“I had a dream that I told the girl I have a crush on that I liked her and seconds later, I watched as the whole world exploded,” my ten-almost-eleven-year-old told me as he was getting ready for bed last night. This morning, I noticed him spending time fixing his hair in the mirror, an …
Category: Building a Positive Family Environment Tags: Compassion, Empathy, kids and social anxiety, social and emotional learning in middle school, Social awareness, tweens, tweens and social anxiety, tweens and social awareness, understanding middle childhood, understanding middle school students, understanding tweens
Don’t miss this important conversation tomorrow night! I’m looking forward to it! #Toolkittalk
February 12-18, 2017! Participating can be as simple as looking for an opportunity each day to do a small kindness for another. Our family will be joining in the kindness and we hope you will too! #RAK #RAKweek Seize the Moment! Random Acts of Kindness Week Once there was a tree and she loved a …
If it is his privilege to be independent, it is equally his duty to be inter-dependent. ― Mahatma Gandhi All children have to deal with and understand the paradox of separateness and connection, of individuality and belonging. In utero, babies have no sense of separation. They are physically connected to Mom through the very liquid …
Category: Building a Positive Family Environment, Modeling Social and Emotional Skills, Practicing Social and Emotional Skills Tags: Acceptance, Bullying, Caring, Compassion, Friendship, Including others, Kids and kindness, Kids caring, Promoting kindness, Qualities of a good friend, Teaching kids inclusion, Upstanders
In honor of Bullying Prevention Awareness Month… Ultimately, the only power to which man should aspire is that which he exercises over himself. – Elie Weisel “You’re a horrible person,” was what I heard and deeply felt though I cannot recall the exact words that delivered this final crushing blow. It had come after a series …
Category: Building a Positive Family Environment, Modeling Social and Emotional Skills, Practicing Social and Emotional Skills Tags: Bullying, Bullying prevention, coaching kids, Compassion, Confidence, discipline practices, Kids, Parents, School-family partnerships, sibling kindness, Upstanders, Violence prevention, What can parents do about bullying
How do we, as parents, help our kids experience and develop compassion? It’s a concern of mine as I look around me and notice my family’s eyes glued to screens and those activities encroaching on my child’s attention. And when he looks up, is he so busy with summer camp, friends or other extracurriculars that …
Category: Modeling Social and Emotional Skills, Practicing Social and Emotional Skills Tags: caring conversation, children's books on compassion, Compassion, Daniel Goleman, Empathy, Kindness, Listening skills, Raising a compassionate child, teaching kids compassion, Teaching kids empathy
It’s difficult to hear the phrase “Say something nice” without finishing the sentence, “or don’t say anything at all.” I caught myself muttering these words recently as I watched a scene unfold from the cover of my porch. Two kids, around 10 or 11 years old, were walking past on the sidewalk while my neighbor …
How do we, as parents, help our kids experience and develop compassion? It’s a concern of mine as I look around me and notice my family’s eyes glued to screens and those activities encroaching on my child’s attention. And when he looks up, is he so busy with school work or Legos that he can only …
Category: Building a Positive Family Environment, Modeling Social and Emotional Skills, Practicing Social and Emotional Skills Tags: Caring conversation tools, Communication skills, Compassion, Connection, Empathy, Friendship, Kids and compassion, Kindness, Listening skills, Parents and compassion, Patience, Raising a compassionate child, Understanding
It just started happening seemingly out of the blue. “Why can’t I watch PG-13 rated movies? I know kids in my class who do.” “Why do I always have to go upstairs for bed at 7:00? The neighbors all get to stay up later.” And then what seems like minutes later, I hear “Why do …
Category: Building a Positive Family Environment, Modeling Social and Emotional Skills, Practicing Social and Emotional Skills Tags: Asking questions of parents, Caring, Child development, Compassion, complex thinking, equality, ethics, Fairness, justice, kids questioning, Moral development, Patience, questioning authority, questioning parents, Reflection, Responsible decision-making, Rules, Self control, Social rules, stages of moral development
Ultimately, the only power to which man should aspire is that which he exercises over himself. -Elie Weisel “You’re a horrible person,” was what I heard and deeply felt though I cannot recall the exact words that delivered this final crushing blow. It had come after a series of unconsidered and callous jabs and was …
Category: Building a Positive Family Environment, Modeling Social and Emotional Skills, Practicing Social and Emotional Skills Tags: agency, anti bullying, Bully prevention, Bullying, bullying behaviors, caring school community, Collaborative for Academic, Compassion, Confidence, Courage, demeaning, labeling, power, Responsibility, Social and Emotional Learning, social emotional skill building
