID-19. Featured Speakers: Dr. Kathy Hirsh-Pasek (Temple University, Brookings Institution), Scott Miller (Avonworth Primary Center), and Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy. How Play Can Improve Mental Health and Wellbeing Thursday, February 4, 2021 | 9 – 11 a.m. Hear from Sarah Grubb, Cindy Eggleton, and Sheba Gittens about play’s role in mental health and wellbeing. Featured Speakers: Cindy Eggleton (Brilliant Detroit), Sarah Grubb (ELRC Region 5), and Sheba Gittens (University of Pittsburgh). Addressing Equity Issues Through Playful Learning Thursday, February 4, 2021 | 3 – 5 p.m. Dr. Nikole Hollins-Sims and Dr. Mandy McGuire will present their work on using play and playful learning to address inequity. Featured Speakers: Dr. Nikole Hollins-Sims (PaTTAN) and Dr. Mandy McGuire (University of Texas at Dallas). Activating Communities Around Playful Learning Tuesday, February 9, 2021 | 3 – 5 p.m. Ariana Brazier, Justin Forzano, Shari Hersh, Gamar Markarian, and Sarah Siplak, will discuss what it means to activate communities and how their communities inform the work they do. Featured Speakers: Ariana Brazier (ATL Parent Like a Boss), Justin Forzano (Open Field), Shari Hersh (Mural Arts), Gamar Markarian (New School), and Sarah Siplak (Playful Pittsburgh Collaborative). Using Technology to Strengthen the Way We Learn and Play Wednesday, February 10, 2021 | 11 a.m. – 1 p.m. Learn about technologies and applications from Katie Gullone, Megan Rooney, Javier Maisonet, and Project Rangeet. Featured Speakers: Elias Blinkoff (Temple Infant & Child Lab), Katie Gullone (Trying Together), Javier Maisonet (Math Talk), Simran Mulchandani (Project Rangeet), and Megan Rooney (La Escuelita Arcoiris). Replicable and Low-Cost Ideas for Playful Learning Wednesday, February 10, 2021 | 3 – 5 p.m. Explore low-cost and replicable ways to encourage playful learning from Shannon Merenstein, Amy Kronenberg, Rebecca Fabiano, and Aishwarya Narayana. Featured Speakers: Rebecca Fabiano (Fab Youth Philly), Amy Kronenberg (Learn to Earn Dayton), Shannon Merenstein (HATCH Art Studio), and Aishwarya Narayana (HUME). Registration To register, visit the online registration page. General Admission tickets cost $55 and include admission to all sessions. Single session registration is also available for $10 per session. Attendees will receive the Zoom link for each day’s session prior to the start of the event. More Information For questions, contact admin@playfullearninglandscapes.fun or 267.468.8610.
November 19, 2020 Mindfulness-Based Skills to Promote Resilience and Connection Are you interested in learning how mindfulness practices can impact a child’s ability to deal with stress, anxiety, and trauma? Join Megan Davis on November 19 for “Compassionate Classrooms: Mindfulness-Based Skills to Promote Resilience and Connection.” About The goal of this webinar is to introduce mindfulness skills that educators, therapists, and paraprofessionals can integrate into the classroom to build resiliency, distress tolerance, and connection. At the end of this session, you will have gained insight into how simple mindfulness practices directly impact our body’s ability to downregulate in the face of stress, anxiety, and trauma. You will be able to integrate concrete skills into your classroom to support students’, as well as your own, wellness. Featured Topics In this webinar, Megan Davis will: define a basic understanding of how stress impacts the nervous system and our ability to self-regulate, demonstrate breathing exercises to calm and balance an activated nervous system, demonstrate mindfulness exercises to regulate and widen the “window of tolerance”, help professionals plan for how and when to integrate skills into a typical school day (virtual or in-person), and provide opportunities to reflect on current self-care practices and how they translate to the culture of classroom wellness. Registration This webinar is best suited for K-12 teachers, librarians, school leaders, therapists, and counselors. To register, visit the EdWeb website.
November 18, 2020 How Educators Can Avoid Mental, Physical, and Emotional Exhaustion Are you interested in learning strategies to avoid exhaustion and burnout? Join Dr. Tina Boogren and Dr. Timothy Kanold on November 18 for “Attend to Your Well-Being: How Educators Can Avoid Mental, Physical, and Emotional Exhaustion.” About To counter the pressure, stress, and chaos around us, professionals need to practice healthy, practical habits, and routines of wellness and self-care. They also need to rise up to the expectations of taking care of students and their colleagues, amidst the challenges of this unprecedented school season. In this engaging, fun-filled webinar, Dr. Tina Boogren and Dr. Timothy Kanold will provide practical strategies to avoid exhaustion and burnout and give you the courage and permission to attend to a more balanced and joyful professional life! Time for questions will be provided. Registration This webinar is best suited for prek-12 teachers, librarians, and school and district leaders. To register, visit the EdWeb website.
September 2, 2020 From Mourning to Meaning-Making Join Highmark Caring Place on September 2 for their webinar, “From Mourning to Meaning-Making: How to Meet the Needs of Grieving Families.” About This webinar will discuss the ways in which grief and mourning are both unique and universal. Presenters will look at Alan Wolfelt’s six “reconciliation needs” and discuss the ways mourners can recognize and address these basic grief needs in order to find hope and healing. This is a free webinar. When registered, you will receive a Zoom link the evening before the webinar. No Continuing Education Units (CEUs) will be provided. Presentation materials can be provided upon request. Learning Objectives By attending, participants will be able to: explore both the personal and the communal elements of grief, understand Alan Wolfelt’s “reconciliation needs” model of mourning,” and discuss creative and helpful ways of addressing the needs of mourning. Registration To register, visit the event webpage. Registrations must be submitted no later than September 1 at 6 p.m. More Information For questions, contact Patrick McKelvey at patrick.mckelvey@highmark.com. Share this flyer with your network.
March 15, 2019 Disability and Mental Health Summit Join State Representative Dan Miller in the 2019 Disability and Mental Health Summit. Happening over three days, this summit includes the following opportunities: Informative Sessions Topics of interest for parents, students, providers, and professionals seeking continuing education A Resource Fair State, county, and local agencies; service providers, advocacy and support groups; post-secondary education organizations; and employment opportunities Free and open to the public, this summit includes multiple sessions on a range of disabilities and mental health issues spanning from early intervention to adults and seniors. View the attached flyer or visit the Summit website for more information.
March 14, 2019 Disability and Mental Health Summit Join State Representative Dan Miller in the 2019 Disability and Mental Health Summit. Happening over three days, this summit includes the following opportunities: Informative Sessions Topics of interest for parents, students, providers, and professionals seeking continuing education A Resource Fair State, county, and local agencies; service providers, advocacy and support groups; post-secondary education organizations; and employment opportunities Free and open to the public, this summit includes multiple sessions on a range of disabilities and mental health issues spanning from early intervention to adults and seniors. View the attached flyer or visit the Summit website for more information.
