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Home » emotional development » Page 5

Parenting: The Adler Method

Alfred Adler: Individual Psychology

Alfred Adler (1870-1937), was a philosopher and psychiatrist who believed that humans have two basic needs: to belong and to feel significant. In the early 1900’s he started addressing the issue of quality parenting and the importance of parent education. If you are reading this blog and realize that we focus on empowering parents, we want you to know that Adler did this over 100 years ago.

Adler developed a theory that was very holistic at its core. He believed that when we are encouraged, we feel capable and appreciated. This contributes to a feeling of connectedness and we are more likely to be cooperative. When we are discouraged, we withdraw, give up and feel depressed.

Adler’s theory was very much relevant to parenting because he believed that our lifelong coping strategies depend on how connected we were to our parents and how significant we felt in our family. Based on Adler’s theory, every person is an individual who was created in early childhood, by his or her early life experiences, which are made up of his or her relationships within the family. Adler thought that a misbehaving child is a discouraged child. Instead of trying to put pressure on the child to change their undesired behavior, you should help them feel valued, competent and special.

Read Parenting: The Adler Method »

Published: April 17, 2014 by Ronit Baras
Last modified: December 25, 2019In: Parenting Tags: personal development / personal growth / personality development / self improvement, depression, emotions, empowerment, feeling, change, emotional development, conflict, practical parenting / parents, environment, goals / goal setting, needs, focus, attitude, early childhood, kids / children, values, acceptance / judgment / tolerance, success, behavior / discipline, emotional intelligence

Ask Ronit: My Son is Very Clingy

Boy clinging to mother's leg

Clingy kids can be very exhausting. We love them very much but we want to be able to do things without them from time to time. I have met many parents who are fighting this clinginess and they express a lot of frustration. I think the exhausting thing not necessary the clinginess itself. It is more from the fight, the feeling of failure and the expectation that it should be different.

This week, I received a question on my blog from a mother of a 9 year old boy. Mel wanted to know what I would suggest for dealing with a clingy child.

Here is what I wrote Mel. I hope you will find it encouraging. Most importantly, it is not as bad as it looks.

Read Ask Ronit: My Son is Very Clingy »

Published: April 15, 2014 by Ronit Baras
Last modified: December 25, 2019In: Parenting, Ask Ronit Tags: success, feeling, how to, expectation, failure, frustration, control, emotional development, mother, practical parenting / parents, hope, success experience, questions, kids / children, tips, love, self confidence / self esteem / self worth

Judgment and Forgiveness

Gavel

Forgiveness is not something you do for someone else. It’s something you do for yourself. Judgment robs us of our happiness. Forgiveness restores it.

I love Byron Katie. I think reading her book “Love What Is” helped me a lot as a person, as a mother, a partner and as a life coach. In my coaching, I cover many aspects of Byron Katie’s techniques and I have been asked by my clients to share it here on my blog, so they can teach it to their families.

Think of your mind as a house, prime real estate. The different qualities of your house include tenants knocking at your door, asking to rent some space there. As a property manager, you want to rent the space to very good tenants and avoid the trouble makers. Judgment is like a very important tenant. As much as you think you do not want it residing in your mind, it is very important and no house can survive without it. We all have to have some definition of the world so that we can navigate through life efficiently. Still, it is important not to give judgment the biggest room when we talk about judging others. Forgiveness on the other hand is a very important tenant. If you have a few trouble tenants, it can help you manage them and bring peace in your mind.

Read Judgment and Forgiveness »

Published: March 11, 2014 by Ronit Baras
Last modified: December 25, 2019In: Personal Development Tags: positive attitude tips, questions, acceptance / judgment / tolerance, personal development / personal growth / personality development / self improvement, responsibility, thought, choice, emotional development, trust, forgiveness, control, mind, change, Life Coaching

Damaging Kids’ Self Esteem

Mother lifting her little daughter at the pool

Self esteem is a very important ingredient for success. I have written a lot about what parents can do to support their kids’ self esteem. Unfortunately, many parents do the exact opposite and do not recognize how damaging their words can be.

