MIT Center for Work Family and Personal Life

Parenting

The Center offers an internationally recognized program of services to support those in the community who are raising children, including biological and adoptive parents, step-parents, guardians, grandparents, extended family and kin, foster parents, or others responsible for children's care.

Coordinated by Rae Simpson, Ph.D., Program Director for Parenting Education and Research, the program includes many resources for families, including:

Seminars
Attend free noontime workshops on parenting topics, such as discipline for preschoolers, helping with homework, advocating for special needs children, raising bilingual children, choosing schools, the gifted child, the teen years, divorce, raising African American children, adoption, gay and lesbian families, and many more. Check the seminar calendar for current listings and registration information.

Discussion Groups
Join an ongoing discussion group co-sponsored by the Center, such as Adoptive Parents at MIT, Infant and Parent, and Toddlers and Parents. For a listing of current groups, click here.

Consultations
Meet with Rae Simpson, Ph.D. for a confidential consultation to talk over any parenting issue, such as discipline, separation and divorce, adolescence, multicultural issues, schooling, giftedness, special needs, and more. Consultations, typically one hour in length, are by appointment, free of charge, and open to members of the MIT community only. Call 617-253-1592, or e-mail us.

Referrals
Ask the Center for information on a wide range of Institute-based and community programs and services, such as schools, enrichment programs, mental health services, and more. Call 617-253-1592, or e-mail us to inquire about how we can help you find the resources you need. Open to members of the MIT community only.

Lending Library
Browse books from the Center's lending library, which includes a wide range of books on parenting issues, including adolescence, balancing work and family, child development, discipline, schooling and education, divorce, special needs, expectant and new parenthood, and others. The collection is continually updated, and members of the MIT community are welcome to suggest new titles. Open to members of the MIT community only.

Research Reports
Download a copy of Rae Simpson's report, Raising Teens: A Synthesis of Research and a Foundation for Action, funded by the MacArthur Foundation and published by the Harvard School of Public Health. Individual printed copies are available to members of the MIT community upon request.