MSU Extension/ Parent Education
MSU Extension/ Parent Education

Michigan State University Extension Child and Family Development January 2025 Offerings

MSU Extension has a wide range of free online classes for parents and caregivers of children of all ages and early childhood professionals. See below for January offerings!

Please reach out to your local Extension office or find a Child and Family Development team member near you.

Follow their Facebook page for more information and resources at MI Stronger Family – MSU Extension. 

Extension Extra’s Parenting Hour

These free online parenting workshops will provide guidance for parents of children as they navigate the challenges, concerns, and joys of parenting. Participants may register for as few or as many workshops as they wish. The workshops are on Tuesday evenings from 8:00 to 9:30PM ET as follows:

Class dates:

1/07/2025: RELAX: Alternatives to Anger for Parents and Caregivers

1/14/2025: How soon is too soon? When to teach your children money habits for life!

1/21/2025: Positive Discipline

1/28/2025: Potty Training Pointers

Class Times: 8:00PM to 9:30PM

Registration: https://msu.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_Le_iCk-wSX-LjKwyxny6nA

Kinship Caregiver Classes

Kinship Caregiver classes are back! These classes are targeted to relatives caring for another relative’s children.    

Workshop:

1/8/2025: Talking With Kids About Race

Class Time: 7:00PM to 8:30PM

Registration: https://msu.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_dZEat3Y_RLmerD7NcoQGyA

For more information contact Courtney Aldrich at aldric82@msu.edu

Parenting Series

The Parent Talk System

Do you feel like the children in your care aren’t listening to you? Do you find yourself constantly repeating yourself trying to gain compliance? This 6-week series is for parents and caregivers of children of all ages and is designed to improve communication and provide practical verbal strategies for raising confident, caring, responsible children.  Topics include eliminating unwanted behavior, setting limits, teaching about consequences, giving effective feedback, promoting independence, and developing character. Certificates of attendance are available. This class is eligible for MIRegistry Credit!

Guiding Principles for Highly Successful Parenting

Are you wondering how to gain greater cooperation from your children? Struggling with chores or routines? Not sure how to handle discipline issues? Join us for this five-week parenting education series for parents with children of all ages will explore developing routines, emotional control, rules, and relationships, and being a calm, assertive parent. Certificates of attendance are available. This class is eligible for MIRegistry Credit!

Building Early Emotional Skills

Are you having trouble with biting, tantrums or the “terrible twos?” Building Early Emotional Skills (BEES) is a four-week class for primary caregivers of children 0-3 that teaches about how young children develop social emotional skills and helps give caregivers skills to deal with the stress of caring for children and to help their children develop strong social emotional skills. BEES will help you learn about your child’s temperament and stress, your triggers and how to manage them, being reflective about feelings and emotion coaching, reducing biting, conflict and frustration, handling tantrums, and building a solid foundation for tomorrow.  Certificates of attendance are available.  This class is eligible for MIRegistry Credit!

Early Childhood Professional Development Classes

These free online classes provide professional development training hours for early childhood professionals. These classes are eligible for MIRegistry Credit!  (See more offerings for professionals at the end of the note)

Title:  Positive Discipline

Title:  How Children Develop

For more information contact Vivian Washington at washi138@msu.edu

In-Person Workshop: Including All of Us

Description:  

Including All of Us is an intensive training to provide an opportunity for child care professionals to learn about issues of diversity, equity and inclusion in early childhood. Including All of Us includes group content, where early childhood professionals can explore their own beliefs, worldviews and understanding of issues surrounding diversity. Participants learn about ways they can incorporate anti-bias education into their work with young children and create environments of equity for all children. Ensuring that child care environments are high quality, equitable and inclusive will help build and nurture social emotional competencies and prepare children for success in school and in life. Including All of Us provides an opportunity for teachers to practice self-reflection and develop an awareness that will have a positive impact on their teaching, child care skills, and family interactions.

This in-person, free program is six hours in length and can be taught in one six-hour session or two, three-hour sessions. The program is approved in the MiRegistry system and completion certificates are available.

  • To schedule a workshop at your location, contact Vivian Washington at washi138@msu.edu

Online Self-Paced Classes

These free online classes can be completed on your own at your own pace. 

Positive Discipline:  Helping young children learn self-control is important to their ability to be successful citizens now and in the future. Positive Discipline workshops help adults learn how their role in creating appropriate environments and experiences can strengthen that development.   This class has a “parent and caregiver” track and a “professional” track.  Certificates of attendance are available for all who take the class and professional development training hours are available for early childhood professionals. Credit in the MiRegistry system is available.

Infant Safety

MSU Extension has partnered with the Livingston County Child Abuse Prevention Council to create a self-directed online infant safety course called “Sleeping, Crying, Driving.” This three part course contains videos and interactive content on infant safe sleep, how to handle extended infant crying and guidelines for transporting your child safely. A certificate of completion and MIRegistry credit is available for those who need proof of attendance. 

MI Parenting Resource

This free, online program is meant to support caregivers across the state in strengthening their parent-child relationships and gaining new tools for enhancing positive child behaviors.

Additional Resources

Michigan State University Extension has partnered with Cooperative Extension in other states to provide more resources and classes for you! Check out Fit and Healthy Kids at  https://fitandhealthykids.unl.edu/, Online Professional Development Workshops for Early Childhood Professionals.

The Importance of Sensory Play

This class is eligible for MIRegistry Credit!  Due to the volume of participants in a multi-state webinar, MIRegistry Credit will take up to one month to appear in the registry. Attend the live session or watch a recording up to one week later.

Sensory play enhances the way in which a child reacts to their environment through sight, touch, taste, smell and auditory. We will explore how to add play activities that encourage a child to explore materials which stimulate these senses.

Instructors: Lisa Poppe and LaDonna Werth, University of Nebraska Extension

Courses offered by Fit and Healthy Kids may be accepted by Nebraska, Georgia, Iowa, Arizona, Kansas, Michigan, Wisconsin and South Dakota to meet annual in-service training requirements.

Date and Time: January 13, 2025 7:00-8:00 P.M. CT (8-9 pm ET);

Registration: https://fitandhealthykids.unl.edu/one-hour-once-month-webinars; Registration closes on Sunday at noon before the webinar!!

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