If You Are an Early Childhood Educator or Director Who:

  • Is apt to feel worried when receiving a message from the parent of one of your students that, “We need to talk” . . . then this course is for you.

  • Is frustrated by the frequent parent demands for academic-based teaching (including literacy) in preschool…then this course is for you.

  • Is tired of trying to explain the research-based benefits of play-based learning, messy play, and risky play to the families of the children in your care… then this course is for you.

  • Is ready for the parents of your students to understand what you do, and why you do it, and to become actively supportive of your teaching approach…then this course is for you.

  • Is ready to feel empowered as an educator because the parents at your school respect you, are helpful, and always have your back…then this course is definitely for you.

The Empowered Educator: Partnering with Parents Course Will Provide
Teacher Tom’s framework for understanding why parents, despite a proliferation of “parenting” advice, are less secure and more concerned about their role than ever
Teacher Tom’s proven strategies for successfully educating parents about the importance and power of play-based learning
Teacher Tom’s roadmap for motivating parents to become your allies in their children’s learning and to start collaborating with you enthusiastically
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Scroll Down For A Deeper Look At What Will Be Covered In This Course

Episode 1:
Parents Are the Best!

(Parents Are the Worst)

We love the parents of the children we teach, but frequently they show up for us as problems. And yet parents and teachers should be natural allies, fully aligned in our joint mission. In this session, Teacher Tom discusses the pressures and challenges facing today's parents, why they need us now more than ever, and how partnering with them can help to create the kind of "village" every child deserves.

Episode 2:
Communicating With Parents

Good relationships rest on a foundation of communication. In this session, Teacher Tom lays out his fundamental pedagogy for communicating with families, including such things as managing expectations, addressing challenging issues, and maintaining transparency, no matter what.

Episode 3:
Getting Parents on the
"Play" Bandwagon

We know that children's play lives at the center of learning during the early years, but the notion of play-based education, or self-directed learning, is easily misunderstood. Teacher Tom offers his thoughts, developed over two decades of working directly with parents in a play-based cooperative school, about how to get parents fully subscribed to this core pedagogy.

Episode 4:
Helping Parents Get Comfortable With Risky Play

Risk, both physical and social-emotional, is an inherent part of play. However, the majority of today's parents has become extremely risk adverse. Teacher Tom unpacks why risky play is an essential element of learning, and how to ease parents into a mindset that embraces the notion that "learning injuries" constitute natural and important aspects of actual learning.

Episode 5:
Speaking With Parents About Discipline

"Discipline" is too often conflated with "punishment and rewards" by parents within our popular culture. Many professional educators know there are better alternatives! In this session, Teacher Tom discusses how to help parents understand discipline well beyond carrots and sticks.

Episode 6:
Let's Get Partnering!

In this session, Teacher Tom summarizes key points, provides illustrative examples, and helps you set the course for developing fruitful and mutually beneficial partnerships with parents of the children you teach.

Plus:
Live "Cohort Graduation" Webinar with Teacher Tom

If you complete this course by the morning of April 11th, you will be invited to a live graduation webinar with Teacher Tom on April 13th! (Our system will track your exact progress in order to provide your 4-hour Certificate of Attendance.) This webinar is limited to participants who are 100% complete; you are not required to participate in order to obtain your certificate; this session will not be recorded. *Don’t worry if you have not completed the course by this date; you have lifetime access, so you can work at your own pace or review the episodes whenever you need.

How This Course Works

  • If you register in time and get a spot, you'll be joining Teacher Tom’s only 2023 cohort for this course!

  • Rather than overwhelming you by sending you the entire course at once, every Thursday, for 6 weeks, you’ll get access to that week's episode and a reflection guide/workbook. Watch any time that's convenient for you.

  • Each week you’ll get about 30 minutes of video. You’ll watch these and spend another 15 minutes filling out your reflection guide/workbook. You’ll invest about 45 minutes each week, for a total of less than 5 hours for the whole course.

  • In parallel, Teacher Tom will encourage you to post your insights, reflections, and questions in our online course community area where he will visit and respond daily.

  • Earn and receive a 5-hour Certificate of Attendance signed by Teacher Tom upon completion of the course (i.e., you’ve watched all of the videos and downloaded/filled out each of the six reflection guides/workbooks.)

  • If you keep up with the cohort and complete the course 100% by April 11th you'll be invited to join Teacher Tom for the 90-minute live graduation webinar on April 13th at 8:00am Pacific Standard Time. Save the date!

*Even if you do not complete the course by April 13th, you have lifetime access. And you'll receive the certificate automatically once you have watched every episode of the course and downloaded and filled-in your reflection guides.

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About Teacher Tom

Tom "Teacher Tom" Hobson is an early childhood educator, international speaker, education consultant, teacher of teachers, parent educator, and author. He is best known, however, for his namesake blog Teacher Tom's Blog, where he has posted daily for over a decade, chronicling the life and times of his little preschool in the rain-soaked Pacific Northwest corner of the USA.

For nearly two decades, Teacher Tom was the sole employee of the Woodland Park Cooperative School, a parent-owned and operated school, knit together by Teacher Tom's democratic, progressive play-based pedagogy.

Today, Teacher Tom shares his play-based pedagogy through online courses for early childhood educators and parents; produces online early childhood conferences, e.g., Teacher Tom's Play Summit 2021 & 2022"; consults with organizations about his "Family Schools" program; and inspires early years audiences around the world (Greece, UK, Iceland, Australia, China, Vietnam, New Zealand, Canada, and across the US) both virtually and in-person with his engaging views on early childhood education, play, and pedagogy.

