Mindful Moments Blog

A mother performing a reparenting exercise

Mindful Moments Blog

Reparenting Yourself Exercises – Embrace Self-Healing and Nurture Your Inner Child

by Suzanne Tucker
Use reparenting yourself exercises to reconnect with your vulnerable self, heal emotional wounds, and cultivate self-compassion for transformative growth.
Stop Apologizing For Your Child's Emotions

Mindful Moments Blog

Your Child’s Unpleasant Emotions Don’t Need An Apology

by Ashley Patek
We rarely apologize when our children feel happy or grateful or proud yet we often find ourselves apologizing for unpleasant emotions. "I'm sorry you feel mad ... sad ... disappointed." How does this impact our children and what can we do instead?
A child sitting in a time-out chair happy with her mother

Mindful Moments Blog

Implementing The Time-In Technique With The Time-Out Chair

by Suzanne Tucker
Use the modernized approach of the time-out chair strategy to promote empathy, communication, and effective discipline in parenting.
A child sitting in a time-out chair happy with her mother

Mindful Moments Blog

Implementing The Time-In Technique With The Time-Out Chair

by Suzanne Tucker
Use the modernized approach of the time-out chair strategy to promote empathy, communication, and effective discipline in parenting.
letter blocks that spell out S P D for sensory processing disorder

Mindful Moments Blog

Understanding Sensory Processing Disorder and How It Can Impact a Child’s Social and Emotional Development

by Ashley Martin
SPD is a neurological condition that affects how an individual processes and responds to sensory information from the environment. Sensory inputs encompass various experiences, including touch, taste, smell, sight, sound, and movement. SPD can significantly affect a child’s social and emotional development. Early childhood educators play a pivotal role in recognizing, understanding, and supporting children with SPD.
Ask Andrew: Prep For New Places

Mindful Moments Blog

Ask Andrew: Prep For New Places

by Andrew Patterson
Andrew answers today's question: How can I help my three and half-year-old prepare for going to new places? He really struggles when we first get somewhere and when it's time to leave.
Sometimes Our Kids Just Want Us To Listen: 3 Tools For Connected Parenting

Mindful Moments Blog

Sometimes Our Kids Just Want Us To Listen: 3 Tools For Connected Parenting

by Ashley Patek
These tools are invitations for you to show up to your child’s wants and needs with curiosity instead of immediately throwing down the hammer with a rebuttal. Because maybe they do want that thing they are mentioning, or maybe they are just sharing with you their heart, and their only real ask is that you listen.
Making Social Emotional Learning Inclusive and Accessible By Bridging Home and School

Mindful Moments Blog

Making Social Emotional Learning Inclusive and Accessible By Bridging Home and School

by Suzanne Tucker
Adults today are struggling to use "new", evidence-based childrearing practices because these practices were not modeled for them. Put another way, adults today have the science necessary to foster secure attachment with children, but lack the skills. 5 Ways to Build Resilience in the Early Childhood Classroom This is why I started Generation Mindful in 2016, on a mission to raise an emotionally healthy world. Our relational, play-based approach using tangible tools to spark social-emotional learning in tots to teens and their caregivers. Our vision is to nurture emotional intelligence in children and adults via play and positive discipline, taking evidence based best practices into everyday life. At Generation Mindful, we believe there is nothing more healing, protective, or worth investing in than loving, safe, and secure adult-child relationships. GENM tools lean into everyday teaching moments that arise organically in adult/child interactions, moments classically perceived by adults as moments of conflict rather than the profound teaching and learning opportunities they represent.  This focus on nurturing relationships through connection with rather than control over children is foundational to Generation Mindful's approach to empowerment based education. GENM tools teach emotional literacy including the four basic mood groups, informed by research from Yale School for Emotional Intelligence. These four mood groups are like the ABCs and 123s of emotional regulation, yet, unfortunately, they are not widely being taught to young children. Generation Mindful's play-based learning tools introduce these four mood groups along the three basic skills both children and adults need to regulate emotions (Name It, Feel It, and Heal It) starting with children as young as age 2 or 3. These skills have been shown to strengthen children's social-emotional skills, vital for school readiness, particularly impactful for children from historically marginalized homes. Statistically speaking, children from families experiencing the impact of racism and poverty are more likely to enter the classroom with less-developed social-emotional skills --- a key component for school readiness.  At Generation Mindful, we are committed to supporting, educating, and inspiring not only children in their social-emotional learning but their caregivers as well. When we bridge social-emotional learning (SEL) tools and support from early childhood classrooms and daycare centers into homes and families, we support the social-emotional skill development of not only children, but their caregivers as well. Missouri Institute of Mental Health Findings: GENM tools improve parent confidence and strengthen children's social-emotional skills.  Classroom Time-In ToolKit® Bundle 0 Reviews $149.00 $238.00 Save $89.00 GENM's social-emotional learning (SEL) tools take a positive, relationship-based approach to nurturing emotional intelligence in the classroom. Our ... View Product
Preschool children learning to fold origami paper

