Now that summer is ending, many of us are thinking about the upcoming school year, how to reduce children’s apprehension, and how to ensure that they are self confident and ready for their new experiences. Regardless of age, a blank notebook, a fresh backpack, new pencils, pens, markers, and/or crayons should be joyful and yet, for many children, it elicits feelings of insecurity and fear of failure. I believe that it is our responsibility to ensure that our kids are emotionally, socially, cognitively, and physically ready to meet their new challenges. In order to transition from the carefree days . . . → Read More: A New School Year
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The last week of school deserves special planning and sensitivity so that children experience both closure and an understanding of where and what they will be doing after their last day of school. Even if it requires phone calls to each child’s home, it is necessary for the teacher to be as informed as possible so that he/she can help each child to be ready and to feel confident about his/her next step in life’s journey. During this week, it is important for boys and girls to review the 2010/2011 school year, help pack away books and supplies, and . . . → Read More: Last Week of School Patience is defined as the ability or capacity to accept delay without feeling angry or agitated. In the Old Testament, it is said that Rachel, Jacob’s wife, chose to be buried along the side of the road instead of within the Tomb of the Patriarchs. She chose this final resting place so that she would be in a position to comfort and cheer her people as they returned to the Promised Land and to freedom.  It is said that she patiently waited 1000 years in order to be available to the weary travelers. The New Testament states that . . . → Read More: Patience Discussions about our precious earth, water, and animals should not be limited to a particular day or week, but rather, should be integrated into each and every day of your children’s education. However, it is fun and educationally sound to devote time to honor the official Earth Day, April 22nd. Unfortunately, this year’s 41st Earth Day Celebration fell on Good Friday and thus, many students were not in school and so, the full celebration of the day may not have been experienced. I encourage teachers to begin or continue a unit on this poignant topic, even if the official . . . → Read More: Earth Day During the past year and especially during the past month, my mom, our family’s anchor, has been battling to survive a horrific and painful infection that has invaded the bones of her back while battling the evils of breast cancer. The pain she has endured coupled with her dependence on nurses and doctors for relief and for help has demoralized and frightened her. And so, my brave mom has prayed to die so that she could end her horror and save us, her family, from changing our schedules in order to spend time with her. It sounds crazy, but . . . → Read More: My Mom Many of the definitions for the word apprehension include feelings of fear, dealings of dread, and the anticipation of adversity. In contrast, the definitions for anticipation seem to include emotions dealing with the expectation of something delightful, a feeling of looking forward to something with pleasure. Ah, two such seemingly similar words with diverse meanings. While discussing an upcoming event, trip, exam ,or play date with your children, do you give them the opportunity to tell you what they are thinking and /or feeling? Or, do you, as the adult, just assume that the event is going to be . . . → Read More: Apprehension vs Anticipation Did you ever wonder how a child feels when his/her accomplishments are not recognized, acknowledged, or cheered on? I thought I understood kids, but, nothing short of a shared experience has the impact of truly helping us to understand how someone else, especially a young child feels. Please allow me to digress for a moment. One Friday night, I was the guest on a friend’s radio talk show. The show went well; I felt as if I spoke succinctly, communicated my messages without appearing boring or too cocky and then, boom, the show was over. The show’s host and . . . → Read More: Reinforcement I believe that each of us comes to this world with a particular set of genes and then, depending upon the environment, one will either reach is/her fullest potential or will not. In other words, those given genes or heredity have the ability to develop when nurtured or lose potency and potential when ignored and/or abused. In order to facilitate development and promote healthy social relationships, researchers are imploring parents and caretakers to provide little ones with an environment that is safe, consistent, respectful, stimulating and loving. Adults should be cognizant that physical, emotional, and social needs of children . . . → Read More: Children’s Needs It seems unbelievable that the month of February is upon us. Not only is it a special month for me because it is both my birthday and my dog’s, but, it is also one of my favorites for I absolutely adore Valentine’s Day. The original significance of the holiday is still intact for those who attend parochial school, but, for the rest of us, it is an awesome time to discuss feelings, build empathy, reinforce shapes, create colors, perform experiments, sing about loving and caring, learn about the postal service and writing letters, and of course making and sending . . . → Read More: February I had the wonderful opportunity to do a presentation on early brain development on Saturday. There were 80 early childhood professionals participating in this training. It was a -20 wind chill Saturday morning. Even though it was a extremely cold week-end morning, these very dedicated early education providers attended this workshop to learn how they can do even more to support the optimal development of children! Their commitment initiated my desire to reiterate how critically important it is for us to support, recognize and fund quality early childcare. We need to do ALL we can to ensure every adult . . . → Read More: Children Need the Understanding of Adults |
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