This free program is being provided primarily due to the support of our Premier Corporate Sponsor, MutualOne Charitable Foundation as well as the Natick Education Foundation (NEF). Additional support was provided by SPARK Kindness, Inc.
Best Friends, Worst Enemies:
Understanding the Social Lives of Children
Wed, December 7 at 7pm at Natick High School
For parents and caregivers (preschool through middle school)
We welcome back psychologist and best selling author Michael Thompson, PhD, for a discussion of the complex social world of childhood, including friendship stages, popularity, social cruelty and how to support your child's development.
This presentation walks parents through the complex social world of childhood and addresses a number of questions:
- What do social relationships in school predict about happiness in adult life?
- What is the normal sequence of child friendships, from the parallel play of the two-year-old to the intimate self-disclosure of the adolescent?
- Why do cliques form and what are the differences between boy and girl groups?
- Why are children scapegoated and how can their parents and school protect them?