Who am I?

• a parent educator and children’s teacher for Bellevue College Parent Education Program, where I teach parents, and also teach music and STEM enrichment to children from birth to age 8 (current classes include Eastgate Co-op and Family Inventor’s Lab)
• a childbirth educator for Great Starts at Parent Trust for Washington Children and former doula
• co-author of Pregnancy, Childbirth, and the Newborn: The Complete Guide and Simple Guide to Having a Baby
• a social worker, with 5 years experience working with people facing terminal illness, then 25+ years with people who are birthing and caring for young ones
• a curriculum designer – I created birth education lesson plans that are used by Great Starts instructors to serve over 1500 families a year, and topic guides for parent support groups that were used by facilitators for PEPS to serve over 2000 families a year. I am currently creating resources for parent educators, and lesson plans for preschool STEM enrichment.
• a program manager – I’ve managed a childbirth education program with over 30 employees that served 2000 families a year at multiple hospitals and community sites and a program that provided support groups for over 1800 families per year, I’ve run a week-long online family camp for 170 people ranging from 4 – 84 years old.
• a board member – I have served on the boards of The Kineo School, Northlake Unitarian Universalist Church, Eastside Preparatory School and Eliot Institute.
• an alumna of Brandeis University (BA in Sociology), University of Washington (MSW), and Bastyr University (certificate in Spirituality, Health, and Medicine)
• a dance researcher – I co-wrote Western Dance 1450 – 1650 and The Old Measures: 1570 – 1675, about dances from Renaissance Italy and Elizabethan England.
• a cancer survivor for decades and a leg amputee (for tips on handling phantom pain, see this article)
• a ukulele player – check out my Beginner Ukulele video tutorials
• a mom to a 31 year old, a 27 year old , and a 13 year old

Current Online Projects:

• More Good Days with Kids. Includes:
  • a blog for parents: research, resources & realistic recommendations about kids age 1 to 7
  • a collection of handouts and resources for childcare providers, preschool teachers and parent educators who work with families with kids from birth to 7
• Inventors of Tomorrow. Lesson plans for STEM enrichment classes for ages 3 to 7 – include experiments, songs, book lists, and crafts.
• Transition to Parenthood. It has a podcast for expectant parents and a large collection of resources for childbirth educators, including handouts, class outlines, and interactive class activities.
• More Good Days with Babies – a website for parents with a few articles on breastfeeding and newborn care
• And… this site, which is where I put things that don’t fit on those other sites! For example, in 2020, I wrote a lot about how to use Zoom and teach classes online. I also have a guide for those seeking out representation of diverse identities in the media.

To contact me, email blogs at janelledurham.com. Note: I do not accept guest posts on any of my blogs. I am the sole author of the content on all of the blogs.