Parent Conferences

Rebuilding Connection: Raising Socially Smart Kids in an Online World

KPR’s 2025 Parent Conference was held on Saturday, September 27! This event was proudly supported by the Parent Involvement Committee.

Celebrated parenting expert, Ann Douglas provided an insightful session, offering many practical, compassionate strategies for helping children and teens build healthy relationships—both online and offline. Some of the key ideas and takeaways from the conference included: 

• Understanding the societal shifts that contribute to disconnection in families and communities.
• Exploring the developmental impact of social media on children and youth across different age groups.
• Empowering parents and caregivers with tools to foster digital literacy, emotional coping strategies, and real-world connection.
• Reimagining community as a source of strength, support, and belonging for families.

The recording of Ann Douglas’ session is now available below:

Everyday Resiliency: Strong Kids and Well Families

Raising resilient children is not a destination; it’s a journey, a journey of learning how to best equip your child and your family to meet life’s inevitable challenges. When children are resilient, they are braver, more curious, more adaptable, and able to extend their reach into the world. In today’s ever-changing landscape, it is crucial for children to develop their personal capacity for resiliency. Join Dr. Robyne for a journey on how families can cultivate resiliency in children and adults through the five pillars of everyday resiliency. This keynote offers families practical tools and strategies to help children face challenges with confidence, optimism, and adaptability—equipping them with skills to be well.

Through Dr. Robyne’s guidance, families will learn actionable ways to foster the social competence, problem-solving skills, self-efficacy, and sense of purpose that are the hallmarks of resilient children and families.

Key Ideas and Takeaways:

• Understand resiliency as a lifelong journey for families
• Discover what helps and hinders resilient practices in children
• Learn to activate the five pillars of everyday resiliency in family life

Keynote by Dr. Robyne Hanley-Dafoe - Expert on Resiliency and Workplace Wellness

Biography of Dr. Robyne Hanley-Dafoe

An educational behaviorist (one of very few in the world) and a globally recognized speaker and scholar, Dr. Robyne Hanley-Dafoe is also your friendly neighborhood scientist who makes life make sense! With a treasure trove of awards and a worldwide following, she's on a mission to empower audiences everywhere with practical strategies for fostering resiliency and making stress your ally, not your enemy.

Hanley-Dafoe embodies her teachings by seamlessly blending real-world realities, rigorous research, and profound wisdom with her own personal journey. A mother of three teenagers, a high school dropout turned respected professor, author, entrepreneur and survivor of a life-altering accident, her life story exemplifies her unwavering dedication of spreading resilience. Hanley-Dafoe proves that it is not just a theory, but a transformative skill set.

Known for her engaging delivery, Hanley-Dafoe crafts experiences that integrate scientific research with inspirational narratives into actionable insights across diverse platforms. Her approachability and relatability shine through, inspiring individuals and organizations to face challenges with confidence.

What is my child’s behaviour telling me?

Kids, pre-teens, and teens all use behaviour to communicate. Learn what your child’s behaviour is telling you and discover strategies to navigate times of transition and to support a successful educational journey.

Watch expert Dr. Jean Clinton’s engaging presentation and Q&A that addresses:

• Self-regulation fatigue: the idea that kids self-regulate all day at school and then come home and unravel.
• How to have meaningful conversations with our kids about their day (instead of just hearing “fine”). 
• What signs of concern should we be looking for? 
• How we can help our kids cope with the behaviours of other kids and what they may be observing around their peers?

The 2022 Annual Parent Conference focused on Building Skills and Resilience in a Supportive Environment of Risk-Taking, featuring keynote speaker Dr. Colin King.

Dr. Colin King's Keynote Presentation offered a practical framework for parents and educators to help students manage their stress and continue to take small risks in their learning.  Participants learned about the opportunities to help students understand the connection between their thoughts, feelings, and behaviours and intentional ways to create flexible, supportive learning expectations and environments for students that build skills and resilience over time.

Dr. Colin King's Presentation

Participants also heard from a panel of educators and professionals about how these skills could be supported at schools and at home. Panelists shared the following resources: 

Equity Diversity and Inclusion Support

Indigenous Education 

Mental Health & Wellbeing

Special Education

Thank you to the 650 parents and caregivers who attended our 20th Annual Virtual Parent Conference October 16, 2021, with keynote speaker Dr. David Templeman! We also thank KPR’s Parent Involvement Committee for once again supporting this conference.

Dr. Templeman graciously agreed to have his presentation recorded for the benefit of those who were not able to join us online at the time of the conference. Watch his practical presentation titled “You’ve Got This! Mental Health After COVID: Getting Back to Normal”

Dr. David Templeman's Presentation