Parental Sage 👪

"There are many who hold, as I do, that the most important period of life is not the age of university studies, but the first one, the period from birth to the age of six." - Montessori

Beautiful paper in Nature H B from Giron and Wu lab supporting my "childhood as simulated annealing" idea, with great new findings, more generalization and directed exploration as well as randomness in kids, humans still outperform algorithms. nature.com/articles/s4156…

"Big Feelings, Big Love"

A man who has never gone to school may steal from a freight car; but if he has a university education, he may steal the whole railroad. -Theodore Roosevelt #parenting

Say yes to the feelings, even as you say no to the behavior. -@drdansiegel #parenting

Each plane must be lived through fully in order to pass with mastery to the next. -Montessori #family #parenting

Toddlers are not giving us a hard time. They are having a hard time. -Simone Davies #family #parenting

Those abilities lead children to create imaginary friends—and lead grown-ups to create plays and novels. Imagining how they could be different actually lets children, and adults, become different. We can turn ourselves into our imaginary alter egos. -@alisongopnik

Toddlers test, and that’s exactly what they are supposed to do. A toddler has failed if he makes life too easy for us. -Lynn Jessen #parenting

The great benefit we can bestow on childhood is the exercise of restraint in ourselves. -Montessori #parenting

Transparency in the traditional school might destroy it. If we told the truth about the irrelevance of various courses, about the relative quality of some teachers, about the power of choice and free speech — could the school as we know it survive? -@ThisIsSethsBlog #parenting

And the junior high musical? It’s pretty clear that kids are chosen based on appearance or natural singing talent, two things that weren’t up to them. -@ThisIsSethsBlog #family #parenting

“We go outside rain or shine!” -Linda K. McGurk #family #parenting

The infant in arms has far greater mental energies than are usually imagined. -Montessori #family #parenting

If our educational task is to enhance the intellectual and affective faculties of children, we must first enhance our own -Dr. Maria Montessori #parenting

… the task of the educator lies in seeing that the child does not confound good with immobility, and evil with activity, as often happens in old-time discipline. -Dr. Maria Montessori #parenting

Toddlers like to contribute and be part of the family. They seem to be more interested in the objects their parents use than they are in their toys. They really like to work alongside us as we prepare food, do the laundry, get ready for visitors, and the like. -Simone Davies

Fall in love with some activity, and do it! Nobody ever figures out what life is all about, and it doesn't matter. Explore the world. -Feynman #family #parenting

The cognitive door begins swinging shut at 6 months old, and then, unless something pushes against it, the door closes. By 12 months, your baby’s brain has made decisions that affect her the rest of her life. -@brainrulesbooks #family #parenting

...there is no closeness that can surpass the sense of feeling known and still being liked, accepted, welcomed, invited to exist. -@NeufeldInst | @DrGaborMate #family #parenting