Janine Halloran, Coping Skills
Janine Halloran
Practicing SEL through Play: An Interview with ...

How do we teach our children social and emotional awareness in a fun and play filled way? Eventually our children will become adults so when they walk out into the world, we want them to step into their lives as aware and in control of their emotions as possible. 

In this episode we discuss:

Coping Skills
Janine Halloran
Ways to Connect with Kids and Teens

Building a strong connection with our children is really important and taking the time to invest in our relationships with them at each stage of childhood and into the teenage years. Today Janine considers the opportunities we create for them to share what they like and what you enjoy also in day to day life. How can we connect with our kids well so that when they face challenges or difficulties they feel like they can come speak with you, the parent? 

In this episode we discuss strategies for connecting well, including:

Janine Halloran, Coping Skills
Janine Halloran
Helping Kids with Social Skills and ...

Have you noticed social skills missing in your kids? Caroline Maguire joins me to discuss how to support your child and build them up through play. 

Here’s some of the areas we cover:

Coping Skills
Janine Halloran
Coping Skills for Teens Who Are Angry

Has your child hit their teenage years and puberty has started? Have you noticed their emotions are changing? What about their most extreme emotions? Do you find that your teenager can feel really angry at times?

In today’s episode, Janine unpacks some strategies to help you as parents support your teenager and how to develop that connection between yourself as the parent and them. 

Here’s what Janine discusses in today’s episode:

Janine Halloran, Coping Skills
Janine Halloran
Books to Help Kids with OCD: An Interview with ...

OCD can manifest itself in different ways with different obsessions and focus that are going on in your life. Children’s author, Marin Canaday describes OCD feeling like a monster devouring your emotions and feelings, where you could get to the point where you feel out of control and you begin to believe the lies the OCD obsessions tell you about yourself. 

Marin joins me today in this episode and we discuss some of the following areas: 

Encourage Play

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Introduction to Montessori Philosophy: An Interview with Jeanne-Marie Paynel, M.Ed.

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Introduction to Montessori Philosophy: An Interview with Jeanne-Marie Paynel, M.Ed.

Have you ever considered a different educational style for your children besides the conventional method? If so, perhaps you have heard of the Montessori method. It is based on self-directed activity, hands-on learning and collaborative play. In Montessori classrooms children make creative choices in their learning, while the classroom and the highly trained teacher offer age-appropriate activities to guide the process. In this episode, I spoke to Montessori Home Consultant, Jeanne-Marie Paynel about the benefits of this education style. 

The topics we cover in this episode are:

Building Connections with Kids Through Play: An Interview with Kim Feeney

Building Connections with Kids Through Play: An Interview with Kim Feeney

When was the last time you had a dedicated playtime with your child? Life gets so busy so we can’t blame parents for not being able to squeeze this in-between school, dinnertime, sports or dance at the weekend but it is vital to a child’s development. Kim Feeney is the guest on this episode, she is a licensed independent social worker and a registered play therapist supervisor. I wanted to discuss playtime with her and how to build a connection with your child. 

The topics we cover in this episode are:

Two Hands-on Activities to Help Kids Practice Solving Problems

Two Hands-on Activities to Help Kids Practice Solving Problems

Throughout your life growing up, have you ever come up against a problem you just couldn’t solve? We learn very valuable skills at school but we don’t learn every single skill needed for everyday life so in this episode, I teach you some hands-on ways to practice problem solving with your child. I tackle problem solving in 5 steps:

Raising Happy Kids - An interview with Maureen Healy, Author of The Happiness Workbook for Kids

Raising Happy Kids - An interview with Maureen Healy, Author of The Happiness Workbook for Kids

Award-winning author Maureen Healy is my guest on this week’s episode to talk all about emotions. When you think that our brains aren’t fully developed until our mid-twenties, it puts into perspective how difficult it is to deal with ever-changing emotions at the age of, say, 8 years old. My guest, Maureen, talks about her book ‘The Happiness Workbook for Kids’, and how it can help you as a parent or teacher to teach kids how to deal with emotions in a healthy way….

Communication and Social Skills - An interview with Heidi Miller, Speech Language Pathologist

Communication and Social Skills - An interview with Heidi Miller, Speech Language Pathologist

On today’s show I speak to Speech Language Pathologist Heidi Miller about all things speech related. SLP’s help children with speech i.e. the way they articulate sounds, they help with language, so the way they put words together which also encompasses social skills so what a person says, how they say it, when they say it and picking up on others peoples cue’s which for some children can be a real challenge. It’s a big subject so we start by talking about how children’s social skills have changed since the pandemic…

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The Power of Recess and Movement

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The Power of Recess and Movement

This week’s episode is all about recess and movement. I want to discuss the helpful strategies you can use when your child is feeling big emotions and they have lots of energy in their bodies. We don’t value the power of movement enough in my opinion, it’s so vital to improving focus, social skills and cognition. Today I talk about two pieces of research:

Supporting Kids Around Friendships - An interview with JoAnn Crohn, Author of Me and My Friendships

Supporting Kids Around Friendships - An interview with JoAnn Crohn, Author of Me and My Friendships

In this episode I talk to JoAnn Crohn, former elementary school teacher and podcast host of No Guilt Mom. She is the author of Me and My Friendships, to help kids learn more about themselves and build friendships with other kids. We cover a lot of topics in the episode, including:

Five More Amazing Open-Ended Toys

Five More Amazing Open-Ended Toys

Does your child gravitate towards open-ended toys? These are toys which can be used in multiple ways dependent on your child’s imagination - like LEGO® bricks for example. This nurtures their creativity and developing skills. Today I will share five amazing open ended toys. I did cover this subject last year on my podcast but since it’s holiday time, I wanted to share a few more with you.

Using a Question Box to Encourage Conversations

Using a Question Box to Encourage Conversations

When I think back to my time as a school counselor, my best memories are laughter and connection during lunch groups. Lunch groups are a great way to get to know a lot of students throughout the year. It’s also an excellent way for children to meet new peers and potentially make new friends. What I thought was the best part was the natural opportunity to practice conversations. The way I would encourage conversations is by using a question box.

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