Creating a Place of Belonging and Empowerment for Children

Wherever you go, it is the staff who make a school what it is.  And the staff at Riviera PlaySchool are all grounded in the same philosophy — that of non violent communication, and mindfulness.  You will notice that every interaction between child and adult has a consistent and tangible feeling of respect and compassion.  And when any conflict occurs, it is a true learning moment, and teachers are on hand to hold space for the children to resolve their own conflicts.  We try to not rush to a resolution of our adult creation.  Sometimes children can take a while to sort a conflict out to a place they deem to be “fair.”.  And we give them space to take the time to do that, while offering support, and helping them keep bodies and hears safe.  We pay particular attention to where we are during the conflict.  We stay on the sidelines.  We don’t jump into the fray energetically.  If we notice our speech becoming more rapid, or our voice becoming louder, then that’s a signal to us to take a step back and let them have their own emotions about the conflict at hand…  It’s pretty tricky, and it keeps us more awake as people.  It is an incredibly magical thing to witness a couple of small children figure out a workable solution to their volatile dilemma…and then walk away laughing together, more emotionally and socially intelligent than before.

Fill Yourself Up! (The Oxygen Mask Rule)

It is insidious, how, little by little we give up doing things for ourselves, because we believe that we should be spending more time with out child. Until finally we realize that we are doing nothing for our own pure enjoyment anymore. Everything is a compromise, or hinged on that love we have for our child. We end up having no 1:1 time with ourselves, and instead we snatch stolen moments at the computer while we yell to the other room “just a moment honey…”

Parenting With Spirit: An Intuitive Guide for Parenting With Joy & Compassion

A special one night mini course in PEACEFUL PARENTING with Jessica Wiggley is next week on December 6 at Riviera PlaySchool! RSVP if you plan to attend!

What is The Green Hour?

from the Wildlife Federation: A Green Hour is time for unstructured play and interaction with the natural world. In 2007, the National Wildlife Federation launched GreenHour.org, an online resource providing parents the inspiration and tools to make the outdoors a part of daily life. NWF recommends that parents give their kids a “Green Hour” every day. [...]

Now Hiring: a Great Teacher/Facilitator!

Now Hiring! We are looking for a compassionate, empowering teacher/facilitator, or an assistant teacher/facilitator and a few good substitute teachers who love to play and facilitate emergent plans with children.

Riviera PlaySchool pre-kindergarten program in Redondo Beach, CA www.RivieraPlaySchool.com

Hey, Guess What?!! You Already ARE the Perfect Parent!!

If you’re like me, you are your own worst critic. And there is no badge of honor in that, even though we have been brought up to believe it is so. You deserve the same “break” you are wanting your child to be given. And it has to start with you doing it for yourself, since you are their primary teacher. Ease up a little, and give yourself some validation. You deserve it!

Use Your Words!

Parenting can be like tobogganing down a flight of stairs on a swatch of cardboard: smooth and easy, with just a couple of bumps and bruises! A good guideline for accomplishing this is to swap shoes with your child: treat them as you would like to be treated. And like Horton says: “People are People no Matter How Small.”

Can the Right Kinds of Play Teach Self-Control?

Many practices that most prekindergarten teachers consider essential are more or less banned from Tools of the Mind classrooms. There are no gold stars, no telling the class that they are all going to have to wait until Jimmy is quiet; even timeouts are discouraged. When there is a conflict — when, say, Billy grabs a toy from Jamal — the Tools of the Mind teacher’s first questions are supposed to be: What was it in the classroom that made it hard for Billy to control himself? And what mediators could help him do better next time? The teacher does remind Billy that there is a rule and he broke it, but she doesn’t make a big deal out of the incident. “We pretty much try not to use this whole concept of misbehavior,” Bodrova told me. “These kids are not born criminals. Even if they do something that is completely out of bounds, they do it because they can’t stop themselves.”

Use Your Words!

Parenting can be like tobogganing down a flight of stairs on a swatch of cardboard: smooth and easy, with just a couple of bumps and bruises! A good guideline for accomplishing this is to swap shoes with your child: treat them as you would like to be treated. And like Horton says: “People are People no Matter How Small.”

My son (who is not a genius though I would like to think he is) could communicate his feelings very well at 18 months. And in my experience, this level of communication it is simply typical of what the children at playschool are capable of.

Hey Dieters: New Study Shows that Television Lowers Metabolic Rate!

Wow! Logic does not always prevail! Logically, we would assume that watching television makes children fat simply because the act of television watching typically corresponds with sitting passively. But now a recent study from two prestigious universities has shown that television watching actually decreases your body’s ability to burn calories. Wow!

If you are trying to lose weight, you might want to read this one……

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