Category Archive:
Social/emotional needs

FREE WEBINAR | Dealing With Difficult Behaviors

Dealing with difficult behaviors

Are you dealing with these aspects of difficult behaviors with children? If this sounds familiar… You need to stop and watch this free webinar, Dealing With Difficult Behaviors In Your School And Classrooms. In Dealing With Difficult Behaviors In Your School And Classrooms: In this 40-minute session you’ll learn about strategies that can make a difference for […]


Pony Up

My natural proclivities tend toward optimism.  During these past three years of pandemic disruptions, though, I’ve had to remind myself more than once of the old joke about “there’s a pony in there somewhere.” As I visit with folks, parents and grandparents, we’re beginning to see the pony. It really is there! Our pony has […]


How To Support Self-Regulation

How To Support Self-Regulation

Back in the early 1990’s the long term findings of the 1960’s Walter Mischel  “marshmallow study” were released. When I read the findings of the Mischel study it became evident to me that something simple as having children wait for a minute or two for snack might help them develop better self-control and all the benefits […]


Why Children Struggle With Academics

Why children struggle with academics

When we see children struggle with basic academics–reading, writing and arithmetic– there can be many underlying situations, but issues usually cluster around these three areas: Illiteracy Innumeracy  Lack of social-emotional skills Illiteracy What I mean by illiteracy is the inability to read and write fluently.  Children feeling defeated by the lessons put in front of […]


My Black Hole Valentine

My Black Hole Valentine

Three eight-year-old boys in my classroom created a serial story of comic strip characters. Set in another universe, each character had special super-hero qualities.  Some abilities were unique.  Other attributes emerged only in conjunction with the skills of associates, or the task at hand. These characters’ adventures focused on helping each other out of problems, […]


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 […]


When to Ask, When to Tell

when to ask when to tell

Fostering cooperation in our children can be a blood-pressure-altering event. With so many chores that need to be done during the day, we can feel like a drill sergeant, police officer and the Wicked Witch of the West, all rolled into one. To avoid appearing to our children as the triumvirate of meanness and control, […]


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. […]


Think

think

Thomas Watson of IBM fame posted one-word notices around IBM factories and offices. THINK, read the signs. When a book about IBM and Tom Watson appeared, it was no surprise that the title was Think. Think. That seems to be a word that we, too, could post around our homes, schools and office to great […]


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 […]