Talk to Your Kids About Tragedy
I wrote the below article exactly 5 years and 2 days ago after the Manchester bombing at an Arianna Grande concert. I was blogging a lot at the time about child development, and wanted to share what the experts advised we parents do when these tragedies occur. I wrote, “I am so glad my daughter […]
Counting the Benefits of Practicing Mindfulness with Kids
I’ve mentioned before in previous posts that I started practicing mindfulness, or mindful meditation, back in March when I stumbled upon Dr. Lindsay Bira‘s meet-up group. (See the video below about mindfulness if you have no idea what I’m talking about.) Mindfulness, again, isn’t some weird, fluffy hippie stuff; it is research-based science that proves that you […]
Counting the Benefits of Practicing Mindfulness with Kids: Self-Control
I wish I had a dollar for every time I heard a parent or teacher say, “He just needs to learn to calm down, control his temper, not talk back, stop yelling, or not hit his sister when he gets mad.” In other words, he just needs to learn self-control. Expecting kids to just learn self-control is like […]
Counting the Benefits of Practicing Mindfulness with Kids: Stress Reduction
Have you ever taken a shower, and when drying off thought, “Did I even wash my hair?” because you were so focused on rehearsing that crucial conversation you are supposed to have with your boss that day? Or have you ever driven somewhere thinking about the millions of things you have to do just to arrive […]
Counting the Benefits of Practicing Mindfulness with Kids: Focused Attention
I once heard at a positive behavior training led by Dan St. Romain that a child’s attention span = their age + or – two minutes, up to the age of 14. This means a five-year-old kindergarten student can realistically only pay attention for a whopping 3-7 minutes. An eighth grade fourteen-year-old middle school student can give […]
Counting the Benefits of Practicing Mindfulness with Kids: Gratitude
Practicing gratitude might sound fluffy, unimportant, or unnecessary, but hard science shows there are many benefits to having a “gratitude attitude“ (sorry, I had to). Having a daily gratitude practice, like keeping a gratitude journal or writing daily “thank you” notes increases your energy levels, improves relationships, and makes you happier and healthier, according to science. I […]
Counting the Benefits of Practicing Mindfulness with Kids: Empathy
Empathy may seem like a “soft” skill, one that’s not very important to acquire, or teach our children in order to be successful in school or life. But, new research on the topic shows that empathy is far from “soft”, and actually plays an integral role in predicting kids’ current and future happiness, success and overall well-being, according […]
Only Calm Minds Can Learn, According to Science
In May I made a split second panicked decision to cancel a trip to Mexico with my best friends and our children because my 19-month-old daughter was on day five of having absolutely insane tantrums. The one at the airport (that ultimately resulted in me returning to the airline desk in tears to retrieve my […]
Belly Breathe
One of Calma’s Mindful Parenting Workshops focuses on Mindfulness as a preventative behavioral approach for toddlers and kids. Most of the research comes from these two books: The Whole Brain Child and No Drama Discipline, both of which I HIGHLY recommend. We are living in a fascinating time when it comes to the brain. Due to advances in technology, we […]
Hypervigilance in America’s Schools
I founded Calma after working as a behavior interventionist for KIPP (Knowledge is Power Program), a nationwide network of schools in under-resourced communities. Unfortunately, I encountered many students who lacked self-regulation skills, the ability to calm themselves down when emotions began to escalate, and worse, many more students who had a hard time even calming their minds enough […]