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In my #GentleDiscipline book I talk about the problem of a #naturedeficit and how spending less time in nature is negatively affecting our children, both physically (their eyesight is getting worse as a result) and emotionally (more difficult behaviour). Children today are far more likely to be able to identify corporate logos, than they are tree and wildflower species. Nature words are disappearing from their vocabulary at an alarming rate as they spend far much more time indoors, in play centres and in front of screens. Simply, our kids need to get outside more - and so do we. Especially if we want to protect what little nature is left on our planet. We need to raise kids who treasure it! . Forests played a huge role in my own upbringing, one of my favourite possessions was my tree spotting book - I can still name almost every species of tree, just by looking at its leaves, or bark. If I didn’t write books, my dream job is to work as a gardener. Forests make me feel calm and revitalise me more than any other landscape (and I spent the first five years of my life growing up on the coast). They have played a large role in my kids’ lives too - we make full use of our @nationaltrust passes and are lucky to live close to a beautiful large ancient, protected forest and we’ve been on many @forestholidays as a family. We were lucky that their school run weekly forest school sessions too (though the need for forest school makes me feel sad). . Children today need to climb more trees, have more conker fights, play with sycamore aeroplanes, make fairy tea parties with acorn cups, gather more blackberries and eat them straight from the bush, make more daisy chains and leaf prints, dissect owl pellets, play in mud, collect forest treasures and breathe more fresh air. This little book has lots of great ideas if spending time in forests isn’t second nature to you - or your kids. . . . #foresttherapy #forestschool #naturekids #wildkids #naturematters #wildings #wildthings #hugatree #gentleparenting #naturalparentingSo much truth in this. It doesn’t matter what brand of clothes your kids are wearing, when they slept through the night, when they potty trained, when they start reading, how many words they know, what you do today and how many tantrums they have. What matters is that they are loved and accepted for who they are.....and that means starting with accepting yourself and all that you offer to them. Forget the superficial stuff and focus on the love 💕💕 . . . #gentleparenting #gentlediscipline #gentlesleep #positiveparenting #attachmentparenting #naturalparenting #bedsharing #cosleeping #unconditionalparenting #mindfulparenting #mindfulmotherhood #toddlercalm #babycalm #sarahockwellsmith #parentingtipsI came across a tweet by @neildegrassetyson this week, saying “Scientists are simply adults who retained and nurtured their native curiosity from childhood” and it reminded me of this picture of my daughter when she was a toddler. She had found a bottle of sun cream (a baby one, so that thick, sticky greasy white stuff) and tipped the whole lot out over herself and my rug. . My first instinct was to yell, angry that she’d wasted a whole bottle of expensive cream and ruined my rug too. Then I paused, she hadn’t been deliberately naughty. She was experimenting, being naturally curious about the properties of the cream and how she could manipulate it. She was actually being pretty darn clever. There was no malice or manipulation behind her actions, just curiosity. Now, 9 years on, she’s a fantastic scientist and still as curious as ever. . I could have shouted and chastised her on this day, but instead I decided to see the good in what she’d done. I snapped the picture for posterity, held my tongue while I spent *hours* cleaning her, her dress and the rug and learned that I needed to be cleverer about where I kept the sun cream in future 😉 . . . #gentlediscipline #gentleparenting #positiveparenting #positivediscipline #attachmentparenting #naturalparenting #mindfulparenting #mindfulmothering #toddlercalm #sarahockwellsmithWishing you all the strength you need to get through this week 😘 . . . #monslay #mondaymotivation #gentleparenting #attachmentparenting #positiveparenting #mindfulparenting #mindfulmotherhood #mindfulmothering #parentinginspirationTop Posts & Pages
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Category Archives: Preschoolers
When and How Should You Handle Pocket Money?
I believe pocket money is important to allow them the freedom and control to be able to buy what they want, rather than have to ask you for everything. This control can have a very positive ‘knock on’ effect on the rest of their behaviour (that is often totally unrelated to money and purchases). Pocket money also teaches children economics from a very early age, so important considering finance management is not a part of core schooling curriculum (why?!). It can teach children about saving and donating, about foreign currency exchange and the value of buying good quality products. Continue reading
Posted in Preschoolers, Teens, Tweens
Tagged gentle parenting pocket money, how much pocket money should children have, how to encourage children to give to charity, how to encourage children to save, how to teach children money management, mindful pocket money, sarah ockwell-smith pocket money, when should children have pocket money
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Why You Should NEVER Praise or Reward A Child for Eating!
