Four to five parent educational workshops are held throughout the year. Please see our calendar for scheduled workshops dates and our current Buzz Newsletter for the next workshop topic.

Workshops are generally held on Thursday evenings from 6:00pm to 7:30pm with limited childcare available. They are conducted in three languages (English, Japanese and Chinese) with a Korean translator available when needed. These workshops are a great opportunity for parents to ask questions and discuss problems they may be having with their children. Parents are encouraged to make recommendations for future workshop topics.

Our first workshop for the school year is held in October and is the Kindergarten Information Night. This is an informative meeting for parents whose children will be going to kindergarten in the fall of the following year. (If your child will be turning five by December 2nd of the following year, then he/she will be entering kindergarten in that year.) We distribute and review OER forms, which are enrollment forms for kindergarten. We have guest speakers including alumni parents who have had to make appeals to get their children into their schools of choice and parents whose children are attending different public schools who will discuss their experiences with these schools. We also provide information sheets on public and private schools and have a question and answer forum. Light snacks and refreshments are provided.

Prior workshops topics:
(These workshops were given by our Mental Health consultant Shirley Shiromoto from the Japanese Family Services Agency of San Francisco):

"Age Appropriate Behavior and Discipline"

• Age-appropriate behavior for preschoolers
• Handouts on "Disciplining Toddlers," "Toddler’s Creed," "Logical Consequences vs. Punishment," and "Age-Appropriate Behavior for Two Year Olds up to Eighteen Year Olds"
• Exercise on defining discipline

"ABC’s of Parenting"

• Basic parenting skills
• Reading to your child on a daily basis
• Basic safety and health issues such as child car safety seats and holding your child’s hand while crossing the street
• Hygiene practices such as bathing regularly and ideas for what to do if your child doesn’t like to take a bath
• Nutrition tips

"Fun Activities to do at Home with Your Child"

• Playing and teaching the alphabets while taking a bath
• Games and activities you can make with items you have readily available in your home

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