Sensory Based Strategies for Kids: An Interview with Claire Heffron from The Inspired Treehouse

Does your child like to move and fidget a lot? Maybe lay upside down or spin around in circles? This isn’t just a random act of silliness or hyperactivity, they are likely gaining sensory input! In this episode, my guest Claire and I discuss proprioception, which is your body's ability to sense movement, action, and location. It's present in every muscle movement you have. Without proprioception, you wouldn't be able to move without thinking about your next step. We also discuss the vestibular system which functions to detect the position and movement of our head in space. This allows for the coordination of eye movements, posture, and equilibrium.

The topics we cover in this episode are:

Seven tips to help kids use coping skills when they NEED them

Let me ask you a question - if you had a magic wand and could fix one major problem or difficulty you have with teaching kids coping skills when they need them most, what would you change? I asked my email list this very question and got some interesting answers. This episode will give you 7 strategies to help kids use coping skills when they need them most.

The topics I cover in this episode are:

Introduction to Zentangles: An Interview with Andrea Santogrosso

When you are stressed, anxious or perhaps angry and need to calm down, what techniques do you use? There are so many out there, from yoga, meditation, exercise and mindfulness but today I will be speaking to my guest Andrea about one which you’ll love if you sit on the creative side of life. It’s a mix of art and mindfulness and it’s called ‘Zentangle’. 

The topics we cover in this episode are:

Summer Book Series #3: The Highly Sensitive Child

Today’s installment of my book series covers the book ‘The Highly Sensitive Child’ by Elaine N. Aron, Ph.D. I read this book over COVID and it totally changed the way I look at kids, how to spot what’s going on with them in order to help them. In this episode, I go over the 4 areas in which high sensitivity presents itself so you can better see if your child is highly sensitive. 

Introduction to Montessori Philosophy: An Interview with Jeanne-Marie Paynel, M.Ed.

Have you ever considered a different educational style for your children besides the conventional method? If so, perhaps you have heard of the Montessori method. It is based on self-directed activity, hands-on learning and collaborative play. In Montessori classrooms children make creative choices in their learning, while the classroom and the highly trained teacher offer age-appropriate activities to guide the process. In this episode, I spoke to Montessori Home Consultant, Jeanne-Marie Paynel about the benefits of this education style. 

The topics we cover in this episode are:

Five Books about Anger for Kids: Summer Book Series #2

This episode is the second installment of my book recommendation series. This week I want to focus on books dealing with anger since I have seen a lot of kids showing up to school with big emotions like anger lately. It is an emotion we have all felt many times, but we’re not all clued up with how to deal with it so perhaps a bit of light reading can help! 

Building Connections with Kids Through Play: An Interview with Kim Feeney

When was the last time you had a dedicated playtime with your child? Life gets so busy so we can’t blame parents for not being able to squeeze this in-between school, dinnertime, sports or dance at the weekend but it is vital to a child’s development. Kim Feeney is the guest on this episode, she is a licensed independent social worker and a registered play therapist supervisor. I wanted to discuss playtime with her and how to build a connection with your child. 

The topics we cover in this episode are:

Two Highly Recommended Books: Summer Book Series #1

I have always been a reader ever since I was a child but sometimes life gets in the way and I have found I don’t make much time for it so I used a recent vacation to spark my love for pleasurable reading again. After posting about this on Instagram, I was really inspired by one of my comments; to make a list of books to read over the summer and start a podcast series about it!

Raising a Mindful Generation: An Interview with Suzanne Tucker

This week, Janine speaks to Suzanne Tucker a Parent Educator about the do’s, don’t’s, the should’s and shame that comes with parenting. Suzanne started Generation Mindful as she saw societal problems within herself and her own family, as well as in friends and family and she knew something needed to change. Listen into this episode to make yourself feel a whole lot better about living life as a parent! 

Two Hands-on Activities to Help Kids Practice Solving Problems

Throughout your life growing up, have you ever come up against a problem you just couldn’t solve? We learn very valuable skills at school but we don’t learn every single skill needed for everyday life so in this episode, I teach you some hands-on ways to practice problem solving with your child. I tackle problem solving in 5 steps:

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