At the end of April I saw a tweet where a guy posted a video about what he, and others who had re-tweeted it, called ‘a baby cage’. I was astonished to see the words and couldn’t imagine what it might look like – I envisioned a playpen with a closed top. Or perhaps the […]
Oct 16th, 2012 – 11:20 am
You should know by now that I am always wondering and asking “Why?” I think it was John D. MacDonald who said in one of his books (oft quoted by my husband when I ask ‘why’ for the umpteenth time!) “The sign of an intelligent mind is asking ‘why?’ ” I’ve been asking ‘why?’ almost from […]
Some who read this may find it a strange title but others of you who have worked with children from challenged environments like orphanages, or seen children abused in many of its forms in different environments, will understand what I am writing about. When I say ‘broken’ I mean babies who are emotionally and psychologically […]
How many times have I heard that phrase in the almost 40 years I’ve lived here in America? The other version of it is “You can’t do that”. I first heard “You can’t do that” from a lawyer whose advice I asked (and paid for) when I was considering educating our sons at home. When […]
I’ve just read a very thoughtful paper on professional practice as it relates to the early care of children. It wasn’t written by an American researcher. I can’t quite tell you why it is that much of what is written for the American academic market is bound up totally in theory — those who write […]
Oct 15th, 2012 – 12:21 pm
Last month I visited a young friend who had her baby just three weeks before. He was born naturally but apparently about a month early, weighing just over 6lbs and needing eleven days in the NICU. He now weighs 7lbs 11oz, I believe thanks to his mum nursing him (or at least providing him breast […]
How do we recognise children who are flourishing with their family and also out in the wider world? First of all they only cry as babies when they have a real reason – tired, hungry, thirsty, under the weather, etc. Their parents don’t pose as parents in name only, they always approach their babies in […]
Jun 20th, 2012 – 11:17 am
Learning styles are certainly something we should all be aware of with young children but I think we should also work out how each of us learns as an adult. What are our strengths and weaknesses? How could we learn from colleagues, those in a different generation (older or younger)? Certain teaching methods foster specific […]
Perhaps the time is nigh for me to do so. I recently read an article by a UX blogger in which he implied failure is a good thing. How else can we learn? After nearly five months of de-toxing from my childcare job of four years and reflecting on the experience, here’s where I went wrong […]
Jun 19th, 2012 – 11:21 am
I’ve encountered trauma – many different kinds: moving 4000 miles from my home and family, my father dying suddenly (recovery, of sorts, for me easily took 2 years), sundry car accidents, a grown son in a car accident where someone died (through no fault of his and yet he was sued!), a so-called ‘friend’ defrauding […]