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Better Understanding Your Child through the Study of Child Development (Ages Birth - 10 years)

TEWS 690N

This introductory course is for parents and caregivers who want to solidify their understanding of children and enrich their parenting/caregiving with some basic principles and approaches to guide their thinking and actions. Topics will be nested within child development principles such as the interaction between nature and nurture and thinking about what is universal and what is particular in children's development. Topics will include:

• Understanding how play promotes children's learning during and beyond the preschool years; and
• Using concepts of temperament to create a better "fit" for children at home and at school;
• Writing adult narratives of our own childhoods in conjunction with neuroscientific findings to examine how it may affect our current parenting styles;
• Studying issues of social cognition, such as bullying; and
• How children come to understand "race" and how parents can positively support that process

We will share thoughts about posted articles and videos, as well as engage in our own inquiry about children through selected activities that can be done at your convenience. We will not discuss or try to "solve" situations of individual children, but rather create common groundwork from which to learn more about children. We will share our learning through an online community over the four sessions.

Instructor

Virginia Casper, Ph.D., is a developmental psychologist and teacher educator who has worked for over 30 years with children and families in early intervention and research. She is on the graduate faculty at Bank Street College of Education. Articles on her work on attachment, gender, and teacher-parent relations have been published in Teacher's College Record, Child Development, The Harvard Education Review and Zero to Three. She is the co-author of two books-- Gay Parent/Straight Schools: Building Communication and Trust (1999) Teachers College Press, and Early Childhood Education: Learning Together, (2009), McGraw-Hill. Dr. Casper has also worked internationally for the past decade in South Africa. She holds a doctorate from Yeshiva University and a Masters Degree from NYU. She is a parent of a 24-year old.

Course timetable: February 22 through March 25, 2010.

1 CEU: $350 (not offered for credit)
Registration deadline: 2/15/10

The workshops/courses are asynchronous, that is, participants work at times that suit them best; however, there will be firm weekly due dates for assignments. The course instructor will act both as a leader and a mentor by offering regular support, suggestions, and direction.