Looking for the roots of children’s mental health crisis: A conversation with psychotherapist Louis Weinstock

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I recently had a chance to chat with U.K-based psychotherapist Louis Weinstock, who has written a new book about helping children deal with the anxiety, depression, fear, and stress that seem to plague our 21st-century lives. The book, How the World Is Making Our Children Mad and What to Do About It (Penguin, 2022), is full of real-world examples from Weinstock’s 20-year career as a therapist, and he offers practical exercises in every chapter.

Weinstock approaches the questions parents and kids face with compassion, humor, and a sense of deep connection to history, myth, and spiritual practices from a variety of cultures. The book is structured around seven patterns that can be seen all over the world and that “shape our lives in unconscious ways.” The patterns include victimhood, virtual reality (a desire to escape our bodies and live only in our minds), narcissism, scarcity, anesthesia, chaos, and hopelessness. In each case, Weinstock examines the negative “roots” of the pattern and the more positive “fruits” that can turn the pattern into something beautiful and nourishing. So, for example, the root of victimhood is a feeling of helplessness, which can, in the right environments, turn into empowerment and strength. The root of virtual reality is the desire to escape the confines of our bodies, which can, in the right environments, turn into a feeling of being at home in our bodies and in nature.

Weinstock explains that the problematic roots of each pattern always connect to an unloved, uncared-for part of each of us. As he says in the conclusion of How the World Is Making Our Children Mad, “The world is making our children mad because it is short-circuiting our capacity for love. And so the way to help our children is by reclaiming love.”

Here is a short excerpt from my chat with Louis, which has been lightly edited. I asked a few questions inspired by topics that come up often in connection with alternative education models.


Q: Can you tell me a little about your perspective on the movement to encourage “resilience” or “grit” in kids as part of school curricula? In your book you seem to question the value of those approaches.

A: I started questioning the ideas of resilience and grit because I saw the kids who weren’t adapting easily to the dominant systems of education were the ones deemed “unresilient.” These children were being sent to me as a therapist or came to me when I was teaching mindfulness. Essentially, it seemed that the goal of making the kids more resilient was to allow them to keep going through the system . . . and to make sure the schools were doing well in the league tables [evaluations]. 

I think the concepts of resilience and grit are problematic because they just look at the individual child but completely ignore what’s going on in the environment around the child. I’m not throwing out the idea that we need to help our children be “tough” and expose them to some reasonable risks so they can grow and develop. But from my perspective,  if a child is not adapting to a mainstream school, maybe their behaviors and symptoms are actually showing us adults something important that we need to listen to. Rather than trying to put them back in a box they’re uncomfortable in, we need to try to listen to those symptoms and see the intelligence in them. Maybe the children are showing us that something isn’t working in their environment, not that something isn’t working within them.

Q: You talk a lot about making sure children are sensing what’s happening in their bodies when they feel anxious, afraid, depressed. And I know that you believe that putting our bodies back in connection with nature is one key to feeling better and learning better. Tell me a little more about that.

A: Forest schools are quite popular in the UK, just as they are in the United States and Europe, but they are still alternative options, not mainstream. What is surprising to me is how much people still underestimate the impact nature has on our kids’ mental health. I ask parents how often their kids go out into nature, and often they say they do not go outside at all. So, I frequently make that part of a care plan. Research is showing that even 20 minutes a day is all that’s needed to make that connection, and it can be in a city park—there’s no need to seek out a wild forest. Often, time in nature is more effective than ADHD medication.

I think the reason time spent in nature is so good for us is simply because we are part of nature, and a lot of our modern way of living cuts us off from that part of ourselves. I used to have a practice on a houseboat in London and there was nature all around and I could use that during my meetings with clients. Since COVID, I see clients online, but I often give kids and parents a “prescription” to get out in nature and connect.

Q: Is there any particular change you see happening in schools today that you find especially good for kids’ emotional and psychological health and happiness?

I was just thinking and writing about this recently and considering how much things have changed since I was a child. When I was at school, if you were emotionally dysregulated you were sent to the naughty corner or given the slipper. The shoe of one of my classmates was used to smack people right at the front of the classroom. It could not have been more about shaming children, and it was the norm.

But now, my young daughter is learning about “zones of regulation,” a concept that is now a model used in schools around the world. The model uses colors to help children understand and describe the emotional state they are in. For example, yellow means they are feeling silly and funny. Green means they are feeling good and ready to learn. Red, of course, means they are angry, and blue means they are sad. This is such a non-shaming way of talking about feelings, and I think it’s quite positive.


