Mindful Moments Blog
Mindful Moments Blog
A Play-Based Solution To Reducing Stress In The Classroom
by Guest Author
How can educators bring mindfulness practices into their classrooms? This educator shares tips and ideas for playful mindful minutes that can be added into the school day.
Mindful Moments Blog
Nurturing A Natural Love For Learning
by Ashley Patek
How do you nurture curious risk-takers who love to learn? It starts here.
Mindful Moments Blog
School to Prison Pipeline: New Bill to Diminish Willful Defiance Suspensions
by Ashley Patek
With efforts to keep children in school and out of the school-to-prison pipeline, teachers and administrators within California school districts will no longer be able to suspend elementary and middle school students for willful defiance, as part of a Senate Bill signed by Gov. Newsom.
Mindful Moments Blog
by Ashley Patek
What would happen if we taught our children to empathize with the "bully"? Here are three ways to love the person who is bullying.
Mindful Moments Blog
Teaching The Whole Learner: School Spotlight on Bloom360
by Ashley Patek
Bloom360 Learning Community, a nonprofit school in southeastern Wisconsin for Learners ages 5 to 21 with neurodiverse needs, based their entire 2019/20 school year curriculum themes around the PeaceMakers themes of Power, Joy, Balance, Love, Peace, Intuition, and Forgiveness, and the outcomes are inspiring.
Mindful Moments Blog
Going With The Flow: Using Improv Games To Teach Flexibility
by Guest Author
Sam struggled with impulse control and emotional processing when he didn't get what he wanted. Does this sound familiar in your home? I created an improv game to help nurture emotional intelligence and bolster flexibility. Get this game and more in our E-Book: 10 Minutes of Play For 10 Days!
Mindful Moments Blog
Preschool Teacher Creates Calming Corner to Teach Students About Emotions
by Ashley Patek
In a nook in the back near the teacher’s desk, a cozy, safe place exists. It is a place to explore feelings. A place to regulate. A place to take a break and just be. Welcome to Emily Brown’s preschool classroom. Emily is a teacher dedicated to helping her students learn about, notice and practice their emotions.
Mindful Moments Blog
A World Where 250 Preschool Students Are Suspended Every Day
by Suzanne Tucker
A world where 250 preschoolers are suspended per day in the US alone is a world that needs a course correction.
You read that right -- according to 2017 data from the National Survey of Children's Health, 250 kids in the US are suspended or expelled from preschool each day. What’s more, the rate of expulsion is much higher among Black boys.
Researchers found that half of the 17,000 preschool students who were suspended or expelled in 2021 were Black boys even though they represent about 20 percent of enrolled children.
The impact of expulsion and suspension on children, families, and society
Recent research on Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACES) informs our increasing awareness of the impact of early trauma on a child's healthy development and the relationships between early trauma and compromised physical and mental health conditions later in life.
Expulsion and suspension practices in early childhood settings are stressful, negative experiences for young children and their families. Here are just a few of the negative impacts on our children and families.
Per findings from The Institute For Child Success, preschool expulsion and suspensions:
- Interrupt the child’s sense of security, social acceptance, and academic routines.
- Put added stress on the child’s parents who are often left to find immediate childcare or another early childhood setting, frequently without support or facilitation by the previous program of attendance.
- Are often delivered by early childhood programs that have not performed adequate developmental assessments of the child before removing them from the classroom.
- Are predictive of expulsion or suspension in later school grades.
Young children who are expelled or suspended are up to 10 times more likely to drop out of high school, experience academic failure and grade retention, hold negative school attitudes, and face incarceration than those who are not.
Variables including larger classes, a higher proportion of 3-year-olds in the class, and elevated teacher job stress were found to increase the likelihood of expulsion.
One study that assessed the quality of 65 discipline policies from state-licensed early childhood care programs found that most of the program's discipline policies fail to sufficiently address essential features known to reduce challenging behavior and promote pro-social behavior in young children. (Longstreth, Brady, & Kay, 2013)
This same study confirmed the importance of positive teacher-child interactions in reducing rates of preschool expulsion, validating the importance of providing program support in the areas of social and emotional development as well as focused interventions for children with special needs and/or mental health issues.
Students perform better when they feel supported by the adults in their lives.
If we are to protect our youngest learners, and families impacted by racism, poverty, and learning differences, we need to invest in early and inclusive social-emotional learning initiatives.
Our school systems are failing to protect already marginalized student populations that, statistically speaking, are disproportionally more likely to receive punitive disciplinary actions than their counterparts.
With the right instruction and support, every student can thrive and excel, in and out of the classroom. We do this when we:
Invest in building stronger school-family partnerships.
Incorporate strengths-based discipline practices into the classroom.
Involve families, early and often, in their students' learning.
Preschool expulsions and suspensions are a national issue. It's time for us as a society to implement positive, relationship-based practices in the home and classroom to meet the social and emotional needs that challenging behaviors often represent.
With early emotional education, tools, and support that bridge home and school, we can support children, families, and educators, lower stress levels in the classroom, and prevent preschool expulsions and suspensions.
If you are interested in how Generation Mindful is addressing the school-to-prison pipeline by making social-emotional learning inclusive and accessible, you can learn more here.
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trauma-informed
restorative discipline
inclusion
Break Shame Cycles
model to learn
Breaking Generational Cycles
mental health
classroom management
Neurodiversity
Mindful Moments Blog
Why Using A Behavior Chart Is Ineffective
by Ashley Patek
Before you decide to add to or continue using behavioral management charts, let's take a closer look at the undesirable side-effects. Read more.
Mindful Moments Blog
Is Rushing Academics Detrimental To The Developing Brain?
by Ashley Patek
How do children best learn, and what happens when academics are the focus of pre-school and kindergarten? This study gives us some pretty telling answers.
Mindful Moments Blog
Children Need Less Academics and More Social-Emotional Learning in the Classroom
by Ashley Patek
Starting school or starting a new school year can be stressful at the best of times, let alone during a global pandemic.
Mindful Moments Blog
The Day My Son Told Me "Mad is Bad"
by Ashley Patek
When our children believe that unpleasant emotions are "bad", they become unsafe to feel those emotions. However all emotions are sacred and useful. Here's why. Read more.
Mindful Moments Blog
Montessori Parenting Techniques for Teaching Emotional Intelligence
by Guest Author
What is so special about the montessori parenting style? Learn how Montessori parenting can instill emotional intelligence in your children.
