Parent Evening, Confident Captain, Zen Captain

On Monday, November 8, I will host a parent evening in the Butterfly Classroom from 6:30 to 8pm.  This is open to nursery and parent & child families as well as to others in our school community and the Whidbey Island Community.  While I will direct my talk toward parents of young children, some insights may be of interest to parents of older children as well.

The topic will be

Confident Captain, Zen Captain

Guiding Our Family Ship Through Calm Waters

and Wandering Rocks

As parents and teachers, we find ourselves presented with a wealth of resources on how to parent, how to teach, how to discipline, how to speak to our children.  At times it often seems we have too much information and would wish for clarity and simplicity.  Should we be stricter?  Or are we being too strict?  Are we giving enough choices or too many?  Many well written articles and books seem to contradict one another:  some argue that what our children need most is form; others petition for giving our children freedom.

Our children, of course, need form and freedom, and--here is the rub--every child or group of children needs a different mixture of the two at different times.  Using the metaphor of a captain at sea, William Dolde will gather insights he has gained from teaching, from reading, and from his own mistakes (shipwrecks) to suggest ways we can find a balance that works for individual families.  The captain has to be confident to gain the trust of the crew; the captain has to be competent.  Yet the captain must also be flexible and respond to the winds and the waves.  The captain must also be observant and friendly to the crew; otherwise, the captain invites mutiny.

As preparation, parents may wish to read the following selections I have put together.

"Beyond Personal," my summary of a way of speaking described by Polly Berrien Berends in Whole Child/Whole Parent.

Here are some general thoughts on speaking to toddlers that I have collected.

Sometimes the seas are rocky.  Here are thoughts I collected on how to speak to a young child during times of tantrum and other intense times.

With Warmth and Light,

William Geoffrey Dolde