Spotlight On: Conscious Discipline - A Transformative Experience
We, as an entire center, have been taking Dr. Becky’s Conscious Discipline courses.
This is so much more than a “how-to” class. Conscious Discipline takes a transformative view on our interactions with EVERYONE, not just our students, which makes it an incredibly unique and humbling experience.
What is Conscious Discipline?
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Conscious Discipline is designed to completely transform the way we look at “discipline.” For generations we have looked at punishment and discipline as synonyms. We have created a divide of judgment between good and bad, pass and fail, win and lose, that encourages learning and behavior through fear.
All. Behavior. Is. Communication. If we only address the behavior, we are not addressing the needs causing the behavior that aren’t being met. The goal is not “to drive you crazy,” which they can’t do anyway, if you have control! They just do not know how to ask for what they need yet.
Conscious Discipline is a series of classes designed to give you empowering tools that help you communicate, guide, and encourage with LOVE, a force much more powerful and long lasting than fear. Check out the methodology link above for the four key tenants!
In order to help children build a foundation of discipline and emotional regulation within, we need to teach ourselves to be aware of what we are saying with our words. We need to catch ourselves in moments of heightened emotion, and break defensive habits that have been passed down from parent to child.
WE ENCOURAGE YOU TO JOIN US! How?
Here is a tried-and-true tool that we learned at the very beginning of our training. It’s called STAR BREATHING, you star!
Three deep breaths shut off the “fight or flight” system of the brain.
This active calming technique is an essential component of emotional health. Teach children to S.T.A.R.: Smile, Take a deep breath And Relax.
S.T.A.R. is one of four core breathing techniques in Conscious Discipline. The other techniques are Drain, Balloon and Pretzel. <—Click here to download a poster showing these different techniques to remind you and your kiddos how to calm yourself before you respond.
Giving yourself a chance to calm down gets you out of the “survival state.” Once you’re calm, if you’re still frustrated, repeat to yourself ”I am safe, Keep Breathing, I can handle this.” to keep the bad feelings at bay. Problem solving can commence once you are calm and ready!
We have made our Conscious Discipline Action Team and will be rolling out changes! Stay tuned, we will be sharing more things that we are implementing in our center to help transform early childhood education as we know it.
Love Love Love,
Your CG Family
Common Ground Celebrates: Week of the Young Child
We are excited to celebrate the 50th annual ‘Week of the Young Child’ with NAEYC just one week after Common Ground turns 49!
The Week of the Young Child is a chance for us to spotlight how we impact early childhood experiences. From the work we do in our classrooms to our advocacy work, we are excited to share Common Ground far and wide!
Each day the week of April 10th we will be celebrating a center wide theme! The classroom teachers will put their own spin on how they celebrate in their rooms to keep our fun age and developmentally appropriate!
‘All Smiles’ Saturday - we will be open for care from 9:30am to 2:30pm, since we know that Saturday hours put a smile on our parents faces!
Music Monday will feature an outdoor concert from Mr. Josh
Tasty Tuesday will include in class treats, and a chance to pick up dinner when you pick your kiddo up!
Work Together Wednesday will focus on working as a team to plant our gardens on the Common Ground grounds!
Artsy Thursday will feature amazing art work from all classes.
Family Friday will highlight how families, not just the kids that attend, are what make the Common Ground Community special!
During this week, we ask that you participate by sharing your support on your social media channels by sharing what Common Ground (and quality early childhood education) means to your family. You can:
share our posts
share photos of your child enjoying our activities
share your participation in some of our fun “at home” activities that we will share with you that support our themes
purchase some of the recommended books from our book fair, since reading together is one of the greatest gifts you can give your child
If you’d like to register for our “All Smiles Saturday” care hours, please do so here. Like last time, there is a suggested donation of $25 per child, however we know that the value of a few hours off work with care could be worth 100x that, so please don’t limit yourself! Donations can be made here: paypal.com/us/fundraiser/charity/1778362