Praising a child for eating can be incredibly counter-productive. While the child may initially try to eat the food on offer, in exchange for lots of praise from their parents, the effect is unlikely to be long-lasting. The most worrying outcome of praise however is not the temporary effect it has, but how it encourages children to override their innate satiety cues in favour of pleasing their parent. Research has shown that children who are regularly praised for eating are statistically more likely to grow to be overweight in later life. Continue reading
Posted in Preschoolers, Toddlers, Tweens
Tagged child won't eat vegetables, gentle eating, gentle eating book, how to make child eat vegetables, how to reduce child obesity, intuitive eating book, intuitive eating in children, reward chart for eating, reward chart for eating vegetables, reward chart for healthy eating, school award for eating, school lunchbox policy, school sticker for eating, toddler chart for eating, why you should never praise a child for eating, why you should never reward a child for eating, why you shouldn't praise eating, why you shouldn't reward eating
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The Secret Way to Achieve a Calmer and Easier Toddler Bedtime
Bedtime resistance is common in the toddler and preschooler years and what was once an easy bedtime can often stretch out to hours. Similarly night waking may resurface (or not improve as expected). There are many reasons for disturbed bedtimes and waking, however the bedtime routine and what happens immediately before it is key in my opinion. Continue reading
Posted in Preschoolers, Toddlers
Tagged best toddler bedtime, child sleep expert, gentle sleep training, gentle sleep training toddler, how to get 2 year old to sleep, how to get 3 year old to sleep, how to get 4 year old to sleep, how to get toddler to sleep, sleep training toddler, Toddler Sleep Expert, toddler won't go to bed, toddler won't sleep, what time should 2 year old go to bed, what time should 3 year old go to bed, what time should toddler go to bed
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Why Your Child Needs Boundaries – and How to Set & Enforce Them
Boundaries play a crucial role in Gentle Parenting, in fact, so much so they really do form one of its cornerstones. I think the difficulty in understanding, comes from those who don’t really ‘get’ this style of parenting and also from those who practice it, but are a bit too scared to set and particularly enforce boundaries. Continue reading
Choosing Childcare: How to Choose a Setting In-Line With Your Parenting Beliefs
Preparing your list of questions in advance is vital. Write them down and take them with you to the meeting. If you run out of time to ask them all, ask the provider if you can send the rest over to them via email. Don’t feel embarrassed if your list is long, you are entrusting your most precious ‘possession’ in this person’s care! Continue reading
Posted in Babies, Preschoolers, Toddlers
Tagged choosing childcare, gentle parenting childminder, gentle parenting daycare, gentle parenting nanny, gentle parenting nursery, questions to ask childcare provider, questions to ask childminder, questions to ask nursery, what to ask a childminder, what to ask a nursery, what to ask daycare
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The Three Biggest Mistakes Parents Make When Disciplining Children
It doesn’t matter if you’re an authoritarian parent, hot on punishment and reward, or a gentle parent, focused on connection and empathy. Your kid is going to misbehave. Because that’s what they do….. Continue reading
Five Steps to Effective Discipline
Being mindful of neurological development is critical when you discipline. Most mainstream discipline methods – time out, naughty steps, exclusion, shaming and loss of privileges – expect cognitive abilities from children that they just don’t have Continue reading
Why Common Discipline Methods Don’t Work (and What to do Instead)
most common discipline methods focus on encouraging children to do and be better, so that they are motivated by rewards if they behave ‘well’ and punishments if they misbehave. This would seem sensible, but it makes one huge mistake. Continue reading
Gentle Parenting – You Mean ‘Hippy, Pushover Parenting’? Busting Ten Gentle Parenting Myths.
…if people ask me to explain gentle parenting in a nutshell I always say the same “treating children how we would like to be treated ourselves”. To this day I don’t understand why it is so controversial, except perhaps that we don’t treat ourselves very well? Continue reading
Posted in Babies, Mothering, Preschoolers, Teens, Toddlers, Tweens
Tagged childcare expert, discipline techqniques, gentle discipline, gentle discipline book, gentle parenting, gentle parenting book, gentle parenting expert, how to discipline, natural consequences, parenting expert, positive discipline, positive parenting, problem with naughty step, problem with time out
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