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IN THIS ISSUE:
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1. Redirecting Children’s Behavior Course Schedule for Winter/Spring 2012: see home page
2. Ten Things Parents Can Learn from Grandparents
3. Your Unique Holiday Signature
4. Fame and Accomplishment
5. Educators are Going Back to Basics
6. The Face in the Mirror
7. Letters to Santa
8. Replacing Stigma with Best Practices
9. A Jolly Toddler Holiday
10. Inspirational Quote of the Week

2. Ten Things Parents Can Learn from Grandparents
Dr. Laura Markham of Aha Parenting! lists ten terrific things that parents can learn from grandparents.
CLICK HERE for More

3. Your Unique Holiday Signature
Maggie Macaulay of Whole Hearted Parenting writes, “Much like the summer vacation – anticipated with visions of family fun that somehow spirals into fighting children and exhausted parents – the holidays may not always look like what we initially envision. The cultural pressure to create a Norman Rockwell event can be daunting.” Here are three suggestions for making the holiday season successful with your own family signature.
CLICK HERE for More

4. Fame and Accomplishment
Biographer Yona Zeldis McDonough said, “Andy Warhol (famously) said that in the future, everyone would be famous for fifteen minutes. Well, he was wrong: the future seems to be a time when everyone is famous for fifteen seconds. Or less. Never has fame, and its handmaiden, celebrity, been so important, so sought after.” Yona discusses teaching children the difference between fame and accomplishment in this post for Tween Parent.
CLICK HERE for More

5. Educators are Going Back to Basics
Educators are going back to basics in the use of building blocks, and one school director explains that blocks are “an antidote to fine-motor-skill deficits and difficulty with unstructured activity, problems that they blame on too much time in front of screens and overly academic preschools.” Read more on this swing in the educational pendulum in this New York Times article.
CLICK HERE for More

6. The Face in the Mirror
By Wes Hopper

Raymond Charles Barker said, “No one can love you until you love yourself, and you cannot love anyone else, until you love yourself.” There was a time in my life when my relationships with others were a real mess. Everything was a struggle, and I wondered what was wrong with everyone. Nothing changed until the day that I realized that in every disaster there was one person always at the scene of the crime. Me! That was when my real work began, and it continues to this day. And as our quote suggests, the focus of that work is to love and accept myself.

It’s funny, but as I learned to love and accept myself, the people around me did, too. Some people left, new people showed up, relationships changed in amazing ways. It’s very humbling to look at the past disasters and conflicts in your life and realize, “Gosh, all this time the problem was me!”

How do you talk to yourself about yourself? Does your talk sound loving and supportive, or is it critical and condemning? Would you hang around with someone who talked about you the way you do? If the answer is no, then change the way you talk until the answer is yes.

Post today’s quote up where you can see it. Put a little mirror next to it. Love the person in the mirror.
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7. Letters to Santa
Letters to Santa are the topic in Childhood 101’s Literacy Spot.
CLICK HERE for More

8. Replacing Stigma with Best Practices
In his recent post entitled Children are the Winners When We Replace Stigma with Best Practices for Gay and Lesbian Parents, Adam Pertman wrote, “News flash: Today, in every state in America, gay fathers and lesbian mothers are raising children. For a range of reasons, not everyone in our country likes or wants to accept this reality, but it is a reality nevertheless. And it is also true that adoption – primarily of “waiting” children and youth from foster care – is one of the reasons for this growing phenomenon.” Read more in Adam’s article.
CLICK HERE for More

9. A Jolly Toddler Holiday
Janet Lansbury of Elevating Child Care addresses talking to young children about Santa as well as three ways to enrich a toddler’s enjoyment of the holidays.
CLICK HERE for More

10. Inspirational Quote of the Week
“Dream lofty dreams, and as you dream, so you shall become. Your vision is the promise of what you shall one day be; your ideal is the prophecy of what you shall at last unveil.” James Allen
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Thank you for being a member of the Kids “R” the Future Community.
Please forward this newsletter to parents, teachers, family and friends who might
find the tips, links, and information valuable. Consider it community service!
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IN THIS ISSUE:
==========

1. Redirecting Children’s Behavior Course Schedule Winter/Spring 2012 (see home page)
2. Very Few Things are More Important than This
3. Felt Food Fun
4. Does Your Child Know Who’s Boss?
5. Immigration and ‘Shattered Families’
6. Beware the Borg
7. Highlights® Hidden Pictures Online
8. What Overprotective Parents and GPS Have in Common
9. Make Ups Make a Difference
10. Inspirational Quote of the Week

2. Very Few Things are More Important than This
Kathryn Kvols deems this so important that it is in the first chapter of her book, Redirecting Children’s Behavior. Learn what it is and why it is so important for parents.
CLICK HERE for More

3. Felt Food Fun
These ideas for homemade felt food for children’s play are delightful!
CLICK HERE for More

4. Does Your Child Know Who’s Boss?
Dr. Laura Markham of Aha! Parenting says, “Most of us wish our kids would obey our every request without a fuss. But that would mean we were raising automatons who weren’t thinking for themselves. There will be many times in your child’s teen years where having practiced saying ‘No!’ could save her life. Your child isn’t wrong to say ‘No!’; she has a reason. It may not be what you consider a good reason, but she certainly thinks it is.” Discover what Dr. Markham calls a parent’s “most potent motivator” in this article.
CLICK HERE for More

5. Immigration and ‘Shattered Families’
Adam Pertman, author of Adoption Nation and Executive Director of the Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute, addresses a recent report from the Applied Research Center which “documents how thousands of children are removed from the custody of detained or deported undocumented workers in this country, and are placed in foster care.”
CLICK HERE for More

6. Beware the Borg
By Wes Hopper

Byron Katie said, “All the stress we feel is caused by arguing with what is.” How much time do we waste thinking about what has already happened, or what already is, and wishing we could change it? Most of us would be embarrassed to add up the hours, days and weeks we’ve spent like that. A substantial part of our lives. We think, “Oh, if only I hadn’t done that, or if I had only done this other thing instead!” Has anything ever changed for the better because of that kind of thinking? Or have you just sunk into impotent depression?

