Hello, YIS parents and staff members!

On Saturday, 16 March, YIS will be hosting a new event ~ Nourish: The First Annual Conference on Well-Being.

This will be a half-day conference, running from 9:00 a.m. until 12:30 p.m. at which we will explore topics of interest to parents, students and staff at our school.  The common thread running throughout the morning will be about nourishing ourselves and our family members; we will focus on moving towards greater wellness of mind, spirit and body.

The opening session will begin at 9:00 a.m. in the Loft and we will then move into smaller workshops in classrooms. Each participant will be able to choose two workshops to attend.

Here are descriptions of the workshops:

1. Bilingualism: What you can do to get the most out of bilingualism (Eliza Kumamoto)
We will explore:
• what does bilingualism mean to you?
• different types of bilingualism
• how do languages affect personal, social, emotional life?
• what can parents do to foster bilingualism at home?
*Please note that participants will have an opportunity to ask their questions in Japanese

2. Brain Food: The ideas and images we feed our thoughts (Damien Pitter)
You are what you eat, or so the story goes.  We think a lot about what we eat, balancing taste and nutrition.  But we are much more than what we eat.  We are what we consume.  We are also what we read, what we watch, what we listen to.  These things we consume are the food for our thoughts.  In this session we will consider popular music, television, books, magazines, media and internet sites and services; we will ask whether they are nutritious and help our thinking to grow, or if they appeal to our immediate tastes, but come at a high cost in the long run.

3. Buffy vs Bella: Raising Girls to Thrive in a Vampire World (Monna McDiarmid)
By comparing and contrasting popular culture figures Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Bella Swan from the Twilight series, we will examine how girls can develop a healthy sense of self-worth.

4. Body Image: A Family Approach (Monna McDiarmid)
Where do our ideas and stereotypes about bodies come from? How do we pass these ideas along to our children? Is there a healthier framework for thinking about our bodies and the bodies of others?

5. What’s on your plate? My Plate replaces My Pyramid – New Dietary Guidelines (Meg Kamei & Keiko Inaba)
a) To make it easier for parents to figure out how to feed their kids nutritious, balanced meals, we’ll introduce an easy-to-follow food guideline called My Plate
b) What’s good for your children? by Ms. Keiko Inaba, Zest Catering Nutritionist.

6. Family First Aid (Meg Kamei)
Topics include how to treat fever, diarrhea, vomiting, burns, when to call a doctor, and how to call an ambulance in Japanese.

7. Intentional Parenting (Adam Clark)
The first component of this session will focus on a culturally infused examination/explanation of Diana Baumrind’s Authoritative, Authoritarian, and Permissive Parenting Style Model. The second component of this session will be to discuss real-life 21st century intercultural parenting challenges, and what this model has to offer us in the present. The third component of this session will be to identify specific take-away ideas that we can build into our approach to parenting and interacting with our children.

8. Family Recreation: Playing together in different contexts (Adam Clark)
Tap into your playful spirit and come away inspired about how you can create more play in your family life between you, your spouse, and your children.

9. Mindfulness: Nourishing our bodies and minds (Michelle Vogel from NIST)
This session will explore what is causing stress for your teen and how this impacts them physically and emotionally, as well as their ability to learn. Participants will have the opportunity to engage in easily accessible practices that can be used to help their teen develop mindfulness strategies that enable them effectively cope with stress.

10. Finding Balance in your Life as a Parent in the year 2013 (Brenda Manfredi from NIST)
• The Risks of Parenting While Plugged In
• Pushing VS Nurturing Our Children
• Using Exercise to Promote Balance and Positive Family Interactions
• Creating More Time with Your Children

Conference Sign-up:
Space is limited to 50 participants, so please sign up by sending an email to bryani@yis.ac.jp. The deadline for signing up for the conference is Monday, 4 March.

Workshop Sign-up:
Registered participants will receive the workshop sign-up survey on Tuesday, 5 March.

We look forward to learning with you.

Sincerely,

Eliza Kumamoto, Adam Clark and Monna McDiarmid
Counselors at Yokohama International School