CHARLES
SMITH
Professor, family studies and human services
State human development specialist, K-State Research and Extension
Charles
Smith works hard to get information out to parents across the
state of Kansas and the nation to aid in raising their children.
As the state human development specialist with Kansas State
University Research and Extension, Smith designs, distributes
and evaluates non-credit educational programs for use with parents
and children in communities across the state and nation.
He was team leader in the development of "The National Extension Parent Education Model," which is used across the country as a national model of parent education in extension systems. The authors were challenged to create a national consensus based on what they hoped others would find as common ground; the book provides a comprehensive framework for creating parent education programs.
Smith is a former president of the Kansas Governor's Commission on Education for Parenthood and a recipient of the Celebrate the Family National Award from Pennsylvania State University. Smith is a member and cofounder of the Parent Education Association of Kansas. He conducts workshops across the country on Basic Parenting, Responsive Discipline, and Caringworks, a program on the development of conscience in children. Smith also maintains an award-winning informative Web site, "The WonderWise Parent," http://www.ksu.edu/wwparent/
He received his bachelor's degree in psychology from the University of Dayton, and both his master's and doctorate in child development from Purdue University. He joined K-State in July 1978. Smith previously worked as a preschool teacher, social worker and play therapist, in addition to serving as the director of the Texas Tech Child Development Center.
Smith has written many publications, including "The Peaceful Classroom: 165 Activities for Young Children on Friendship, Compassion, Cooperation and Kindness," which has been published in five languages in addition to English: Chinese, Czech, German, Hebrew and Polish, and won the Ben Franklin Award from the Publisher's Marketing Association. Smith's other publications include "From Wonder to Wisdom: Using Stories to Help Children Grow" and "Promoting the Social Development of Young Children." He also has written many extension publications at K-State, including those on Anger Management, Developmental Milestones, Self-Esteem, Informal Helping Skills, Grandparenting and Effective Discipline. Smith has also published the Encyclopedia of Parenting Research and Therapy, 1999, and "Raising Courageous Kids: Eight Steps to Practical Heroism," June 2004.
He received the 1999 Faculty Extension Excellence Award for the College of Human Ecology at K-State and the National Career Achievement Award for Outstanding Contributions by an Extension Specialist in 1997.
Smith can be reached at 785-532-1946 or by e-mail at casmith@k-state.edu.