header

Background, awards and personal notes


	“ I’ve always believed that parents want short, clear, practical answers to their questions about children. They want information they can USE, not study! Like today’s busy parents, teachers need useful ideas and advice about kids that they can apply quickly and effectively. That’s why I share concise, valid information with parents and teachers through all avenues of media. I’m considering putting a blog on this site to further expand our options for communication.”

Evelyn Petersen is an award-winning parenting columnist and child and family advocate. Her parenting advice is based on sound child development principles and field experience, as well as personal experience; she’s a mother of four, a grandmother and a great grandmother. Petersen’s advice can be humorous or challenging, but it’s always “nuts and bolts” practical.

Petersen is a consultant, an early childhood educator, the author of eight books and 12 parenting brochures, and the producer of three parenting videos and three education training videos. Evelyn’s weekly Parent Talk and Teen Talk columns were carried on the Detroit Free Press for eleven years and on the Knight Ridder Tribune Wire to papers across the U.S. for 20 years. Currently her column appears in the Traverse City Michigan Record Eagle. Petersen also gives online advice through The National Parenting Center (www.tnpc.com) where she has been a member of the expert panel since 1992.

Ms. Petersen holds degrees in Child Development Family Life and Early Education from both Purdue and Central Michigan Universities. Throughout 45 years of teaching, she’s worked with children, parents and teachers from pre-school to post-graduate levels. She has done in depth training and federal compliance reviews for teachers and parents in hundreds of early childhood and Head Start programs in 30 states and 16 Tribal Nations, including Alaska and Hawaii.

Evelyn was a charter member of the Michigan State Board for the Prevention of Child Abuse, and was honored by the MI State legislature for her positive parenting columns. Ms. Petersen was also a regular feature writer for the “Children and Families” magazine, the journal for the National Head Start Association, for five years. She was the National Spokesperson for Hasbro-Milton Bradley’s “Family Game Night” during a four-year campaign.

Ms. Petersen’s parenting videos address the questions most often asked by parents about young children, school age children and teens. Her education training videos include “Effective Home Visits,” “Positive Guidance,” and Individualizing – You Can Do It”. These videos have been used by parents, educators, school districts, Tribal nations and Head Start programs in every state and in Canada.

Petersen’s books include the textbook “A Practical Guide to Early Childhood Curriculum” (2nd ed) and “1,2,3 Blocks,” as well as a series of books for parents of young children that won a “Parents’ Choice” Recommended Seal Award in 1998.

Evelyn Petersen teaches early childhood online courses for Bay Mills Community College. She can be reached online at evelynpetersen@yahoo.com or call 800-248-4213.