Parent-Child Communication Workshops

The Austin Montessori School Connected Family Workshop: Building Communication Skills to Nurture Healthy Child and Family Development for Life

.Austin Montessori School is pleased to offer a parent-child communication workshop created and facilitated by Head of School, Grae Baker, and Sveta Pais, Parent Partnership Coordinator.

This workshop gives parents the opportunity to form a learning community and forge strong relationships with fellow AMS parents. Over six sessions, participants build lifelong skills within the Montessori approach to communication and whole-child development. The AMS Connected Family Workshop is a prerequisite for attending the 'Siblings Without Rivalry' Workshop.

Topics include: The Montessori Framework for Understanding Human Development; The Neuroscience of Effective Communication; Preparing the Home Environment to Encourage Autonomy; Alternatives to Punishment; Creating a Collaborative Partnership with our Children; Specific and Detailed Acknowledgment Versus Praise.

Dates for the Spring 2019 Workshop: 8:45 - 10:30 a.m. on Tuesday, January 22nd, January 29th, February 5th, February 12th, February 19th and February 26th. 

The 'Siblings Without Rivalry' Workshop

This workshop is based on the work of Adele Faber and Elaine Mazlish, authors of 'How To Talk So Kids Will Listen & Listen So Kids Will Talk.' In this workshop, parents form a learning community to explore the following areas: 
 
~ Supporting siblings in expressing their feelings with equanimity when in disagreement.
~ Responding to children based on need, rather than equity.
~ Avoiding placing siblings in roles so that each child comes to become his or her whole self.
~ Collaborating with siblings so that they can move toward resolving their conflicts.

Dates for the Spring 2019 Workshop: 8:45 - 10:10 a.m. on the following dates: March 5th, March 12th, March 26th, April 2nd, April 16th, April 23rd.
 
Grae Baker has been the Head of Austin Montessori School since 2014, and is the father of a three-year-old daughter. He holds an AMI Elementary diploma, a B.A. in political science from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, an M.Ed. in Montessori education from Loyola College, and has attended the AMI Orientation to Adolescent Studies. Grae began his work in Montessori as a primary classroom assistant. He later served as a guide in upper elementary, 6-12 elementary, and as a founding lead teacher of the adolescent program at Omni Montessori School in Charlotte, NC where he went on to serve as Head of School.
Sveta Pais is Austin Montessori School's Parent Partnership Coordinator, and is the mother of two daughters aged 11 and 5 who have attended AMS since the Parent-Infant Community. Sveta is a graduate of the London School of Economics and Political Science. She is currently pursuing her AMI Primary Diploma at the Montessori Institute of North Texas, and an M.Ed. in Montessori Integrative Learning at the Van Sloan School at Endicott College.
These workshops are free and available to parents, grandparents, and primary caregivers of students enrolled at Austin Montessori School. There is a small charge towards the cost of books and materials. Please email Sveta Pais for more information.