As our quote says, we can never win an argument with what is. It seems that people, events and circumstances are the way they are regardless of how we want them to be. Arguing with things being the way they are is called resistance. If you’re a Star Trek fan, you know that “resistance is futile” and it doesn’t just apply to the Borg.

We cannot change the way things are. What we can do is choose the way we respond to what life serves up for us. We have no power at all over the past, but we have lots of power over the future. Put it to work!

You’ll be very glad you did.
CLICK HERE for More

7. Highlights® Hidden Pictures Online
Your children can now play Highlights® hidden pictures games online. It is interactive, free and fun!
CLICK HERE for More

8. What Overprotective Parents and GPS Have in Common
The comparison between overprotective parents and a GPS device provides food for thought on how we may be limiting our children in learning to navigate the world.
CLICK HERE for More

9. Make Ups Make a Difference
Parents and teachers participating in the Redirecting Children’s Behavior Course sometimes get a little rattled when we suggest that they not request that their child or student say “I’m sorry.” Maggie Macaulay of Whole Hearted Parenting discusses what we suggest children do instead and why this solution is so powerful for building meaningful relationships and for children learning to take responsibility.
CLICK HERE for More

10. Inspirational Quote of the Week
“Perfection never exists in reality, but only in our dreams and, if we are foolish enough to think so, in the past.” Rudolf Dreikurs

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Thank you for being a member of the Kids “R” the Future Community.
Please forward this newsletter to parents, teachers, family and friends who might
find the tips, links, and information valuable. Consider it community service!
If you wish to unsubscribe, please reply and put “unsubscribe” in the subject line.

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IN THIS ISSUE:
==========

1. Redirecting Children’s Behavior Fall Schedule 2011 (see home page)
2. An Exquisite Parenting Moment
3. Screen Time and Young Hearts
4. Back to School
5. Why Boredom is Good for Your Child
6. Material Things
7. Eight Steps to Marital Harmony
8. Healthy Food for Less
9. Measuring Your Child’s Temperature Correctly
10. Inspirational Quote of the Week

2. An Exquisite Parenting Moment
Dr. Claudia Gold reports on an exquisite parenting moment she observed in the grocery store check-out line. It displayed all of the elements of Dr. Gold’s concept of holding a child in mind including understanding a child’s behavior from the perspective of his stage of development, empathizing with a child’s feelings, containing and regulating both the feeling and behavior, and perhaps most difficult, staying present with a child without letting one’s own distress get in the way.
CLICK HERE for More

3. Screen Time and Young Hearts
Naomi Cook, RN, wrote, “A recent study has shown that children who spend hours watching television every day are prone to developing narrowed arteries in the eyes. According to researchers in Sydney, this may signify an increased chance of developing cardiovascular disease in the future.” Read more about this study and the impact of living a sedentary lifestyle on your child’s health, both present and future.
CLICK HERE for More

4. Back to School
Maggie Macaulay of Whole Hearted Parenting writes “After shifting into the glorious groove of summer, it is time to line up the uniforms, repack the backpack, dig out the lunch box and begin the daily routine of school. Here are some tips for making a smooth switch from summer to school.”
CLICK HERE for More

5. Why Boredom is Good for Your Child
Most moms feel responsible for solving the issue when they hear, “Mom, I’m bored.” Dr. Laura Markham responds with details on why unstructured time is valuable for children, why “I’m bored” might become a constant refrain with children, and how parents can respond when they hear those words.
CLICK HERE for More

6. Material Things
By Wes Hopper

Wallace Wattles said, “It’s in the use of material things that a person finds full life for the body, develops the mind and unfolds the soul.” Continuing our series on the writings of Wallace Wattles, we see that he is pointing out that it’s an error to think that material things, like money, are not spiritual.

We need things to nurture and comfort our body, engage and stimulate our mind, and feed our soul. Poverty makes this difficult. But, look carefully. He says the “use” of material things is necessary. This choice of words is to make it clear that the acquisition of lots of stuff is not the point. The point is to be able to fully express our body, mind and soul. To do that we need to use “stuff” and it’s not important whether we own it or just have access to it.

But living in poverty and thinking it’s spiritual is an error. Poverty goes with lack, and spirituality goes with abundance. We should never settle for doing without something we need to fully express our gifts and nurture our body, mind and soul.

In order to do that we need to have a healthy relationship with money. And the biggest block for many people is thinking that money and spirituality don’t go together.

