Helping Young Children Connect Actions with Consequences
As preschoolers, my kids love playing with story blocks. Our set consisted of wooden tiles depicting various…
MorePosts tagged: Developmental
Managing Misbehavior with Conscious Discipline
I’m watching a group of children prepare to act out a spiritual story. One child insists on taking the lead role, and…
MoreAffirming Gender Diversity
When my children were young, we dressed them in a rainbow of hues. Some people found this frustrating because they…
MoreBuilding a Strong Image of Children
Sometimes when we talk about children, we focus on what kids can’t do: they can’t walk yet, or they can’t reach…
MoreCultivating Virtues
As my eldest child ran off the soccer field after another bruising loss, I prepared to console her and her teammates. I…
MoreGenerational Spirituality
Spirituality isn’t just a social, emotional, or cultural aspect of life. It’s also biological, passed from…
MoreCharacter Rocks
I keep a small stone on my desk with the word ‘breathe’ painted on it. It’s a reminder to slow down, find my…
MoreHow Kids Learn to Remember
What’s your earliest autobiographical memory? If you are like most people, it’s probably a significant event from…
MoreDurable Spiritual Learning
Recently, I watched several young children explore finger labyrinths for the first time. Most would race to see how…
MoreNurturing a Flexible Mindset
“But mom, you don’t understand! Practice ran over and now the internet is down and I can’t get to the language…
MoreCueing Spiritual Language
When my son was learning about lower case letters, he got into an argument with his preschool teacher about the letter…
MorePlease Don’t Praise the Kids
“You’re so smart!” These three words come easily to mind when children do or say something that demonstrates…
MoreNeuroscience and Learning
Have you ever heard (or said) that spirituality is ‘caught, not taught’? While it’s true that good models and…
MoreSpiritual Brain Power
When my eldest child was three, she shocked our neighbor by explaining in detail how a refrigerator works. Amber loved…
MoreEncouraging Active Empathy
My daughter came home talking about a new girl in her class. Since being the new kid can be challenging, I want my…
MoreDo Children Believe in Halloween Ghouls?
When my oldest was four, she insisted on dressing up as Pluggie the Fire Plug for Halloween. A staple at neighborhood…
MoreWhy Children Won’t Ask for Help
“Go ask your teacher for help,” I told my daughter again. For a whole grading period, she had been struggling with…
MoreSocial Emotional Learning at Home
My second child would become easily overwhelmed as a toddler. If we were shopping at the mall, she would start crying…
MoreTrust and Promises
As I left the gym, I overheard a mother tell her young son, “We need to get home right now and get snacks together…
MoreLearning to Forgive
Sibling squabbles were a daily part of life when my children were preschoolers. They erupted when one child would steal…
MoreSpiritual Activities for Public Spaces
Children spend a lot of time in public spaces: shopping at grocery stores, waiting for buses, washing clothes at…
MoreThe Myth of Selfishness
A toddler tantruming when another child plays with one of their toys. Siblings bickering over who got the bigger piece…
MoreHow Spirituality Shapes Imagination
The other day I spread out a play mat for a friend’s four-year-old son and gave him a few hot wheels. He started the…
MoreSelf-Esteem vs. Narcissism
In Wonder Woman 1984, young Diana, Amazon princess of Themyscira, desperately wants to win a competition. She is in the…
MoreRelationships as Roots
Dr. Eugene Roehlkepartain has noticed that when adults say relationships with kids matter, they really mean parents…
MoreChildren’s God Concepts
Regardless of whether your family’s spirituality is tied to religious ideas or a specific religious tradition, your…
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