I’d like to thank Louis for the conversation. You can order his book from any bookstore and read his blog here. He is currently working on a new charitable project called Apart of Me, that uses a mobile app and games to help children learn to deal with grief and loss. The most recent addition to that project is an app called Nadiya, specifically for Ukrainian children who have faced the trauma of war.


“At Apart of Me, we use technology only to enhance real-world connection and relationships,” said Louis. “We don’t want the future of kids’ mental health to be them looking at a screen alone in a dark room.”


Shelley Sperry | Sperry Editorial

A chat about AI and the new learning landscape

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You’ve probably seen funny, intriguing, or scary news items popping up over the past few weeks about Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the form of ChatGPT, Claude, LLaMA, and other interfaces. You might have heard podcasters explaining or bemoaning the revolutionary new world that’s about to replace our old one. At this point, for me, it’s all still pretty confusing in terms of how it will affect my day-to-day life, but I’m curious and very cautiously optimistic.

One thing that’s pretty certain: Our kids’ lives will be dramatically shaped by AI—and in ways we can’t possibly predict.

In education, two big names—Khan Academy and Duolingo—announced last week that they are on board the ChatGPT train, having been granted early access to develop and test ideas. We’ve already seen both learning platforms suggest some of the benefits they anticipate for learners and educators, but let me preface this short summary by saying I have no idea what the real-world educational outcomes will be because we are so early in the exploration stage. Having said that, here’s a rundown of what’s happening at Khan Academy and Duolingo, along with some links that will take you on a deeper dive, if you’re interested. 

ChatGPT-4, which stands for Generative Pre-trained Transformer 4, is a sophisticated AI model that can understand the context of questions and create written responses that are much more “human-like” than past versions. Khan Academy, a nonprofit dedicated to free, high-quality education for all, has been around since 2008 and is well known in the alt ed community for its library of outstanding YouTube video lessons on math and a vast array of other subjects. Duolingo is a for-profit language learning company that has been on the scene for 12 years. Duolingo teaches more than 100 languages to people all over the world in gamefied lessons, primarily through phone apps. 

There is a free version of Duolingo, but the new AI-assisted features will be offered only within a $30-per-month paid premium version. These features will offer learners more detailed explanations of how a language works in a feature called Explain My Answer. But most fascinating and useful will be the option for learners to role-play and interact with the AI tool like a personal tutor. After a conversation, users will get specific feedback they can use to improve their responses in their next Duolingo conversation or in real life.

Even more powerful possibilities seem to lie in the approach Khan Academy is taking to this new AI tech. Khan is calling its AI-powered platform Khanmigo. It is still in the development stage and open primarily to educators and school districts that are already working with Khan Academy on other projects, but it’s likely that more and more features will be rolled out to ordinary users in the near future.

Because each learner is different, the value of Khanmigo is that it will immediately adapt its tutoring in any subject to meet the individual’s needs, just like a one-on-one tutoring session with a human teacher. So, if a student is struggling with a particular type of math operation, Khanmigo will ask questions that direct the student toward a deeper understanding, rather than providing quick answers. And if a student needs to understand a controversial current news story, the Khanmigo tutor could gather information in order to debate multiple sides of the issue with the student in real time.

Khan Academy also wants its AI tool to become a valuable assistant for educators as well as students, removing some of the time-consuming work of lesson planning and grading so that educators can spend more time engaging with each student.

Sensibly, the folks at Khan are carefully communicating with users and adapting their projects to make sure they are safe and that kids are truly getting an enhanced learning experience rather than simply getting all the answers to their questions from Khanmigo. The short demonstration founder Sal Khan did on YouTube reminded me of a Socratic back-and-forth between students and teachers.

Next week, I’ll take a look at the world that’s opening up for students with disabilities as a result of AI learning tools. If you have hopes, fears, or experiences to share regarding AI and learning, please comment!

Here are a few links to learn more:


Shelley Sperry | Sperry Editorial

Media Monday: Empowering kids to become master storytellers

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On Wednesday, March 8, at the Austin Convention Center during SXSW EDU 2023, anyone without an official ticket to the conference can explore events in the Expo area—at no charge. If you decide to go, we recommend checking out some amazing Austin student journalists featured in a presentation about PBS’s StoryMaker platform. Leah Clapman of PBS NewsHour’s Student Reporting Labs will be hosting the event in Hall 4, and the young storytellers will talk about their experiences in local and national media.