They will, if you let them.
CLICK HERE for More

7. Eight Steps to Marital Harmony
Nancy Wasson, Ph. D., says, “The formula for marital harmony and success is not a mysterious secret. It’s actually very straightforward. The “behind the scenes” part is the constant work that’s required to keep the channels of love and communication clear from obstruction.” Read Nancy’s eight steps to marital harmony and put them into practice.
CLICK HERE for More

8. Healthy Food for Less
Dr. Joanna Dolgoff, MD, writes, “Increasing food prices have more and more shoppers looking for ways to save money at the grocery store without sacrificing nutrition. For those of you who fall into this category, you’ll be happy to know that eating healthier foods can actually save you money. Savings can come from reducing portion sizes and from buying fewer of the high-calorie foods that tend to increase the amount spent at the grocery store.” Read Dr. Dolgoff’s suggestions for eating healthy for less.
CLICK HERE for More

9. Measuring Your Child’s Temperature Correctly
In explaining how to measure your child’s temperature correctly, Dr. Chad Rudnick says, “Millions of pediatricians and emergency rooms are visited every year by parents with their child because of fever. Fever is one of the most concerning symptoms to parents because of its association with illness as well as overall poor feeling by the child.” Learn the key to measuring it correctly.
CLICK HERE for More

10. Inspirational Quote of the Week
“For a relationship to succeed, the frequency of positive comments has to outweigh negative remarks by about five to one. In other words, it takes five instances of agreement and support to undo the harm caused by a single criticism.” Richard Wiseman
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Thank you for being a member of the Kids “R” the Future Community.
Please forward this newsletter to parents, teachers, family and friends who might
find the tips, links, and information valuable. Consider it community service!
If you wish to unsubscribe, please reply and put “unsubscribe” in the subject line.

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IN THIS ISSUE:
==========
1. Redirecting Children’s Behavior Course Schedule for Fall 2011 (see home page)
2. Setting Limits with Grandparents
3. Dirt Kitchen
4. The New Three R’s for Childhood
5. A Tough Pill to Swallow
6. Self-Confidence
7. The Food Desert
8. Being Detached when a Teen is Demanding
9. Ten Things that are More Important than Discipline
10. Inspirational Quote of the Week

2. Setting Limits with Grandparents
Kathryn Kvols, author of Redirecting Children’s Behavior and founder of The International Network for Children and Families, says, “Have you ever felt like your parents give your children too much “stuff?” Check out one mom’s solution and a clue from Kathryn on how to know when your boundaries are being disrespected in her latest blog post.
CLICK HERE for More

3. Dirt Kitchen
Squiggle Mum writes about creating a dirt kitchen for her children in the back yard. This article is full of great photos showing the project’s stages, with her children painting and arranging items. This is a great summer project!
CLICK HERE for More

4. The New Three R’s for Childhood
Christie Burnett of Childhood 101 writes, “Reading, writing and arithmetic were once the cornerstones of childhood learning but (for the most part) our parents and grandparents still found time to play. Newcastle based Mum of three, Lenora Newcombe, believes that our children are missing out on the good old fashioned fun of childhood thanks to the pressures of a downward push within our education system, over-scheduling, sexualisation and commercialism. If Lenora has her way, parents will find their way to a whole new set of R’s for their children – real food, real play and real life.” Read more about the new three R’s in this article.
CLICK HERE for More

5. A Tough Pill to Swallow
Janet Lansbury of Elevating Childhood addresses the difference between “soft rules” and “insist upon rules” when it comes to going against your toddler’s will.
CLICK HERE for More

6. Self-Confidence
By Wes Hopper

What exactly is self-confidence? Is it some kind of arrogance that makes us think we’re better than other folks? Well, some people make act that way, but arrogance isn’t self-confidence. In fact, psychologists would suggest that it’s often the opposite! People will act arrogantly to cover up their insecurities. They feel good by trying to make others feel bad. We all know people like that.

Self-confidence starts with a joyful acceptance of the fact that we’re not perfect. This is very important! If it’s OK to not be perfect (and it is, because none of us are) then when we make a mistake (and we will) it doesn’t make us feel like a total failure. We learn and go on. If we think we have to be perfect, mistakes are devastating. Don’t do that to yourself.

From that we build our self-confidence formula. We think and act boldly, we learn from mistakes, we know that we can learn and accomplish anything we want.

So we fail our way to success. This is the secret that all top achievers know and it’s how they become successful.
CLICK HERE for More

7. The Food Desert
Daniel Hernandez writes in a recent issue of the Los Angeles Times, “Changing people’s eating habits is difficult. One reason is money. Healthful foods such as fruits and vegetables, whole grains, lean meats and dairy, can often be pricey. For the cost of a couple of peaches, a person can get a full meal on the dollar menu at a fast-food outlet.” Read about the programs that are in place to help shift eating habits and make wholesome food more accessible.
CLICK HERE for More

8. Being Detached when a Teen is Demanding
Maggie Macaulay of Whole Hearted Parenting writes about learning to detach from the power struggles as her daughter traverses the teen years. What we are telling ourselves about what our teen is doing is key.
CLICK HERE for More

9. Ten Things that are More Important than Discipline
Positive Parenting: Toddlers and Beyond writes, “Parenting is a very complex task. If we’re not careful, we will become too focused on one aspect and let the others fall by the wayside. Many times, I see parents who are intently focused on discipline, and I’m talking about the traditional use of the word here with regard to modifying behavior. Sometimes we get very caught up in “What do I do when…” or “How do I get my kid to…” and we lose sight of the bigger picture. The truth is that there are many things that are more important in shaping our children than the methods and techniques we use to modify their behavior.”
CLICK HERE for More

10. Inspirational Quote of the Week
“Self-confidence is a kind of psychological credit card and is of far greater value than any other we can carry.” Earl Nightingale
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Thank you for being a member of the Kids “R” the Future Community.
Please forward this newsletter to parents, teachers, family and friends who might
find the tips, links, and information valuable. Consider it community service!
If you wish to unsubscribe, please reply and put “unsubscribe” in the subject line.

