When Educating Rhymes with Fun
To educate is to use our knowledge about our children, especially their shared interest in learning or discovering what’s around us. By enjoying fun moments with our children, we’ll learn much more...
Anger in children
Anger is a legitimate emotion and there’s nothing negative about it. Everyone lives with anger. It is how it’s expressed that can become problematic. Some people are more skilled than others in exp...
A Reward System
Parents are often reluctant to put a reinforcement system in place at home. Some believe you should have to buy or earn reinforcers or the child will become dependent on a reward every time he does...
Bedtime
For many parents, putting their child to bed is a nightmare. It’s a pleasure for the child when he’s succeeded in getting the parent’s attention and postponing bedtime. Here are some strategies tha...
Margo occupational therapist - The Development of Creative Play
Play is a universal phenomenon developing in the first days of a child’s life. However, there are large variations from one child to another, as with general development. The child’s first months a...
Margo special care counsellor - Discipline : Intervention Strategies
Any parent or person working with children is faced with the need to show some "discipline" to them. Children need a structured environment for healthy growth. Rules and other strategies related to...
Margo Occupational Therapist - Difficult Children
A child’s diet can be a source of parental stress. How many parents and therapists hear this every day: “I don’t want to taste it! I’m not hungry! I don’t like this!” Firstly, it is important to ha...
Margo- Special Care Counsellor
Animal-assisted therapy (AAT) is an evolving type of therapy. In my experience, animals arouse great interest and curiosity when used in intervention work, and they are also appealing. Here is some...
Daily behaviour management
Wether we are a parent or a resource person intervening with children, we all experience at one point a situation where we have to deal with a difficult behaviour. In order to change this behaviour...
Pre-reading skills or phonological awareness!
Children learn to juggle word sounds well before they are able to read. They also learn word recognition and decoding skills well prior to being able to read syllables or even say the alphabet. Pho...
Communicating Effectively with Our Children: Not Always Easy, But Oh So Important!
Adele Faber and Elaine Mazlish (www.fabermazlish.com) developed an educational method that has been proven in places all over the world: "Talk and children will listen, listen and children will tal...
How Do We Help Our Children Choose Their Friends?
When I met Jeanne for the first time, I was struck by her personality, her intelligence and sensitivity. Jeanne is a bright young girl and very pleasant to interact with. So I was not surprised to ...
What consequences should I give my child?
It is not always easy for a parent to spontaneously have ideas about what consequences to give a child who disobeys or adopts inappropriate behavior. Often, the first consequences are cutting out v...
MargOT - Cutting
Cutting is an activity that requires multiple skills. It is not uncommon for children to have difficulties in cutting and making crafts, considering the complexity of the task. In fact, the child n...
International Update
Last January, I had the privilege to participate in the 2nd Children’s Physical Activity and Sport Conference (0-12 years) held in Finland. The participants came from 18 countries and I was unfortu...
The rich contribution of men in physical activities
THE UNIQUE ROLE OF MEN IN EARLY CHILDHOOD
Typically, fathers more than mothers foster risk-taking in their children such as climbing unaided on play structures or jumping into the water. In their r...
Quality First Experiences in Physical Activity
The quality of first experiences inevitably develops children’s taste for and pleasure of movement. Whatever the appeal of the activity or sport, one of the key factors influencing the quality of t...
Physical Literacy: An Inspiring Concept!
The purpose of this article is to introduce you to the innovative concept of physical literacy. This global concept inspires more and more stakeholders and organizations to guide their actions on t...
Active outdoor play: "Get out of the way and let them play !"
Very often fall means going back to structured indoor activities and courses. Yet unsupervised outdoor play is essential for a healthy development. There is compelling scientific evidence to that m...
International Update
As I mentioned in my March column, last October I attended the 1st International Congress of physical activity and sport for children (3-9 years) held in Liege, Belgium. Here is a brief overview of...
A New School: Easing the Transition
Moving to a new school is a big event in a young person’s life. Whether it be attending school for the first time or transferring to another school, the transition can cause fear or anxiety for a p...
Margo the Occupational Therapist- My child is being restless. What can I do?
Does your child fail to remain seated or remain attentive during a drawing or do-it-yourself activity? Maintaining the sitting position for a certain period of time is achieved through postural con...
La communication c’est plus que simplement dire des mots
La communication c’est plus que simplement dire des mots. Dès qu’ils sont tout petits, les nouveau-nés communiquent en regardant et en analysant l’expression faciale de la personne devant eux. Comb...
Children with special needs : adaptations in class
The teacher has to deal with children with different types of temperament on a daily basis. In addition more children with special needs require adaptations in class (ex : from children with an att...