Parenting Thought

Two ways to explain “mess ups” to your children:

1. Explain to your children that they can always be stars – even if they make mistakes.  Real stars can seem to be gone in the daytime or on a cloudy night, but they are just hidden. On the next clear night, the stars come out again and again. The star within people is like that, too.

2. Explain that they have stars within them. Those stars can also be hidden when they mess up and do something wrong.  But, their stars within them can shine again because they can always do better and be better from one day to the next.

(See Your Child Is a Star! for more about the star in your child.)

Spring’s Picture Books

We have been amazed at how much good parenting information is in children’s picture books – books that we hope you are reading everyday to the children in your lives – your own, your class, those you take care of.  For each book, we are noting there is something in it to remind you of how to be the parent you want to be.

• STARS by Mary Lyn Ray and Marla Frazee

A reminder that your child has a star within him, and you can help it shine.

• STOP THIEF by Adam J. B. Lane

A reminder that you can help your children with sad and frustrated feelings when they can’t have everything they want.

• TIA ISA WANTS A CAR by Meg Medina

A reminder how important it is for your children to learn to wait.

• ELLA SARAH GETS DRESSED by Margaret Chodos-Irvine

A reminder about what it means when your child says no and how important your response can be.

• KING ARTHUR’S VERY GREAT GRANDSON by Kenneth Kraegel

A reminder that it is important to help your child handle his or her aggression.

• THE CHANDELIERS by Vincent X. Kirsch

A reminder of how important it is for your child to have your attention.

Read All About It:

Your Child Is a Star!

SELF-ESTEEM A FAMILY AFFAIR, Jean Illsley Clarke

GROWING UP AGAIN: PARENTING OURSELVES, PARENTING OUR CHILDREN, Jean Illsley Clarke and Connie Dawson

Surf the Internet:

children making amends