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==========
IN THIS ISSUE:
==========

1. Redirecting Children’s Behavior Fall Schedule 2011 (see home page)
2. Handling Conflict in Families
3. The Science of Play, Part 1
4. Bribes Don’t Change Behaviors
5. The Linguistic Genius of Babies
6. Path or Destination?
7. Good Grades: Only Part of the Equation
8. Don’t Believe Facebook: You Only Have 150 Friends
9. Aggression and Sleep Problems
10. Inspirational Quote of the Week

2. Handling Conflict in Families
Last week Heather Remer, of the International Network for Children and Families, wrote about “building trust in families and how that was an important part of creating an atmosphere of teamwork in your home. In this post, we will talk a little bit about another crucial part of creating a team – being ok with conflict.”
CLICK HERE for More

3. The Science of Play, Part 1
This is a terrific article – part 1 in a multi-part series – “on the importance of purposeless, consuming, imaginative play.”
CLICK HERE for More

4. Bribes Don’t Change Behaviors
Stephannie Kennedy, Professional Development Coordinator of 4C for Children wrote, “Have you noticed that while bribes and threats may give short-term results with children, their behavior changes never seem to last? I have discovered this with my own children – it’s easy to look for a quick fix when a challenging behavior rears its ugly head, but sometimes a quick fix can turn on you.” Read about her solutions, which are in alignment with the concepts in Redirecting Children’s Behavior™.
CLICK HERE for More

5. The Linguistic Genius of Babies
Patricia Kuhl shares astonishing findings in this TED video about how babies learn one language over another by listening to the humans around them and “taking statistics” on the sounds they need to know. Clever lab experiments (and brain scans) show how 6-month-old babies use sophisticated reasoning to understand their world.
CLICK HERE for More

6. Path or Destination
By Wes Hopper

When I graduated from high school, I thought I knew what I wanted to be. I enjoyed technology – fixing TVs and radios, building audio systems. So I went to college and became an engineer. I learned in a 25 year corporate career that I enjoyed creating new stuff, and that routine stuff bored me to tears. My happiest time was a five year period when we radically changed aircraft cockpits from the old dial instruments to electronic TV-like displays. It was revolutionary!

That was my biggest clue to what I really wanted to be. When I look back now I can see the truth. I wanted to a person who changed the world! I was happy when I was doing that, and bored stiff otherwise. Engineering was just a path, not the destination.

When I decided to teach Bob Proctor’s material (without knowing if he would let me do it) I was choosing a different path. Same goal – be someone who changed the world.

So my question to you is – what do you think you want to be? Is that it, or is it just a path? If you’re not being what you want to be, the world is poorer for it. Come on, get with it, we need you!

You’ll be very glad you did!
CLICK HERE for More

7. Good Grades: Only Part of the Equation
The Study Gurus take a look at the big picture and “the pivotal importance of ‘soft skills’ in determining a high school student’s higher academic achievement and earnings in adult life.”
CLICK HERE for More

8. Don’t Believe Facebook: You Only Have 150 Friends
Facebook and GORE-TEX – the company that makes wetsuits, hiking boots and ponchos – share something in common. This common factor also influences you and your community.
CLICK HERE for More

9. Aggression and Sleep Problems
Science Daily reports that “Children who are bullies or have conduct problems at school are more likely to be sleepy during the day according to University of Michigan Medical School researchers.” Research found that there was “a two-fold higher risk for symptoms of sleep-disordered breathing, particularly daytime sleepiness among these students.”
CLICK HERE for More

10. Inspirational Quote of the Week
“One of the greatest things in life is that no one has the authority to tell you what you want to be. You’re the one who’ll decide what you want to be.” … Jaime Escalante
********************************************************************

*******************************************************************
Thank you for being a member of the Kids “R” the Future Community.
Please forward this newsletter to parents, teachers, family and friends who might
find the tips, links, and information valuable. Consider it community service!
If you wish to unsubscribe, please reply and put “unsubscribe” in the subject line.

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==========
IN THIS ISSUE:
==========

1. Redirecting Children’s Behavior Teaching Schedule Summer (LAST ENROLLMENT OPPORTUNITY UNTIL FALL 2011)
2. Is My Family Normal
3. How to Love a Diaper Change
4. Is McDonald’s Betraying Our Kids?
5. Friendship: Helping Children Learn to be Inclusive
6. Pure Potential
7. Sparrow Road
8. Seven Shortcuts to Daily Bliss
9. How and When to Negotiate with Kids
10. Inspirational Quote of the Week

Redirecting Children’s Behavior:
The Gentle Art of Parenting
***************************************************************************************
This six week, fifteen hour course teaches parents how to help children grow in a way that enhances self-esteem, teaches responsibility and promotes cooperation and self mastery. At the completion, you will be able to:
* Discipline without yelling * Interact to build self-esteem
* Reduce sibling rivalry * Develop a sense of responsibility
* Redirect mistaken goals * Create an encouraging family
***************************************************************************************
Course fee: $225 for one; $325 per couple

One-on-one Parent Coaching or Gentle Sleep Coaching: $110/hr or discount for 4 prepaid hours/ $395
www.deborah-fry.com
www.incaf.com
www.thesleeplady.com

The courses listed above will be taught by Deborah Fry Ph.D.; C.P.E. and Gentle Sleep Coach trained and certified by Kim West, The Sleep Lady
For information and registration please call Deborah at 713-840-8663

2. Is My Family Normal?
Kathryn Kvols, author of Redirecting Children’s Behavior, writes in her blog “Parents can’t help but ask themselves if they are doing a good job. All of us at times falter. Life just gets in the way and some times you need to just step back, look at things holistically and check in where you are at with things. Here is a link from the American Academy of Pediatrics that gives a quick and easy spot check for parents by outlining some of the characteristics that make up a healthy family.”
CLICK HERE for More

3. How to Love a Diaper Change
Janet Landsbury of Elevating Child Care says, “Diaper changes are built for intimacy. And all we need to turn diapering from a difficult, dreaded chore into a mutually gratifying experience is to change our perception, to appreciate the moment as an opportunity for developing a closer partnership with our child.” Read Janet’s suggestions on how to love a diaper change and create closeness with your child.
CLICK HERE for More

