Raising a Humane Child
A month-long distance learning course for parents who wish to expand their strategies to help their children become more compassionate citizens and to make choices that demonstrate reverence, respect and responsibility for the environment, other species and all people.
Course Dates:
October 4-29, 2010
For more detailed information about Raising a Humane Child, download our Information Kit. (pdf)
Registration:
Individual Rate:
Special Family Rate:
REGISTER AT $125 for the first person and $50 for each additional family member (one book/packet shipped per family).
REGISTER AT THE SPECIAL FAMILY RATE OF $50 FOR THE OCTOBER 2010 COURSE.
Registration Deadline:
FOR OCTOBER COURSE: October 2, 2010
We encourage you to register as soon as you can, so that you have plenty of time to read the course book ahead of time.
Cancellation Policy:
We will refund your registration, minus a $25 administration fee, if you cancel by September 9 for the October course. IHE is unable to grant refunds for cancellations after that date, but you may make arrangements for someone else to take the course in your place.
Raising a Humane Child Course Description:
It's not easy to raise children to know who they are and what is truly important in life. As parents strive to lead their children - or help others - on a peaceful, productive path, they're up against an onslaught of negative influences. How can parents help children be happy, self-confident and caring while creating a better world?
Developed for parents with children of any age, Raising a Humane Child will expand your parenting strategies to help you bring humane education concepts and values to your children and manifest your vision for a better world, starting with your family. Humane education addresses human rights, environmental preservation and animal protection as interconnected and integral dimensions of a healthy, just society. (To learn more about humane education, visit our home page and click BEGIN MOVIE toward the top-center of the page.)
As part of this course you'll have a chance to interact virtually with other participants through discussion boards, receive input from the course advisors and connect with people who are passionate about nurturing compassionate, happier children. Participants will receive a copy of Above All, Be Kind: Raising a Humane Child in Challenging Times by IHE President, Zoe Weil.
Download a couple sample exercises. (pdf)
For more information, email us at info@HumaneEducation.org.
Note For Those Preparing for Parenthood:
People who are preparing for parenthood but do not yet have a child are welcome to take this course. Many of the exercises in the course ask participants to self-reflect and conduct individual research, so it is possible to complete all of the exercises without currently being a parent. There are a few exercises that ask you to consider aspects of your current family life and that encourage you to complete certain exercises with your child, and these exercises might require more imagination from those who are not yet parents. It is up to you to decide whether you would benefit more by taking this course in preparation for parenting or while you are currently parenting.
Course Structure:
As soon as you register, we’ll send you a copy of the course book. Shortly before the course begins, you'll receive a booklet of exercises that you'll complete on your own throughout the month. The exercises fall into four areas:
- Looking Inward: Values
- Looking Inward: The Four Elements of Humane Education
- Looking Outward: Using the Four Elements of Humane Education in Your Parenting
- Overcoming Obstacles & Creating Inner and Outer Support
In completing the exercises, you'll examine important questions like:
- What previously unexamined values have you absorbed through your culture, community, and media that do not represent the core of who you are?
- What values do you and don't you want to pass along to your child?
- How can you make positive choices for both your family and the world?
- What do you want your grown child to be able to say you did for your family?
And, you'll explore new information about animal protection, human rights, environmental preservation, and media, consumerism and cultural issues, so that you can share what you learned with your children.
You’ll also engage in the Online Commons -- a discussion forum that you can visit any time during the course to interact with fellow participants and advisors. Participants use the Online Commons to share experiences with the activities, share insights, quotes or resources, connect with classmates and advisors, ask questions, and give and receive support.
Time Commitment:
This course will be as meaningful as you make it. We estimate that the exercises themselves will take an average of 30-90 minutes per exercise. The more time you have to devote to the exercises and the online discussions, the more transformative the course will be for you.
Continuing Education Credits (CEUs) - Earn Them for Participating:
You may earn a certificate of completion and 3.5 Continuing Education Units (CEUs) through the University of Maine upon completion of the course. Teachers in other states may be able to utilize these for continuing education requirements in their state. Applications for other state CEUs are in progress - please inquire. To receive a certificate of completion or CEUs, email all your responses to the exercises within a week following the course, and contribute to the online discussion forum on at least 15 different days.
Course Advisor:
Mary Pat Champeau is director of M.Ed and Certificate programs at IHE and has been a teacher for thirty years, beginning as a Peace Corps volunteer in Niger, 1979-1981. Her experience includes teaching in community-based refugee and immigrant programs in NYC, as well as teaching creative writing at NYU, working as a teacher trainer in southeast Asian refugee camps, and coordinating language and culture programs for the World Trade Institute. She has an M.A. from NYU. Mary Pat is also the mother of two teenage children and an adopted pre-school age daughter from China.
For more information about Raising a Humane Child, download our Information Kit. (pdf)
Other Month-Long Distance Learning Programs:
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March 16, 2010 - 2:00 pm | Location: University of Maine - Orono (100 Neville Hall)
Please join us for an inspiring talk with Zoe Weil at the University of Maine in Orono. Co-sponsored by the Peace Studies and Sociology departments. Learn about the ways in which your everyday choices, your work, your activism, and your volunteerism can do the most ...
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