Parenting Archives • Raintree Montessori

Raising Adults
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Raising Adults

Parenting

Raising Adults

Heather2022-12-11T19:07:52-06:00December 11th, 2022|Categories: Parenting|Tags: community, freedom, Grit, independence, Parenting, Soft Skills|

Raising Adults Last week I was listening to NPR and was quite touched by a short interview with Michelle Obama on her latest book, The Light We Carry. In this interview Obama talked about her mother and the way she was raised. Her mother “had a clear philosophy about parenting, which is unusual for somebody of her generation. She said, I'm not raising children, I'm raising adults.” It reminded me of Dr. Montessori’s writing, “The education of even a small child, therefore, does not aim at [...]

The Child’s Inherent Love of Nature
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The Child’s Inherent Love of Nature

Parenting

The Child’s Inherent Love of Nature

Heather2022-05-15T20:17:59-05:00May 15th, 2021|Categories: Parenting|Tags: nature, Parenting|

by Maren Stark Schmidt What do you do to find yourself when you are out of sorts? Frustrated? Sorrowful? Despairing? If you are like most people, you try to find a quiet spot to commune with nature and seek peace or solace. Solace, a word from the Latin sol for ''sun,'' meaning ''to find the sun.'' We have to be close to nature to find the sun, and in the process we find ourselves. This connection to peace is formed within each of us as [...]

Siblings: Your Child’s First Friendships
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Siblings: Your Child’s First Friendships

Montessori, Parenting

Siblings: Your Child’s First Friendships

Heather2021-04-14T16:36:16-05:00March 14th, 2021|Categories: Montessori, Parenting|Tags: love, Parenting|

By Jennifer Baker Powers, M.Ed. A Montessori classroom is by design an extension of the home and family environment. Just as the child learns developmentally appropriate practical life skills at school, the Montessori classroom also provides ample opportunity for learning social skills and relationship navigation. The mixed-aged classroom, a unique hallmark of any Montessori environment, may in many respects mimic the dynamics of siblings in a household. If this is true, you may ask, then why does my child behave so differently at school with [...]

Freedom with Responsibility: from the classroom to your home.
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Freedom with Responsibility: from the classroom to your home.

Montessori, Parenting

Freedom with Responsibility: from the classroom to your home.

Heather2021-04-14T16:18:20-05:00February 14th, 2021|Categories: Montessori, Parenting|Tags: freedom, Grace and Courtesy, independence, Parenting, responsibility|

by Jennifer Baker Powers One of the first things a child learns upon entering a Montessori classroom is the unspoken relationship between freedom and responsibility, or as Maria Montessori called it “liberty.” In 1964, she wrote “discipline must come through liberty” and “when he [the child] is master of himself and can therefore regulate his own conduct when it shall be necessary to follow some rule of life”. In the Montessori classroom, the child quickly comes to know certain benign boundaries to this freedom such [...]

Functional Learning Posture
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Functional Learning Posture

Parenting

Functional Learning Posture

Heather2021-04-14T16:19:26-05:00January 14th, 2021|Categories: Parenting|Tags: health, yoga|

by Jennifer Baker Powers Classroom teachers at all levels, both in Montessori schools and in the public sector, are observing a noticeable decline in some students’ core strength. Core strength encompasses the muscles that engage the stomach, back, gluteus and pectorals. These muscles work together to provide an optimal posture for learning. Children with a weak core often demonstrate an inability to sit cross legged on the ﬂoor without bracing their knees for support rather propping on one arm/hand for assistance or leaning forward for [...]

The Grace and Courtesy of Giving and Receiving
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The Grace and Courtesy of Giving and Receiving

Parenting

The Grace and Courtesy of Giving and Receiving

Heather2020-12-29T13:26:44-06:00December 1st, 2020|Categories: Parenting|Tags: community, empathy, Grace and Courtesy, Manners, Parenting|

By Jennifer Baker Powers Although for many of us the upcoming holiday season is going to look a little different this year, I imagine that there will still be a fair amount of giving and receiving of gifts. Perhaps even more so as parents and grandparents try to make up for the loss of time with extended family and the lack of seasonal travel. Here are a few tips to help children, who are generally outspoken and honest by nature, navigate both getting and giving [...]

Food and Life
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Food and Life

Parenting

Food and Life

Heather2020-12-29T13:49:10-06:00October 1st, 2020|Categories: Parenting|Tags: concentration, independence, Parenting, self-regulation, Soft Skills|

By Maren Stark Schmidt And They Call It Veggie Love… When do we learn to love vegetables? For most of us, it is usually before the age of seven. During the first six years of life children are in a sensitive period of learning that involves refining the senses, which includes, of course, taste and smell. Introduce new foods ten times. Presenting a variety of vegetables to the young child helps create a later preference for vegetables in the older child and adult. When introducing [...]

Handling Your Kid’s Disappointment When Everything Is Canceled
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Handling Your Kid’s Disappointment When Everything Is Canceled

Parenting

Handling Your Kid’s Disappointment When Everything Is Canceled

Heather2020-04-11T17:12:07-05:00April 11th, 2020|Categories: Parenting|Tags: community, empathy, Parenting|

School and events are shutting down, impacting children in unexpected ways. Here’s how to deal with the letdown. By Erinne Magee March 18, 2020 • Taken from the New York Times When I told my 10-year-old daughter that her elementary school would be shutting down for two weeks, she didn’t seem to mind. But after Lexi had time to process the news and realized a friend’s birthday party, a dance competition and the “Jump Rope for Heart” fund-raiser at school were also looped into the [...]

Want to Raise Thoughtful, Well-Adjusted Children? Let Them Hear You Say These 11 Things, According to Parenting Experts
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Want to Raise Thoughtful, Well-Adjusted Children? Let Them Hear You Say These 11 Things, According to Parenting Experts

Parenting

Want to Raise Thoughtful, Well-Adjusted Children? Let Them Hear You Say These 11 Things, According to Parenting Experts

Heather2020-04-11T17:29:27-05:00March 1st, 2020|Categories: Parenting|Tags: brain development, education, Parenting, phrases|

I recently wrote about what parents should let their kids see them doing to role-model well-adjusted behavior and have been planning this follow-up piece. Why? Because helping children to grow up successful and levelheaded is about ensuring they see you doing and saying certain things. Plenty has been written about what not to say in front of your children but not so much on the opposite. So I enlisted the help of parenting experts Patrick A. Coleman, parenting editor at Fatherly.com, and Daniel Wong, author [...]

Anxiety & Anxiety Disorders in Children: Information for Parents
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Anxiety & Anxiety Disorders in Children: Information for Parents

Parenting

Anxiety & Anxiety Disorders in Children: Information for Parents

Heather2020-04-11T17:42:43-05:00February 1st, 2020|Categories: Parenting|Tags: empathy, Parenting, research|

By Thomas J. Huberty, PhD, NCSP Indiana University Anxiety is one of the most common experiences of children and adults. It is a normal, adaptive reaction, as it creates a level of arousal and alertness to danger. The primary characteristic of anxiety is worry, which is fear that future events will have negative outcomes. Anxious children are much more likely than their peers to see minor events as potentially threatening. For example, giving a brief oral report might be slightly anxiety-producing for most children, but [...]