July 2021 Family Focus

Family Focus

Programs & Ideas | July 2021

Tools for Managing Challenging Behaviors

Help us plan a virtual workshop this Fall

We're excited to announce that best-selling author Mary Sheedy Kurcinka will present a workshop for us in October about Managing Challenging Behaviors. She's asked us to find out in advance what questions you have and what information you need. Please take a moment to think about your discipline strategies and your children’s behaviors, and share your thoughts using the button below.

What is the hardest thing about managing your child’s challenging behaviors?
What about your morning or bedtime routines are difficult?
What behaviors are confusing to understand?
When do you feel like a “broken record?” What is happening that makes you need to repeat yourself over and over?

Dr. Kurcinka is an international lecturer and parent educator who has written best-selling books including Raising Your Spirited Child; Kids, Parents and Power Struggles; and Sleepless in America. Thank you for helping us create this workshop with Dr. Kurcinka (Tuesday, Oct. 12, at 6:30 p.m.). And, a big thank you to Newburyport Bank for making this 2021 Speaker Series possible!

Submit Questions & Ideas to Dr. Kurcinka

In-Person Playgroups This Summer

Our in-person Family Morning Out programs are off to a great start! Parents, grandparents, and children ages 0-6 are welcome to join us, No signup required. Bring a snack, water and a picnic blanket for storytime. Check our website or Facebook page for cancellation announcements.

WHEN & WHERE:

Portsmouth: Mondays until 8/23, from 10-11 a.m. on the Community Campus Playground (behind the building)
Somersworth: Fridays until 8/27, from 10-11 a.m. at Idlehurst School Kindergarten Playground (in front of school), or indoors in case of rain.

View All Summer Programs

Swim and Hike With Us This Summer

Hike Night every Monday

July 12 - August 23

6:30-7:30 p.m.

Family Swim Nights at the Portsmouth Y

Friday, July 23 and Friday, August 13

5-7 p.m.

Meet at the Community Campus Playground on Monday nights (weather-permitting) to walk, talk, explore and play together.

Trails are suitable for children who can walk (not strollers). We have nature journals for each family to record their observations and discoveries! All parents and caregivers with their children are welcome. Bring water and bug spray. No signup required.

More About Hike Night

We are partnering with our friends at the YMCA of the Seacoast at 550 Peverly Hill Road in Portsmouth to offer a family swim night. This event is open to all parents, caregivers, and grandparents with their children of all ages. Snacks provided. Bring sunscreen, towels, water and any food you like. No inflatables or glass containers.

To learn more about programs at the YMCA, please call 603.431.2334 x2503 or visit www.graniteymca.org.

Give Us Your Feedback - Maybe Win Groceries!

Please take a few minutes to complete our confidential survey so we can get a sense of how well our parent and family programs are meeting your needs and how we can improve.

Your feedback about the impact of our programs also helps us secure the funding we need to continue our work to strengthen and support families.

Thank you so much for taking the time to complete this survey today. Once completed, send us an email to enter a raffle for a $100 Shaw's gift card. We have two to share! Raffle will take place on 7/26.

Take Family Center Survey

Understanding Worry and Anxiety

What was the unexpected thing that happened today, and how did you handle it?

Book Discussion Group: Anxious Kids Anxious Parents by Lynn Lyons.

Tuesdays through August 17 from 6:30-7:30 pm on Zoom. (Reading the book is optional!)

Asking our kids this question every day, and sharing our own strategies, is one way to support their flexibility and adaptability. Kids need to develop skills in handling the curveballs life throws at them so they are better equipped to manage the normal worries that show up when the unexpected happens.

Join us whenever your schedule allows. Reading the book is optional. If you want a free copy of the book, send Patrice an email and you can pick it up at Goodwin Community Health or Families First.

Literacy Tip of the Month: Be an "Emotions Coach"

Kids Who Keep Reading Keep Learning

Reading books aloud to your children is a great way to open up conversations about feelings. For older kids, you can read the same books they are reading and discuss them together.

Illustrations in children's books show lots of emotions . A parent might say: "See how angry that bear looks; why is he feeling so mad?" And for older kids, you can discuss and empathize with the feelings that a character is experiencing in a novel, "Harriet's friends are not being supportive. I wonder how she feels about that?"

Talking about feelings is the first step in developing "emotional literacy" in our kids. Children need to understand how feelings show up physically in their bodies, and then they need to learn the words to describe these feelings. This sets them on the path to developing the skills to manage their feelings appropriately (a.k.a. "self-regulation").