Raising a Humane Child
Will your child be a joyful, caring citizen in a humane, sustainable world?
Help your children become conscientious, compassionate citizens!
One of our most basic instincts as parents is to protect our children from harm. And one of our deepest desires is to raise our children to be healthy, happy, and conscientious.
That's not easy, especially during these difficult times. Even parents committed to living their deepest values can be challenged to engage their children amidst the busy-ness of day-to-day activities. Our six-week online course supports you in revisiting what matters most to you and to discovering new ways to share that with your children. You'll help your children become happy, responsible people who thrive in a better world.
"Overall, it is a wonderful, enlightening, and thought-provoking experience to do [Raising a Humane Child]. It should be mandatory for all parents to take this, and take it annually....There is nobody on the planet that wouldn’t benefit from taking this course." ~ Erin Floresca, Portland, Oregon
Upcoming Course Dates:
October 8 - November 16, 2012
Register for the October 2012 session of Raising a Humane Child.
Are you a parent or community educator who wants to:
- nurture compassionate, conscientious values in your children?
- help yourself and your children become better aware of the world around you and the impacts of your choices on yourself, other people, animals and the earth?
- connect with other parents passionate about raising healthy, happy, humane children?
- gain skills and support to further align your life choices with your deepest values so that you can become better role models for your family?
Now you can enhance your skills and vision to guide your children in making choices that help them create their best future, while benefiting all people, other species, and the environment.
“This was a positive and important opportunity for me to reconsider my values and how I can offer them to my daughter. Connecting with other parents who are also working to figure out ways to raise children who are compassionate and skilled critical thinkers was an amazing resource. Everyone had stories and ideas and I am applying several of them already.”
~ Heather Burt, Edgecomb, Maine
How it Works:
During this six-week online course, you'll examine important questions, such as:
- 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?
The exercises will engage you in:
- 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
“This course was extremely valuable to me as a parent and educator…. I most appreciated the combination of big picture, philosophical thinking and the practical day-to-day parenting work. It is empowering to step back and see how much you can do to shape the world your children are being raised in. I leave the class having made many changes, with much more work left to do!”
~ Debra Flynn, Portland, Maine
What the Course Includes:
√A Course Book - Each participant will receive a copy of Above All, Be Kind: Raising a Humane Child in Challenging Times by IHE President, Zoe Weil. We'll mail this book to you as soon as you register.
√A Downloadable Course Curriculum - Your course curriculum provides you with thought-provoking exercises to examine your life, your values, and your parenting and to help you achieve your vision and goals for a better world and happy, conscientious children. You can use it again and again as your children grow.
√Online Commons - Your learning continues in the discussion forum, which you can visit at your convenience to engage with fellow participants and your course instructor, Kerri Twigg. Participants use the Online Commons to compare experiences, share insights and resources, and connect with classmates and the instructor to get help, create solutions, and build momentum.
√Bonus Exercises & Resources - As part of the course, you'll get bonus content to extend your learning and help you plan forward after the course ends.
√Phone Mentoring - Your course instructor, Kerri Twigg, is available by phone to answer questions, provide guidance, and discuss issues that arise during the course.
√Continuing Education Credits (CEUs) - You can earn a certificate of completion and 4.5 CEUs through the University of Maine by submitting your responses to the exercises within a week of the end of the course and by being an active participant in the Online Commons (the course discussion forum) throughout 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.
"What a wonderful way to connect with other like-minded parents, and to be inspired with their visions insights."
~ October 2010 course participant
Register for the October 2012 session of Raising a Humane Child.
Cancellation Policy:
We will refund your registration, minus a $25 administration fee, if you cancel more than 7 days before the course session begins. IHE is unable to grant refunds for cancellations after that date.
Transfer Policy:
If you find that you cannot participate in the session of the course for which you have registered, you have until the Friday of the first week of the course session to let us know and transfer to another scheduled session of the course or to one of IHE’s other online courses. After that time, we cannot offer you a transfer. The transfer must be made to a course that is scheduled within nine months of the current course session, and there is a limit of one transfer per course. There is an additional $20 course book fee if you transfer to a different online course.
Course Faculty: Kerri Twigg
I am a much better teacher than a parent. In the classroom I am patient, energetic, and I listen to children’s ideas as if they are the most interesting ideas ever spoken (sometimes they are.) As a parent, I do some of the above, but I am stricter, grouchier and not as good a listener. It is a constant important work in progress. In my lifetime, I have experienced firsthand different ways of being raised and parenting including; living with both parents, being raised by an aunt, single parenting, shared parenting, and parenting with a partner. There are many ways to do it and they all look different. The thing that doesn’t change is the enormous opportunity we have as parents to help create a more humane and sustainable planet, and to nourish creative, aware, highly-spirited, well-informed communities every single day in the safe, sacred spaces of our own homes.
Kerri Twigg has an M.Ed. in Humane Education from the Institute for Humane Education and Cambridge College. She has more than 12 years experience in arts education and has taught in schools, museums, theatres, galleries, hospitals, gardens, and even a boat house. Her specialty is using creative drama and the key elements of humane education to create engaging, relevant, fun and inspiring educational experiences. She has two daughters, three rescued cats, one adopted dog, and a pretty great husband.
Planning Your Time:
This course is 6 weeks long. You complete all activities on your own timeframe. There are no scheduled sessions, but the Online Commons is available to you at any time during the course.
This course will be as meaningful as you make it. We estimate that the course will take an average of 5-8 hours per week. The more time you have to devote to the exercises and the online discussions, the more transformative the course will be for you.
"I’ve always said how I’ve wanted to do all these great, compassionate things with the kids, but I’ve stalled like so many others. It is so easy to get wrapped up in the day to day busy-ness with children. Parents need guidance and help though in giving their children a humane education. This was a very enjoyable course."
~ Tammy Russell, Portland, Oregon
Still Undecided?
Download a couple sample exercises. (pdf)
For more information, email us at info@HumaneEducation.org.
Help Us Spread the Word About Raising a Humane Child
Download a copy of our flyer to share. (pdf)
Other Online Courses:
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del.icio.usWatch and share IHE President, Zoe Weil's TEDx talk -- an inspiring vision of how to create a just, compassionate, healthy world for all through solutionary education.
July 14, 2012 - 8:30 am to July 14, 2012 - 5:00 pm | Location: Institute for Humane Education
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