Participants will receive practical parenting tips and ideas to help families succeed
Harford County Department of Community Services and Harford County Public Library have planned a series of author visits focusing on parenting this fall.
The Parenting Series provides an opportunity for parents and caregivers to experience professional, educational and personal experiences shared by nationally recognized authors. The Local Management Board and the Governor’s Office for Children along with Maryland Humanities are the sponsors of author discussions with Dr. Michele Borba, Dr. Leonard Sax and Greg Toppo.
Borba, author of “UnSelfie: Why Empathetic Kids Succeed in Our All-About-Me World” and a nationally recognized parenting expert, will speak on October 12 at the Abingdon Library. Sax, author of “The Collapse of Parenting: How We Hurt Our Kids When We Treat Them Like Grown-Ups” and a nationally recognized parenting and children’s health expert, will speak on November 3 at the Havre de Grace Library. Toppo, author of “The Game Believes in You: How Digital Play Can Make Our Kids Smarter” and USA Today’s national K-12 education writer, will speak on December 1 at the Bel Air Library. Author talks begin at 6:30 p.m.
County Executive Barry Glassman noted, “In Harford County, we believe in providing critical resources and services to our communities, and stabilization of families is a top priority. As a young boy growing up in Harford County, my family, friends and neighbors made sure that I was safe and that I was always on time for dinner.”
“My administration is committed to making sure that our families have the same type of support that I was fortunate to experience,” County Executive Glassman said. “The Parenting Series is a great way to bring notable experts to Harford to work with our parents and caregivers.”
In addition, Harford County Public Library has planned several parenting workshops moderated by Laura Hutton, an associate professor at Harford Community College, and Rachel Leach, an adjunct professor at Harford Community College and Towson University.
Workshop topics include “Preparing for Preschool” on September 17 at the Joppa Library; “Raising a Healthy Child” on October 1 at the Abingdon Library; “Getting Ready for College” on October 15 at the Bel Air Library; “It Takes a Village to Raise a Child with Special Needs” on November 5 at the Aberdeen Library; “Guiding Your Child Through School” on November 19 at the Bel Air Library; “Navigating the Special Education System” on December 3 at the Abingdon Library; “Pregnancy and Infancy” on January 7 at the Aberdeen Library; and “Handling Behavior and Misbehavior” on January 21 at the Bel Air Library. Each workshop takes place from 2 to 4 p.m.
“We are super excited to support our county parents and youth with the parenting workshops and discussions this fall. It provides an opportunity for dialog on topics that are important to our parents and youth,” said Mary Hastler, CEO of Harford County Public Library.
In addition, Dr. Karsonya Whitehead, the author of “Letters to My Black Sons: Raising Boys in a Post-Racial America,” will be speaking on September 22 at 6:30 p.m. at the Edgewood Library and is sponsored by Maryland Humanities.
Additional information about each of the workshops and author discussions may be found at hcplonline.org.
