Every Christmas Eve my wife and I, and now our older children, put the finishing touches on presents while watching the movie Love Actually.  This story reminds me of the many different shapes and sizes of love.  Every day, I work with parents that deeply love their children, and yet still the family has anger, frustration or conflict.  Perhaps there is more to love than unconditional support -- or more likely parents get confused on how to communicate the way they feel about their child.  The "Over-Indulgent" parent feels the need to be their child's best friend and as a result models and permits inappropriate behavior.  The "Everything's Fantastic" parent shows love by over-inflating praise, but stroking an ego with insincere praise can actually be harmful to a child's self-esteem.  On the other extreme is the "Perfectionist Parent" who wants so much to teach their child that they critique and correct until their child rejects them. Unconditional love is a tricky term to apply to parenting.  I think the best application is to show your child that you are proud of them, enjoy their company, and are excited to see the next choice they make (regardless of it being good or bad).  So, in this holiday season I know I do not need to remind you to love your children, but I encourage you to accept them, spend time with them, and be patient.  Love actually happens.

Social Climbers Junior:

Open Enrollment Now

Social Climbers Junior is a developmentally appropriate, play-based group that allows children to practice skills such as initiating and maintaining social interactions, staying engaged in small group activities, emotional regulation, and self-monitoring. The playgroups incorporate developmentally appropriate songs, books and toys to teach, practice, and generalize foundational social thinking skills, including joint attention, perspective taking, and social communication. Class sessions include circle-time (with choice-making and sharing), direct teaching and practice of social cognitive skills, expansion and modeling of social language, and facilitated cooperative play activities. 

The class utilizes concepts from Michelle Garcia Winner's "I LAUGH Curriculum" and the new "Incredible Flexible You Curriculum," as well as efficacy-based strategies such as visual schedules, emotional regulation tools, and Whole Body Listening. 
 

If you are interested in enrolling, please contact the Center for Developing Minds and an instructor will contact you to determine the appropriate class for your child. The age range for participants is generally three years-old to third-grade students. In order to design balanced groups, each child is individually screened and placed into a group with a maximum of six children. 

Classes are held Tuesdays or Wednesdays from 1:00-2:30 pm or 3:00-4:30 pm, Wednesday from 5:00-6:30 pm, and Thursdays from 3:00-4:30 pm. The next session begins the week of January 5.