Posts by Janai Mestrovich

Fertilizing Adults!

June 11, 2013 Connecting with Children 0 Comments

We adults….we are fertilizers! One second her brain is focused on a toy to go after and with the sound of a bird singing nearby she may change focus in a split second and head that way. A little one’s mind is so open and busy because it is absorbing

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Emotional Intelligence at age 4 with mind/body awareness

June 5, 2013 Child Wellness 0 Comments

“X” marks the spot….of where Grayson felt the body trigger with his anger he experienced the other day. Learning the mind’s angry thoughts are synchronized with the body’s angry tension and the feeling of being mad are basics in what I teach. The mind, body and feelings are friends, always

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Priorities and Messes with young ones

June 1, 2013 Relationship Building with Young Children 0 Comments

This morning Claire’s mom took Claire for her first swim lesson. I had to go watch. When finished, Miss Claire insisted on hugging me fresh out of the pool. Hence, I got soppin’ for my shoppin’! hahaha There was NO way I could refuse a hug and, of course, she

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Keep Trying and Smile

May 27, 2013 Connecting with Children 0 Comments

Perseverance. Accomplishment. Around Valentine’s Day Claire tried and tried to stand up on the sofa cushions Grayson placed on the floor for playful purpose in his family room. Claire had her own ideas about how to use them. Stepping on them, she wobbled and fell several times. Then, finally, she

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4 yr. old knows why we have brains!

May 26, 2013 Connecting with Children 0 Comments

“Why do we have a brain, Grandma?” As always, Grayson was talking and asking questions as we looked at a human anatomy book I bought to use with him. It has layers of transparencies and 3D bones, etc. to show children what is under the skin in all of us.

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TEACHING KIDS TO FIND GEMS IN PROBLEM SOLVING

May 23, 2013 Early Prevention 0 Comments

I was teaching KIDS SOLVE PROBLEMS at the University of Oregon this weekend. My approach teaching future teachers, counselors and others is to give them experiences with 3-D learning that they absorb for themselves and simultaneously learn how to teach preschoolers self-help skills and problem solving. To begin, we have

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Babies Pop Out of Womb Doing Chores

April 28, 2013 Child Wellness 0 Comments

Very often when our children were young we would hear the comment, “You’re so lucky your kids are so well behaved and help with chores.” My husband and I always had to laugh. Do people think that well behaved children pop out of the womb with good manners and the

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Messy Kid’s Kitchen Built Confidence

April 28, 2013 Child Wellness 0 Comments

When Darion was doing homeschooling, he had to learn the basics, of course, but I always had a strong bias that children need to express what THEY want to learn about, too. It gives them validation and a sense of worth to be asked what they think is interesting and

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Artwork brings the inner world out

April 25, 2013 Children and Stress 0 Comments

Even before I asked Grayson to explain how he felt when he did this artwork, I KNEW. In its simplest form, it is still obvious what someone feels when expressing creatively with artwork. “I felt happy in my heart I got to play outside in the sunshine.” As image making

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