Thank you for allowing the entire staff to participate in the NAEYC Annual Conference. It’s only in D.C. every once in a while and it was a great professional development opportunity for our staff. We all went down for two full days on Thursday and Friday and I know the teachers will come back tomorrow invigorated with lots of new inspiration and ideas.
It is important to always be learning. For the staff, it’s incredibly important for them to take time to return to the role of student every so often to keep up with current practices and research. If we love learning and growing, we can impart that love to the children we teach, which is one of the primary goals of a child’s preschool experience; to learn to love school and the process of learning.
With that in mind, I want to share information about Dr. Steve Silvestro’s parenting presentation on mindfulness that MNS hosted a few weeks ago. If you weren’t able to attend this event, this will be your opportunity to LEARN a little more about it. Dr. Steve hosts the Child Repair Guide podcast that covers many relevant topics for parents from pregnancy and breastfeeding to empathy, tantrums and nutrition. I highly encourage you to check out Dr. Steve’s website as a tool for your growth and learning.
For our presentation, Dr. Steve talked about mindfulness: being present in the moment. He talked a lot about practicing mindfulness techniques to grow your brain’s ability to find that place of calm when you most need it, which, he noted, is often for parents dealing regularly with the many joys and struggles of life with young children. He also talked about how helpful it can be to start building this skill with your children. Like good muscle-memory, the earlier we begin the practice, the more skilled we can become. He shared with us the Cloud Story his mom told to him that he now shares on his podcast. If you start using this story with your child(ren) now at bedtime, imagine how well they will be able to use the skill of being able to relax their body as they get older.
Please take a moment to check out Dr. Steve’s website and to subscribe to his podcast. You will be impressed by the variety of useful information. Have fun listening and learning!