Parenting from the Heart

Rewards as Incentives, Not Bribes

Companies are spending millions to research what incentives motivate employees to give their best. Fitness and dieting gurus use...

Susie Kohl

Naming Those Big Feelings

“My friends left me out today. No one likes me.” It can be hard for adults to know how to respond to children’s painful feelings. We want...

Susie Kohl

Admitting Our Mistakes, Resetting

“You need to reset your voice,” one of our first graders reminds his mother when he thinks her words are carrying too much intensity. How...

Susie Kohl

When a New Rule Is Needed

A kind of daily art auction began occurring in one of our preschool rooms. Individual artists would spontaneously give work to their...

Susie Kohl

Resisting the Temptation to Blame

“It’s all their fault.” Last spring a few kindergarteners announced that Asian people had caused the coronavirus. Their teachers, who...

Susie Kohl

A Timely Solution

Parent: “Time to turn off the TV.” Child: “No, I want to see the next part.” We often wish for magic solutions for challenges that...

Susie Kohl

Finding the Right Way to Say No

Susie Kohl

Channeling Children’s Spring Energy

Expect new behaviors in spring. The same force that courses through blossoming plants and propels baby animals to explore their...

Susie Kohl

Democracy in the Classroom and Home

With discussions about the American Constitution in the news, it’s a nice time to explore principles of democracy and how they can...

Susie Kohl

Whose Property? Ownership and Respect

Learning the lessons of ownership takes time and patience, and there are opportunities for new learning on this subject even into...

Susie Kohl

A Better Alternative to the "Why Question"

One question commonly asked of children can undermine efforts to help them learn self-regulation and to respect agreed-upon rules. The...

Susie Kohl

Art’s Special Meaning for Children

In Michael Slack’s Saturday Zoom presentation, he detailed the way he had written and illustrated books like Dinosaur and Boy, as well as...

Susie Kohl

Making Parents’ Work Visible

Last week children loved watching art teacher Lara Cannon at work on a ladder in the hall, carefully painting the outline of a huge tree....

Susie Kohl

Respecting Communication Differences

“I couldn’t find the words” is a phrase we often use when our ability to speak falls short of what we want to express. Watching the...

Susie Kohl

Supporting Children’s Ability to Focus

“I CAN TELL THAT MY TWO-YEAR-OLD has the ability to focus because of the expression he gets on his face when he listens to music.” This...

Susie Kohl

Noticing Acts of “Greatness”

On a noisy day when the teachers in my older daughter’s second grade classroom needed everyone’s attention, they made this request....

Susie Kohl

Coping With “Big Feelings”

Naming difficult emotions and the events that cause them is the first stage in teaching children resilience. Big feelings are abounding...

Susie Kohl

What Did You Give?

If you buy children gifts at this time of year, or on other occasions, you might be interested in an important article Ben West’s dad,...

Susie Kohl

Children Discover the Power to Help

Fifteen year-old Gitanjali Rao is the first child to be featured on the cover of Time magazine. This is an important breakthrough for our...

Susie Kohl

Write Your Child a Love Note

Tuck a personal note into your child’s lunch box. It’s a guaranteed way to brighten any day. In the midst of concentrating, adjusting to...

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