When we constantly tell children what they should or shouldn’t do, they have no room to think for themselves and are forced to choose between resentful obedience or defiant rebellion. Playfulness helps them think for themselves, even about serious topics.

including Free to Learn. Gray’s research points to the decline of play in our younger people, how over the past sixty years we’re playing less and spending more and more time in “training” — in highly structured environments of expectations and control. As we’ve gotten more and more serious about getting into good schools and getting good jobs and

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“A recipe for happiness is to help our child over and over again choose to give up what they want, at that moment, for something they actually want more.” An example – Perhaps they don’t want to help clean up the dishes, but still desire a way to feel like a person who contributes to the family. Help them realize the trade-off – “Doing so, helps th... See more

If fully met in childhood, the self-importance typical of this phase of development will evolve into healthy self-assertion along with a recognition of boundaries. By the proper setting of realistic limits by the parents, the child learns that the universe does not exist just to cater to her every fleeting desire. It is precisely in experiencing th

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