When I enrolled in the LifeWays training, I had no real connection to the lives of children and families. Like many Millenials, the last time I had interacted with children was in my own childhood, back in the 90s. Having just accepted a position at a LifeWays program as the cook/assistant, I knew a thing […]
A Child-Free LifeWays Home: Notes from an “Auntie” By Frances Whalen Read More »
As a LifeWays-inspired parenting coach and teacher of caregivers, I’ve worked with families and caregivers from many geographic areas and walks of life: mothers, fathers, married and unmarried, grandparents, nannies, caregivers, and teachers, in the U.S., England, Europe, Australia, even the Middle East and Israel. Although their homes and schools look different, all have shared
Create a Life that You and Your Child Both Love By Faith Collins Read More »
What does LifeWays bring to my public school special needs classroom? Sitting in the empty basement room with one high window and pipes in the ceiling, I tried to imagine how it could become our classroom. I had just taken a job as a preschool special needs teacher at a rural West VIrginia elementary school
LifeWays in a Special Needs Classroom By Windsong Bergman Read More »
People all over the country have been protesting the travel ban that prohibits people from certain countries from traveling to the United States. There has been so much talk of building a wall to separate our nation from the “others” that the school age children in my life are expressing fears and asking questions. The me
All are Welcome by Jaimmie Stugard Read More »
When my mentor, Judy Frizlen, Director of the Rose Garden Early Childhood Center in Buffalo, New York, first asked me what I wanted to do for my final LifeWays project, I was convinced that I should write a paper on a Steiner educational theory as it related to Early Childhood Development. Feeling as if I
Four Seasonal Nature Ladies by Laura Phillips Read More »
Audra writes: What if playgrounds were natural landscapes where children explore their outdoor surroundings and create their own play structures? What if children’s crafts were inspired by nature and made from natural materials? Can you imagine a world where the forest is a child’s classroom? What if a child’s curiosity was fueled by the world
Sandra writes: My room this year is filled to the brim with two-year olds. Over the next year they will be transitioning from diapers to underwear and parents have begun asking about the right time to begin potty-training and how to do it. While it might not immediately seem related to potty
My Experience with Potty Training by Sandra Schmidt Read More »
I was a young mom of three small children, sometimes overwhelmed and always worried. Would the aunts and uncles leave the house on Christmas and say, “God, those kids are brats?” Would you grow up to be polite, friendly, and considerate human beings? As a stay-at-home mom, my street cred depended on it so with
I’m Sorry I Made You Say Thank You by Mary O’Connell Read More »
You may wish to dialogue with the Angel of your child (or of someone else with whom you have a conflict or for whom you are concerned) to gain guidance. This exercise gives suggestions for how to approach the Angel of another person and engage in a continuing dialogue. • The first step
Working with a Child’s Angel and Sleep, Part 3 of 3 by Cindy Brooks and Joya Birns Read More »
This Self & Child Observation and Imagination Exercise is divided into two parts. The first part involves reflection and writing to foster imaginative thinking. You may do the first part as a means towards greater imagination in your relationship with your child and stop there. The first part is also the preparation for the second
