Have you ever heard of the idea of a “talking stick?” I heard about this when my children were young and decided to try it. A “talking stick” prevents a person from being interrupted or overlooked during a discussion. When a family meeting is taking place at the kitchen table, living room, or wherever–the “talking stick” is handed to the person who is talking. (This “talking stick” can actually be

I have been asked by many people, “How do you get an entire group of active, busy preschoolers to listen to you?” Or, on a simpler note, “How do you get your own preschooler to listen to you?” The answer is the same. I don’t yell. I have discovered in my years of working with children that the more you yell, the more children “tune you out.” Quite frankly, that

I’ve been asked by various people what I consider to be the most important word in describing how to be a good parent. Obviously there are many words I could use, but I think the most important word is consistency. In the dictionary consistency is described as “Agreement with what has already been expressed.” Many parents have expressed frustration with the fact that their children nag them until they can’t

I’ve been singing alot of Halloween songs to the children this month. One of the songs I sing is all about Halloween witches and how they fly on broomsticks. I asked the children, “Why do you think that witches fly on broomsticks, rather than just riding in a car?” After much thought and a variety of comments, one little child raised his hand and said, “I know why! They must

Someone asked me the other day what ideas I might have to help children learn to share. Well, I do have an idea and it’s called “Musical Sharing.” When I’m teaching music classes to preschool children, it always comes up that one person wants a drum, or somebody else wants a bell, or somebody else wants a triangle, etc. etc. Frequently I say to the children in a rhyme, “You