Quality Vs Quantity of Time

Spending quality time with a young child is one of the most nurturing things a parent can do. Several hours of quality time are worth much more than several hours quantity of time. But there is more to consider. What is quality time?

Quality time is when your child knows he or she has your full attention. They feel your interest in the interaction they are having with you and that what they say or do is important to you. They also may sense it as an open-ended, creative experience you are having together which has wings of its own--an adventure between two people who care for each other and share not just their minds but their hearts.

Times like this build relationships which are more able to withstand the pressures of daily life. They not only diffuse stress, they help build a healthy emotional base which is able to support your child when you are not with them. They become memories which last forever.

Genuine quality time is one of the most nurturing gifts you can give your child.

Nancy Tracey interviewed by Stephanie Domet CBC's Mainstreet (Halifax).

Recorded an interview today with CBC radio's (Halifax) Stephanie Domet. She had read my book, The First Five Years: Nurturing Your Child's Ability to Learn and was interested in interviewing me. It "will likely" air tomorrow April 14th between 3 and 6 PM. (There are no links afterwards). It was a wonderful experience! Bless the CBC!!

Mindfulness Adds Richness to Parenting

Mindfulness adds richness to parenting.

Slowing the world down for short periods while you place focused attention on your child (their expressions, what they are interested in, how they respond to various things you do and say  . . . ) allows you to connect not only to him or her but also to yourself. In this place of awareness, meaning––of life, parenthood, childhood, love, compassion, empathy––is able to step up and support you and your child not only for those moments but along the path you travel together, smoothing the stones and enhancing the scenery. Enjoy! Smile! Play! Live as if no one––other than your child–– is looking!
© Nancy Tracey 2015

Independent Halifax filmmaker Tim Tracey has released a 1 minute book trailer about my book, "The First Five Years: Nurturing Your Child's Ability to Learn."
View on youtu.be:

  http://youtu.be/2-rjaNTbYiY

Small School, Big Hearts.

A few years ago I taught in a small school near the seashore. It was a diverse group of students. Some hung out with their dads on their fishing boats. Others had travelled halfway around the world. Because it was a small school and every young child in the surrounding communities came through my Primary door, I sometimes got to teach as many as three members of a family in as many years. I loved that! By the second child the family knew and trusted you, the third child would arrive already settled in and ready to lead. And then one year it got even better: enrollment dropped and instead of splitting classes to balance the number of students, my principal took the opportunity to give the incoming class the benefit of extra space and more teacher time.

It was an amazing year. The children who arrived were like any other class, but I was able to meet their needs like never before. The settling in period was much shorter, which soon left me with a significant number of students able to explore independently for a period of time each day while I gave extra attention to higher needs children. The higher needs children got the attention and experiences they needed and missed the low self-esteem period altogether. But most important was the fact that I got to focus on nurturing emotional and behavioural development in all my students.

I had previously come to understand that the actions of emotionally and behaviourally challenged children could negatively affect the learning climate, and the potential of many children in the class. It was heart-warming to watch childrens’ behavioural challenges dissolve, replaced by friendship and empathy. I wrote about the experience in my guide for parents, The First Five Years: Nurturing Your Child’s Ability to Learn:

Family feuds, which had been cultivated for generations, did not grow in that classroom; children developed their own perspectives rather than being biased by influences from the past. We were not without stresses, but more often than not I would hear a five-year-old counsel a classmate on how to solve a problem without having to come to me at all. Children became remarkably independent and motivated, allowing me to give more individual attention to those challenged in the area of academics.

We––the children, their parents who joyfully volunteered in the classroom, and myself––became a family of learners. By the end of that year, I knew without a doubt that when emotional needs are looked after, everything else can fall into place.

There were other significant outcomes of that experiment. One benefit of teaching in a small country school was that this class would stay together as a unit for seven years. Teachers who received this particular group of children would invariably comment on how kind and compassionate they were, and how dedicated to their learning. I now had anecdotal evidence that the benefits reaped by this small class would remain stable over time. It was rewarding to know that it was not only my heart that would be forever warmed by that special year.

       I owe that rich learning experience, which positively influenced my teaching throughout my career and helped write my book, to the creative small school with a very big heart. Community supported small schools are often the heartbeat of their communities. They remember and reflect the values Nova Scotia was built upon––we need them more than ever!

It Takes a Village . . .

It takes a village to raise a child––and according to @AnnieFox we are all villagers. She’s right of course.

Early childhood is a garden—a seedbed of hope for humanity––and life experiences are seeds we plant in the hearts and minds of our children.

I say OUR children because it does take all of us to raise our children. Newborns arrive, according to Gopnik, Meltzoff and Kuhl (The Scientist in the Crib), probing the world for information about how it all works.  

In the beginning children learn from their parents and caregivers. But soon they begin to study, and learn from everyone they meet. This is how they discover how to survive and, if they are lucky, how to excel in the world where they are born.

Our role as villagers? To remember the miraculous growth going on inside that little mind and heart. And to share the moments we are given with them in the most meaningful way possible. A smile, a kind gesture, a little compassion can go a long way when a little soul is watching.

Yes our children need us, you and me, to help nurture them into the most fully developed, creative generation yet. The world will be a better place--and it may also survive.

© Nancy Tracey 2015