He has authored two bestselling books, aptly named Teacher Tom's First Book, and Teacher Tom's Second Book.

Register for
The Empowered Educator: Partnering with Parents

$129 USD / person

WHAT'S INCLUDED

  • Lifetime Access

  • Weekly video modules (delivered every Thursday for 6 weeks, starting March 2, 2023)

  • Six Reflection Guides/Workbooks to record your own thoughts and insights

  • Online community to share questions, insights, and ideas

  • High quality coaching for self directed learning wherever and whenever it's convenient

  • Live Graduation webinar with Teacher Tom* (must have completed course by April 13, 2023)
Join Waitlist

Group Discount Pricing

Groups of 10 users or morel receive a 20% discount off of the $129.00 per person.

Schools and ECE program directors, please contact [email protected] about larger groups (100 persons and higher) to discuss additional discounts and bespoke PD programs for your community.
Request Group Registration

What Others Say About

Partnering With Parents

Silvia P.

“We took this course with our whole staff. It motivated us to make a concerted effort to bring our parent community into the fold. And while they used to stay at a polite distance, today those parents and caregivers are everywhere, helping, asking questions, supporting their kids, and really understanding what we try to do at our center. Thank you Teacher Tom!”

Mindie C.

"As a parent, I can't recommend this enough. Helped me understand the stress teachers have been under, and gave me lots of new ideas for dramatically improving the relationship dynamic; even our 4-year old noticed that I am calmer and more fun!"

Katarina D.

"Loved this so much. Reminded me that creating these powerful partnerships is really very achievable without a lot of effort, but - at least for me! - with additional intentionality!"

Peter H.

“Taking your Partnering with Parents course both inspired me and kicked me in the butt (in a good way). Looking back, it was the beginning of a massive cultural shift at our center. I got my director to take the course after me, so I had her full support. These days I feel much more empowered in my role. And it is awesome to have developed a more authentic and collaborative relationship with the families of our students. Thank you so much Teacher Tom!.”

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

  • Who is this course for?

    While it is specifically designed for early childhood educators, directors, and childcare owners, parents and grandparents of young children will also find it invaluable too.

  • What will the course cover?

    We will examine the landscape of parenting today with a focus on the unique stresses and challenges that make being a parent today so difficult; how to more effectively communicate and involve parents in their children’s school life; strategies for educating parents about the importance and power of play-based learning; how to talk with parents about difficult issues; and ways to help parents overcome many of their fears and concerns about such things as risky play, mess, and diversity.

  • What will I learn?

    Like with anything worth doing, you will get out of it what you put into it. This course is designed in the spirit of play-based learning in that I avoid direct instruction, “how to’s,” tick boxes, and lists of learning objectives. Instead, my approach is to assume that you are a motivated, intelligent, committed adult. I share my best thinking, tell stories, and ask probing questions intended to make you think about yourself, the families in your school life, and what you can do given your own unique situation. As a result you will feel both inspired and empowered to take action.

  • Do I need any special qualifications?

    Absolutely! This is a course for self-motivated educators who want to enable the parents (or grandparents, or caregivers) in their school to become motivated and supportive allies in the education of their children…and who have their educators’ backs.

  • Will this course really offer you something better and different?

    I guarantee that you have never taken a course like this one. It will challenge you, it will probably even make you mad at times, but it will also cause you to think and grow. Most importantly, you will feel empowered, appreciated, and supported by making allies of the parents of the children you teach.

  • When does the course start?

    This cohort kicks off on March 2nd, 2023

  • How does it work?

    Starting Thursday, March 2nd, and on every Thursday for six weeks, you’ll receive access to one module of the course along with a work book. You can watch that week’s episode at any time that’s convenient for you, as long as you do so prior to the following week. We will all be working through the material together as a cohort, week-by-week. (If you can’t watch it that week that’s ok too, since you have lifetime access, but you’ll have more fun if you keep up with the cohort.)

  • How much time will I need to spend?

    At the start of each week, you’ll get about a half hour of video. You’ll watch it and then spend another 15 minutes or so each week filling out your reflection guide/workbook. In total, you’ll be investing about 45 minutes every week between March 2nd and April 13h (and with lifetime access if you need more time).

  • Do I have to attend at a particular time?

    No. :-) You can watch the sessions and work through the reflection guides any time that is convenient for you; after that you can share your insights and ideas in our online community area and Teacher Tom will comment and “cheer you on.”

  • How long will I have access to the content?

    You will have lifetime access and can go back to it as often as you like.

  • Where does the course community connect?

    Our virtual meet-up place is our course site on Thinkific.com, where we will share insights, ask questions, and celebrate successes.

  • What about the live graduation webinar?

    If you've kept up with the cohort and have completed the course 100% by midnight on May 16th, you will be invited to attend a live Zoom graduation webinar on May 18th at 8:00am PST. Save the date.

  • Will we be tracking your progress?

    You bet! Not only is this necessary for issuing your proof of completion certificate, but it is part of keeping us all accountable.

  • Will I get personal feedback from Teacher Tom?

    Yes! I will do my best to respond to all comments in our course community area in Thinkific, so please participate! You'll get more out of it, and you'll have more fun.

  • Can I get professional development credits?

    Yes! After you complete the course, you will automatically receive a 5-Hour Certificate of Attendance signed by me.

  • What does the course cost?

    The cost is USD $129