Be Your Child’s Champion: Training Guide for Professionals
Internal Agenda Guide – 120 minute Workshop
Title of Workshop: Be Your Child’s Champion: Training Guide for Professionals
Anticipated Training Outcomes:
 Participants will identify actions and strategies they can employ to assist family
members to use the Be Your Child's Champion workbook to identify conflicts related
to raising their child and problem solving.
 Participants will understand the components of the conflict identification and
problem solving process of the Be Your Child's Champion workbook.
Description: Learn how to use the "Be Your Child's Champion" workbook to help families identify
conflicts and engage in a healthy problem-solving process to build supports and strengthen
relationships related to raising their child. Become familiar with strategies to use when assisting
families to become advocates for their child, and how professionals can support families through
this process.
Training Date:
Training Folder Content Recommendations:
 Be Your Child’s Champion guidebook
 Be Your Child’s Champion: Training Guide for
Professionals PowerPoint Presentation
 Be Your Child’s Champion Worksheets
Needed Materials/Handouts/AV/room set-up:
 Laptop and projector
 Screen and power supply
 PowerPoint for Be Your Child’s Champion: Training Guide
for Professionals
 Folders with training materials (Process Guides, Be Your
Child’s Champion Worksheets)
 Be Your Child’s Champion guide for each participant
 Microphone for facilitator(s)
Training Location:
© Be Your Child’s Champion, 2014
Scheduled
Time
15 minutes
Objective
Introduce and familiarize
participants with Be Your Child’s
Champion.
Identify how Be Your Child’s
Champion supports family
members in the identification of
conflict and how participants
can provide support during the
problem solving process.
Family members sharing their story
provides context for participants. For
professionals, the family member acts as an
“anchor” during the workshop. For other
family members, this person may act as a
relatable role model.
Activity and Process
SLIDE 1
Welcome and Introduction
 Introduction of Facilitators
SLIDE 2

Review of Agenda, Objectives and Materials provided
Needed
Materials/Handouts/AV
 PowerPoint for Be Your
Child’s Champion:
Training Guide for
Professionals
 Slides 1-7
 Be Your Child’s
Champion guidebook
 Be Your Child’s
Champion overview
During this training, we will learn how to use the Be Your Child’s
Champion workbook to help families identify conflicts and engage in
a healthy problem-solving process to build supports and strengthen
relationship related to raising their child.
Through understanding the components of conflict identification and
problem solving, we will become familiar with strategies to use when
assisting families to become advocates for their child, and how we as
professionals can support families through this process.
SLIDE 3
Family Member, In My Own Words (optional)
SLIDE 4
Overview of Be Your Child’s Champion
History of Be Your Child’s Champion
 Created in 2010 through a partnership between the PA
Office of Child Development and Early Learning and the PA
Key, Be Your Child’s Champion was the result of a
conversation between two employees, who were also
parents. Mary Hall and Sarah Holland realized that having
difficult conversations on behalf of their children might be
much easier if they had a simple process of preparing for a
difficult conversation. Together, they identified an outline of
© Be Your Child’s Champion, 2014
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the process for preparing for the conversation that included
a series of questions to use to keep the conversation on
track and productive, and a way to record what might
happen after the conversation. Be Your Child’s Champion
was born.
The initial distribution of Be Your Child’s Champion began in
2010 as a resource through Community Engagement Groups
in each county throughout Pennsylvania. These groups
consisted of community partners who had outreach to
families in early learning programs, schools, libraries, and
other community-based programs and services, like teen
parenting and Early Intervention programs.
In 2011, the PPT, How to Use Be Your Child’s Champion (for
professionals), was created to help professionals introduce
Be Your Child’s Champion to families. It was also made
available in PDF on the PA’s Promise for Children website
(www.papromiseforchildren.com).
SLIDE 5



In 2013, Be Your Child’s Champion was one of several
resources provided to ReadyNation visitors from Uganda,
Brazil and Netherlands.
