Who’s started reading Brain Body Parenting? I began reading this week and I am already so excited about what I have read. It makes me think of the children and families at Park West and how what we learn from this book will benefit us as a community.
When you see the word “regulation” in this book, and generally in the world of early childhood education, here’s what it means… Regulation is simply a state of emotional and physical calm. You will come to learn that regulation is the basis for all learning and development and a key component of regulation is, you guessed it: loving, attuned relationships with caregivers.
Delahooke writes that the book’s core message is “that regulation in a child’s physical body supports healthy relationships and loving interactions, in turn building the infrastructure that eventually enables the child to use reasoning, concepts, and thinking to flexibly manage life’s challenges. With this understanding of the two-way communication between the brain and the body, I shifted my practice from focusing on eliminating children’s disruptive behavior to understanding them as the body’s way of communicating its needs.”
As a long time educator and parent I have sometimes struggled to find the best ways to communicate with parents about the challenges of parenting. Sometimes parents have come to me wanting to know, what is the secret? What should I do? Just tell me what to say, just tell me what the rules should be! I can’t always find the simple answers that they are looking for. This is because no two children and no two families are alike. Rather, families are complex units that are influenced by so many factors: parental upbringing and life experiences, cultural values, the unique neurobiology of each family member, our racial identities and socio-economic factors—all of these influence how we parent and how we operate in the world. This is one thing that I already love about this book. Rather than a list of what parents should do and what they shouldn’t, what they should say and what they shouldn’t, Delahooke is guiding us to individualize our parenting in the way that suits the uniqueness of each parent and child.
“Instead of seeking a psychological diagnosis, we’ll seek to understand the child’s physiology that is contributing to the behaviors. Instead of looking for deficits, we’ll listen to the body’s signals to detect clues. Seeing your child’s behavior, attitudes, and actions through a lens of the child’s nervous system will help you personalize your parenting, giving you a road map for making your important parenting decisions,”
Still need to get your copy of the book? We have them available for purchase in the office. And don’t forget to mark your calendars for our Community Book Club events this year! All Co-op and Tots families are encouraged to attend.
Book Club Dates:
Wednesday, November 30th, 6:30-8:00pm at Park West
Tuesday, February 28th, 6:30-8:00pm at Park West
Wednesday, April 12th, 6:30-8:00pm at Park West