Date: Friday September 1, 2023
Time: 1:00PM – 2:30PM
Location: AB114, 50 St George St – please enter via the Ursula Franklin doors

Join us for a family-friendly presentation by Dr. Leo Alcorn exploring how to understand where we are in our galaxy, what the different parts of galaxies are, what different galaxies can look like, and how mysterious dark matter is. This short talk will be followed by a visit to the UofT Observatory, where we will take you on a tour of our many telescopes, and, weather permitting, we will view the sun with the aid of a solar filter.

Open to U of T students, staff, and faculty with children in grade 2 and up. Accompanied with one adult only please.

* please note this event is now full and no longer able to accept additional registrations.
Please email family.care@utoronto.ca for additional information about registrations.

Event collaboration by the Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics and the Family Care Office.

Date: Monday, April 17, 2023
Time: 12:00 – 1:30 pm
Location: The webinar link will be shared with you via email prior to the session start time.

Have you ever considered adoption as a way of growing your family? The first step of your adoption journey is educating yourself about the process and options. This session, led by the Adoption Council of Ontario, will provide an overview of private, public and international adoption processes in Ontario. As well, information will be provided on the Home Study and the education process necessary to become eligible to adopt in Ontario. Helpful tips and strategies to ease the adoption journey will also be discussed.

Facilitator: Adoption Council of Ontario

Registration required. University of Toronto students, staff, postdoctoral fellows and faculty are welcome. Partners and family members (including chosen family members) who are co-caregivers with U of T students, staff, postdoctoral fellows and faculty are also welcome to attend. If you have any access needs to ensure your full participation in this event, please contact the Family Care Office and we will try our best to work with you and make appropriate arrangements.

Date: Thursday, November 3, 2022
Time: 9:00 am – 5:00 pm

Are you coping with a loved one who may have dementia, such as Alzheimer’s Disease? A highly trained counsellor will be available for free 45-minute confidential phone appointments on Thursday, November 3, 2022.  The counsellor will be able to discuss any questions or personal concerns you may have about dementia, such as getting a diagnosis, immediate and future care, family matters, ethical issues, stress and coping techniques.

To make an appointment, please call the Family Care Office at 416-978-0951 or email family.care@utoronto.ca

Registration required. Current University of Toronto students, staff, faculty, postdoctoral fellows, and their partners are welcome. If you have any access needs to ensure your full participation in this event, please contact the Family Care Office and we will try our best to work with you and make appropriate arrangements.

Date: Thursday, October 20, 2022
Time: 12:00 – 1:00 pm
Location: The Zoom link will be shared with you via email prior to the session start time.

Everyone, including children, experiences anxiety from time to time. Anxiety becomes a problem when it interrupts our lives and stops us from doing things we want or need to do. In this interactive webinar, parents and caregivers will learn more about the topic of anxiety in children. We will explore how anxiety feels, physically and emotionally. Parents and caregivers will learn how anxiety can impact thoughts, feelings, and behaviours.  As well, they will learn how to recognize anxiety and how to support kids who may be experiencing it. We will discuss signs, strategies, and options to gain additional support and share supplementary resources. Participants will have opportunity to ask questions and learn from each other’s experience.

Facilitator: Rebecca Higgins has a background in social work, specializing in mental health education since 2011. Prior to starting her own business in 2018, Rebecca worked for the Canadian Mental Health Association and the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health. She has designed and facilitated workshops and webinars for a wide range of groups including early childhood educators, caregivers, faculty, and parents. She has been working with the Family Care Office providing workshops and webinars since 2018.

Registration required. University of Toronto students, staff, postdoctoral fellows, faculty, and their partners are welcome. If you have any access needs to ensure your full participation in this event, please contact the Family Care Office and we will try our best to work with you and make appropriate arrangements.

Date: Friday, June 7, 2019 (P.A. Day)
Time: 10:00 am – 12:00 pm
Location: Koffler Student Services Centre, 214 College St., Room 313

A fun workshop to help families prepare their 9 – 14 year old to be home alone safely. This interactive workshop for parents and their 9 – 14 year olds will help:

• Communicate together
• Find out if their 9 – 14 year old is ready to be home alone
• Increase safety knowledge
• Develop an At Home Alone plan together

Facilitator: Stephanie Forestell, City of Toronto Public Health Nurse

University of Toronto current students, staff, faculty and their families are welcome. Registration required at family.care@utoronto.ca or 416-978-0951 with your child’s name and age

When a child enters your life everything changes and for most new parents it takes quite the effort to adjust to their new lives. In this session, parents will explore the emotional and physical challenges of adapting to parenthood and how to better manage them.

Facilitator: Debra Williams-Conliffe, R.N., MN, Child Health & Development-Early Years, Department of Public Health, City of Toronto

All students, staff, faculty and their partner/spouse are welcome. Registration required.

Learn and practise resilience based coping strategies that can help you and your family regain balance and joy in your daily life!

Caring for a child or a loved one is rewarding, but it also involves many changes and stressors: household and routine disruption, financial pressures as well as, long-term responsibilities.

Caregivers are often vulnerable to a wide range of physical and emotional challenges. Avoiding burnout is ensuring that you have a good balance in all areas of your busy life. In this session, you will:

• Learn how to regulate your schedule and refuel your spirit!
• Find out how to actively prevent burnout, address conflicts, uncover your coping style and reassess your attitude.
• Discover where you invest most of your physical and emotional energy and whether it’s productive.

Facilitator: Anna Wesolinska, M.Ed., is a Gestalt trained psychotherapist with nine years of experience in private practice. Anna works from a model of health, balance and empathy by bringing into awareness the places where we get stuck and our unique ways of getting there. Anna is a member of the Ontario Association of Consultants, Counsellors, Psychometrists and Psychotherapists (OACCPP).

Join us for an educational session to find out about:

• Autism Spectrum Disorders and their common signs
• How to get your child assessed

Facilitator: Margaret Spoelstra, Executive Director of Autism Ontario: A special education teacher by training, she has worked for 35 years with individuals with a variety of exceptional learning needs, but particularly with individuals on the Autism Spectrum. A parent of a child with autism will also speak about the experience of finding supports in the GTA.

Tour the Athletic Centre, learn about opportunities for you and your families to be physically active! The tour will end with a 30 minute session led by a personal trainer. You’ll learn a quick strength building circuit that can be done anywhere with minimal equipment to energize your studies!

What to wear and bring: T-Card, running shoes (closed toe), clothing you can move in, no jeans please. Bring a lock if you’d like to use the change rooms.

Please arrive for the tour dressed for activity.

This workshop will provide insight into the world of children with learning disabilities by addressing early identification, therapeutic supports, and educational options. Participants are invited to send their questions to the presenter ahead of time and/or bring them to the workshop for discussion. By the end of the session you will be able to:

• Recognize some early signs of a learning disability
• Find out how to get your child assessed
• Access information and resources on programs which support children with learning disabilities

Facilitators:
Laura Cheng, M.A., UT Family Resource Centre Co-ordinator, has over ten years of experience working with children with a range of special needs in a variety of settings.
Tracy Whitfield-Sochan, MSW., Disabilities Counsellor and Educator, works at the Learning Disabilities Program Counselling and Development Centre at the York University.