Generally, there are four main attitudes that destroy self esteem:

1. Telling kids they are wrong.
2. Expressing disappointment.
3. Expressing shame.
4. Expressing doubt in the kids’ attempts.

Kids can handle a lot of pain from their parents without carrying it into adulthood. However, the four attitudes mentioned above will be carved into their hearts and determine their self esteem and attitude towards themselves.

Below is a list of 60 phrases parents say that can harm their kid’s self esteem. If you use any of these sentences, try to replace them with positive sentences instead

This post is part 19 of 20 in the series Self Esteem Mini-Course

Read Damaging Kids’ Self Esteem »

Published: March 6, 2014 by Ronit Baras
Last modified: May 18, 2020In: Parenting Tags: communication, list, success, emotional development, empowerment, practical parenting / parents, change, happiness, positive, kids / children, acceptance / judgment / tolerance, self confidence / self esteem / self worth, emotions

How to Have a Happy Life

The happy Baras family

I have dedicated my life to promoting happy living. I have watched many people living the life they want and, unfortunately, too many people who have no clue about bringing happiness into their lives.

I suggest to all my clients that they come up with an A to Z list of living a happy life. Below is just one version of what they have come up with. I hope it will encourage you to come up with your own.

Appreciate yourself and others. Accept everything as it is. Appreciation is the ability to see good in yourself and others. It does not change who you are but how you perceive things.

Be yourself! This is the main goal in life. Do not try to be someone else. It is draining. You are unique, special and perfect, just the way you are. Cherish it!

This post is part 5 of 6 in the series A-to-Z Guides

Read How to Have a Happy Life »

Published: February 25, 2014 by Ronit Baras
Last modified: December 25, 2019In: Personal Development Tags: Life Coaching, focus, fun, responsibility, attitude, values, tips, art, personal development / personal growth / personality development / self improvement, money, creative / creativity, success, freedom, hugs, emotional development, choice, happiness, motivation

12 Practical Ways to Parent Sore Losers

Boy lying on a football field

It is no wonder most of us are such sore losers. Winning is easy and losing is not. Let’s face it, regardless their age, no one likes to lose. Even the word “losing” sounds devastating.

Unfortunately, parents who are sore losers tend to raise kids who are sore losers. So, what can we do to make sure losing is not so devastating? What’s the best approach to parenting sore losers?

When I had my early childhood center, we stopped using the word “losing”. We replaced it with words like learning, opportunities, testing, growing and evolving. It does not sound like much but it worked well for the kids. It takes away a lot of the heartache and pain.

Read 12 Practical Ways to Parent Sore Losers »

Published: February 20, 2014 by Ronit Baras
Last modified: September 3, 2020In: Personal Development, Parenting Tags: humor, beliefs, loss, empowerment, kids / children, sport, tips, identity, stress / pressure, change, self confidence / self esteem / self worth, relationships / marriage, personal development / personal growth / personality development / self improvement, focus, social skills, education / learning, success, conflict, feeling, emotional intelligence, positive attitude tips, emotional development, fear, attitude, practical parenting / parents, failure

How to Be a Great Teacher (U to Z)

Bookworm in apple marked #1 Teacher

I love teaching. I think teaching is my calling and I know that many teachers feel the same. Over the years, I have collected effective philosophy and teaching tips and am happy to share some with you. In this last post in How to Be a Great Teacher, here are the tips from U to Z.

Use your space creatively rather than in the old fashioned way. A classroom needs to feel cozy and fun so that kids do not wait impatiently for the bell to ring so they can run away. Even if your classroom is small, be creative. You can make palaces out of any sized class. The students can feel like they are kings, queens, knights and princesses. You can tell whether you classroom decoration is good by the reaction of the kids from other rooms, by the fact that your students make sure their parents come to see it and by noticing that you need to encourage your students to go outside and play with their friends.

