The family is the cornerstone of a healthy community. Virginia Cooperative Extension strives to improve the well-being of Virginia families through programs that help put researchbased knowledge to work in people’s lives. Family and Consumer Sciences educators help Virginians learn to make good choices for themselves and their families. This, in turn, strengthens their communities and the state.

As family and consumer science educators, we known that the family is the cornerstone of a healthy community. Virginia Cooperative Extension strives to improve the well-being of Virginia families through programs that put research-based knowledge to work in people’s lives.

Learn how to identify, understand, and shrink your stress through use of the five mini-video clips that discuss five area of stress.

Intergenerational programs are most effective when facilitators skillfully stage the environment to promote interaction. Successful programs carefully design the physical space, the program, and related policies to be flexible. When the environment has been carefully designed to optimize small-group interaction, it serves to guide children and adults to explore and interact within it, thereby increasing learning and socialization.

Intergenerational programs are most effective when adaptive equipment is used as appropriate. There is a chance that clients in an intergenerational program will need adaptive equipment. The primary reason to consider adaptive equipment is to remove barriers to participation. Examples of adaptive equipment include pencil holders for slip resistance, magnifying glasses or digital projectors for better viewing, and chair supports or lifts for improved positioning. This equipment is often essential to engagement in the activity and with an intergenerational partner.

Facilitators document and communicate experiences to build on in future activities. Documentation starts with careful observation, then evolves into a display of learning processes. Documentation has grown in popularity as a way to review children’s work at various stages of completion. Photographs, work samples, transcripts of conversations, and comments accompany the display. This documentation is then shared with parents as well as discussed among teachers.

Today’s young adults are delaying marriage and parenthood while extending their stay at home and in school.

Adolescence is the transition stage between childhood and adulthood (age 12-19). There are many bodily changes and social and emotional changes.

We tend to focus on the negative aspects of aging. Many of those are the exceptions, not the rule.

Bullying is when a child is the target of repeated negative actions by someone else.

El acoso escolar o intimidación ocurre cuando un niño es el blanco de acciones hirientes una y otra vez por alguien más.

Infants are naturally curious.

No two Infants are exactly alike. Parents wonder if their baby is “normal.” Average developmental ages can vary by as much as six months from one child to the next.

The brain is just waiting to receive and connect signals to form the kind of person the infant will become.

Infants “talk” through actions and sounds.They experiment with noises and objects.

Being able to wait their turn, not throwing a difficult puzzle across the room in frustration, and staying in bed at night are all behaviors that children must learn.

A los 2 años, los niños miden casi la mitad de lo que medirán de adultos.

The thinking processes of 5- to 8-year-olds are getting more complex. They no longer see their parents as the sole authority.

Nine out of 10 teenagers don’t get into trouble.

Stress comes in many forms. There are normal and predictable stressors, such as a new job, getting married, or moving.

Life expectancy has increased dramatically in the past 100 years: 1 in every 8 Americans is age 65 or older. For most, this means an increase in the number of healthy years. Chronological age differs from biological age. How will you age? What do you know about care options? Will you be responsible for others as they age?

Los adolescentes a menudo desconciertan a los adultos, pero nueva evidencia científica ayuda a entenderlos mejor a medida que se convierten en adultos jóvenes.

Every child develops at a different rate. The first five years are very important learning years because the brain is forming concepts that will last a lifetime. A preschooler’s brain grows so fast! Using the preschool years to prepare children for school is very important.