The StoryMaker platform can be used by kids—with support from educators and parents—who want to learn the ropes of traditional and especially digital media so they can investigate any topic under the sun, share ideas with their peers, and advocate for causes they care about.

For kids, the site offers a huge array of tools, explainers, and other resources that can assist them in their storytelling. For example, they can learn the vocabulary of video and audio technology, take online lessons to polish their skills as interviewers and researchers, practice editing a visual or written piece, learn to fact-check like a pro, and discover how to avoid spreading misinformation in social media. For kids who are interested in communicating their passions—whether they’re traditionally schooled, alt schooled, homeschooled, or unschooled—there’s plenty to spark experimentation and connection.

And for educators, there are additional sets of resources, including project prompts and lesson plans. All the tools are designed to help students find their voices, express themselves in new ways, and reach new audiences.

You can check out more of PBS’s student reporters’ stories here. And the best place to begin with the StoryMaker platform is—logically—on their Getting Started page.


Shelley Sperry | Sperry Editorial

Why I instruct my students in the art of lock picking

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Guest contributor Ken Hawthorn is the founder of Austin School for the Driven. Students at Driven smash educational silos and question the premise of the question in their learning journey. Hawthorn is the author of Super Arduino. Outside of Driven, he consults with both Austin Community College and the University of Texas at Austin on makerspace education and design.


The Real Deal

Over the last eight years, I have offered my students instruction in lock picking. I am not talking about just sticking a paperclip in a hallway doorknob, but how to systematically pick the same locks you find on 80 percent of residential and business front doors. I offer this instruction starting in 5th grade. For students to get consistent at this skill, they need quite a few hours of practice. Why would I take class time to do this?

A Physical Analogy for Life

The person who does not know how to pick locks lives in a world where every locked door is a hard no. There is no choice to open that door. Having taught perhaps 400+ people to pick locks over the years, I have never had one student, child or adult, report back to me that they changed their behavior in any way after learning to do it. So why am I teaching this skill?

The answer is that there is a huge mental shift in someone who has learned to pick most of the locked doors that surround them every day. It’s a shift from “every locked door is a hard no” to “every locked door is a polite request to please keep out”—the choice is now up to the individual. This is really significant in the context of personal agency—the level of internal belief that you can change the world around you. When my students have learned lock picking and then have an idea in high school or college and someone says, “That’s a stupid idea,” they are more likely to reply with a “Thank you for your perspective; I will make my own judgment.”

We don’t normally raise our children with a lock on the cookie jar through age 18. Pretty early on, students need to know that they can open the cookie jar at any time and must use their executive function skills to do so when given permission and not count on a physical lock to deter them. 

I have found that around 5th grade is the right time to give students this lens through which they can see that the world is theirs to navigate and that they should have the knowledge and tools to go where they want—all the time doing so in the context of social rules and contracts that they choose to follow. From cars to kitchen knives, students going into high school will need to wield tools that require this commitment to using them correctly and within the social context they are navigating.

The Lock as a System

What is the nature of a lock? A lock is a system. Our goal is to turn the keyway in a lock. This requires that the internal pins of a lock line up in just such a way where each pin is held not too low or too high. For most front door locks, this means about 31,000+ possible key patterns to lift each pin into exactly the right position. Without a key, we need to use micro-tactile feedback with the pick and a turning tool to set each pin correctly and keep each pin in position as we are working on the next pin. This is difficult and takes concentration, but with practice, locks go from a black box to a well-understood system that can be opened with the application of skills and the right tools.

How to Learn More

Now that you know why I teach my students how to pick locks, let me leave you with the resources to learn this on your own.

Image Credit: Deviant Ollam / deviating.net

Deviant Ollam has a great set of open-source materials to learn lock picking. This link is a rabbit hole of knowledge. He came out and led a great workshop for students at the Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired.

In Austin you have a couple of free hands-on resources to learn lock picking:

My hope is that groups of students and adults learning to pick locks will start to be described as engaged in locksport vs. lock picking. Whatever you want to call it, I will continue to teach these skills because I have seen the benefits for my students.


Ken Hawthorn | Austin School for the Driven

Small Schools of South Austin Tour 2022

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Marie Catrett, a frequent contributor to this blog and an extraordinary early childhood educator, is back with a brief update on Tigerlily Preschool and an invitation to an exciting new event for anyone interested in exploring South Austin preschools.


