I've been reflecting on this fundamental pillar of Dr Ross Greene’s (@livesinthebalance) approach to living and working with kids, and the more I think about it, the more significant it seems.
I love Ross Greene! I volunteer for Lives in the Balance and I've been reading his books for years. When I work with kids, "Kids do well when they can" is my "discipline plan." If a child is having any type of problem, I just ask them what's going on. Then we solve the problem together. This works perfectly in a non-coercive environment, because not participating is an option. I'm sure teachers at mainstream schools would assume that all the kids just opt-out all the time. Over six years, I've had two kids opt out for part of a class period each! It's very rare. It would be interesting to see what would happen at a mainstream school. Coercion is fundamental there, so they might just have a lot of kids opting out. To me, that means that the program should change, not that the kids need punishment.
Hi Naomi. I wonder what place teaching and modelling has in the development of kids’ organisational skills. It’s my experience that children can improve their organisational abilities if teachers and parents make it easy for them to do so. Also some kids quickly develop agency when placed in positions to do so, such as when a parent is ill. Thought?
I love Ross Greene! I volunteer for Lives in the Balance and I've been reading his books for years. When I work with kids, "Kids do well when they can" is my "discipline plan." If a child is having any type of problem, I just ask them what's going on. Then we solve the problem together. This works perfectly in a non-coercive environment, because not participating is an option. I'm sure teachers at mainstream schools would assume that all the kids just opt-out all the time. Over six years, I've had two kids opt out for part of a class period each! It's very rare. It would be interesting to see what would happen at a mainstream school. Coercion is fundamental there, so they might just have a lot of kids opting out. To me, that means that the program should change, not that the kids need punishment.
Hi Naomi. I wonder what place teaching and modelling has in the development of kids’ organisational skills. It’s my experience that children can improve their organisational abilities if teachers and parents make it easy for them to do so. Also some kids quickly develop agency when placed in positions to do so, such as when a parent is ill. Thought?
Thank you!
I love this. It's so true.
Excellent article, thanks for sharing it!
Totally agree 💯
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Kids can have problems focusing no matter what ok?
Such a great article. 🙏🏻