Benefits and Simple Ideas for Summer Enrichment “Mom, come quickly!” E says practically jumping up and down. “There’s a bluejay in our yard!” And this scene has played out over and again but with varying creatures – bunnies, beetles, and butterflies – oh my! If you have a patch of grass outside your door, there’s …
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Category: Building a Positive Family Environment Tags: appreciating nature, Caring, Cooperation, Empathy, Exploring nature with kids, Family connectedness, Motivation to learn, nature and kids, Parenting, Perspective taking, sense of awe and wonder, summer enrichment
…And Teaching Turn-Taking to Young Children “My child gets a new toy, shows it off and then rips it away telling her sibling, ‘No! You can’t play with it!’” “I want my children to feel grateful for her brothers and for their toys and our life together.” “If one has it, the other one wants …
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Category: Building a Positive Family Environment Tags: children's social and emotional development, Conflict Management, Conflict resolution, Family collaboration, family teamwork, fostering children's kindness, Perspective taking, positive sibling behaviors, Responsibility, Responsible decision-making, sibling arguments, Sibling fighting, sibling kindness, sibling relationships, Sibling rivalry, siblings
Perhaps you volunteer in your child’s classroom as I do and are helping plan the annual Halloween party. Maybe you are a teacher looking for ways to both entertain, celebrate, and build skills on the holiday. Or you could be planning a costume party for family and friends. Whatever your role or goal, the following …
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Category: Building a Positive Family Environment Tags: Active listening, classroom cooperative games, Collaboration, Collaborative games, Creative thinking, Empathy, halloween cooperative games, halloween games, halloween party, Negotiation, Nonverbal communication, Perspective taking, Problem solving, Social awareness
Oh, the places you’ll go! The worlds you will visit! The friends you will know! – Dr. Seuss1 “What are you guys up to?” I say to the three six-year-old friends in my living room. “We’re sharing our books!” one says with an “Isn’t it obvious?” tone. Reading is a top priority in the early …
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Category: Building a Positive Family Environment Tags: children learning to read, Creative thinking, emotional, Empathy, how children learn to read, Moral development, parents reading with children, Perspective taking, promoting reading, Reading, Responsible decision-making, role of reading with families, Social, Social awareness, Stories and social and emotional development, teaching reading
Learn the following simple steps of the traffic light model and practice problem-solving with your kids as a game this summer. And try out the rap that goes with it! Then, gently remind and use it each time siblings or friends get into a conflict. It can empower kids with the skills to work through …
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Category: Modeling Social and Emotional Skills, Practicing Social and Emotional Skills Tags: Building communication skills, Collaborative for Academic, Collaborative problem solving, Consequential thinking, Empathy, Evaluating actions, Goal setting, Kids communication, Kids conflict management, Perspective taking, Problem solving, Roger Weissberg, Self control, Self=awareness, Social and Emotional Learning, Stress management, Summer problem-solving game, Traffic light problem-solving model
After some happy outdoor play, I heard my son E run straight up to his bedroom and slam the door. As I knocked and entered his room, his face was red and wet with tears. “What happened?” I asked. “Jonathan (E’s cousin) wouldn’t listen to me,” E sputtered between sobs. “I was mad and he …
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Category: Building a Positive Family Environment, Modeling Social and Emotional Skills, Practicing Social and Emotional Skills Tags: Calming down, Communication, Conflict Management, Emotional management, Empathy, Families fighting fair, Fighting fair, Healthy relationships, Modeling fighting fair, Name-calling, Perspective taking, Power struggle, Problem solving, Relationships, Sibling conflicts
How Can Giving Become Personal and Meaningful? Several weeks ago, my husband, son and I were zipping to the mailbox to drop in a few letters before going downtown to a symphony concert. My husband pulled up and I hopped out of the car to mail the letters. As I approached the mailbox, I noticed …
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We must widen… “our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty.” – Albert Einstein “Feed the birds, Mom. Don’t forget today,” E tells me with fervor on one of the last freezing cold days of Winter while the birds chirped longingly for Spring. He heard them …
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Category: Modeling Social and Emotional Skills, Practicing Social and Emotional Skills Tags: Animals and humans, Care, Caring behavior, Circle of compassion, Collaboration, Compassion, Consequences, Empathy, Empathy development, Global inter-dependence, Kids and nature, Moral development, Moral thinking, Perspective taking, Understanding feelings
– the beliefs, customs and arts of a particular society, group, place or time. 1 About Cultural Awareness Culture is who we are, how we act and how we communicate. It defines our membership in multiple communities whether they are professional or personal, spiritual or practical. Our families are a culture. “Michael doesn’t have to …
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Category: About, Practicing Social and Emotional Skills Tags: Children's books around the world, Communication, Compassion, Cultural awareness, Cultural diversity, Culture, Elements of a Confident Kid, Empathy, Family culture, Identity, Judgment, Perspective taking, Rules, Self control
Teachers arise from somewhere within me that is beyond me, the way the dark soil that is not the root holds the root and feeds the flower. – Mark Nepo “How old do I have to be to be a grown up?” E has asked a twice over the past few weeks. Sometimes to small people …
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Category: About, Building a Positive Family Environment Tags: "Being Twelve", "Yardsticks", Child development, Children, Development, Developmental milestones, Developmental traits, Eight year olds, Empathy, Great Schools Milestones, Growth, Milestones, NBC Education Nation Parent Toolkit, Patience, Perspective taking, Problem solving, Regression, Seven year olds, Twelve year olds
