I was at a Waldorf  School curriculum presentation last night. They place a lot of attention on teaching according to a child’s developmental stage. There is good scientific evidence supporting the idea that during the first seven years of life, children are wired to survive and make choices based on imitation of those around them. Hello mirror, there you are…. again.
It is a tough job being transparent to the all seeing of a child. What this means for me is working on walking the talk with the kids. Pausing and looking more at what I do, and the genuine affect it has on my children. It is scary the power we have in molding these little people.
My dear friend, and date for the Waldorf night, …

I was telling my mom today that we are researching schooling options for our kids. She pointed out a good series of articles she had read in the Toronto Star. Check out the Atkinson Fellowship Series of articles, and watch for the marshmallow test.
We all want smart kids, and these articles discuss how well education systems help to reach this goal. As parents though, self-esteem is of more concern – we feel being smart is a by-product of children feeling secure physically, emotionally and otherwise. We are concerned that the public system is archaic and too stressed for resources to provide teachers with what they need to educate our children well.
Allana Mitchell writes: ”[Teachers] are having a biological influence on children that is in scale akin …

As the director of a preschool and writer for teachers and parents, Bev Bos is seen as a leader in conscious education for children. She was in town for an early childhood conference, and put aside two hours to do a presentation of her principles for growing self-aware and wiser beings. It was a whirlwind of information, games and songs but the essence was: give kids more unstructured play.
But to do so most parents, including myself, have to be willing to let kids get riskier and dirtier. I am reminded that parenting for me is often about letting go, not trying to control a situation more.
Here are Bev’s Conditions for Growing Wise:

Belonging – to family, neighbourhood and the global community.
Risk – Intellectual, emotional, physical, social …

Parents in the Kootenays should be grateful to know that support workers in our communities are being exposed to research and ahead-of-the-curve perspectives on caring for and raising children. Success By Six, Selkirk College, The Family Place, School District 8 and others sponsored “Love Grows Brains”. My attachment-parent heart was aflutter when our daughter’s pre-school caregiver Laura brought this conference to our attention. Dr. Gabor Maté was going to be speaking. We couldn’t wait!
At the lectures, I and many others were like giddy school kids in the presence of a rock star. So when he walks in, wearing all black, looking tired and disheveled, I thought, great and he’s human too. Here is a smattering of what stood out for me.
Friday May 8, 2009 – …

Crying is communicating, and babies start to communicate straight from birth.  Language (especially English) is a very difficult concept to learn for developing children. That said, they have an immediate desire to connect both physically with their parents, but also socially using whatever form of communication they can. Babies are able to move their hands and limbs far before they are able to manage sounds required for speech. Introducing sign language to your  hearing baby is an excellent way to advance their spoken skills, and reduce their frustration and crying.
Teaching your baby sign language takes time, but it is worth it, and has been show to actually acelerate spoken language skills rather than delay them.  Babies first need to develop sufficient motor skills in order …