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Melissa Marques

Reaching Our Fullest Potential

“All of life is education and everybody is a teacher and everybody is forever a pupil.” Abraham Maslow  “The only happy people I know are the ones who are working well at something they consider important.” Abraham Maslow “What is necessary to change a person is to change his awareness of himself.” Abraham Maslow “When people appear to be something other than good and decent, it is only because they are reacting to stress, pain, or the deprivation of basic human needs such as security, love, and self-esteem.” Abraham Maslow

Play: The Literal & Figurative Building Blocks To a Lifetime of Independent Thinking

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Play is the root foundation of learning. Play evokes curiosity, motivation, and naturalistic learning opportunitites. Developmentally Appropriate Practices focus on 4 domains of development from Birth to Age 8. Domains of Child Development Social Emotional Cognitive Physical If we want long term school success we need to spend early years in play-based relationship- based hands-on, educational environments. We’ve been culturally brainwashed in the U.S. to believe that counting to 50 is more important for a 6 year old than knowing how to get his shovel back in the sandbox. We focus so much on the importance of 20th century skills otherwise… Read More »Play: The Literal & Figurative Building Blocks To a Lifetime of Independent Thinking

How YOUR Communication Skills Affects Your Relationship With Your Child

Better communication from parents leads to better relationships between parents & children. As parents & educators, we know how it feels when our feelings are diregarded. Many of us get frusterated or discouraged when the people we care about dont pay attention to us when we’re talking to them. We instill this message into children from a young age by teaching them not to interupt when some one is speaking. Unfortunately, most of us are not the best role model for teaching this skill by example. “With the right words and care, you can inspire your children to think for… Read More »How YOUR Communication Skills Affects Your Relationship With Your Child

Reducing Challenging Behavior with Positive Discipline

Positive Discipline   “Effective discipline means teaching skills that will help children make better decisions and handle themselves well in the future.” Daniel Siegel, M.D. & Tina Bryson Ph. D   Punishment shuts down behavior in the short term but teaching offers skills that last a lifetime.   Positive teaching strategies shape challenging behaviors into functional skills.    Teachers & Parents should RESPOND rather than REACT to challenging situations. Reactions are abrupt and often escalate situations, while responses will endure powerful thoughtful teachable moments.   Responses should be based on the following three questions. (Each situation and child will have… Read More »Reducing Challenging Behavior with Positive Discipline