Kids Need Freedom and Safety – How to Balance These Rivaling Needs?
Recently, I visited a friend’s 120 acre farm with our granddaughter. It was a beautiful day, and it was wonderful to see Anna run around outside with so much freedom and joy. But I have to admit that her freedom stirred some worry for me. The rope swing she was...
Focusing Fun for Summer
Just because school is ending for the year doesn’t mean that learning stops. Silent Ball, included in our Online Certification Bundle, is a fun game kids can play outdoors (or in) to develop executive function skills that are critical for learning and self-control....
Learning How to Handle – and Grow from – Disappointments
Disappointment happens. It’s how life goes. But try telling that to a child. Actually, don’t. It’s dismissive. It says, “Your feelings don’t matter.” And when you’re a kid, those feelings can feel very big. End-of-the-worldish. Challenging. More often, we’re tempted...
Help Your Kids Make the Shift from Sedentary to Active
You’ve probably seen more than one of those social media posts that compares childhood in the 1970s to childhood today – listicles like this one. And this. Most seem to focus on the apparent lack of concern for safety – why kids of the 70s “should all be dead,” as the...
How Do You Manage Screen Time When Media Has Become “Just Another Environment”?
“Five…four…three…” …swipe, tap, tap, swipe, swipe, tap… “…two…one!” The countdown – that old parental standby to garner compliance – was no longer working with our granddaughter Anna, smitten with our iPad and the wonders it can produce. We had set a strict time limit...
How Political Rhetoric Affects Our Kids – and What We Can Do About It
A scene from the Republican debate in Detroit earlier this year: The debate quickly devolved into the shouting over each other that has marked many pointed exchanges. At one point, trying to get Mr. Trump to stop talking, Mr. Cruz repeated instructions: “Breathe....
Yoga Calm Flashback – Native American Mindfulness: Reciprocity
As we approach Earth Day 2016, we find our thoughts going back to this previous post on recognizing and affirming our connectedness with the natural world, which we’ve updated slightly for the occasion… Several years back, a writer for one of our local papers...
Coming to our Senses… – Mindfulness Practices in Education
Sensation perception – tapping into our immediate bodily awareness – is at the heart of all yoga and mindfulness practices. It's also a major research interest of Dr. Robert W. Roeser, a professor of psychology and human development at Portland State University. He's...
“Grit” Is Great – But Kids Need More
The good news: More educators than ever are understanding that “content knowledge” alone isn’t enough for student success. "Now, in addition to teaching students fractions and conjunctions, many educators are increasingly grappling with how to address social and...
Out on a Limb… Inspiring Environmental Stewardship
Two hundred feet up in a tree. The winds were blowing so hard, she felt she would surely meet her demise, but Julia Butterfly Hill finally relaxed her tight grip on the tree she had named Luna so that she could move with its swaying. She had lived in that tree for...
8 Solutions for Navigating Conflict, Setting Boundaries, & Maintaining Calm
When a child’s emotions get big, our own emotions can swell up, too. Our stress response kicks in, overriding our own “upstairs brain” – the logical, controlling part. When a child is upset, they rely on a parent or other caregiving adult to guide them through the...
4 Tools to Help Kids Manage Big Emotions
One afternoon in my counseling office, I was working with two boys. I told them if they played quietly while I spoke with their mother, they would each be able to choose something from the treasure box at the end of the session. They were terrific. So, as promised, I...