Welcome to my blog!
This is where I share my thoughts, ideas, and activities to support the emotional growth of children.
Rest, Rhythm, Release: Helping Kids Cope with COVID-19
Whether we are a parent, a teacher or a child-care provider, many of us are asking ourselves how we can best support the children in our care during this stressful time of uncertainty around the COVID-19 virus. There are universal strategies that we can use to help...
Matchmaking to Build Community for our Students
In my past two blogs, I have shared about the attachment rituals of collecting (creating a conscious invitation into relationship) and bridging (keeping relationship alive even while disciplining). This blog is about the art of matchmaking and how we can use it to...
The Art of Bridging: How it can keep relationship alive even while disciplining
In my last blog about collecting, I spoke about how creating a conscious invitation into relationship is a vital part of creating emotionally safe learning communities. It is relationship that helps children to feel safe with us. It is through relationship that their...
Creating a Conscious Invitation into Relationship
There is a lot of discussion about the importance of relationship in education – for good reason! Building relationships with our students is a vital part of creating emotionally safe learning communities. I am so grateful to Dr. Gordon Neufeld for developing an...
How Reframing Can Help Shift the Negative Identity of a Child
A few weeks ago, I wrote a blog about helping to shift the negative identity of a child through everyday experiences. I received many emails asking me more about this topic. It is clear from listening to those that work with children, that many of the children we work...
Why Classrooms need Rituals of Togetherness – Just like Families
Most of us already recognize the benefits of creating a classroom which feels enjoyable. We understand that humans flourish when we feel liked, enjoyed by others, and comfortable in our environment. In knowing this, we might show up to our classrooms every morning,...
Shifting the Negative Identity of a Child
I provide a lot of professional development to teachers. Many of these seminars explore the roots of behaviours we find challenging in kids. They shed light on the emotions underlying troubling behaviours, and help participants understand where or how a child is...
Kids Need a Safe Space to Feel
Our kids are experiencing an emotional crisis. Children are more anxious, aggressive, and shut down than ever. We are seeing clear evidence of this in our schools, our homes, our neighbourhoods and our community spaces. The situation has become so dire that our...