Several family and professional groups have participated in
orientations on how to use Be Your Child’s Champion,
including:
o Early Learning Program Family workshops (2011+)
o Early Intervention professional & family workshops
(2012+)
o Strengthening Families (2012)
o The Pregnant & Parenting Teens: Education
Leading to Employment and Career Training
(ELECT) (2013)
o Early Childhood Education Summit Session (2013)
o Berks Early Care and Education Council (2014)
Over 50,000 copies of Be Your Child’s Champion have been
distributed throughout Pennsylvania.
© Be Your Child’s Champion, 2014
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SLIDE 6
What’s unique about Be Your Child’s Champion
 It provides a guide through the four parts of having a
conversation: My Thoughts, Our Conversation, My
Reflections, and Next Steps.
 Helps families identify what is the true issue, or “root of
concern” and specifically how it affects their child.
 Helps families move past emotions they may have, and into
how the situation impacts their child.
 Keeps the focus that the child is the primary and shared
concern within the situation.
 It contains four different situations with tips: Child Care
Provider, Healthcare Professional, Another Family, and the
Importance of Quality Child Care.
 Provides a scenario for each part so families can see how
someone else handles a situation.
 It contains questions or phrases to get families started, as
well as a place for them to fill in their response.
 Additional worksheets are available that align with Be Your
Child’s Champion.
 It includes Pennsylvania-specific supports and resources.
Be Your Child’s Champion today
 Electronic copies of Be Your Child’s Champion and the
worksheets can be found on the PA’s Promise for Children
website (www.papromiseforchildren.com)
 Hard copies of Be Your Child’s Champion can be ordered
through Child Core Publishing
(www.childcorepublishing.com)
SLIDE 7
The different scenarios allow families to see an example of a difficult
situation and how a family member may have handled the situation.
Each scenario demonstrates a relatable real-life situation in which
there is a conflict, a process for resolving the conflict, and a guide to
prepare for resolving the conflict in a productive manner.
© Be Your Child’s Champion, 2014
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John addresses a concern about his daughter with their
child care provider.
Angie addresses a concern about her son with his healthcare
professional.
Latish and Dan address a concern about their son with a
friend’s family.
Rose shares with her mother about why the decision for
quality child care is so important.
Sarah shares with a community leader her thoughts about
the impact quality early learning has made for her family.
Although these scenarios engage a particular type of individual (child
care providers, healthcare professional, etc.), it should be noted that
the phrases or prompt statements can be used in any situation, with
any individual, to address any concern.
Families are encouraged to take the workbook with them when they
begin the conversation so they can reference what they’ve written.
Additional worksheets are available on the PA’s Promise for Children
website (www.papromiseforchildren.com).
20 minutes
Identify the qualities or traits
needed to support family
members through the process
of identifying a challenge.
Make the connection between
the skills & traits necessary to
provide support during a
conflict; what factors can
influence a family’s ability to
resolve conflict; and introduce
why it is helpful to families to
have a tool to resolve conflict.
 PowerPoint slides 8-10
SLIDE 8
Large Group Input & Discussion:
Process
As a large group, the Discussion Lead will guide the process for large
group feedback around two questions, while the Recorder/Critical
Listener records the group feedback on flip chart paper.
Note: Visual recording allows group to focus on responses, provides
a deeper level of feedback, and allows an opportunity to refer back
to responses throughout the training. The Discussion Lead and
Recorder/Critical Listener may switch roles for each question.
Question #1
What qualities or traits are needed in order to support family
members through a process of identifying a challenge?
© Be Your Child’s Champion, 2014
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Time
Objective
The purpose of Large Group Input &
Discussion is to allow for engaging the
participants early in the training, and
recognizing their skills and knowledge.
Activity and Process
Needed
Materials/Handouts/AV
Possible leading questions to the group:
 Who has the “voice” in the conversations with a family
member? What do we need to do to allow that family
member to have his/her voice?
 How quickly can someone grasp information or be able to
see “something new or different”? What can we do to allow
the family member to explore their thoughts, feelings, or
options?
 Who needs to make the decisions about the situation? What
can we do to support the family member through this
process?
 What do we need to know about ourselves in order to
provide unbiased support to a family?
Examples:
 Be a good listener, allowing the family member to fully
process the situation.
 Have patience to allow the family member to explore their
thoughts, feelings and options.
