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 […]


12 Tips for a Healthier Brain

12 tips for a healthier brain

John Medina, affiliate professor of bioengineering at the University of Washington School of Medicine, gives us 12 principles for surviving and thriving at work, home and play in his book, Brain Rules. While imparting a peer-reviewed summary of current brain research, Medina entertains us with ”the rules.” Rule #1: Exercise boosts brainpower. Movement helps our […]


A Whole New Mind

whole new mind

Daniel Pink in his book, A Whole New Mind, tells us the world is changing and that our brains need to change, too. Pink sees the world becoming geared more towards creative endeavors in order to maintain our economic system. Our work and behavior will need to draw on the creative side, or right side […]


Success Is Not An Outlier

success is not an outlier

Malcolm Gladwell in his book, Outliers, makes a case for understanding successful people. We may think that someone is a self-made person, that they had overnight success or were born with talent to burn. Gladwell asks us to look closer at the components of success. Ambition and intelligence are not enough to create people who thrive. […]


Spontaneous Self-Discipline

spontaneous self-discipline

An indicator of healthy and normal development in children (and adults, too!) is the presence of self-discipline that seems to appear almost out of nowhere.  In reality, there are factors that contribute significantly to the development of self-discipline in the child and adult. As a child’s will is strengthened by the use of free choice, […]


Independence

independence

We are raising adults, not children. Our job as parents (and parent support systems) is to guide our children to complete independence. Little by little, day by day, we help our children develop skills and take on more responsibility until they can run at full speed on their own two feet. Unfortunately, it is often […]


Listening And Following The Adult

listening and following the adult

Children naturally want to connect to the adults in their lives.  Obedience to these adults is a sign of natural and normal development in a child. Obedience, though, does not refer to an automatic and unthinking response to an order. Obedience, comes from the Latin, oboediere, meaning to listen to.  When the relationship is built […]


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 […]


Love Of Silence And Working Alone

love of silence

The nature of the young child following natural and normal development is one that loves silence and working alone. Until children enter into a different stage of development, around the time that they lose their first tooth, this love of silence and working alone remains. The desire to be out in the community and working […]