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 …

To vaccinate or not is often a choice that is influenced greatly by where you live,  local health threats, personal values and your risk tolerance.  In Europe, some countries (UK and France) do not fund vaccinations through their government.  In Canada vaccinations are fully funded under the basic health care system. In the US, parents must sign a waiver saying that they do not want their children vaccinated (for religious or personal reasons) before they are sent to school. This is a highly personal choice, and one that must be done in the context of your own experience and values .
How Do Vaccines Work?
Vaccines originated in China where a person was infected deliberately with smallpox to help prevent future infection. Vaccines basically stimulate the body’s …

Young children under the age of 3 to 4 years old live in the present.  Although they are often brought together in playgroups, they simply are not capable of more advanced adult-like interactions like “socializing” or playing together (they actually “parallel” play). Their left brain (rational/analytical/language skills) and right brain (creative/emotional) are not yet fully talking to each other (via the corpus callosum), and their behaviour is in fact governed mostly from their right brain hemisphere. Kids are emotional creatures, and many parents try to be rational with them using adult concepts to drive their behaviour.
One parenting technique is the use of consequences for managing behaviour. “If you hit your brother again, then you won’t get a popsicle”. The reality is that a …