Happy New Year everyone, and happy first podcast episode of 2020! This week I sat down with Jessica Lahey, the author of the New York Times Bestseller “The Gift of Failure”. Guys, this book is no joke. After I read it last year I had my whole team read it and, because my team is made up of parents and teachers, it really resonated with us. If you haven’t yet, you’ve gotta check it out. 

In addition to being a bestselling author, Jessica has been teaching English, writing, and Latin to six through twelfth graders for the past 20 years. When Jessica noticed that her own kids weren’t being motivated in school for the right reasons-...

Hey villager, welcome to episode 99 of Voices of Your Village! Before we dive into this week’s topic-  Reward, Punishment, and Behavior Charts- I need to preface this episode by saying it is unlike any episode we’ve ever released before.

I got to interview Alfie Kohn who is widely known for his work on unconditional love and moving away from things like punishment reward systems. He is very outspoken and I find his message to be rather intense. He and I had only half an hour to speak, within that limited time I found it really hard to get a word in. It was a different type of interview than I’ve ever done before. I’ve been holding onto...

Hey there! This week on the podcast I am joined by Mimi Lemay, author of the memoir “What We Will Become: A Mother, A Son, and a Journey of Transformation.” Back in 2010, Mimi and her husband had what they initially thought were three little girls until their middle child, M, began telling Mimi that they were a boy. With this new expression of identity came some uncharacteristic behavior changes with M, they were growing increasingly anxious and angry all the while insisting that they were a boy. This insistence lasted two years before Mimi and her husband gave M the option to transition.

“From that moment on M was Jacob and the transformation was...

Happy Pod Day! Today we are diving right on into a new Q&A Series with Julie. Julie lives in Manchester, New Hampshire with her husband of 6 years and their two sweet kiddos, four-year-old Brady and three-month-old Morgan (who you can hear happily chattering away in the background! Hi Morgan!)

Julie opens the episode by expressing concern over daily transitions with her two kids, especially daycare pickups for Brady. She wonders why his mood seems to change when she goes to pick him up after school, and how consistency can be accomplished within a busy schedule. 

Julie’s family is already aiding transitions with the use of visual tools, a great start that...

Today we kick off our Q&A Series with April, who has been an active member in our Seed village for about two years. April lives in Amarillo, Texas with her husband and three-year-old daughter, Quinn. 

April admits that she has a hard time letting her daughter feel hard emotions for an extended period of time. She wonders when to let her have a hard feeling, how long to let her have that hard feeling, and how long to allow her daughter to engage with a coping mechanism before implementing a coping strategy. 

First, we want to pay attention to what it looks like when we are turning to coping strategies versus coping mechanisms. When we turn to a strategy, the...

I’m so jazzed about this episode of Voices of Your Village because I got to sit down and chat with probably one of the most emotionally intelligent 11-year-olds you’ll ever meet, Elijah. His mom Danielle allowed us to share on Instagram and Facebook an exchange she and Elijah had in which she emotion coached him through a tough situation, and basically the response was that Danielle is serious #momgoals and Elijah is serious #11yearoldgoals. I wanted to chat with Elijah about being a soon-to-be middle school kid - what it’s like and how to navigate all of the hard stuff surrounding this unique time in life. We chatted about the difficulties of middle...

There are generally two schools of thought in regards to sharing, and they tend to be on opposite ends of the spectrum. One end is the belief that what’s mine is mine, and what’s yours is yours, and my kiddos don’t need to share, while the other end is the belief that everybody takes turns and everybody shares. I believe in finding a middle ground here. Over the years, I’ve worked with thousands of kiddos, and I’ve noticed some trends when it comes to sharing. 

Some kiddos actually really like to share and offer all on their own because it brings them joy. So, what is it about these kiddos that leads to a desire for collaborative...

As parents and caregivers, one of our goals should be for our tiny humans to trust us - trust us to keep them safe and trust us to do what we say we’re going to do - and for us to trust them to hold up their end of the bargain. You may think this happens in the big moments - them coming to you with a big secret or confiding in you - but trust is actually built in the smaller moments, like keeping a promise. And it’s a two-way street - I expect the tiny humans to do what they say they’re going to do, too. There will be times when we let each other down because that’s just life - but more often than not, we need to follow through.

I want the tiny...

On this episode of Voices of Your Village, I got to hang out with my pal Kristie on her Pre-K Teach and Play Podcast. An accomplished author, sought-after consultant, and educator’s educator, Dr. Kristie Pretti-Frontczak spent 16 years as a tenured professor at Kent State University before leaving to lead a {r}evolution in early care and education. Through comprehensive classes, thought-provoking keynotes, and practical resources, she’s guiding educational professionals toward developing their emotional intelligence, reclaiming children’s right to learn through play, and reimagining more inclusive classrooms. We got to dive into the topic of teaching...

I this week’s episode I dove into challenging behaviors like hitting, kicking, and biting. When we see these behaviors in our tiny humans it can spark feelings of shame, disappointment, and embarrassment, especially if it’s happening in public. When we can work through our own feelings about the situation, we can better serve our kiddos. Rather than reacting, we can take the time to respond in a way that helps our kiddo to process the emotion behind the behavior. 

It is developmentally normal for a tiny human to react to a big emotion by using their bodies when they don’t know what else to do with that feeling. When your kiddo hits or bites another kiddo,...