How do you encourage your kids to be more independent? When do you as a parent step back to give them the space to step up?
Lenore Skenazy joins Janine today to discuss some of these questions. They discuss:
Building Friendships and Social Skills with Caroline Maguire
Friendships are such a wonderful and special part of life. From memory making to going through the highs and lows with your peers makes life so much richer. As a child, learning social skills and how friendships fit is a huge learning curve as they go through their childhood and find their ‘people’. As a parent, how do you connect and how do you teach your kids basic social skills and about what a great friendship can be?
Today Janine is joined by Caroline Maguire and in this episode they discuss:
Practicing SEL through Play: An Interview with Yara Habanbou from Sea of Knowledge
Introduction to Montessori Philosophy with Jeanne-Marie Paynel
Have you ever considered a different educational style for your children besides the conventional method? If so, perhaps you have heard of the Montessori method. It is based on self-directed activity, hands-on learning and collaborative play. In Montessori classrooms children make creative choices in their learning, while the classroom and the highly trained teacher offer age-appropriate activities to guide the process. In this episode, I spoke to Montessori Home Consultant, Jeanne-Marie Paynel about the benefits of this education style.
The topics we cover in this episode are:
Building Connections with Kids Through Play with Kim Feeney
When was the last time you had a dedicated playtime with your child? Life gets so busy so we can’t blame parents for not being able to squeeze this in-between school, dinnertime, sports or dance at the weekend but it is vital to a child’s development. Kim Feeney is the guest on this episode, she is a licensed independent social worker and a registered play therapist supervisor. I wanted to discuss playtime with her and how to build a connection with your child.
The topics we cover in this episode are:
16 Different Types of Play
Book Review - Play: How it Shapes the Brain, Opens the Imagination, and Invigorates the Soul
I’ve been wanting to read this book since I watched Dr. Brown’s TED talk all about play. As someone who is a huge advocate for play, reading this book was thrilling. There are so many great quotes and wonderful information about the importance of play and it’s impact on our social lives. Here are a few of my favorite highlights from the book.
Social Stages of Play
Do you know how my 5th grade teacher taught us the planets? She sang it to us. When her former students would come back and visit, she would always ask if they remembered the order of the planets. And they’d all end up singing it back to her. Imagine these big high school juniors and seniors singing in the middle of a 5th grade class?!
Tips for Setting Up Playdates
You’re on the phone with the school counselor, talking about the concerns you have about your son’s social skills. You hear the words you’ve been dreading - “Mrs. Jackson, one of the best ways to work on these skills is on a play date with one other child. Maybe it makes sense to try to set up a few playdates for him”. But how do you do that? Where do you even begin?
Setting up and prepping for a playdate doesn’t need to be super complicated or take a lot of time. Check out these tips to help you set up and host a successful playdate for your child!
Play Matters
Play is the best way for children to learn. Play helps children figure out how to interact with one another. Play helps children figure out how to problem solve, make decisions, collaborate and work together as a team. Play is crucial for children to develop socially and cognitively. Play is a part of nature - even animals learn through play. Play should be a part of everyday life. Adults and children should take some time to play every day. It's the best way to learn plus it's fun.
5 Great Videos about The Importance of Play
Outdoor Family Fun
The Best Ways to support kids in social situations
I was invited to join a group of wonderful bloggers to write for the series Happy New Year, Healthy Kids. This series is focused on ways we can help our kids be happy and healthy in this new year. But what do social skills and friendship have to do with health?
Think for a minute about the positive friendships in your life. Healthy friendships provide support, make you feel connected with others, reduce your stress and increase your happiness. It’s so wonderful to have these people around you! In order for kids to start and maintain friendships so they can experience these benefits too, kids need to learn social skills and how to interact positively with others.
Playful New Year's Resolutions for Families
It’s that time of year when people are making New Year’s Resolutions. I’ve been thinking about some of the basics (organize my house, clean up my eating habits, etc) but I’ve also been thinking about what I can do encourage playing and friendships in my own home. Here are some New Year’s Resolutions to make 2015 a great year!!
4 Ways to Promote Play!
I watched a really interesting TED talk by Peter Gray about the state of play today. I initially saw this video on Facebook with a caption reading “Kids today are more depressed than they were during the great depression”. As a therapist, that immediately got my attention, and I decided to watch it. What a great video! Here are a few key points I took away from the video: