Positive Discipline Parenting Blog
Sproutable's Positive Discipline blog.
Real tips. Real talk. Read & grow.
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Navigating the Marijuana Conversation with Teens: A Parent’s Guide
As a parent, one of the most challenging things to navigate is the issue of marijuana use among teens. We all know that adolescence is a time of exploration, testing boundaries, and trying new things.[...]By Casey O'Roarty
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Three Superpowers When Your Nanny Child Isn’t Listening
One of the most common questions I see on nanny and parenting forums is, “What do I do when my kid won’t listen?” We’ve all been there! It’s challenging and can be embarrassing when your nanny charge simply will not listen to what you’re asking them to do, especially because we are professionals. Thanks to Positive Discipline, I have three strategies that consistently work.By Danielle Taylor
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Joyful Courage & Sproutable: one space for all parents & caregivers
We began merging our backgrounds in psychology, early child development, public health, counseling, mindfulness, social emotional learning, social justice, racial equity and Positive Discipline, joining forces to go farther than either of us could do on our own. We used innovation, technology, Alanna’s idea of videos of REAL families, and an online platform to share the helpful, immediately useful and mutually-respectful tools world wide.By Julietta Skoog
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Getting kids to cooperate through fun and play
How do I get a child to listen without yelling or nagging? How do I invite cooperation through fun and play? One Positive Discipline tool that makes a big difference in my days as a nanny is keeping a sense of humor. Working with children is inherently funny, so lean in! At Sproutable we are […]By Danielle Taylor
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Reconnecting with your nanny child after a tough day
Even the best nannies and loveliest kiddos have tough days sometimes. It’s inevitable! But part of our job as a professional is coming back the next day refreshed and ready to try again. This can be easier said than done. How do we reconnect with our nanny kiddos after a particularly challenging day? Here’s what I do. Self-Care How can we care for others when our cup is empty?By Danielle Taylor
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Teaching Consent & Body Autonomy to Nanny Children
Fostering an environment with a focus on consent and body autonomy is one of my top priorities as a nanny. I always want my nanny charges to feel like they are in charge of their bodies and what happens to them. This is secondary only to keeping them safe while they’re with me.By Danielle Taylor
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How do I teach kids to share?
It is completely unrealistic, developmentally, to expect young children to share. What you CAN teach them, explicitly is what it means to share (usually taking turns) and the skills they need to be practicing mutually respectful sharing.By Julietta Skoog
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Hitting. When will it end?
How to stop toddlers from hitting TWENTY TIMES! I remember thinking, I’m pretty sure I’ve repeated myself twenty freaking times today. I was so annoyed and irritated but eventually became angry and absolutely exhausted. “Gentle hands. We are always gentle with other people’s bodies. You can say, ‘excuse me’ and place your hand gently like this to get their attention.” “Let’s practice. How can you get my attention gently? We were visiting my parents and I was traveling alone with my two-year-old.By Alanna Beebe
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Building the Culture of Teamwork through Chores
When I was growing up we did not have a chore chart. There were no stickers, or popsicle sticks or magnets on a whiteboard. There was just an understanding that we pitched in…all hands on deck. My father was in the military until I was about 7, and prior to that, my mother was very sick with breast cancer. For many of my early memories, she was in and out of the hospital and my father worked long hours. We had caregivers and help but there was still a lot to be done.By Julietta Skoog
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Singing to Sleep
Sleep. Sleeeeep! SLEEP! Oh, how I miss a good night's sleep. My mind is so jumbled most days that it’s truly hard to concentrate and prioritize. My partner and I were actually talking yesterday about how we can prioritize our to do list better. This was never a problem for me before. The old me was efficient at managing my time and getting everything I need done. The new me starts something, gets halfway done. Starts something else, gets a quarter of the way done. Walks into a room and forgets completely what I was about to do.By Alanna Beebe
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The 5 Parenting Lessons I Learned from 80’s Movie Quotes
For those of us children of the 80's, we have grown up to be parents in a new millennium. It blows my mind to live in a world with Internet, Apple Pay, scanners, and Netflix, not to mention having the intel ahead of time to predict the name of your driver and exact time of your taxi... er... Lyft, pick up. The fact that you can Jetsons style talk to grandparents ON YOUR PHONEBy Julietta Skoog
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