In response to my assertion that kids are inevitably doing the best that they can do, someone will almost always ask a question about a child who is vehemently endorsing the opposite. A child who is angry and making sure everybody around them knows it. A child who might be regularly yelling and screaming exact … Read more
One of my kids who does not like to write and feels particularly threatened by writing, really does like to have some kind of transition object to hold in the hallway while we walk from their class to my therapy gym. We have experimented with lots of different options. A couple of months ago I … Read more
Routines helped this lil guy make sense of an often nonsensical world around him. And especially on the first week of school, he needed some help making sense of everything. “Change diaper” was a routine he knew. Pull down pants, take diaper off, put new diaper on, pull up pants. That would have worked wonderfully … Read more
Yesterday I finally finished writing 84 cards to all the children in four classes at one of the schools where I work. I’m expanding my mailbox program this year to give it a try. I got one fourth-grade, two third-grade, and one first-grade classes to do it with me! (For those who aren’t familiar with … Read more
A post originally from two years ago, of a time when I “got it right” with playfulness, and with seeing “misbehavior” as a plea for playfulness. *** My 2yo and I were sitting at the kids’ dinner table. My 3.5yo always has a hard time with dinner. He’s groggy from his nap and his blood … Read more
My kid saw me through the open door of daycare. Her face lit up, my face lit up, we both did a wiggly happy dance to see each other. She over-exaggeratedly mouthed, “Hi Mummy!”, because she’s been experimenting with what kinds of nonverbal/nonspeaking communication will be understood—gestures, mouthing, pointing, etc. I over-exaggeratedly mouthed back, “Hi … Read more
The kid I’m working with is a hardcore gestalt language processor*. I notice that they’re singing a song while the two of us work side by side on an art project. I can tell some of the lyrics are about characters from Mario, but many of the words are hard to understand. I think, “This … Read more
I sometimes see people ask things like “How can I increase connection with my child?” so I wanted to share one simple game/example that has meant a lot to me and my kids: I pretend they’re a baby. Preemptively, I mean, not when they do baby talk or pretend to be a baby (although I … Read more
Okay, after my last post, you might be asking, how do we give kids power and autonomy? Honestly, a different way to ask this same question might be, how do we protect their right to their own power and autonomy? Because in the absence of adult interference, kids will find the ways that they want … Read more