4. Is McDonald’s Betraying Our Kids?
Author and visionary John Robbins writes, “We worry so much about the many dangers to our children, like drugs and pedophiles and violence. But we often take for granted what might very well be the largest danger of all to our kids: the hundreds of billions of dollars spent each year on ads designed to get them hooked on junk food.”
CLICK HERE for More

5. Friendship: Helping Children Learn to be Inclusive
Christie Burnett of Childhood 101 has solid suggestions for assisting your child, even as early as two and three years of age, to become more inclusive. She provides dialogue that challenges stereotypes and builds sensitivity.
CLICK HERE for More

6. Pure Potential
By Wes Hopper

There’s a problem with thinking that we need to find ourselves. The problem is – if we think that we need to find ourselves in order to achieve our dreams and goals in life, we’ll likely fail. Why will we fail? Because there’s nothing to find.

What you are is pure potential. You have the ability to be anything that you want badly enough. But pure unrealized potential is hard to see. It’s undefined, shadowy, ghost-like. Your job is not to find it, your job is to turn it into form.

The way you do that is to decide what you want, to choose the path that makes your heart sing – even if you don’t think that you have any natural talents for it. You may be surprised to find that you’re wrong about the talents. All that unrealized potential may have more stored up in it than you think.

You’ll never know until you put away the voices that say, “Who are you to think you can do that?” Choose a new voice that says, “Who am I to think I can’t do that?” Then you can get to work creating yourself. Build the skills as you go. Turn that potential into the person that you need to be to live your dream.

We’re all waiting, and cheering you on!
CLICK HERE for More

7. Sparrow Road
Cindy Hudson of Mother Daughter Book Club reviews Sparrow Road, a book she recommends for girls ages 9 to 14. Cindy writes, “Sparrow Road by Sheila O’Connor is a beautifully told coming of age story that I found myself savoring as I read. Raine is at an age where she resists changes to her way of life, but she’s also open to new possibilities. Her city life was insulated, and in the quiet safety of Sparrow Road, we see her blossom.”
CLICK HERE for More

8. Seven Shortcuts to Daily Bliss
Meryl Davids Landau, author of Downward Dog, Upward Fog, suggests seven ways to brighten your day and generate some bliss.
CLICK HERE for More

9. How and When to Negotiate with Kids
Author Karen Deerwester writes, “Negotiation teaches children important communication and problem solving skills. Even so, there’s a time and place. If everything is open to negotiation, every decision will involve tedious and time consuming discussions.” Read Karen’s suggestions on when and how to negotiate with your children.
CLICK HERE for More

10. Inspirational Quote of the Week
“Life isn’t about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself.” … George Bernard Shaw
********************************************************************

*******************************************************************
Thank you for being a member of the Kids “R” the Future Community.
Please forward this newsletter to parents, teachers, family and friends who might
find the tips, links, and information valuable. Consider it community service!
If you wish to unsubscribe, please reply and put “unsubscribe” in the subject line.

********************************************************************

==========
IN THIS ISSUE:
==========

1. Redirecting Children’s Behavior Course Schedule Summer 2011 (see home page)
2. Successful Family Vacations
3. Extending the Story Experience
4. Parents as Teachers
5. Trauma Queen
6. The CEO of You
7. The Year We Were Famous
8. How Being Vulnerable Can Expand Your World
9. Factors in Teen Suicide
10. Inspirational Quote of the Week

Redirecting Children’s Behavior:
The Gentle Art of Parenting
***************************************************************************************
This six week, fifteen hour course teaches parents how to help children grow in a way that enhances self-esteem,
teaches responsibility and promotes cooperation and self mastery. At the completion, you will be able to:
* Discipline without yelling * Interact to build self-esteem
* Reduce sibling rivalry * Develop a sense of responsibility
* Redirect mistaken goals * Create an encouraging family
***************************************************************************************
Course fee: $225 for one; $325 per couple

One-on-one Parent Coaching or Gentle Sleep Coaching: $110/hr or discount for 4 prepaid hours/ $395
www.deborah-fry.com
www.incaf.com
www.thesleeplady.com

The courses listed above will be taught by Deborah Fry Ph.D.; C.P.E. and Gentle Sleep Coach trained and certified by Kim West, The Sleep Lady
s For information and registration please call Deborah at 713-840-8663

2. Successful Family Vacations
The end of the school year is approaching and your thoughts may have turned to your summer vacation. In her latest article on successful family vacations, Kathryn Kvols, founder of the International Network for Children and Families and author of Redirecting Children’s Behavior, suggests that we “explore what will have to happen in order for each family member to be satisfied with the trip. Many trips fail simply because one member of the family had an expectation that wasn’t met.”
CLICK HERE for More

3. Extending the Story Experience
Here are three creative and fun ways to “engage children with literacy” by extending the stories you read into playful learning opportunities. These opportunities build vocabulary, improve comprehension and increase your child’s interest in books.
CLICK HERE for More

4. Parents as Teachers
The Washington Post recently issued the “second installment in a series called “Faces of Learning,” a national campaign designed to explore what powerful learning environments and highly effective teachers really look like. This post is a story by Pedro Noguera, an education professor at New York University, about the power of parents as teachers.”
CLICK HERE for More

5. Trauma Queen
Author Cindy Hudson, who is an advocate for mother-daughter book clubs, recently reviewed Trauma Queen by Barbara Dee. Cindy says that it is “a funny and thoughtful look at what happens when the daughter is the responsible one in her family and she feels the need to mother her own mother. They each need to find a way to acknowledge and respect each other’s strengths without dismissing the things they don’t particularly like about each other. There are so many issues to explore when reading Trauma Queen, including getting along with family members even when your personalities are very different, respecting someone else’s choices although you disagree with them, ways moms embarrass their daughters, and more. I highly recommend it for girls aged 9 to 12.” Read Cindy’s entertaining and informative interview with Barbara Dee to learn more about her most recent book.
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6. The CEO of You
By Wes Hopper

Seth Godin said, “The promise that you can get paid really well to do precisely what your boss instructs you to do is now a dream, no longer a reality.” I’ve got good news for you, and bad news for you. It’s the same news. The world is changing. The old formula for success is falling apart. As our quote says, the idea that you can get a good company job and do what your boss tells you for your whole lifetime career is failing. If you’re near the end of your career you might get away with it, but if you’re younger, forget it! You need a better plan.

