How to Get Kids to Do What You Want
February 15, 2017
Without question the best way to get kids, all kids, to do what you want them to do is… Let them choose. If this is a new concept to you and you are dealing with a teenager I’m not going to guarantee it will work the first time. However, after a few trials you are likely to discover why this approach, while perhaps against our most visceral impulses, is far more effective than asking, telling or demanding a child to do what you want. Why it works? Quite simply, choice empowers. When students choose, they take responsibility, and when they take responsibility they follow through. Glorious isn’t it? Ok, so it doesn’t always work perfectly. But as you get more comfortable letting… Read More
It’s Ok to be Chopped
November 30, 2014
By Sarah Vander Schaaff This past Thanksgiving morning, when I sat on a yoga mat in a surprisingly packed room of yogis looking to find some calm before the storm, my yoga teacher mentioned something we should all be grateful for: our setbacks. We can learn a great deal from them if we listen to what they have to tell us. Giving thanks for failure and disappointment is not a philosophy embraced by many parents, myself included, who often rush to kiss a wound, physical or emotional, before a larger lesson can be seen or felt. Perhaps the most aggressive among us act to erase the setback all together, picking up the phone or pen or walking into the principal’s… Read More