childhood development

Mar 18, 2020 06:11am

By Pilar Bewley

Under 6 - 12, Cosmic Education, Montessori Theory, Theory and Practice, childhood development, elementary, elementary education, free-range parenting, home environment, homeschool, homeschooling, montessori, montessori blogs, montessori education, montessori method, prepared environment & teaching

2 min read

Craving Freedom and Needing Structure

Amidst all the color-coded hour-by-hour homeschool schedules flooding social media, I want to offer a different take on how to help your child organize their day if you have a child who paradoxically craves freedom and needs structure. I created for my eight-year-old twice-exceptional second-grader a pie graph showing the amount of time (out of a 24-hour day) he can spend exploring/reading/playing/learning what he's passionate about, vs. the amount of time I would like him to focus on practicing…

Mar 18, 2020 06:11am

By Pilar Bewley

Under 6 - 12, Cosmic Education, Montessori Theory, Theory and Practice, childhood development, elementary, elementary education, free-range parenting, home environment, homeschool, homeschooling, montessori, montessori blogs, montessori education, montessori method, prepared environment & teaching

2 min read

May 21, 2019 08:33am

By Pilar Bewley

Under 6 - 12, Favorite Books, Nature, On Parenting, Social and Emotional Learning, attachment, behavioral challenges, childhood development, children, compassionate parenting, entitlement, homeschooling, parenting, parents, positive discipline & unschooling

4 min read

The Entitlement Myth

A few weeks into his first-grade year, my formerly sweet and relatively cooperative son began acting sassy, cocky, and entitled. Requests for help were met with groans and eye-rolls. Limits were countered with sighs and "whatever"s.

We gave him the benefit of a doubt: Surely he was just imitating his older classmates' rude behaviors. Or maybe this was a misguided attempt at being more independent. All my friends' children were acting the same way, so it was probably a developmental phase. Re…

May 21, 2019 08:33am

By Pilar Bewley

Under 6 - 12, Favorite Books, Nature, On Parenting, Social and Emotional Learning, attachment, behavioral challenges, childhood development, children, compassionate parenting, entitlement, homeschooling, parenting, parents, positive discipline & unschooling

4 min read

Apr 22, 2019 06:33am

By Pilar Bewley

Under On Parenting, Theory and Practice, childhood development, children, home life, homeschool, homeschooling, motherhood, parenthood, parenting, SAHM, self-growth, self-regulation, teaching, unschooling & vulnerability

4 min read

Rediscovering Motherhood

An American friend and colleague who lives in Asia recently shared with me that her in-laws had moved out of her house. They had been very involved in raising her children, so I asked if she missed having the help. She texted back, "No. I'm forced to be the mom and it's what my kids want and what family is supposed to be."

As I sat staring at her words on my screen, the last seven years of my life - my entire parenthood journey - flashed before my eyes. I remembered how both times I had a bab…

Apr 22, 2019 06:33am

By Pilar Bewley

Under On Parenting, Theory and Practice, childhood development, children, home life, homeschool, homeschooling, motherhood, parenthood, parenting, SAHM, self-growth, self-regulation, teaching, unschooling & vulnerability

4 min read

Mar 26, 2019 07:43am

By Pilar Bewley

Under On Parenting, Social and Emotional Learning, Theory and Practice, childhood development, children, compassion, compassionate parenting, early childhood development, empathy, parenting & parents

3 min read

The Good Struggle

This morning, let's talk about compassion (identifying our common struggles) and empathy (letting others know they're not alone).

Raise your hand if you want your child to show compassion and empathy for others. OK, that's pretty much everyone in the audience. Put your hands down.

Now, raise your hand if you want your child to suffer. Anyone? Anyone? *crickets*

Most of us agree that it's painful to watch our child get hurt (physically or emotionally). So painful, in fact, that it triggers the …

Mar 26, 2019 07:43am

By Pilar Bewley

Under On Parenting, Social and Emotional Learning, Theory and Practice, childhood development, children, compassion, compassionate parenting, early childhood development, empathy, parenting & parents

3 min read

My Blog

childhood development

Craving Freedom and Needing Structure

The Entitlement Myth

Rediscovering Motherhood

The Good Struggle

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