Calm & Connected Podcast, Families
Janine Halloran
Helping Kids with Friendships and Social ...

Have you noticed social skills missing in your kids? Caroline Maguire, author of Why Will No One Play With Me?, joins me to discuss how to support your child and build them up through play.

Here’s some of the areas we cover:


Calm & Connected Podcast, Families
Janine Halloran
A Conversation about School Readiness with ...

The transition to preschool to elementary school can be such an anxious time for both parents and for the children. There’s a lot of unknowns to get them ready for and sometimes we think there’s lots we have to do to prepare them for starting. Today we discuss what you can do to help reduce anxiety for your little one with nursery practitioner, Caroline Allen. 

In this episode they discuss:


Calm & Connected Podcast, Families
Janine Halloran
Bullying in Middle School Through the Lens of a ...

Sexual assault and harassment, sadly happens in schools on a too regular basis, whether that’s happening peer to peer or even between teacher to student. We hope our children never have to experience this. Knowing how to parent our children to take ownership of their bodies, so they know how to say no is key. We discuss how to navigate through abuse, bullying, harassment so they can get help is just as vital.  

In this episode, I speak with Meghan Joyce Tozer, author of the critically acclaimed novel Night, Forgotten and her annotated middle school diary, UnSlut: A Diary and a Memoir, which she wrote under the pen name Emily Lindin. 

The topics we cover in this episode are:

Bullying in Middle School Through the Lens of a Middle School Diary and Memoir
Calm & Connected Podcast, Families
Janine Halloran
Introduction to Montessori Philosophy with ...

Have you ever considered a different educational style for your children besides the conventional method? If so, perhaps you have heard of the Montessori method. It is based on self-directed activity, hands-on learning and collaborative play. In Montessori classrooms children make creative choices in their learning, while the classroom and the highly trained teacher offer age-appropriate activities to guide the process. In this episode, I spoke to Montessori Home Consultant, Jeanne-Marie Paynel about the benefits of this education style. 

The topics we cover in this episode are:

Introduction to Montessori Philosophy with Jeanne-Marie Paynel
Calm & Connected Podcast, Families
Janine Halloran
Building Connections with Kids Through Play ...

When was the last time you had a dedicated playtime with your child? Life gets so busy so we can’t blame parents for not being able to squeeze this in-between school, dinnertime, sports or dance at the weekend but it is vital to a child’s development. Kim Feeney is the guest on this episode, she is a licensed independent social worker and a registered play therapist supervisor. I wanted to discuss playtime with her and how to build a connection with your child. 

The topics we cover in this episode are:

Building Connections with Kids Through Play with Kim Feeney

empathy

Random Acts of Kindness for Families

Random Acts of Kindness for Families

I love Random Acts of Kindness. I think it first started when I heard about what a local girl scout troop had done, completing Random Acts of Kindness. I loved the idea, and integrated it into some groups I was working with at the time. Recently, I’ve been doing acts of kindness with my family. Sometimes it can be overwhelming to try and think of a random act of kindness to complete. Here are several simple ideas to get you started. There are also websites where you can look for tons of other ideas for acts of kindness.

Taking Someone Else's Perspective - A Lesson with LEGO® Bricks

Taking Someone Else's Perspective - A Lesson with LEGO® Bricks

Do you all remember THE dress from earlier this year that blew up on the internet? I actually thought it was quite an interesting social commentary. It was fascinating to me that some people couldn’t understand that someone else could really see the dress as a different color. And were adamant in insisting they were right, while the other people were wrong.

(By the way - I saw white and gold, what did you see?)

RAK: Gifts for Dance Class

RAK: Gifts for Dance Class

My daughter loves to dance, and for years she kept asking if she could take lessons. Finally, when she was in Kindergarten I signed her up for a local tap, jazz and ballet class. I found a great small business that was right around the corner from us. This place seemed perfect! The teacher, Ms. Amy,  is wonderful and she sets a very relaxed and welcoming atmosphere. She even keeps extra tap and ballet shoes we can use. It’s so thoughtful. We’ve been going ever since. The classes are small, and both years the dance teacher’s daughter has been in my daughter’s class. The teacher and I have become friendly over time, chatting about our kids, schools, etc.

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