“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
Read MoreGrayson taught me how to sound and feel like a Cheetah today because that was HIS way to get out bad feelings. He needed to FIND his own way. And then he loved teaching me. And he wouldn’t stop until I got the sound exactly right. This all came about
Read MorePerseverance. 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
Read More“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.
Read MoreI 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
Read MoreVery 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
Read MoreWhen 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
Read MoreEven 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
Read MoreAs you can see, Grayson put his whole body into learning how to roll out bread dough. Boy, did we have a lot of flour on our clothes! There’s something special about bringing some treasures from past tradition into the present to go forward into the future. I love teaching
Read MoreSweetness in its purest state. I stayed with Grayson all day today as he was sick. When Claire got home from daycare, she massaged Grayson’s back when he was lying down, then his head when he sat up, making soothing sounds. Compassion and sweetness will melt any heart!
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