Keep the Connection: Family Guidance for the Elementary Years

This weekend at my Keep the Connection workshop, we talked about exactly this!

Getting ready to facilitate a transformative Positive Discipline workshop tomorrow!

This. I always worry more about children who don’t push limits than about those who do.

This is how you change a child’s perception of themselves... By changing yours. ❤️

Dozens of free growth mindset resources... What a great find!

The Ultimate List of Free Growth Mindset Printables for Kids and Adults Blog post at Bits of Positivity : Both kids and adults need a growth mindset. And many of the resources for kids are good for adults as well. My daughter, Christina, and I bo[..]

What is Positive Discipline and why is it so effective? Here's a short introduction by its founder, Dr. Jane Nelsen.

Five Criteria for Positive Discipline With Parenting Expert Dr. Jane Nelsen http://www.PositiveDiscipline.com - Dr. Jane Nelsen explains The Five Criteria for Positive Discipline in this brief video. Dr. Nelsen gives parents non-puni...

I love the power of "yet" to keep us in a positive mindset. This is a lovely activity to do with your family (everyone has something they can't do... YET).

Growth Mindset: The Power of Yet - The Brown Bag Teacher Encourage students to realize the power of growth mindset and yet with this read aloud and free graphic organizer perfect for primary classrooms.

Shaming is not a valid way of helping children manage their own behaviors. So, what is? Connection. Collaboration. Appreciation.
www.ktc6to12.com

Why are some teachers still using this behavioral system in the classroom? Come on, folks!

Support your child's curiosity and engage in delightful mealtime conversations by starting a Great Wall of Questions next to your kitchen table! I got this idea from the Brave Writer FB page and it's been a wonderful addition to our home life. Here's to raising question-askers and truth-seekers! 🤔😍

Great suggestions for talking with an anxious child. I use some of these and I love adding new ones to my toolkit!

I don’t share a lot about my foster daughter’s story here for the sake of her privacy, but tomorrow is a big day... her first day of Kindergarten! (As of tomorrow, I’ll have a son in High School, a son who just started Middle School, and a Little Lady starting Elementary. Eek!)

Her anxiety is through the roof, and her trauma triggers were super close to the surface all weekend. Drop-off tomorrow morning could go either way, but I appreciated this graphic shared by Katey McPherson with some simple pointers to help me guide her through it.

I’ve learned over the years that my boys pick up on my energy; if I act sad or worried, they’ll mirror that, but if I act calm and confident, they’ll almost always mirror that too. The same is not always true for our kids from hard places, where we can speak with a confidence and bravery that inadvertently minimizes their very-real worries and anxieties.

I’m somewhat new at this, but am doing the best I can and appreciate all the help I can get. If you’re the praying type, please include us both in your prayers tomorrow morning. While you’re dialed in, thanks for sending up an extra one for ALL of the Moms and Dads sending traumatized babies off to school, hoping the world will just be kind to them.

Remember: Our kiddos can do hard things, and so can we.