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Becoming a Better Parent
Free Parenting Classes in January 2026
Lori Garcia, Stake Communications Director (Hodge Park Ward)
The Liberty Missouri Stake of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints will host free parenting classes from Dr. Christi Bergin (Liberty Ward) in January 2026 at the stake center, 6751 Northeast 70th Street, Kansas City, MO. The series of classes will be held on Sundays, January 18 and 25, from 5-7 pm and are intended for both husbands and wives to attend together. The aim is to help parents become better equipped to raise capable, competent children and to find success in child rearing.
Organizers ask participants to RSVP and encourage those of and not of our faith to attend.
Bergin earned her EdS and PhD in child development from Stanford University and is an
Emerita Professor at the University of Missouri (Columbia). She currently is the director of the Prosocial Development and Education Research Lab. In the past, she has held various professional positions such as Associate Dean for Research and Innovation at MU, Vice Chair of the National Committee for High Risk Youth, and Chair of the Social-emotional Development Research Group of the American Educational Research Association.
Becoming a Better Parent
Jan 18, 2026
Lecture 1: Raising Emotionally Healthy Children
Parents want their children to be happy most of the time and able to handle the occasional anger or sadness that mark the journey to adulthood. Unfortunately, research shows that children today are substantially more anxious and depressed than earlier generations. This social trend is not inevitable. In this workshop you will learn that while you don’t have to be a “super” parent, there are a few parenting practices that promote emotional health in children.
Lecture 2: Teaching Children Self-Control and Using Effective Discipline
How can parents influence their children to adopt appropriate values? How can parents help their children develop self-control so that they make good choices when away from their parents? The answer to both these questions involves the discipline approaches that parents use. Children acquire value systems and learn self-control during discipline encounters. Parents can foster rebellion in children, despite having their best interests at heart, by approaching discipline in a negative way. Effective discipline helps children learn to make appropriate decisions, show respect for adults and rules, cooperate in household chores, and become responsible for managing their own lives as they move from the relative shelter of early childhood into young adulthood. This workshop will provide parents with the tools to manage their children’s behavior in the here-and-now, but also promote their children’s self-control over the long run.
Jan 25, 2026
Lecture 3: Raising Kind, Helpful, Likable Children
Parents want their children to be kind, polite, helpful, and not aggressive. Each child is born with the capability of developing Christ-like attributes of kindness and compassion, or of developing aggression. Parents can influence this development. Parents also want their children to be well-liked by others. The extent to which children are kind, rather than aggressive, influences whether others like them, and whether their friendships are helpful or harmful. Thus, when parents improve their children’s social competence, they are also helping their children develop positive friendships. In this workshop parents will learn how to help children become kinder to others, including siblings.
Lecture 4: Enjoying Living with Teenagers
Many people view teens as moody, delinquent, and hard to manage. This can be true. Yet teenagers are also joyful, creative, passionate about humanitarian causes, and deeply spiritual. Having teenagers in the home can be the most delightful era of parenting. Whether the teen years are dreadful or delightful depends partly on the parent-child relationship. This workshop will give parents the tools to increase the odds that their teens will fare well. Topics that are pertinent to any age, but emerge as particularly important in the teens – such as self-esteem, a good work ethic, spiritual commitment – will be addressed.