To be in communication with others is not so much a skill as it is a practice in listening.
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If an adult can liberate herself from communicating with children under the oppression of adultism, wonderfully vibrant relationships with authentic communication await.
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At VFS, we have developed many tools to facilitate the building of caring, intentional relationships and over the years these tools have been fine-tuned and continue to evolve through communicating with each other.
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Even though they are charming in person, my kids are downright terrible at communicating digitally.
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Do you remember the first time you used profanity freely in front of your parents? Without the looming threat of shame or punishment? Where was the line drawn rendering you eligible for the use of swear words?
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We want to be honest and we want our children to be honest. There has, however, been recent research that shows that being able to tell a lie, and even learning how to tell a believable lie is an important developmental milestone--one that is related to intelligence.
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If you’ve spent any time reading parenting articles on the internet, you already know that screens are, it seems, in the same category as cocaine.
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Instead of putting trust in a system, self-directed learners have to put the trust in themselves and the community around them.
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It’s important to remember that a big part of being a healthy human is in our heads: having a positive psychological relationship with our bodies allows us (and our kids) to make intuitive choices about what and how to eat.
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Autonomy is more subtle than just “doing whatever you want” - and it impacts all of our lives.
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Have you ever thought about how schools came to be? The history takes us back to a time when nationalism and supremacy informed many of the foundational structures that still stand in classrooms across America.
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As I engaged in a gentle, slow-motion wrestling match with my two and a half year old son and a tiny sweater, I reflected on that age-old parenting advice, “Choose your battles.”
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Learn how Self-Directed Education in schools allows childhood autonomy to survive and thrive.
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Junkyard playgrounds are a protected space in which children are free to be autonomous.
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Studies show that democratic schools are especially good at supporting the primary psychological needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness.
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