 Demonstrate a willingness to allow the family member to
make his or her own decision.
 Be an active listener to seek understanding in what the
other person is experiencing, using a reflective process.
 Be authentically empathetic, recognizing what the family
member is experiencing and the difficulty in resolving the
situation.
 Recognize that solutions are possible. (ie. Can provide
hope.)
 Have awareness of the family culture
 Establish a relationship & level of trust with the family
member
 Understand and respect the roles of the individuals involved
 If family member is a teen, understand adolescent growth
and development (physical, cognitive, social/emotional)
 Understand that your role is to provide support, not fix, the
situation with the family.
© Be Your Child’s Champion, 2014
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SLIDE 9
Process
As a large group, the Discussion Lead will guide the process for large
group feedback around two questions, while the Recorder/Critical
Listener records the group feedback on flip chart paper.
Question #2
What factors can influence the ability of family members to be able
to resolve a conflict?
Possible leading questions to the group:
 How do we learn about factors that can influence a family’s
ability to resolve a conflict?
 What might we hear and see when we listen to and watch a
family member’s concerns or situation?
 What might impede a family’s ability to resolve a conflict?
Culture is deeper than race and
ethnicity, and includes attitudes, beliefs and
customs within a group or family.
Examples:
 Emotions the family member may be experiencing.
 The supports available to or needed by the family member,
such as transportation, financial, emotional, etc.
 The knowledge of family member of resources, options, etc.
 Outside pressures, such as conflict of their own parent or
family member, peer pressure, social or religious beliefs and
practices, etc.
 Coping skills and temperament of the family member.
 Positive and negative role models and the family member’s
ability to recognize and use them, or chose a different way.
 Fear of help or change, which can make a family member
feel vulnerable or inadequate.
 Differing communication styles and language barriers.
 Cultural differences and conflict resolutions within that
culture or family.
SLIDE 10
Process
The Discussion Lead should reflect on the responses provided from
© Be Your Child’s Champion, 2014
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the group discussion and should highlight some of the key ideas that
may have come as a result of the large group discussion.
Wrap Up
 The difficulty in resolving conflict is it requires the ability to
have productive communication with the individual(s) that
are at the center of or contributing to the conflict.
 The impact is even stronger when the conflict is around a
child.
 In some instances, the emotions and the conflict can
become magnified.
 This process is hard. The first attempts at resolving conflict
are not always successful and past experiences with
conflicts influence how we presently deal with conflict.
 It is possible to get better at resolving conflict, and at
learning new skills.
 Families can be empowered by going through the conflict
resolution process in Be Your Child’s Champion.
 This process can strengthen a partnership with the family
member through this empowerment.
15 minutes
(Introduction:
5 minutes,
Small Group
Activity: 10
minutes)
Demonstrate a process to use
by families in addressing a
conflict and ways an individual
can assist.
Small Group Activity: Identifying the situation, the emotions related
to the situation and compiling My Thoughts
Introduce Be Your Child’s
Champion as a resource for the
family member to strengthen
their role as a communicator
with others.
Discussion Lead Introduction
Identify the emotions: Before an individual can move beyond anger,
passiveness, etc., it can be helpful to identify what they are feeling.
 Why it is important to identify emotions? Identifying an
emotion can impact how or if the problem solving moves
forward. Recognizing and labeling an emotion can help
provide an individual a level of awareness. It can also help a
family member separate their own emotions and what
happening with the child (i.e. what the conflict is). “It’s not
about me, it’s about my child.”
 What supports or assistance can be provided in identifying
the emotions? Reference the Large Group Feedback Q1
Traits and Qualities needed in order to support family
SLIDE 11
Small groups (3-4 per
group)
 PowerPoint slide
 Work Sheet from Be
Your Child’s Champion
My Thoughts
 Process Guide: My
Thoughts
© Be Your Child’s Champion, 2014
Scheduled
Time
Objective
It is important to stress to participants
that My Thoughts section is the foundation on
which families will build their confidence. It is
this confidence that will carry them
throughout the entire process of
communicating on behalf of their child. It is
also the time that family members can receive
validation from the support person. It is
important that the supporter’s role be to
empower family members.
