 Do you want to learn some fun "hands-on" activities to help your child master the use of scissors and pencils? Do you want to learn how hands and eyes work together to build fine motor skills necessary for school? Join CFK Early Intervention professionals Neysa McKenney, MA, CCC-SLP, and Paula C. Papp, MAEd, as they teach you engaging experiences to help your child develop hand skills using inexpensive sensory, art, and play activities. 

Connecting for Kids

Episode 93: “Handy” Activities for Young Children

Do you have a beautiful family that was formed through transracial adoption? Are you looking for ways for your child to form a strong racial identity as well as a strong family bond? Join Krysia Orlowski, Volunteer Parent Coordinator, and Donikea Austin, Program Manager of Adoption Network Cleveland as they walk us through tips that families formed by transracial adoption need to thrive.

Episode 92: Five Things Transracial Families Need to Know to Thrive

Do you wish you had a kit filled with “tools” you could use to stop meltdowns before they start? Do you want strategies to motivate your child toward positive behavior? Join us each month to learn how to use one of the tools in our Tantrum Tamer Toolbox to help your child aged 18 months – 6 years control behavior and manage emotions. This program is designed for children with or without identified development concerns.Join Ochanya Wells, M.Ed., as she leads you through another tool in the Tantrum Tamer Toolbox. She will explore visual schedules including the first, then chart to manage behavior as we transition into summer and need tools to structure the day.

Episode 91: Stop the Meltdown Before it Starts! Part 5: Visual Schedules

Has this pandemic increased the anxiety level of your child? Is mask wearing, social distancing and all of the new restrictions creating stress? Or has your child always been anxious and you are eager to learn some new strategies to help? Tierney Payne, LPCC, manager of Africancentric Services at The Nord Center, will talk about practical things families can do to help a child who struggles with anxiety. Learn how creating structure, providing coping skills and developing an action plan to overcome fear can lead to a calmer and happier child. Join the community of families with an elementary-aged child who struggles with attention and anxiety.

Episode 90: Anxiety and Attention Series: Helping the Child who Struggles with Anxiety

Long summer days, no homework and a break from the routine. Even though your elementary-aged child may be looking forward to summer, the transition from the structure of school can be a rocky one. Join Rob Adams, PsyD, a licensed clinical psychologist at Meghan Barlow and Associates, as he provides practical strategies to make the end of the year a positive, stress-free time for your child. Join the community of families with an elementary-aged child who struggles with attention and anxiety.

Episode 89: Anxiety and Attention Series: Helping the Child who Struggles with Transition

Is your child struggling with pandemic-related anxiety? Is time at home during quarantine increasing your child’s impulsivity? Join Dr. Kimberly Burkhart of Rainbow Babies and Children Hospital as she teaches behavior management strategies. In addition, parents and caregivers will learn ways to teach children to monitor and modify their own behavior.

Episode 88: Anxiety and Attention Series: Helping the Child Who Struggles with Impulsivity

Racism has a negative effect on the well-being of non-white children and their caregivers. To help protect your child from the harmful effects of racial trauma, you must know what the roadblocks are and how to work through them. Join CFK's Family Education Research Analyst Nikki Montgomery, M.A., M.Ed, GPAC to learn five ways to effectively work towards solutions.

Episode 87: 5 Ways Black Mothers Can Deal with Racism in Healthcare and Education Systems

All parents worry about their children’s friendships. But for parents of children who lack social skills the concerns are especially pressing. Making and keeping friends requires hundreds of skills and it is easy for a child who struggles to fall behind. Ellen Spear, MA, CCC-SLP, of Lakeshore Speech Therapy, LLC, will teach parents and caregivers strategies to help their child develop and maintain friendships. She will discuss the complicated nature of social skills as it relates to a variety of diagnoses.

Episode 86: Social Series: Friendship 411

Do you wish you had a kit filled with “tools” you could use to stop meltdowns before they start? Do you want strategies to motivate your child toward positive behavior? Join us each month to learn how to use one of the tools in our Tantrum Tamer Toolbox to help your child aged 18 months – 6 years control behavior and manage emotions. This program is designed for children with or without identified development concerns.Join Ochanya Wells, M.Ed., as she leads you through another tool in the Tantrum Tamer Toolbox. She will explore emotional regulation tools including a calming social story as well promote strategies to help your child cope with anger.

Episode 85: Stop the Meltdown Before it Starts! Part 4: Emotional Regulation Tools

Do you wish you had a kit filled with “tools” you could use to stop meltdowns before they start? Do you want strategies to motivate your child toward positive behavior? Join us each month to learn how to use one of the tools in our Tantrum Tamer Toolbox to help your child aged 18 months – 6 years control behavior and manage emotions. This program is designed for children with or without identified development concerns.Join Ochanya Wells, M.Ed., as she leads you through another tool in the Tantrum Tamer Toolbox - the Behavior Reward Chart. Ochanya will walk you through strategies to manage behavior at home as well as to help find other ways to respond to your child. She will answer your questions on a variety of topics, which can be asked during the program or submitted upon registration.

Episode 84: Stop the Meltdown Before it Starts! Part 3: Behavior Reward Chart

¿Te gustaría tener un kit, listo para usar, lleno de herramientas que puedes usar para ayudar con los problemas de comportamiento? Únete con Abi Mendez, M.A. CCC-SLP patóloga del habla y lenguaje bilingüe de MetroHealth, para aprender a usar horarios visuales, tablas visuales de primero…luego, letreros y otros materiales para ayudar a tu hijo(a) en edades desde los 18 meses a los 6 años, a controlar su comportamiento. Además, aprenderás como ayudar a tu hijo(a) a adquirir habilidades para regular y manejar las emociones.

Episode 83: Serie de Comportamiento: “Kit de Primeros Auxilios” para el Comportamiento

Would you like to apply for funds to help with your child’s expenses but aren’t sure where to begin? How do you even determine which funding sources you are qualified to receive? Join Karla Fitch, MTSC, of Connecting for Kids as she takes participants through the Connecting for Kids "How to Find Funds for Therapy" guide which offers a step-by-step approach to the process.

Episode 82: How to Apply for Grants and Other Funds

Join Ochanya Wells, M.Ed., Director of Quality Assurance and Community Engagement at STEPS Educational Group, as she leads you through another tool in the Tantrum Tamer Toolbox - the ABC Checklist to manage behavior at home as well as to help find other ways to respond to your child.

Episode 81: Stop the Meltdown Before it Starts! Part 2: ABC Checklist

Episode 80: Helping the Child who Struggles with Anxiety

Problems come in all different shapes and sizes and can range from a small “glitch” to a huge catastrophe! As social thinkers, it is not only important to rate our problems but also to match our reaction to them in a socially appropriate way. Ellen Spear, MA, CCC-SLP, of Lakeshore Speech Therapy, LLC., will teach you skills to assist your child in determining how big or little a problem is and then know what strategies will work to help deal with that problem. This program is for parents and caregivers of children ages 7-12.

Episode 79: Social Series: Assessing and Reacting to Problems

Connecting for Kids educates and supports families with questions or concerns about their child.