Conscious discipline
Students routinely practice conflict resolution skills at Aunt Fluffy’s Preschool, which operates on the principles of Conscious Discipline. PHOTO BY DAVID HINE Aunt Fluffy’s Preschool in Springfield is not your ordinary early-learning environment. The students refer to each other as their “school family.” Instead of a timeout zone, there is a Safe Place where children…
Creating family stories
PHOTO FROM METRO CREATIVE CONNECTION When our son was a baby, my husband and I tried to instill in him a love of the written word. At first we would just read to him each day. But when he was able to talk and develop ideas of his own, we started telling and then writing…
Teaching kids about race
PHOTO BY jonathanjonl/Flickr There is no escape from the racial conflicts with which children must cope…avoiding the problem isn’t helpful. Too much parental protection from life’s realities may hamper a child’s later ability to cope with life as it is. –Alvin Poussaint, M.D For 22 years I have worked in the public school system with…
What’s for lunch at school?
PHOTO FROM METRO CREATIVE CONNECTION Cordelia Marlow, an eighth-grader at Franklin Middle School, describes her school lunches as poor. “The food quality went down after 2010,” she said, referring to changes in the federally funded National School Lunch program. “The taste and texture are bad. The meat is soggy and tastes kind of weird.” The…
Time for back-to-school physicals
SIU pediatrician Dr. Greg Bennett conducts a physical at the SIU HealthCare clinic. PHOTOS COURTESY SIU SCHOOL OF MEDICINE School supply list: Pencils? Check. Folders? Check. Back to school physical? Vaccines? If your children are entering pre-K, kindergarten, sixth or ninth grade or are new to Illinois or Springfield Public Schools, they need a medical…
It’s 10 o’clock. Do you know where our kids are?
Our Kids: The American Dream in Crisis, by Robert D. Putnam. Simon & Schuster, 2015. 386 pages. Our Kids by Robert Putnam should be required reading for anyone interested in the youth of America. Presumably that includes all parents. If you have ever despaired, as I have, that the flood of poverty is passed on…
