The Indefatigable Spirit of a Child

Indefatigable Spirit

”There is no way to happiness. Happiness is the way.” ~Zen Proverb It is a gray drizzly morning in a week of gray drizzly mornings. I am content to wait in the car as my husband peruses the home improvement store. People enter and leave the warehouse building, trudging to their vehicles with packages and […]


Ain’t Misbehavin’

ain't misbehavin'

Children don’t misbehave, says Dr. Thomas Gordon, author of the best-selling book, Parent Effectiveness Training (P.E.T). Wait a second, you say. Whoa! Everywhere you look there are children misbehaving. Dr. Gordon says that children’s actions are judged as misbehaviors when those behaviors come into conflict with the desires of parents and other adults. What we […]


To Be a Help to Life

to be a help to life

”No man is free who is not master of himself.” ~Epictetus A flower begins with a seed sprouting from the earth with the seed leaves coming out of the ground first. The plant grows a stalk and sends out more leaves. On the stalk or branches of the plant, small buds form and are protected […]


Independence and Concentration

independence and concentration

”Concentration and distractibility are particular sensitive indicators of a variety of conditions affecting children. Highly concentrated activity suggests that the child’s finding satisfaction and challenge in a task. Distractibility suggests trouble of some kind, social, psychological or whatnot.” ~Jerome Bruner, Under Five in Britain Zach began the 18th hole of miniature golf. Twelve-year-old Zach was […]


The Child in Nature

The Child In Nature

”There are two spiritual dangers in not owning a farm. One is the danger of supposing that breakfast comes from the grocery, and the other that heat comes from the furnace.” ~Aldo Leopold, A Sand County Almanac, 1949 A visit to a toy store in a California beach town uncovered a new product, a mud […]


Extending the Olive Branch for Our Children’s Sake

extending the olive branch

”The troubling nature of censorship is clearer when it falls on the very young. A certain kind of silence, that which comes from holding back the truth, is abusive itself to the child. The soul has a natural movement toward knowledge, so that not to know can be to despair. In the paucity of explanation […]


Attention Deficit to Attention Abundance

attention deficit to attention abundance

Nine million prescriptions were written last year in the United States for school-aged children for Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD). In 1975 roughly 150,000 children were taking Ritalin. In 2003 about 6 million American children took Ritalin. Drugging children to get them to behave seems to be the trend. What we have learned in the […]


The Three C’s of Motivation

three c's of motivation

”The manager’s job, then, is not to motivate people to get them to achieve; instead, the manager should provide opportunities for people to achieve, so they will become motivated.”~Frederick Herzberg Charlie walked over with the teaching clock. ”I’ve learned to tell time. Do any time, and I can tell you.” Five-year-old Charlie sat down with […]


Real Toys for Real Kids

real toys for real kids

“What do you want for Christmas?” I remember asking my fourteen-month old. Since she could say “momma” and “dada,” I thought, for some unknown reason, she could communicate her perfect Christmas gift as we walked down the aisles of the toy store. There have been many gift-giving holidays during which I’ve watched children play with […]


Creating Phonemic Awareness

creating phonemic awareness I spy game

Around age two-and-a-half to three, your child becomes aware that words are made up of individual sounds. This skill is called phonemic awareness. “Phonemic” comes from the word “phonics,” which means sounds. When you help your children become aware of the individual sounds in words, you are helping them develop a very important skill for […]