Hello, this is Marie Catrett, writing to you from deep in the adventure of launching a new program. After years of running separate, in-home childcare programs, Lulu Bautista (formerly of Corazón Neighborhood Preschool) and I (formerly of Tigerlily Preschool, out-of-my-home edition) began meeting and dreaming about what a combined program, out in the world, could look like. In this quest we have found a beautiful new home, met city code regulations, obtained our commercial child care license, filled our new space with joy, and jumped into the process of merging our methods into a cohesive, vibrant, ready-for-the-children new program. We proudly present to you our Tigerlily Preschool.

But wait! The only thing we’re missing is … getting the word out to our expanded community!

On November 5th, a collection of schools for young learners in south Austin are holding an event we’re calling the Small Schools of South Austin Tour. Thirteen schools are on the list and all of us will welcome visitors to come see our programs in a casual, drop-in format on that day. For over 20 years I’ve been telling prospective families to go see programs that interest them, as we truly have such a variety of programs here in Austin. Discover the place that feels right to your family for your child.

Help spread the word and RSVP here.


Marie Catrett | Tigerlily Preschool | Small Schools of South Austin Tour

“They’ll have to stop sometime”: Notes on taking turns at Tigerlily Preschool

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Longtime readers of this blog will recognize the name and voice of Marie Catrett, founder and teacher at Tigerlily Preschool. Joining Marie in the dialogue below, adapted from the school’s blog, is her co-teacher, Lulu Bautista, who shares some scenes from a recent day on the playground. It’s a fascinating conversation that gives us a small taste of the kinds of careful observation, detailed documentation, and deep discussion these Reggio Emilia–inspired educators engage in daily with each other, parents, and the young humans in their care.


4/7/2022

Lulu writes:

Emme and Aran have the idea to sweep off some dirt-covered stones around the pyramid structure and chairs in our play yard. I’m sitting nearby, still pondering Emme’s description of the cloudless “bluebird sky” that we’d been discussing only moments ago. . . .

Aran: (frustrated) Unhhh, but you’ve already had a tooooo long turn!

He’s talking about the sweeping brush.

Emme: But I actually just got my turn and I’m not finished sweeping this stone yet.

Lulu: Yes. Sometimes when we’re waiting it can feel like So Long to Wait. (Pausing to think.) You know, part of our agreements at Tigerlily are that we can’t make a person give us a turn right exactly when we ask for it, even though we’re very ready for a turn. Sometimes it just happens to work out that way and the person is finished quickly . . . but sometimes we have to let them be done, which can be so hard!

Emme decides she is done, and hands the brush to Aran: There! It’s all clean. But there’s this brick over here that is covered up with dirt.

Aran, brushing away, and still thinking a little longer: But what if it takes all day? And they use it for the whole day?

Lulu: That is a very understandable worry that some kids might have. But it would be very rare for that to happen. Usually the person using the thing will eventually have enough and be ready to try something else.

Emme: Yeah, they’ll have to stop sometime! Like to go potty. Or play with someone or something.

Lulu: So, yes, after we say “me next,” and the person reassures you that they’ve heard you want a turn (“Okay, you can have a turn after me”), a helpful tool could be figuring out what to do while we wait. Emme, do you have an idea of what you’ll do while you wait?

Emme: Yeah, I would climb on those stumps, that’s what I’m gonna go do right now.


Not pictured: Aran joins her for some stump climbing, and they spend a little more time passing the brush back and forth for sweeping, before moving on to something else.

I’m thinking about how I generally like to encourage the children to build the skills to be able to navigate these situations with less & less adult intervention, and I often try not to be the decider of “you have two more minutes, then it’s the next person’s turn.” But also–beyond waiting—not getting a turn at all can be very frustrating!!

I really like Marie’s tool of having a promise board—if we run out of time before someone gets a turn, a promise is written for a turn at the next chance we get.

An additional strategy: If we are getting close to a transition, I might say quietly to the person who’s having the turn, “you know, we only have about 10 minutes left before it’s time for snack, and I notice that Aran’s been waiting for a turn for a long time. Do you have some ideas of how he might get a turn?”

I like empowering the children to think about what feels right and fair. Usually I’ll get some version of “Maybe we can do it together!” or “Maybe we can find another one just like it, if someone else is done” or “Actually, I’m done. Here you go Aran!” and it’s true—very rarely, almost never, does it happen that the waiting goes on forever.


