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Spending Time in Nature is Essential to Wellbeing

There is something magical about the land we were on last weekend. The babbling brooks, the rock lined trails, the sound of the wind through the trees. Birdsong, fire pits, drums, and dirt all found their way back into my heart and into the rhythm of our lives. I had almost forgotten how much it nurtures me to spend time in nature.

Sure, we were cold, wet and uncomfortable some of the time. There were times when my husband and I wished for our climate controlled home and we definitely missed our hot tub during the cold cold nights. But it felt good to lean on the trees for support or to sit on a rock to rest. It was nice to look up into the sky and remember that rain helps the plants to grow and that the sun is their food. And after a while I found myself bounding through the forest, enlivened and excited so much that I wanted to race from place to place through the forest. read more

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First Sink and Float Activity

Julia’s first sink/float activity!

I simply wrote sink and float at the top of a piece of card stock, drew a line down the center and then laminated it.

Then I collected some items that sink and some that float. I poured the water into the bucket for her and she had a blast testing each item and putting them on her chart in the appropriate location.

After introducing this yesterday, she woke up and immediately wanted to do this work again. It’s a hit!

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Encouraging the Daddy Love: How to manage a strong parental preference for mom and help your child bond with daddy, too

Disclaimer: For the ease of writing this article, I’ll be writing it to moms who are well bonded with their children and who want strategies to help their child or children bond with dad more deeply. Please know that I fully acknowledge that your family could consist of two moms, two dads, or a dad who is more bonded than a mom. I love all configurations of family so please interpret my words as needed to apply to your family. And for all those single parents out there, I’ll write something special for you soon too! read more

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Learning is NOT Linear: The Ebb and Flow of Learning & Growing, Retreating & Regressing

When I first began studying child development I thought things happened in a pretty linear fashion. First you learn to crawl, then you walk, after that you learn to talk and so on. And if you study information about ages and stages, you can come to the same misinformed conclusion.

But after 20 years of experience with young people, I can tell you for certain, learning is not linear. Children might learn and grow in one area and retreat and regress in another and they can do it all at the very same time. When we forget about the non-linear life experience of learning and growing, we set ourselves up for disappointment and we have unrealistic expectations of our children. read more

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“Back Off!” Empowering Young People to Claim Their Personal Space

Most of the stuff I write about is focused on peace, love, and compassion, but there’s a point where the best defense really is a good offense. Several weeks ago my daughter was at the library and a bigger kid ran over to her and pushed her down. His mother apologized profusely, Julia was dazed and confused, and I was left wondering, “How could I have prevented this?”

My daughter is often quiet and reserved, especially when she’s in a large group or if she’s feeling overwhelmed. And the library is usually teeming with both kids and adults when we go there for story time. So I thought about how I could empower her to stand up for herself in the face of a larger child intent on pushing, hitting, or biting her. read more

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