Parents looking for a smarter way to parent their young children once again will be able to get step-by-step, in-person help, during a new, free four-part workshop series developed by the Talaris Institute and presented at Swedish Issaquah.

The workshop series, “Parenting Counts,” covers four areas of children’s social and emotional development and why they are critical to children’s success in academics and in life.

The series is designed for expecting parents and those with children from newborns to age 5.

The workshop leader is Kerry Beymer, who manages parenting support and education for Encompass. A parent educator for 16 years, Beymer is a certified “Parenting Counts” educator and trained in a variety of national, evidence-based parenting programs.

The series runs from 6-8 p.m. Oct. 1, Oct. 8, Oct. 15 and Oct. 22, all Mondays, at Swedish Issaquah, 751 N.E. Blakely Drive, in the Issaquah Highlands.

The series is free with online registration at www.encompassnw.org. Parents can enroll for individual workshops or the series. For more info, contact Kerry Beymer at 425-888-2777 or kerry.beymer@encompassnw.org.

Topics for the workshops are:

Monday, Oct. 1: “Nurture vs. Nature: How Children Develop”

Monday, Oct. 8: “Emotion Coaching: How Children Feel and Connect”

Monday, Oct. 15: “Exploring Play: How Children Think and Learn”

Monday, Oct. 22: “Language for a Lifetime: How Children Communicate”