Start right now to think of yourself, not as an employee, but as the CEO of the company of YOU. You’re in charge, it’s your life and it’s up to you to plan it, and execute the plan. It doesn’t mean that you can’t work for others, it means that you never get dependent on a job or a company. You’re always working for yourself. You give 110% effort to every job and stay 0% dependent on it. Have a plan for your life and live that plan.

Get this through your head – you are always self-employed, no matter who writes your paycheck! With that attitude you can handle what ever the world deals you. And the world is changing fast. So be your own CEO.

You’ll be very glad you did!
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7. The Year We Were Famous
Based on the true story of the author’s great-aunt and great-grandmother, The Year We Were Famous is the tale of a mother and daughter who “dared to walk by themselves nearly coast to coast in 1896, meeting the whole range of late-Victorian society from hobos to the next president of the United States, and relying only on each other and the kindness of strangers to survive from day to day. They carried only what would fit in small satchels, not even a change of clothes, but of course finding room for a stove-heated curling iron.” The author, Carole Estby Dagg, had her own journey of seventeen years and twenty-nine rejections in writing the book. One review read: “The journey in itself is amazing, but Dagg’s tender portrayal of a mother and daughter who learn to appreciate and forgive each other makes it unforgettable.” This is another terrific book for mothers and daughters.
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8. How Being Vulnerable Can Expand Your World
Written by author Wendy Miyake, who claims that vulnerability is not her strong suit, this article tells the story of Wendy becoming vulnerable with her students, an intimidating group of high school teens. She says, “When I have chosen to be open, to show my authentic self, my students have met me there. And when they’ve met me there and formed that connection, there’s nothing they can’t accomplish.”
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9. Factors in Teen Suicide
A new study involving nearly 32,000 high school students found that “suicide attempts by gay teens — and even straight kids — are more common in politically conservative areas where schools don’t have programs supporting gay rights.”
CLICK HERE for More

10. Inspirational Quote of the Week
“What makes you vulnerable makes you beautiful”… Brene Brown

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Thank you for being a member of the Kids “R” the Future Community.
Please forward this newsletter to parents, teachers, family and friends who might
find the tips, links, and information valuable. Consider it community service!
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IN THIS ISSUE:
==========

1. Redirecting Children’s Behavior Course Summer 2011 (see home page)
2. Getting Your Child Outdoors
3. Little Boys Need Help with Big Emotions
4. Growing Up Too Soon
5. Being Fat in America
6. Plug the Drain
7. The Kids ARE All Right
8. Sometimes it is Good to be a Loser
9. Nurturing Creativity (How I Learned to Shut Up)
10. Inspirational Quote of the Week

Course fee: $225 for one; $325 per couple
One-on-one Parent Coaching or Gentle Sleep Coaching: $110/hr or discount for 4 prepaid hours/ $395
www.deborah-fry.com
www.incaf.com

The courses listed above will be taught by Deborah Fry Ph.D.; C.P.E. and Gentle Sleep Coach trained and certified by Kim West, The Sleep Lady
s For information and registration please call Deborah at 713-840-8663

2. Getting Your Child Outdoors
Kathryn Kvols, founder of the International Network for Children and Families and author of Redirecting Children’s Behavior, says “There is a growing sense in the back of our brains that is telling us that we all are spending too much time indoors, away from nature. This is particularly true for our children.” Read tips for raising the excitement about being outdoors as well as a link to a site that is all about reintroducing our children to nature.
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3. Little Boys Need Help with Big Emotions
Those of you who have taken Redirecting Children’s Behavior™ know that one of the most influential aspects of parenting is your parental response. Science Daily recently reported that the latest research supports that RCB concept. “The way you react to your two-year-old’s temper tantrums or clinginess may lead to anxiety, withdrawal and behavior problems down the road, and the effect is more pronounced if the child is a boy.” Read the entire article for much more.
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4. Growing Up Too Soon
In her Chicago Tribune column, Jen Weigel addresses how parents can respond to a seven-year-old asking for a push-up bikini top. With helpful suggestions from our colleague Charlotte Reznick, guest on Tune In for Your Parenting Tune Up, Jen discusses the juvenile marketing industry’s end of the issue as well as the concept of beauty.
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5. Being Fat in America
John Robbins, our recent guest on Tune In for Your Parenting Tune Up, addresses obesity in his recent article on Huffington Post. Citing two extremes – The Heart Attack Grill which celebrates obesity and Natala Constantine, whose switch to a plant-based diet brought her from the brink of a leg amputation and a life of taking multiple pharmaceuticals to one of health and joy – John suggests “turning shame into a commitment to greater wellbeing and happiness” and “refusing to internalize society’s negative messages, and instead building a healthy life of joy, confidence, and beauty.”
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6. Plug the Drain
By Wes Hopper

Tamara Gerlach said, “Some people and things are faucets, and some are drains. When we have an understanding of what drains us, there is just one thing to do: stop it!” Did you ever notice that as you go through the day that sometimes you feel just great and sometimes you don’t? If you pay attention to those times, you can figure out what’s causing the swings in your mood. It might be a particular person, a situation, a task that you dislike, or one you really do like, and so forth. When you connect the stimulus with your response, you’re on the way to taking control.