Further teacher dialogue:

Marie: In this situation I see two children, who know and care about each other, experiencing some workable frustration around waiting. Emme’s got some smart ideas to help manage her time. Here are some more generalized thoughts from me on waiting and turns. “Can you think of a way” is helpful for children who have a lot of language and skill. I also think sometimes children need the support/reassurance of a structured here’s-how-to-get-a-turn.

Lulu: Yes! I could see adjusting this language in the moment to something more structured, like "To make sure Aran gets a turn, some kids might try using the brush together.” (See if that works.) “Another idea is finding something just like that thing you're using.” (See if that works.) . . . “Maybe, another idea is counting to 10 while you finish using it" and see what kind of ideas generate from there. Ultimately, if nothing sticks, "I'm hearing that you're just not ready to be done right now. Can you please come find Aran and let him know when it's his turn? To Aran: “Let's see what interesting things we can find to do while you wait."

Marie: I like the notion that we will always help you get a turn, and help the waiting part be not so hard. I try to help so that the ones least able to wait get through the quickest. Thinking again about manageable frustration.

Lulu: I'm trying to envision how this works. Like if someone is having a hard time waiting, they'd get to jump the waiting line to get their turn quicker? I'd like to know more about this! I can definitely see how we all have different capacities for how much frustration we can hold, until we spill over, and how it can fluctuate depending on the day.

Marie: So, let’s say we’re introducing a new material and it’s two people at a time, and I know one of the people wanting a turn badly has a very hard time waiting. I’d be putting them in the first group if that were possible. Maybe not always. But I’m probably putting some thought into the order.

Lulu: Ah okay! Yes, I see how in a situation like that, where it's more of a structured offering, we'd be thinking about how to plan an order.

Marie: For kids who are working on using their words—Z grabbing stuff, for example. Or how Charlie can be quieter about a need—if he’s asking for a turn-—I’m going to do my best to check in with him—you might want to try the such and such too… Kid (who hasn’t expressed that want yet but when asked realizes, yes!): Yeah! Me: Okay, let them know you’d like a turn next please.

I’d help that kid get the payoff of getting that turn they are asking for/being helped with language to ask. Sometimes getting a turn feels crucial to build trust between me and a new child. That this is a place where you’ll get to do the things you’re interested in, and here’s how to get your name on the list / say you would like to be next / let another child know you’re still using the shovel. Sometimes that’s me, in the moment, making teacher decisions that should probably be followed up with discussions about fairness and how we make sure this is a good-feeling place for everyone.

Lulu: Yes, I can see how we'd want someone who is practicing at something (using words to ask) to feel successful. And how so much context of a situation can influence our decision making, in the moment.

Marie: Yes! In Reggio they’re very fond of saying “it depends.” Can you say more about what “Tigerlily agreements” are?

Lulu: I think in the specific agreement of Sharing, if someone is using something, we want to honor their agency to decide when they've used it and feel they've had a complete turn to explore to their satisfaction (and as a teacher goal, that the children would be able to build executive function skills and eventually self-regulate in recognizing that someone needs a turn and how to respect that, or how to manage their waiting). I could see inviting the children to help build an agreement around sharing, and teachers having a bigger discussion before deciding something as a School Culture Agreement. Maybe a better phrase would be that those are my personal goals as a teacher.

Marie: Sure, a simple guideline for that falls under the idea about not taking things from someone, but if you’ve put it down / left the item without making a plan, it’s considered available.

Lulu: Yes, just a general guideline to fall back on. And that's a good reminder about "walking away being a signal to others that you're all done"! Kind of opposite, but I'm reminded of a situation today where Zia was swinging, but hopped off real quick to look at something interesting the group was ooohing and ahhhhing over nearby (a natural impulse), and Emme was waiting and watching for a turn, so she jumped to the swing as soon as Zia hopped out . . . but when Zia turned around just a moment later after satisfactorily checking out the Interesting Thing, he was visibly stunned for a moment to see the swing had been taken. The great thing here was Emme reading the situation before Zia even had a chance to say anything, and stepping back off the swing so that Zia could finish his turn, and I made a point to notice aloud that it was thoughtful of her to recognize that he actually wasn't done with his turn, even though he looked like he was for a moment. So, I guess, I’m pausing here to think about how context can factor heavily into how we utilize our rules of thumb.

Marie: Right now, I’m watching the swings to see how the children are self-managing turns. There’s some turn taking with an agenda happening—Z and one of the olders swinging, another older also wanting a turn. It was sort of assumed that obviously Z should be the one to get off. Which isn’t a bad strategy exactly; he probably will be the first one to get off! But that will feel unfair at some point, and perhaps rightly so. 

