Pre-teen, Teen and Parent Classes

The Pre-Teen, Teen, and Parent classes at Stanford Medicine Children’s Health are designed to help families learn about important topics during adolescence and prepare to address changes during adolescent years from early puberty to right before college send-offs. We offer a broad spectrum of classes taught by our skilled instructors.

The Chat

Building upon our programming previously called Heart to Heart, we are now offering The Chat. Our classes discuss puberty, sexuality, communication, and decision-making in an informative, humorous, and lively manner. The Chat classes are intended for a preteen 10-12 years old and a grown up to attend together. Our goal is to create opportunities for families to engage with each other and grow in the experience of talking about these topics while honoring and respecting families’ traditions and beliefs. Our curriculum reflects national standards in both virtual and in-person formats, and are accessible to boys, girls and gender-expansive youth.

The Chat In-person and The Chat Virtual mirror each other. They both share the same content and curriculum, and both are offered to all genders, together in the same space.

The Chat In-Person

Two 2-hour Sessions

First Session

  • An introduction to the puberty experience for every body including body odor, pimples, hair, growth, and voice changes.
  • What most girls experience in puberty including breasts, periods, masturbation, self-concept.
  • What most boys experience in puberty including erections, ejaculation, masturbation and self-concept.

Second Session

  • How our brains change during puberty.
  • Exploration of emotional regulation, decision-making, healthy conversations with family and friends, crushes, and consent.
  • Being sexual, sexual reproduction, healthy relationships, and sexual decision-making.

Register for The Chat In-Person: Menlo Park

Register for The Chat In-Person: Campbell

The Chat Virtual

Five 45-minute Workshops

#1 Is Puberty Weird?
 An introduction to the puberty experience for every body including body odor, pimples, hair, growth, gender, and voice changes.

#2 Body Basics
 What most girls experience in puberty including breast development, periods, masturbation, and self-concept.

#3 More Body Basics
 What most boys experience in puberty including erections, ejaculation, masturbation, and self-concept.

#4 Crushes, Consent and Other Conversations
 How our brains change during puberty. Exploration of emotional regulation, decision-making, healthy conversations with family and friends, crushes, and consent.

#5 Our Sexual Selves
 Being sexual, sexual reproduction, healthy relationships, and sexual decision-making.

Register for The Chat Virtual

Please review the The Chat FAQ’s >

For additional information about the The Chat program, including a mission statement and goals, please visit www.greatconversations.com.

Staying Close While Standing Back - The Art and Science of Parenting Adolescents

For ALL grownups - parents, grandparents, caregivers, coaches, and teachers - who love, support, and care about preteens/teens, looking for new ideas for everyday conversations.

Conversations are the building blocks within a family to share ideas, sharpen our edges, build trust, problem-solve, gather information, argue our point, and share our stories. Family conversations can be intense and heated or spoken in whispers - they can last seconds or days - and end with a slammed door, a sigh, or a hug. Each one shapes part of who we are as a family and as individuals. During this parent talk, Julie Metzger will give parents an opportunity to consider strategies to strengthen family communication with adolescents.

This seminar is offered periodically throughout the year. If there are no dates listed on the registration page, please subscribe here to stay notified when registration becomes available.

Register for Staying Close While Standing Back

Mothers of Sons

A parent talk just for mothers of sons facilitated by Julie Metzger, founder of Great Conversations. This parent talk gives moms a unique opportunity to explore their relationship with their son while answering some of the questions around their son's physical, emotional, social development. Julie will be joined by Peter Metzger MD, a pediatrician with Pediatrics Northwest in Tacoma, WA.

This seminar is offered periodically throughout the year. If there are no dates listed on the registration page, please subscribe here to stay notified when registration becomes available.

Register for Mothers of Sons

Dads of Daughters

Dads! There is nothing quite like being a dad of a daughter. Becoming more aware of what your preteen/teen daughter is experiencing physically, socially, emotionally, and cognitively will give you tools to support and communicate more confidently. This parent talk will be facilitated by Julie Metzger, founder of Great Conversations.

This seminar is offered periodically throughout the year. If there are no dates listed on the registration page, please subscribe here to stay notified when registration becomes available.

Register for Dads of Daughters

Smart Sendoffs: Off-to-College Health Guidance for Students and Their Parents

Trained adolescent health experts will lead college-bound high school seniors and their parents together in interactive learning and discussion, covering important health issues that may arise during the college years. Emphasis is on encouraging communication between parents and teens and preparing for a healthy and manageable transition to life on a college campus.

The program will cover the following topics:

  • Stress and stress management
  • Mental health, including depression and eating disorders
  • Understanding harmful substances and strategies to stay safe
  • Healthy relationships and sexual health

This seminar is offered during the summertime only, as high school seniors prepare for college. If there are no dates listed on the registration page, please subscribe here to stay notified when registration becomes available.

Register for Smart Sendoffs

For more information

If you want to be notified when additional Adolescent class offerings are available for registration, please subscribe below.

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For more information about our programs and online registration, contact us: LPCHCommunityClass@stanfordchildrens.org