Sia School

04/16/2025

If there were only one message that you could take from Visible Child, one graphic to print out and put on your mirror or your refrigerator, this is it.

Children learn to be kind by experiencing kindness, not by being told to be kind.

For what it's worth, the same thing goes for empathy. Children learn to be empathic by experiencing and receiving empathy, not by being coached to be empathic.

01/04/2025

The opposite of permissive parenting is not limits and boundaries.
The opposite of permissive parenting is collaboration.

For true collaboration to exist, honouring consent and autonomy are essential ingredients.

We have to learn a whole new way of relating to kids, and each other, when we take coercion off the table. That means if our kids are crying because they have to go, we don't force them. We prioritize finding a solution that feels good to everyone. This is not easy! It's a lot of work. That is what differentiates it from permissive.

It's a little different than the mainstream gentle parenting message. I acknowledge that. It's a deeper commitment to Non-Coercion. It's a serious challenge to live this way. It is NOT convenient.

That's why I call my parenting philosophy, Non-Coercive, Collaborative Parenting.

It's not a flashy name, but it's very descriptive. It describes the values at its foundation.

Vivek Patel

05/03/2024

04/20/2024

Let's drop this whole counting business.✨

✨Parent coaching - sign up now for our upcoming groups that begin soon! Space is limited. https://dandelion-seeds.com/positive-parenting/parent-coaching/

04/06/2024

I was just telling my 25 yr old kid that I'm working on a video about responding to children who hit with kindness instead of wrongness.

They responded saying

"When we fight fire with fire, it usually ends up making a bigger fire."

Please sign up for my FREE COURSE "Guiding Without Controlling".

Registration Link
https://meaningfulideas.com/fp/guiding-without-controlling-free-course

02/28/2024

It was a pleasant day so we had our doors open. When whether permits, we like to connect our indoors with the outdoors. The ...

10/13/2023

F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote, "(A)action is character." As has often been the case, this artists was just asserting something ...

10/01/2023

Do not skip either of the first two steps. Calm the child down, help them regulate breathing and have a clear head so they can hear you. Relate to them, “that was hard for you, I saw what happened there that was scary/sad/frustrating” (name feelings to extend feeling vocabulary) then and only then reason with them, ‘instead of doing X why not try Y’ etc “let me tie your shoe laces and keep you safe” etc. Regulate-Relate-Reason.