Obviously, if you can avoid what you don’t like and stick with what you do like, it’s easy to control your feelings. That’s not always possible, though. Some energy drains will always show up from time to time. So remember, it’s not the people or the things that are responsible, it’s how you respond to them. That doesn’t mean that you should hang around with negative people or disturbing situations. Far from it! But understanding that you control your response gives you your power back.

You can plug the energy drain (or most of it, anyway) by choosing your response and quieting the negative chatter in your head. It’s easier with people if we remember that what people do is never about you, it’s always about them. So we don’t take what they do or say personally.

With things that drain us, we can find a positive way to approach them. I dislike bookwork and taxes, so I remind myself how great I’m going to feel when they’re done!

Remember, you’re not a victim, you’re a person of power. You can create a faucet day that fills you, instead of a drain day.

And you’ll be glad you did!
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7. The Kids ARE All Right
Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Laura Sessions Stepp reports that current research is showing that teenagers really are doing well on a number of key indicators, and she reminds parents that “they are more influential than they think, that their influence has not been lost to peers and popular culture and almost any way you count it, the kids are all right and getting better.”
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8. Sometimes it is Good to Be a Loser
One of the six needs that we discuss in Redirecting Children’s Behavior™ is the need to feel valuable. Buddhist monk Peter Fernando addresses this in his post for Tiny Buddha on the important lesson in sometimes being a loser.
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9. Nurturing Creativity (How I Learned to Shut Up)
Janet Landsbury says, “Creativity is in all of us. It cannot be taught. It doesn’t come in a craft kit, a toddler dance class, or in a parent’s slew of brilliant ideas. Creative sparks happen, seemingly out of nowhere sometimes, and often when we least expect them. They flow freer when undirected, certainly when un-judged.” Read more in her encouraging post on nurturing creativity.
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10. Inspirational Quote of the Week
“I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” … Maya Angelou

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Thank you for being a member of the Kids “R” the Future Community.
Please forward this newsletter to parents, teachers, family and friends who might
find the tips, links, and information valuable. Consider it community service!
If you wish to unsubscribe, please reply and put “unsubscribe” in the subject line.

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==========
IN THIS ISSUE:
==========
1. Redirecting Children’s Behavior Course Schedule for Winter/Spring 2011 (see home page)
2. Parents are Taking the Fun Out of Toys
3. Don’t Stand Me Up
4. Handling an Over-the-Top Temper
5. Car Seats on Airplanes?
6. Mind Virus
7. Invest in Yourself
8. Health Impacts of Early Childhood Education
9. Eight Ways to Play with Junk Mail
10. Inspirational Quote of the Week

2. Parents are Taking the Fun Out of Toys
Lenore Skenazy, author of Free-Range Kids, writes about her stroll through the International Toy Fair in New York where she found even the most simple toy being marketed as “intervention in a box.”
CLICK HERE for More

3. Don’t Stand Me Up
An infant sits stiffly on the floor, unable to move his legs or extend his arms without losing his balance. A toddler steps off a platform and takes a tumble. Another toddler climbs the bars to the top of a wooden structure, then panics and cries out for his mom, who rushes over to rescue him. These are children who are less physically self-assured than they might be for one simple reason: their motor skills are not being allowed to develop naturally. Read about infant expert Magda Gerber, the founder of RIE, who advised parents to trust an infant to do what his body is able to do, and to give the child time to achieve the next physical milestone when he is ready, without adult interference.
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4. Handing an Over-the-Top Temper
Author Charlotte Reznick says, “One of the most difficult challenges we as parents and caregivers face is helping kids manage their anger and frustration. And it’s so hard not to lose our control when our kids lose their control.” Here are her suggestions for handling an over-the-top temper.
CLICK HERE for More

5. Car Seats on Airplanes?
Travel Savvy Mom discusses safety restraint options on airplanes as the FAA moves towards banning lap children and requiring car seats on all flights.
CLICK HERE for More

6. Mind Virus
By Wes Hopper

According to Wayne Dyer, “Memes die hard because they’ve become who you think you are.” I’ve got a confession to make. I’m a sucker for social proof, just like everyone else. I read a lot of books, and every once in a while, some famous author gets excited about a book that I liked. I confess – it feels good that a person I respect agrees with me! So now that we’ve got true confessions out of the way, let me tell you the latest case of that.

In Wayne Dyer’s newest book, Excuses Begone!, he starts out by talking about memes and how they take over our lives. His source is the book that I liked a lot, Richard Brodie’s Virus of the Mind. A meme is a special kind of idea, one that has emotional power and spreads from person to person like a virus. We are all infected. The stories we tell ourselves about life, and beliefs, and our own good and bad qualities are all memes that have infected us. I’ve called them old, limiting beliefs, and they are, but to understand their power, it helps to see them as mind viruses.

We caught them from somewhere and they became part of us, and we rarely doubt them. As Dyer says, they’ve become who we think we are. For an example, suppose you think you’d like to write a book. Right away in your mind you hear: “I could never do that!” Meme. “I’m not qualified to write that.” Meme. “No one cares what little old me thinks about that.” Meme. You’ve been infected with a family of memes that says that only special people do great things, and you’re not special.

You’ll probably find if you talk about it with your friends, they’ll agree with you! So it must be the truth, right? No, it just means that there are lots of people with that infection. Those are very common memes.