Activity and Process
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Needed
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members through a process of identifying a challenge. In
addition, working through the questions within My
Thoughts can assist a family member in identifying their
feelings related to their child’s situation.
Are there guidelines or a framework for support as
stipulated by a support person’s organization? Responses
will differ, but participants should consider their own
support situation.
SLIDE 12
Introduction to Activity:
Assign each small group at least one statement within the My
Thoughts section. Participants should identify prompts to use with
the family member. These prompts can help the family member
focus on the situation and identify their response to each statement.
Example:
Statement: What is working well in this situation is ___
Prompt: “Prior to this experience, what did you like about ___?” or
“Is there something positive your child is experiencing?”
My Thoughts is not the time to move to
problem solving, but to empower and
promote self-advocacy of family members. It
is the time to identify emotions, and to
identify the concern of family members so
they can communicate with others.
Statement: My concern is___
Prompt: “I’ve heard you say that ____” or “I hear you’re concerned
about ___.” Or “It sounds like___.”
Participants will:
 Identify what prompts they can provide to the family member
when working through the My Thoughts worksheet.
Activity:
In small groups, participants will (via worksheet):
 Identify what prompts they can provide to the family member
when working through the My Thoughts worksheet.
20 minutes
Share small group wisdom and
reinforce the process outlined
in Be Your Child’s Champion.
Large Group Input & Discussion:
 PowerPoint slide 13
SLIDE 13
© Be Your Child’s Champion, 2014
Scheduled
Time
Objective
Identify specific strategies to
use in building the confidence
of the family member.
Activity and Process
Needed
Materials/Handouts/AV
Optional: Record participant response to allow the group to focus on
the responses, provide a deeper level of feedback, and allow an
opportunity to refer back to responses.
Process
Discussion Lead should guide the participants through the process of
responding to the following:
 What challenges might there be at this stage (My
Thoughts)? Challenges for both the family member AND the
support person?
 As a support person, what prompts or phrased did you
identify that would guide the family member?
 How do you think this would affect the family members’
confidence and understanding of the situation?
 Discuss what resources or strategies to use in helping family
members identify emotions. (Example: writing groups,
journaling, support groups, art groups etc.)

15 minutes
Identify the next steps in
moving past identification and
emotion, to resolution and
problem solving with others
involved in the situation.
Small Group Activity: Our Conversation
SLIDE 14
Discussion Lead Introduction
The next step, after identifying the components with My Thoughts, is
to support or encourage the family member to share the information
to move towards addressing and resolving the situation. It is also a
time for the family member to transition from internal process to an
external, resolution-focused course. The role of the supporter is to
help families understand how to use the information gathered during
My Thoughts while they are having the conversation.
Small groups (3-4 per
group)
 PowerPoint slide 14
 Work Sheet from Be
Your Child’s Champion
Our Conversation
 Process Guide: Our
Conversation
Instruction to Activity
During Our Conversation, families will provide the information they
gathered during My Thoughts, while also asking for input from the
other individual(s). The role of supporting during this process is, prior
to the conversation, help the family member identify strategies the
family member can use to address concerns (as applicable). The
© Be Your Child’s Champion, 2014
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other role is to assist the family member in staying focused on that
identified during My Thoughts.
Before family members begin the
conversation, participants should reassure
them that they have the right to stop the
conversation at any point. Have family
members practice phrases they may want to
use, like “Can we have this conversation at
another time?” or “I need some time to think
about.”
Participants will:
Brainstorm techniques, strategies and suggestions that would be
helpful to provide to family members prior to the conversation so the
family member can remain focused and feel confident during the
conversation. This may include:
 Referring to the family member’s response recorded in the
My Thoughts section of Be Your Child’s Champion
 Taking a picture of their child with them during conversation
 Taking deep breaths
 Asking to take a break from the conversation
Also, consider how the supporter will maintain his/her own role
before, during and after the conversation. This may include:
 Using the questions (During the Conversation), role play or
practice with the family member possible responses or
situations they may encounter during the conversation
 Remind the family member of information they feel is
important to share
 Redirect back to the family member to speak on behalf of
the child (and not the supporter to speak on behalf of the
child)
Activity:
(Refer to My Conversation worksheet) In small groups, participants
will:
 Brainstorm techniques, strategies and suggestions that
would be helpful to provide to family members prior to the
conversation so the family member can remain focused and
feel confident during the conversation.