Lulu: Yeah! Absolutely. No one but Zia should get to decide when Zia's turn is finished. I'd like to pay close attention to the swinging too, and if anyone is being pressured to end a turn, then support that with a boundary: you can let the swinging people know you'd like a turn, and they can reassure you that someone will come tell you when it's your turn. Let's think of a plan for what can happen while you wait, and if someone is feeling pressured to be done, let's give them a little space to have their turn.

Marie: If Zia had been there a long time, the waiting kid had indicated they needed a turn, and was still waiting and waiting, I would probably teacher-decide Zia’s turn was ending soon. Maybe just notice out loud first. I would then probably say let’s count to X and then give Aran his turn, it’s been a long wait and I’d like him to have a turn before we have to go inside.

Lulu: I hear that and respect it as an option you might choose. For me (and possibly you too? if it felt right for you, but you get to say, of course), I don’t think I’d leave the child to be waiting and waiting, unless that was the choice they made. I’d see it as an opportunity to help with some skill building around what we can do while we wait, adaptive thinking in “how I can manage the waiting,” communication acquiring in saying, “I’m ready for a turn, don’t forget about me,” emotional recognition (it’s feeling hard for me to wait), etc.

Marie: I would support making a “how you get a turn” system to manage the waiting when needed; in the past it’s been something like counting to 30 and then the next kid gets a turn. A list to put your name down to sign up, so you can go do your thing and get called over when it opens up. Like Emme and your good question about how to help the waiting.

Lulu: I think a list could be helpful! But I'd want to see the children using that system mostly on their own, so I'm not managing the list, but supporting them if confusion arises. For my own personal strategies, I'd use counting down as a last resort, as it can be arbitrary and feel like a forced turn-ending, which I'd like to avoid. But I could see inviting the "child having the turn" to count down for themselves, if it felt like an idea that worked for them.

Marie: Why avoid ensuring turns happen, as teacher?

Lulu: Not avoiding ensuring turns happen, but being okay and supportive if having a turn doesn't happen exactly as the child expects it to (so, supporting with a promise on the board, a talk about how it was disappointing to not have a turn, a plan for more materials when possible, a plan for next time). I'm especially thinking of moments where organically someone wants a turn with something being used, the clock runs out, it's time to transition, the turn didn't happen. Theoretically, having a group of 10, but only 2 swings, or something like that. At the Corazón park, there was only one swing. Sometimes there'd be a line of 4 kids, but it was time for us to go.

Marie: I like kids to not spend their time waiting and waiting- so brainstorming ideas like “Do we need more of the in-demand tool? What feels fair?” It would be a great next-day meeting topic: “It was hard yesterday with the _____. Let’s make a plan so everyone who wants to use the _____ gets a turn to do so today.”

Lulu: Yes, I love this! Group idea generating usually turns out some great solutions and is so empowering for the kids! At the end of the day, it can be really hard to see the waiting child end the play period without getting their turn in the moment but can be a real opportunity for executive function practice. I'm so happy about our toolbox of support ideas. I think, from my experience, more often than not, the person next in line usually gets a turn after a few minutes, and the waiting practice can be as valuable (or more?) than the Getting a Turn Very Soon. I'd love to use this as a focus of my documentation, just to help myself understand if my perception matches up to reality. Also, I'm envisioning the Outlast Wheelbarrow (one of the new materials waiting for us at Tigerlily proper) being a thing we might get lots of practice with on this! :)

Marie: Say more about how not getting to have a turn benefits the child.

Lulu: Some nuance here: Not saying that not getting to have a turn benefits the child. That would be hurtful, I think. But Yes saying that the Practice of Waiting (or Practice of Managing Disappointment when your turn doesn't happen as soon as expected) benefits the child, I think, specifically in the areas of Executive Function skill building (adaptable thinking, planning, self-monitoring, self-control / impulse control, working memory, time management, and organization). For me, my goal would be that the waiting child, in time, gets a turn, utilizing all the tools we have in place—but not at the expense of forcing an ending of a turn for someone else before they are ready. I can see trust building by ensuring that someone gets to have a turn, but I can also see trust building by ensuring autonomy and agency for a child to decide when they're done (if they are enjoying a material safely). My plan is to pay attention to how Turn Taking plays out in the coming weeks, and report back!

Marie: Yes, I think the wheelbarrow will teach us lots! :)

 
Lulu Bautista and Marie Catrett  |  Tigerlily Preschool