Parenting Educator Kim John Payne Visits Detroit Waldorf
Detroit Waldorf to Host Simplicity Parenting Lecture & Workshop on March 11-12th
What if you could do one little thing to completely change your family? A small shift to eliminate stress and increase happiness and success?
Small, doable changes are the work of Kim John Payne, a world-renowned parenting educator who is coming to Detroit Waldorf School March 11-12 for a special, two-day free and open-to-the-public program on Simplicity Parenting.
“One of the best ways to build resiliency with kids is to give them a very simple, balanced home life, time to decompress,” says Payne. “You don’t have to turn your life upside down. We will be teaching how to make sensible, simple steps to balance a kid’s life.”
Payne leads Simplicity Parenting, one of the largest parenting organizations in the world. His book by the same title and this movement were inspired by Payne’s volunteer work in Asia, in Thai Cambodian refugee camps and Jakarta, Indonesia slums. “I saw stress really up close,” he relates. “When I moved back to the West, I saw the same look on kids’ faces. I came to think of it as the undeclared war on childhood. They weren’t in a war zone; there was cumulative stress, going too much, too soon, too sexy, too young, an overall sense of overwhelm. It was the new normal. A highly stressed life is the new normal.”
Payne believes kids need parents to be present and to lead. Simplicity Parenting, he says, teaches how to harness “the power of less.” A big part of that, he says, is “filtering out the adult world. We’ve lost track of what’s appropriate for kids and for adults and that the two things sometimes are different. A lot of the adult world needs to be filtered out of kids’ [consciousness] because it’s just plain scary and stressful for them.”
The March 11-12 events will help parents identify “small, doable shifts” to bring more peace and harmony to their families. Reservations are available for a lecture on Friday, March 11, from 7-9pm and for a half-day workshop on Saturday, March 12, 9am-1pm. Both events take place at Detroit Waldorf School, 2555 Burns Ave., Detroit.
RSVP: www.detroitwaldorf.org/events
Kim John Payne, M.ED, is the author of three books, including Simplicity Parenting: Using the Extraordinary Power of Less to Raise Calmer, Happier and More Secure Kids, and a consultant and trainer to more than 200 North American schools. Payne has been a school counselor, adult educator, consultant, researcher, educator and a private family counselor for 27 years.
“We are delighted to bring Kim John Payne to our community to help families recalibrate their lives and schedules to bring more peace and success,” says Charis Calender-Suemnick, Enrollment and Outreach Director at the Detroit Waldorf School.
“Just like we focus on educating the whole child according to their unique developmental stage, we believe people of all ages do better and find more happiness when they achieve balance and harmony in relationships, schedules and routines. This unique event will help everyone find that alignment!”