 Identify how you will maintain your role before, during and
after the conversation.
15 minutes
Share the findings from the
small groups in the next steps in
moving past identification and
emotion to resolution and
SLIDE 15

Power Point Slide 15
Large Group Input & Discussion
© Be Your Child’s Champion, 2014
Scheduled
Time
Objective
problem solving with others
involved in the situation.
13 minutes
Identify methods to support the
family members through the
stage of reflecting on the
conversation and assist the
family member with identifying
next steps needed to resolve or
move forward the conflict.
If the conversation did not go as
planned, participants may need to provide
additional support to family members to help
them recognize there are next steps.
Activity and Process
Needed
Materials/Handouts/AV
Optional: Record participant response to allow the group to focus on
the responses, provide a deeper level of feedback, and allow an
opportunity to refer back to responses.
Process
Discussion Lead should guide the participants through the process of
responding to the following:
 What are the challenges family members and supporters
may encounter during the conversation?
 What techniques, strategies and suggestion would be
helpful to provide to family members prior to the
conversation so family member can remain focused and feel
confident during the conversation?
 Identify the supporter’s role is maintained before, during
and after the conversation. Does this remain the same, or
change?
SLIDE 16
Large Group Input & Discussion: Reflections and Next Steps
Discussion Lead Introduction: Assisting the family member during
Reflections and Next Steps helps reinforce the role as their child’s
advocate. During this time, the supporter can assist the family
member with identifying what was learned or gained by the
conversation, even if the conversation did not go as planned or was
not ‘resolved’. It should be reinforced with the family member that
regardless of the outcome of the conversation, there is always the
opportunity to explore Next Steps. If the conversation did go as
planned, it is still important to reflect what was learned, what
contributed towards the success of the conversation, and reinforce
that the family member can use these skills and techniques in future
conversations.
 PowerPoint slide 16
 Work Sheets from Be
Your Child’s Champion
Reflections and Next
Steps
 Process Guide:
Reflections & Next Steps
Optional: Record participant response to allow the group to focus on
the responses, provide a deeper level of feedback, and allow an
opportunity to refer back to responses.
Process
Discussion Lead should guide the participants through the process of
© Be Your Child’s Champion, 2014
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responding to the following:
 What challenges may family members and supporters
encounter during Reflection and Next Steps? (i.e. difficult
conversations, the conversation not going the way “it
should”, family may not understand the
conversation/outcome, etc.)
 What can the supporter do to assist the family member with
identifying what was learned or gained by the conversation,
regardless if the conversation went as planned?
 How can Next Steps be reinforced or supported?
 How can the supporter reinforce the learned skills and
techniques so the family member can use them in future
conversations?
 Are the provided supports different, depending on the
outcome of the conversation?
5 minutes
Reinforce the key points gained
from supporting family
members during the process of
conflict identification and
resolution using Be Your Child’s
Champion.
SLIDE 17
 Power Point slide 17
Closing
Large Group Input & Discussion
Process
Discussion Lead should guide the participants through the process of
responding to the following:
Lessons learned today: Identify key points from today’s experience.
Examples:
 Be Your Child’s Champion outlines a step-by-step process
that can be taught and supported with family members
 Using Be Your Child’s Champion can help family members
gain confidence in resolving conflicts.
 Support is helpful in assisting family members to use Be
Your Child’s Champion.
2 minutes
Accessing Be Your Child’s
Champion
SLIDE 18
 Power Point Slide 18
Where to access Be Your Child’s Champion
 Electronic copies and additional worksheets can be located
© Be Your Child’s Champion, 2014
Scheduled
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Objective
Activity and Process

Needed
Materials/Handouts/AV
on the PA’s Promise for Children website
(www.papromiseforchildren.com)
Order hard copies of Be Your Child’s Champion at the Child
Core Publishing website (www.childcorepublishing.com)
© Be Your Child’s Champion, 2014