The first “Back to School” sale I came across this year was on July 2nd. Down came the Canada 150th specials and up went the early deals to get us prepared for the first days of school, only weeks after school had ended. Back to school sales so early in the summer is,...
Then there was the time that I was SO HAPPY to have bronchitis…. Who is happy about getting super sick? Over-stressed people, that’s who. Bronchitis provided me the gift of some days off to rest which I needed for my own mental health more than even my...
Many students across the grades are being assessed at this time of year in the areas of reading, writing, and math. Assessment takes place in the classroom throughout the year, but there are other kinds of assessments that take place, including standardized tests such...
As you can tell from my vlog series here on the TMC blog, some of my very best Self-Reg lessons come from everyday encounters. This one was inspired by a gentleman I met at the grocery store the other day just before Easter. From his wheelchair, Wayne took the time to...
My daughter’s biking accident led to this reflection on how we respond when children get hurt and the relationship between a Self-Reg approach, self-control and our own stress response as adults. Watch the vlog below or on our Youtube channel here....
In this video, I speak with TMC teaching assistant and research assistant Travis Francis about Dr. Stuart Shanker’s latest article for Psychology Today: “Help, I Don’t Speak Limbic.” Stuart’s presentations and writing, along with some of the tools we have...
We are seeing the most extraordinary results when educators and parents practice Self-Reg. There are also MANY Self-Reg misconceptions out there, even from those advocating for self-regulation as a foundation of education. In this video blog, I explore 5...
Donald Trump. President. This happened. Truth really is stranger (and sometimes scarier) than fiction. As a Canadian affected by whatever is happening in the United States, I dreaded this possibility for months now. I traveled the election roller coaster with the...
I hear a child shriek outside my front window and run outside, Siena right behind me. A little boy has fallen off his bike. His sister is helping him get up and he’s wailing. He’s seven she is maybe 11. I’ve never seen them before. I see that he’s got bleeding scrapes...
The first day of school for a parent is supposed to get easier each year, right? Well…not always. Yesterday was the first day of Grade 3 for my daughter Siena. It ended up being an unexpectedly emotional experience dropping her, though not for the reasons...
I’ve been thinking a lot about Self-Reg Havens these days as we get ready for the new school year. One big question that is not so easy to answer is: what makes a home, an early childhood centre, a school, or a community a haven? Stuart Shanker says he knows when he...
“Sarah”, I called out again while following the sound of faint kitty cries barely audible through the fence to my neighbour’s yard. The temperature was 370C and with the humidity it was well into the 40’s. I was worried when Sarah hadn’t come home all day in the heat...
I was first introduced to Self-Reg and Dr. Stuart Shanker in 2011 while working on a play-based kindergarten curriculum for the Northwest Territories of Canada. Self-Reg was a natural fit with my beliefs about nurturing healthy, happy and safe children,...
Learning Self-Reg has been a journey full of surprises (and gifts). Stuart’s work resonated with me from the moment I first discovered his writings in 2011. But one of the unexpected surprises was that somewhere along the line I realized that I was actually studying...
A Self-Reg Haven is a school where everyone feels physically and emotionally safe, where students and staff alike feel connected to the school and to each other. But the big question is the “How?” Invariably, when a school is starting out on its journey to becoming a...