Taking Care of Ourselves and Our Teens: Reducing Stress and Enhancing Resiliency

War Memorial at City Hall, 6:00-7:30 pm, April 10th, 17th, May 6th, 13th

As part of our Youth Stress grant, Newton Youth Services, in partnership with Newton Free Library, is pleased to offer a four-session wellness program for parents of adolescents developed by the world-renowned Benson-Henry Institute of Mind Body Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital. This program teaches self-care skills to help cope with stresses of everyday life and aims to leave parents with a renewed sense of control and well-being. You must register to participate and registration indicates that you are able to attend all four sessions. Please visit https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/parentsofteens to register. This program is free to all Newton residents or parents of teens attending school in Newton.

Research shows that incorporating self-care strategies and healthy lifestyle behaviors can reduce medical symptoms and enhance quality of life. During the four, 1.5 hour sessions, you will learn:

• The physiology of stress and how it affects your body
• Self-care strategies to reduce stress and increase your resilience
• Relaxation techniques such as meditation, deep breathing, mindfulness and imagery
• Easy ways to reduce or stop stress-inducing thoughts
• Tips for modeling these skills for your teens and helping reduce their stress and build their resilience too

Leadership
Taking care of ourselves is led by Rana Chudnofsky, MEd. Ms. Chudnofsky has served as the Director of the Education Initiative at the ben-Henry Institute for Mind Body Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital (BHI) since 2006. Her areas of specialization include relaxation techniques and cognitive strategies for clinical treatment centers, schools and universities.

An Open Conversation: Lecture Series for Parents of Teens

Druker Auditorium, Newton Free Library,  See dates below, 7:00-8:30 pm, free and open to all. The Newton Free Library and Newton Youth Services will be hosting a five-part series of workshops for parents around the topics of wellness, stress management, and communication.  As part of the Youth Stress grant awarded to the Newton Health & Human Services Department this program is being offered by Newton Youth Services and Newton Free Library in partnership with Newton Cares, Newton-Wellesley Hospital, Riverside Community Care, the Massachusetts School for Professional Psychology and the Multiservice Eating Disorder s Association. Presenters will include mental health professionals and experts in adolescent development and communications.

Wednesday, April 30, 2014 Success under Stress

Newton is a high achieving community. Can how we define success contribute to the stressors in our lives and the lives of our teens? If we can’t eliminate stress, how do we teach our children to manage it in healthy ways?

Tuesday, May 13, 2014 #sorrynotsorry
It’s different today from when we were teens. This session will explore social media, how it is effecting teens and how we can help them navigate it.

Monday, June 2, 2014 OMG! Your teen actually talks to you?
Communication is one of the keys to raising a happy and healthy teen. This session will explore tips for open communication to help strengthen your relationship.

Thursday, June 19, 2014 Don’t Hate, Appreciate
Learn more about talking to teens about body confidence, eating disorders and media literacy. How can parents start the conversation, model healthy behaviors and teach young people not to put others down based on looks.

If sometimes you and your family just feel too “plugged in,” Newton offers a month-long remedy in March. In its 11th year, “Unplugged and Connected” hopes to promote, invigorate, and strengthen personal relationships by minimizing the use of computers, televisions, and telephones.

Check out this colorful calendar of suggested activities for each of the 31 days of March, Newton Unplugged encourages people to approach the month differently than the other harried, electronically-charged times of the year.

Highlights include: “No Homework Night” on March 12th; “Newton Has Talent” competition on March 30th; special events at Musuem of Science, Museum of Fine Arts, and JFK Library; a special edition Funtastic Friday for 4th graders on March 14, and more!

Newton “Unplugged and Connected” is a proud collaboration of Newton Community Service Center through its Child Assault Prevention program, Newton City Hall, and the Newton School Department.

Please join the next meeting of the Newton Parent Advisory Council for Special Education (NewtonPAC), for a presentation on Basic Rights in Special Education, presented by Clare Vann of the Federation for Children with Special Needs (FCSN).

This workshop provides families with an introduction to their rights and responsibilities under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), Massachusetts Special Education Law and No Child Left Behind (NCLB). It is designed to help parents learn how to be effective partners with their child’s school to decide the child’s eligibility for special education, and to plan, make decisions and monitor their child’s progress in school.

The workshop will take place on March 11th at 7:30 pm, with light refreshments and networking beginning at 7:15 pm. The location is Room 210 at the Education Center, 100 Walnut Street. Any questions, please email Eileen Sandberg@easandberg@aol.com

The 2014 spring educational programs at Newton Community Farm are now open for registration.

Choose from a range of garden-focused classes as well as how to keep chickens here in Newton.

For families and youngsters, our popular Farm Sprout program returns as does “Ready Set Grow”, our family gardening program.

Pre-registration is required. For more information and to register, visit the NCF’s website at www.newtoncommunityfarm.org/education