Loving and Learning in the Nest
Earlier this evening, I helped my daughter (almost 7) clean her room. As I hung up a getting-too-small dress in her closet, an adage that I've heard dozens of times popped into my head: Don't do anything for your kids that they can do for themselves. I was uncomfortable the first time I read those words, and have been uncomfortable with them every time an older mother, as well-adjusted as her Read More
When I taught third grade in a public school, I learned that many children didn’t understand their own emotions. I saw this play out every day in the classroom, and read research to support it. At a staff meeting, I learned that the majority of third-graders could only identify happy and sad emotions. Children need to be able to identify their emotions in order to deal with them properly. A Read More
Christmas comes with the added pressure to create special, magical memories with our children. We have all sorts of schemes in place to convince children that magic exists. There are apps and elves and letter services to help children believe so they can carry the wonder of a magical Christmas with them for the rest of their lives. But my children will have none of these magical memories; I won't Read More
*This post contains affiliate links. The Charlotte Mason philosophy is full of riches for any parent. But, it is an educational philosophy, not a parenting philosophy. There are some areas that Charlotte Mason does not address, like how to handle all of those toddler temper tantrums! Finding a parenting philosophy that aligns perfectly with Charlotte Mason's beliefs is probably close to Read More
For the seven years I was a public school teacher, I spent much of the month of August preparing my classroom. I (poorly) painted walls, wrote names on desk tags, behavior charts, and baskets, and hung up brightly colored posters and signs. So much concern went into preparing the “best possible” learning environment, but not much effort went into preparing myself. How would I invest in getting to Read More
