“…Having usable space decreases the friction between all the routines and people who live in a home or classroom. Whether you have a whole room for children, a corner in the living room, or just a special bookcase-turned-homeschool next to the kitchen table — that’s enough…”
Read More…Many of us, especially parents and teachers are feeling tremendous pressure to make everything as capital-R right as we possibly can for the children in our lives. Why wouldn’t we? We love and respect the children and childhoods that are entrusted to us. It is literally and figuratively our job to give children consistency, security, and ensure they have everything they need to develop with the best chance of success and well-being.
But what do consistency, security, and development even mean in a life-changing crisis?…
Read More…if you sometimes feel that being a “Good Teacher” is a slippery slope of unceasing expectation...that’s because it is. The archetypal ideal, i.e., Good Teacher, is not and has never been one thing. The mores of the job have always reflected those of society’s dominant voices. But time moves on and so too can we unmoor ourselves from the unhelpful and oppressive narratives of past powers…
Read More“…Imagine: you know something big is coming. Something life-changing. You’ve heard everyone you know mention this unfamiliar thing that will make you into a different sort of person (read: big kid). Even if you know someone else who has done this thing, you still don’t know exactly what the future holds for you. You can’t know until you get there…”
Read More“…To very young children, however, these words are useful. Children employ “Best Friend” and it’s inverse, “Not My Friend,” because it communicates something very clearly and with great effect - closeness or space, sometimes tears, sometimes adult attention…”
Read More“…The key to successful goodbyes is a clear, pre-determined, and consistent routine for saying goodbye each day…”
Read More“… ‘normal’ though a behavior may be in theory, the lived reality is that this is your specific child who is away from you all day, for whom you worry and love and wish you could be with, and whom you know as a complex and vibrant human being - and they are hurting someone else’s. That’s hard. Very hard…but it’s not forever.”
Read More“…Bathroom accidents are physiological responses to the complex logistical, cognitive, and emotional complexity of learning about and living in the world. Young children are tasked with developing so many parts of themselves simultaneously - it is reasonable for the child (and the caregiver) to get stuck or overwhelmed occasionally...”
Read More“…Conflicts commonly arise between children when it comes to the negotiation of resources. For our purposes, “resources” means anything the child sees as valuable, including toys, food, interesting objects, or even attention from others…”
Read MorePractice, Not Magic is a series of posts about the practical aspects of living alongside young children.
…To a child under the age of about 6, stopping mid-game really can feel like it’s the end of that play experience forever. Our goal as the adult, beyond just getting the space cleaned up and facilitating a transition, is to support the child to move from a mental place of scarcity (“I must do this now because I will never have what I want again”) to one of trust (“I know my ideas and my things are safe in my family/classroom and will be available again”)…
Read MoreMicah Card is a writer and educator in Los Angeles, CA.
No Magic Lecture is a blog about teaching, learning, and living alongside young children, though the principles here apply to all learners (including you!). Creating a meaningful life with children is about holding a vision and seeing it through together. The phrase “No Magic Lecture” means there is no one perfect thing that must make or break a moment, a behavior, a child, family, or classroom. It’s a reminder, reprieve, and an invitation. Welcome.
Micah Card is a writer and educator in Santa Cruz, CA. She believes in the power of children, thinking deeply and critically, and in reminding ourselves that the point of all this is to grow.
To learn more about Micah’s work and credentials, click here.
