Parenting With Teacher Nancy

Rituals are practices that have meaning, are symbolic of your family values, and help form your child's identity.  There is growing research that show that kids who grow up in homes that practice family rituals tend to be  emotionally stable  and more resilient to stress and trauma because it gives children a deeper sense of identity, belonging, security and connectedness.  Rituals can grow love. This time of the year is a wonderful time to begin and practice your family rituals. Why Do Families Need Rituals? The Importance of a Family Ritual Consider This: What family rituals do you want to incorporate into your life with your children?  Any from your family growing up?  Any new rituals you would like to begin? EXTRAS 60+ Ideas for Family Rituals/Traditions Here's an interesting quick read from NYT that came out just recently -- Family Birthday Rituals, Distinctly Ours For parents in the afternoon class-- Here's a follow up to the Language Development Hand

Parents today think early academics and direct instruction get children ready for school, which is not what research is showing. In fact ... I f you are reading this article, your kid probably doesn't need preschool.    Slate.com calls it the  The Early Education Racket .   But, many parents don't have a choice because of work, or parents need a break from their children.  So when you start considering preschools consider this: kids in academic preschools do not have advantages over those in play based preschools, in fact, it shows the opposite.  Kids who went to play based preschools tend to like school more, are less stressed about school, are more creative, and perform better academically and socially. The most important qualities is needed in a preschool is that 1) you feel comfortable with the space, staff and the program 2)the preschool is child centered, and 3) the program is play based.  Free PLAY is what kids should be doing at preschool.  Scientific America wri

This era of parenting deals with technology in a way that it has not before.  Technology and screens are everywhere.  Here are a couple articles published last week by New York Times to consider. A Dark Consensus About Screens And Kids Begin To Emerge In Silicon Valley The Digital Gap Between Poor and Rich Kids Is Not What We Expected BOOK DISCUSSION This semester's book is  Alison Gopnik's, The Gardener and the Carpenter .    We will discuss the final chapter,  Chapter 9: The Value of Children  in our next class discussion (Week of November 12). CLASS ANNOUNCEMENT No classes this Monday, November 12-- Veteran's Day Holiday and November 21-23, Thanksgiving Holiday. The last day of the semester is Thursday, December 20.

It is sometimes difficult to watch our children just play, because they occasionally choose danger.  Sometimes we just have to let them take healthy risks, despite how hard it is for us parents to watch.  This fascinating article from The Atlantic is a must read.  If you've read it before (I post it every semester), I encourage you to read it again, since our perspective changes as our children grow older. The Overprotected Kid A DATE NIGHT WITH YOUR PARTNER TO Create Your Family Vision and Mission.. An unforgettable, unique, productive night out to shape your family culture, and share your dreams for your family with your partner...   Creating a Family Vision and Mission Couples Workshop! Registration here or f ind out more  here . BOOK DISCUSSION This semester's book is  Alison Gopnik's, The Gardener and the Carpenter .    We will discuss  Chapter 8: The Future and the Past, Children and Technology  in our next class discussion (Week of November 5). CLASS AN