Mindful Moments Blog

Applying The Five Developmental Domains of Learning to the Early Childhood Classroom: Teaching to the Whole Child

by Ashley Martin
Developmental domains contribute uniquely to a child's overall well-being and success. By addressing these domains, educators create a solid foundation for students to build their knowledge, skills, and abilities.
The Trap of Conventional Discipline

Mindful Moments Blog

Conventional Discipline Doesn't Align With Child Development. Here's What To Do Instead.

by Rebecca Eanes
As well-meaning parents, we second-guess ourselves instead of trusting our inner wisdom. We often feel the pressure to raise a “good” kid and be a “good” parent, and thus fall into the trap of conventional parenting. Here's how to escape the cycle. 
Celebrating Small Victories In Parenting

Mindful Moments Blog

Celebrating Small Victories In Parenting

by Guest Author
A bad moment doesn't mean we are a bad parent. And when we can embrace this, it transforms our relationships with ourselves and our children.
I'm Not An Angry Mom. I'm An Overwhelmed Mom.

Mindful Moments Blog

I Am Not An Angry Mom. I'm An Overwhelmed Mom.

by Ashley Patek
We aren’t angry parents. We are just parents with unmet needs, lagging skills, and lots of overwhelm - both sensorially and emotionally. Here is the one real solution. 
Hey Mama, I Know You Cried Today

Mindful Moments Blog

Hey Mama, I Know You Cried Today

by Rebecca Eanes
Motherhood. Nothing brings us more elated joy or crushing heartache. The good news is, you’re up for it. You can handle every up and down, every tear and every grin, because you were chosen for it. You being her mama is not an accident. 
School Culture Affects Black Student Achievement

Mindful Moments Blog

School Culture Affects Black Student Achievement

by Selina Armstrong
As students prepare to return to school this fall, there are many things for parents and educators to consider. We are still in the midst of a pandemic and living in an environment where racial disparities are being brought to the forefront where they can no longer be swept under the rug to be ignored, tolerated, or forgotten.  
Juggling Big Emotions

Mindful Moments Blog

Juggling Big Emotions

by Jessica Zodicoff
As a seven-year-old girl, I remember my grandpa coming over for the holidays and juggling whatever fruit he could find in our kitchen. He taught me to juggle using not lemons, but just three tissues. The fruit was too big for my little-girl hands, but like a set of training wheels, I practiced with those tissues until...
Ask Andrew: Grandparenting

Mindful Moments Blog

Ask Andrew: Grandparenting

by Andrew Patterson
Andrew answers today's question: How can I, as the grandmother of a diagnosed five-year-old grandson be a solid support to him and his parents? I live in CA and they live in AZ.
Justin Baldoni in the store with is tantruming daughter

Mindful Moments Blog

Two Men and a Tantruming Toddler

by Alex Petrou
Kids can break into full-on tantrums at the drop of a hat, and nearly every parent has been where actor Justin Baldoni found himself on Father's Day. How can we release fear of judgement and be with our tantruming toddler during their time of need?
Happy mom, dad, and toddler playing at home with blocks and a toy house.

Mindful Moments Blog

How Online SEL Programs are Helping Transform Emotional Education

by Suzanne Tucker
If you’re exploring how to foster social emotional learning in your children or students, you’ve found the right place! Let’s discover the benefits of online SEL programs together.