5 Tips for Building Conflict Resolution Skills with Pre-Teens
The pre-teen years are a time of rapid change for the youth in our lives. Young people are busy working out who they are and where they fit into the world, in conjunction with a lot of physical, emotional, cognitive and social changes. During this time, these changes can happen quickly and seemingly unpredictable, which can be tough […]
5 Tips for Building Conflict Resolution Skills in Children’s Middle Years
Between the ages of 6-12, children are entering a turning point we call the middle years. During this period, they are becoming more curious. They are cultivating new skills and independence, and they begin to form meaningful relationships with others their age. For more on supporting children through this stage, we recommend Ontario’s On My Way […]
6 Tips for Building Conflict Resolution Skills in Children’s Early Years
In the first six years of their life, children are learning about themselves and the world around them. They are learning what it means to think ahead, to understand others, and be able to express themselves. Children at this age are in a phase of intense development, growing cognitively, linguistically and socio-emotionally. When adults around […]
4 Ways to Respond to Conflict as a Bystander
Between the ages of 5 and 18, I rode the bus to school nearly every morning. Each day was different; some days were calm, and others were boisterous, but most days included some kind of conflict. I did my fair share of instigating those conflicts, but I also had the opportunity to observe plenty of […]
How to Come Back to Conflict Conversations: Part 2
In conflict situations, my natural tendency is to avoid the conflict. For me, this would mean avoiding all conversation and interaction with the other party. If I did need to see them, I might act as though the conflict never happened. If you watched me in these situations, you might say, “Wow! She’s a natural.” […]
How to Come Back to Conflict Conversations: Part 1
When I was in grade four, I was in the same class as my best friend. We at lunch together, played soccer together, and we liked the same things; clothes, music, movies. We spent most of our time at school as a duo. One day, about halfway through the school year, we began to fight. […]
How to Become an Empathetic Listener
Empathy is one of the most important skills we can develop in ourselves and in our children. It helps us build more positive relationships because we have a better understanding of one another and an appreciation for different perspectives. Brené Brown, author and research professor University of Houston, describes empathy as, “the skill set to […]
Three Mindfulness Practices for Stronger Relationships
It’s the little things. Your child gets you out of bed thirty minutes before your alarm goes off. The car won’t start. You forgot about an important deadline at work. You don’t have time to make dinner, and your kids won’t eat it when you do. Suddenly, someone says one more thing out of line […]
How Restorative Justice Changed My Parenting and Teaching
As a parent and an educator when dealing with a child who has done something wrong, my first response was to consider the rule that was broken and how to prevent that behaviour from occurring again. Many times, whatever the child was doing would stop, for a while. However, I became increasingly frustrated with the […]
