The Social Child
Blog

The Social Child

As a parent you may ask, “How do I help my child with social skills?”. Much like baking, using the phone to set an appointment, sweeping a floor, or getting dressed every day, maneuvering the minefield of complex social structures takes practice. Getting the social practice in requires the same thing as practical life – opportunities to try. And fail. And then try again. It is tempting as a parent to want to shield our child from the challenges and pain that social life brings.

0 Comments
June 10, 2022
No Resolutions?
Blog

No Resolutions?

If we are being honest, we gave up on resolutions years ago. Our personal take is that life is a process of continuous development that is guaranteed to end both abruptly, and with many tasks left uncompleted. That is partially a reflection of our stoicism, but it is also an acknowledgement of the reality that life is precious and short. When we consider our wishes we take this fact into account, because if it is short for us it is short for everyone around us. We are not exceptional, special, or entitled to anything more than any of our fellow man – and that includes gaining any more of the precious seconds that tick by on our life clocks. Given this, we continue to press on with a continuously evolving personal to do list on the path to incomplete growth and personal imperfection knowing that there is no way our lists will ever be complete and that what we want today will not necessarily be what is best for us tomorrow. Life is funny that way.

0 Comments
December 31, 2021
Free Play = Happiness
Blog

Free Play = Happiness

Free play is something we have endorsed before,. That is – in part – because it is critical to future happiness, emotional development, creativity, social skills, political savvy, curiosity, and self-control. The science is pretty clear on this. Yet it is rare to see children engaged in free play. On the rare occasions where a cluster of children is spotted it tends to be under the supervision of a group leader at one of any number of structured activities. While those activities may be useful in terms of filling in free time, too many of them are detrimental to child development. The outcomes since the early 1980s where the trend toward extracurricular overload began are sad. Increased anxiety and depression are but two of the negative long-term effects. And because of the length and depth of the trend, we are now in an age where many parents never had the chance to enjoy the benefits of free play.

0 Comments
August 13, 2021
Emotional Maturity
Blog

Emotional Maturity

Entering first grade, children are confronted with social hierarchies and politics to navigate that are going to be, in some fashion, new to them. One of the advantages for children in childcare is that all of them have at least been in a group social situation by the time they move to elementary school. But mere attendance in a group environment does nothing to prepare a child for the transition.

0 Comments
January 29, 2021