How do we teach our children social and emotional awareness in a fun and play filled way? Eventually our children will become adults so when they walk out into the world, we want them to step into their lives as aware and in control of their emotions as possible.
In this episode we discuss:
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:
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:
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:
I’m so happy to have Nicole Schwartz from Imperfect Families guest posting today. Parenting is an exhausting, tiring job. Sometimes we get trapped into thinking that we need to be perfect parents all the time. The truth is, we all have good moments and bad moments. Nicole has some great guidelines for us to help reset when things don’t go as imagined and be awesome, imperfect parents!
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.
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?)
Summer vacation is coming up for us (only 2 more weeks until school is done!) and I’ve been thinking about how to help the kids get along. Recently, there’s been a lot of picking on each other, and typical sibling squabbles. But my concern is that when they’re both home all day long that it’s going to get a little more intense. I want them to realize that they can enjoy each other’s company and not be combative with one another.
You’ve taken the time to set up a playdate. You found a potential friend, you invited them to play at your house or at a playground and things are going really well. Then, something unexpected happens. Maybe it’s an argument, yelling, or even hitting (eek!!). What do you do?
As you may know, this week is Teacher Appreciation Week. I have always been surrounded by teachers. Both of my parents were educators - my mother was a kindergarten and 1st grade teacher and my dad was a teacher and administrator in a high school. Growing up, I loved school and I loved my teachers. I have fond memories of one teacher in particular - Mrs. O’Neill. She taught me for both 4th and 5th grade. This is my thank you letter to her.
When we traveled this summer, I kept our toy bag quite limited. I challenged myself to work with everyday items to use as toys for the kids when we were there. I even made a Pinterest Board with easy activities to do while traveling. Once we got settled, I took inventory of what was ready in the condo and went shopping for other basic items. One of the first projects we made were coffee filter sun catchers, very easy because we had coffee filters in the condo.
You Are a Social Detective is a great introduction to Michelle Garcia Winner’s Social Thinking, written especially for kids who struggle in social situations. The book is divided into 3 different sections. Whenever I use this book as a teaching tool, I read one section at a time.
The first section focuses on having different kinds of smarts, including school smarts and social smarts. It discusses how we use social smarts all the time, whenever we are around others. This is so important for kids to understand. You need to be using your social smarts anytime you’re around others. This section also focuses on expected behaviors and the consequences of those actions. If we do things that are expected, other people feel good and want to be around us more.
As a school counselor, I often had kids come into my office in a heightened state, and it was my job to be able to help them calm down and get back to work in class. I had lots of items in my room to help achieve that. It’s always easier for kids to talk about what’s bothering them when they’re doing another activity or playing a game. As a mom, I know that there are lots of things that can help my kids reset when they are having a hard time, or getting into arguments or just have on their cranky pants. Here are some of my favorite items to help kids calm down and get back to the green zone.