This post is part 4 of 6 in the series A-to-Z Guides

Read How to Be a Great Teacher (U to Z) »

Published: February 13, 2014 by Ronit Baras
Last modified: December 25, 2019In: Personal Development, Education / Learning Tags: emotional intelligence, education / learning, how to, emotional development, role model, teaching / teachers, wisdom, motivation, success experience, flexibility, k-12 education, kids / children, values, tips, success, personal development / personal growth / personality development / self improvement

How to Be a Great Teacher (L to T)

Apple on a stack of books

Establishing a good teaching philosophy and adopting useful tips from experienced teachers are essential tools for effective teaching. In this post, we continued with the letters L through T of How to Be a Great Teacher.

Love of learning is the ultimate teachers’ goals. Use any (positive) way you can think of to promote, advertise and support your students’ love of learning. If they love learning, regardless of what mark they get, you get an A in teaching. To evaluate yourself, ask the kids at the end of every year how much they enjoyed and loved learning with you.

This post is part 3 of 6 in the series A-to-Z Guides

Read How to Be a Great Teacher (L to T) »

Published: February 6, 2014 by Ronit Baras
Last modified: December 25, 2019In: Personal Development, Education / Learning Tags: success, personal development / personal growth / personality development / self improvement, how to, education / learning, role model, expectation, books, emotional development, beliefs, teaching / teachers, motivation, success experience, reading, focus, k-12 education, school, kids / children, skills, tips

How to Be a Great Teacher (A to K)

Love teaching written on a board

As teachers, our teaching ability is an art form that we keep developing throughout our careers. One of the best parts of any professional development courses I run for teachers, is the discussion about our philosophy and tips we can share with others about teaching. Establishing a good teaching philosophy and adopting useful tips from experienced teachers are essential tools for effective teaching.

Here is a guide that has informed my teaching over the years. I hope the teachers reading this blog will find it useful.

Affirmations are very important in education. Things you repeat over and over again become the thoughts and beliefs of your students. Make sure to plant good affirmations in their minds, ones that they will be able to use long after you are not there. “I can do it!” for example, is a great affirmation that will benefit them more in life than an A in math. Watch what you are repeating.

This post is part 2 of 6 in the series A-to-Z Guides

Read How to Be a Great Teacher (A to K) »

Published: January 30, 2014 by Ronit Baras
Last modified: December 25, 2019In: Personal Development, Education / Learning Tags: education / learning, beliefs, expectation, purpose, emotional development, motivation, teaching / teachers, work life balance, focus, determination, goals / goal setting, school, success experience, responsibility, k-12 education, skills, career, success, kids / children, how to, personal development / personal growth / personality development / self improvement, role model

Teachers’ Award

Award ribbon

It is the end of the school year here in Australia and like every year, my kids say goodbye to some wonderful teachers and I get sentimental. Noff (my youngest) is finishing primary school and will be going into high school next year, so we had to say goodbye to quite a few teachers.

As we were making up the end of year gifts, we made a list of all the teachers Noff has had in the last 8 years, and examined their contributions to her life and to ours, her family. Noff had about six teachers she said she really liked. Of those six, two made a significant impact on her life and one was such a fantastic teacher, Noff will remember her forever. She is what you might call a “forever teacher”.

Even just one teacher like that is enough to set your kid up for life. Noff was lucky enough to have this teacher for a whole year and then continued to stay in contact with her in one way or another for the next 4 years.

We, the Baras Family, would like to bestow the 2013 Best Teacher in the Entire World Award to Ms. Kellie Scrogings! Kellie (or Ms. Scrogings, as the kids must call her) was Noff’s Year 3 teachers. She then directed the school musicals when Noff was in Years 6 and 7.

Read Teachers’ Award »

Published: December 5, 2013 by Ronit Baras
Last modified: December 25, 2019In: Education / Learning Tags: practical parenting / parents, teaching / teachers, school, gratitude, inspiration, k-12 education, kids / children, education / learning, emotional development

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