Ep. 33: How does Montessori differ from modern-traditional education?

07/22/21 • 73 min

When we think about education, most of us think about our experience with what we might call modern-traditional schooling: classes by grade, a teacher at the front, testing, memorization, getting to know a new teacher each year, and maybe some more good like good friendships or more bad, like bullying. But what if school doesn't have to look like this? What alternative paradigms are out there? This week I'm joined by former Montessori Principal and advocate for public Montessori at a national level John Freeman to discuss what the different features of Montessori are and how they can help children thrive. My hope is that after listening to our conversation, families who feel that education could be better for their kids have one more option that they might feel comfortable exploring. The National Center for Montessori in the Public Sector: https://www.public-montessori.org/about-us/ Elm City Montessori School: https://elmcitymontessori.org/about-us/ Hartford Courant article: https://www.courant.com/news/connecticut/hc-xpm-2008-12-29-school1229-story.html

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Ep. 32: What is the Evolved Nest and how can it help us thrive?

"It's just the way it is!" "Progress is always good" These are the sentiments that many people feel about the way our society and culture is structured. Because it's how we've grown up and what we've experienced, we believe this is the way it is. We view change as progress and think that anything different must be less than. But what if this isn't the type of society or life that enabled us humans to thrive? We evolved to this point, but is this really the best we can hope for? Welcome to the concept of the Evolved Nest - the concept that how we lived for the majority of human history has been what enabled our success and moving back to the key features of that history can help us thrive once again. This week I had the pleasure of talking with Dr. Darcia Narveaz, the creator of this concept and the associated nonprofit organization to discuss what this involves and how we can all thrive. Isn't it time we get to the stage where we all feel whole again? Dr. Darcia Narvaez: https://psychology.nd.edu/faculty/darcia-narvaez/ The Evolved Nest: https://evolvednest.org/ Books on the Evolved Nest* Contexts for Young Child Flourishing: https://amzn.to/3AYbD1j Neurobiology and the Development of Human Morality: https://amzn.to/36EoOq9 Restoring the Kinship Worldview: https://amzn.to/36AbbZ1 Scientific Articles on the Evolved Nest https://pubs.lib.umn.edu/index.php/ijps/article/view/2244 https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/abs/10.1089/eco.2020.0067?journalCode=eco https://internationaljournalofwellbeing.org/index.php/ijow/article/view/987/775

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Ep. 34: How can we balance our infant's biological sleep with a parent's need for sleep?

If you've listened here before you will know that the research doesn't support the idea that extinction sleep training methods, like crying it out or controlled crying, actually improve our infant's sleep (or children's for that matter). Despite parents reporting improvements, when we look at objective measures of sleep, the sleep of children pre- and post-sleep training is actually no different. Many of us see this as a bit damning for sleep training, but what cannot be denied is that sleep training may improve parent sleep and in cultures where sleep is hard to come by and expectations for parents are through the roof, this is not something to be overlooked. This week, I was able to chat with Dr. Levita D'Souza about this very tension - how do we balance our infant's needs for proximity and support as well as their biologically normal sleep rhythms with a parent's need for more sleep in an unsupportive culture. We both know that only if we can start to address this issue will we be able to move away from our sleep training culture. I hope our conversation can help move this issue forward. Dr. Levita D'Souza: www.centreforperinatalpsychology.com.au/psych...ouza/ For those who are interested in an in-depth look at the science on sleep training, you can check out this eLearning Module (available worldwide, continuing education credits for IBCLCs and Australian midwives): https://www.breastfeedingconferences.com.au/conference_details.php?conferenceId=110