Category Archive:
Great parenting tips

Know Your Child By Likes and Dislikes

know your children by their likes

What’s your child’s favorite food? Color? Outfit? What does your child dislike? Preferences give important insights into our personalities. For the child who is agreeable in most situations, we have smooth sailing. The child who expresses strong preferences, though, can push us to the limits of our patience. How long can we listen to…I don’t […]


Got an itch you can’t scratch?

got an itch you can't scratch?

Something you want to know? Is there something that is bothering you but you can’t quite put your finger on it? Got an itch you can’t scratch? Answer my one question survey to see if there might be a Kids Talk remedy. Plus your answers help me plan newsletter topics, webinars and more.  Thank you! […]


The Breakfast Pledge

The Breakfast Pledge

Last year in my For School Leaders newsletters I focused on teaching civility. With this series on teaching civility, I drew heavily from Christine Porath’s book, Mastering Civility: A manifesto for the workplace, as well as other sources. Teaching civility, the grace and courtesy lessons we offer in our Montessori classrooms find renewed importance. Who do I want to […]


Kids Say the Darnedest Things

Kids Say The Darnedest Things

There is magnetism with a 2 1/2- to 3-year-old and their ability to blurt out observations in public. These comments can make us understand, that, yes, we are paying for our raising. One teaching principle that I’ve found helpful to alleviate mortifying moments is the idea of indirect preparation. If you know it’s coming, prepare. […]


Strong Families Create Success

strong families create success

In Betty Smith’s classic, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, she tells the story of a young girl Francie Nolan in the early 1900’s, living with her family in the tenements. There wasn’t enough food. Her father drank up his paycheck, and her school rolled in chaos and neglect. Francie’s family owned two books: The Bible and The […]


The Sign of A Good Hearted Woman

sign of a good hearted woman

The first time I went into Nina Clare’s kitchen a drawing near her back door surprised me because I recognized it.  It was a drawing of a stylized cat on a piece of slate. The drawing of the cat looks like one that a child of seven or eight might draw.  The cat has only […]


The Power To Act From Real Choice

power to act from real choice

My husband likes to stop and indulge in an Italian dessert at our local gelato shop. On any given day there may be thirty different varieties of gelato on display. New and untried flavors, such as mango/lime, are frequent. My husband usually asks to taste five or six flavors before deciding on two scoops. “How […]


The Transformation of the Possessive Instinct

Transformation of the possessive

For the child under the age of seven years another indicator of on-track development is the sublimation of the possessive instinct. This transformation of the possessive instinct occurs when the child is given an environment where he or she has the right to use the materials as long as he or she wishes, while respecting […]


Learning the Gift of Gab

Learning the gift of gab

Language occurs in two basic ways. Receptive language is what we understand. Expressive language is what we can say. For most of us our receptive language is larger than our expressive language. A twelve-month-old can follow simple directions but can’t talk. At the doctor’s office, we can understand the doctor’s explanation of our diagnosis and […]


FREE SERIES: Empowering Kids Now

free series empowering kids now

It’s not easy being a kid in today’s world. There’s a lot of pressure, social and academic. Some kids get bullied, or are bullies. Some kids have anxiety or depression. What if you could make a difference by learning cutting edge solutions to empower the kids in your family or community to feel happy, healthy, […]