Watch your thoughts and see if you can catch one of your memes in action.
CLICK HERE for More

7. Invest in Yourself
Maggie Macaulay of Whole Hearted Parenting discusses the importance of investing in yourself as a parent. Hearing another way to say something or seeing a different approach to a challenge can be the piece you need to change a non-productive family dynamic.
CLICK HERE for More

8. Health Impacts of Early Childhood Education
Intensive early education programs for low-income children have been shown to yield many educational benefits. Now researchers from Colombia University’s Mailman School of Public Health have found that children who received intensive education intervention starting in infancy had significantly better health and better health behaviors as young adults.
CLICK HERE for More

9. Eight Ways to Play with Junk Mail
From bingo to concentration and collages, Christie Burnett of Childhood 101 provides eight creative ways to inspire literacy, all using your junk mail.
CLICK HERE for More

10. Inspirational Quote of the Week
“The highest form of ignorance is when you reject something you don’t know anything about.” … Dr. Wayne W. Dyer

*******************************************************************
Thank you for being a member of the Kids “R” the Future Community.
Please forward this newsletter to parents, teachers, family and friends who might
find the tips, links, and information valuable. Consider it community service!
If you wish to unsubscribe, please reply and put “unsubscribe” in the subject line.

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==========
Focus for February: Parent Leadership Month
==========
IN THIS ISSUE:
==========

1. Redirecting Children’s Behavior Course Schedule for Winter/Spring 2011 (see home page)
2. Tween Body Morph
3. Tune In to John Robbins Today and Dr. Jim Taylor on Thursday
4. Children’s Book Awards
5. Drawbots
6. Waiting on Perfection
7. A Sheet Makes and Excellent Roof
8. A Family Vision
9. There are People
10. Inspirational Quote of the Week

The courses listed above will be taught by Deborah Fry Ph.D.; C.P.E. For information and registration please call Deborah at 713-840-8663

2. Tween Body Morph
Dr. Melissa Holmes – author, ob-gyn and mother of three girls – writes about the body morph experienced during the late elementary to early middle school years so that parents can have honest, open and meaningful conversations with their tween.
CLICK HERE for More

3. Tune in to John Robbins Today and Dr. Jim Taylor on Thursday
Tune In for Your Parenting Tune Up begins today with John Robbins discussing Raising Strong, Happy and Creative Children in the Midst of a Consumer Culture. If you would like to know how to protect your child from mindless consumerism, how to engage your child in the values you hold dear, how to work together and get things done as a family, register NOW for the teleseminar that begins tonight at 9:00 PM Eastern Time. The series continues on Thursday, February 10 at Noon with Dr. Jim Taylor explaining Positive Pushing: How to Raise a Successful and Happy Child. Jim will let you know how positive pushing is different from the old style of pushing. Learn about instilling ownership and the ways to encourage successful achievement.
CLICK HERE for More

4. Children’s Book Awards
Please click below for a list of the 2010 Golden Kite Awards, 2011 Newbery Medal Winners, 2011 Caldecott Medal Winners, 2011 Coretta Scott King Awards, Theodor Suess Geisel Award, National Book Awards, and more award winners in the area of children’s literature.
CLICK HERE for More

5. Drawbots
Building “drawbots” – robots that draw – sounds fun and creative. Teacher Tom explains in detail how to do it. For a simpler experience, you can devise “dinky drawbots” using mechanical chattering teeth as the educators at Irresistible Ideas for Play Based Learning outline here.
CLICK HERE for More

6. Waiting on Perfection
By Wes Hopper

Neale Donald Walsch, author of Conversations with God, said “Nothing stops the forward march of any creative endeavor like the need to do it absolutely perfectly.” Have you ever seen any human creation that was absolutely perfect? No, I haven’t either.

In January in the USA we’ve celebrated the birthday of the Rev Martin Luther King, Jr., who led the civil rights movement in the 1960’s here. His “I Have a Dream” speech was inspiring, but I’m sure that bits and pieces here and there could have been improved. His life was inspiring, but not perfect. He changed the world anyway. If the civil rights movement had waited for the perfect moment, or the perfect leader we’d still have segregated lunch counters. As Walsch says, the need for perfection stops progress in its tracks.

I deal with a lot of people in my coaching that are stuck because of that. I tell them to get going with “good enough” and patch it on the way. When people see the results, they don’t care that you started with “good enough.” You learn more while you’re in motion doing stuff than you’ll ever learn from sitting and studying. Want to write a book, paint a painting, sew a quilt, teach a course, sing a song? Go right ahead. Your second one will probably be better, but not without the first one!

Dr King’s first public speech, whatever it was, probably wasn’t very good. But no one remembers it. If he’d never given it, we wouldn’t remember him, either. And he’d never have given us “I Have a Dream.”

So what are you waiting for?
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7. A Sheet Makes an Excellent Roof
The New York Times reports a growing chorus of worries that screen time and structured activities are crowding out what was once the defining characteristic of childhood – play. Play remains a primary way that children build cognitive, social and emotional skills. The folks at Eye on Early Education weigh in on the importance of childhood play.
CLICK HERE for More

8. A Family Vision
Kristin Maschka, author of Remodeling Motherhood, had a very challenging 2010. As a result, she and her family created a vision for 2011 and beyond. It is creative, fun and full of terrific energy. Read what Kristin’s family did to create their vision and have fun doing it with your family!
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9. There are People
The blog Every Moment is Right is “a story about how one life can be a part of another,” and blogger Ania explore how we treat infants and children different from other people.
CLICK HERE for More

10. Inspirational Quote of the Week
“Happiness is not a matter of intensity but of balance and order and rhythm and harmony.” … Thomas Merton