Janine Halloran

Sensory Based Strategies for Kids: An Interview with Claire Heffron from The Inspired Treehouse

Sensory Based Strategies for Kids: An Interview with Claire Heffron from The Inspired Treehouse

Does your child like to move and fidget a lot? Maybe lay upside down or spin around in circles? This isn’t just a random act of silliness or hyperactivity, they are likely gaining sensory input! In this episode, my guest Claire and I discuss proprioception, which is your body's ability to sense movement, action, and location. It's present in every muscle movement you have. Without proprioception, you wouldn't be able to move without thinking about your next step. We also discuss the vestibular system which functions to detect the position and movement of our head in space. This allows for the coordination of eye movements, posture, and equilibrium.

The topics we cover in this episode are:

Introduction to Zentangles: An Interview with Andrea Santogrosso

Introduction to Zentangles: An Interview with Andrea Santogrosso

When you are stressed, anxious or perhaps angry and need to calm down, what techniques do you use? There are so many out there, from yoga, meditation, exercise and mindfulness but today I will be speaking to my guest Andrea about one which you’ll love if you sit on the creative side of life. It’s a mix of art and mindfulness and it’s called ‘Zentangle’. 

The topics we cover in this episode are:

Summer Book Series #3: The Highly Sensitive Child

Summer Book Series #3: The Highly Sensitive Child

Today’s installment of my book series covers the book ‘The Highly Sensitive Child’ by Elaine N. Aron, Ph.D. I read this book over COVID and it totally changed the way I look at kids, how to spot what’s going on with them in order to help them. In this episode, I go over the 4 areas in which high sensitivity presents itself so you can better see if your child is highly sensitive. 

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

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:

Five Books about Anger for Kids: Summer Book Series #2

Five Books about Anger for Kids: Summer Book Series #2

This episode is the second installment of my book recommendation series. This week I want to focus on books dealing with anger since I have seen a lot of kids showing up to school with big emotions like anger lately. It is an emotion we have all felt many times, but we’re not all clued up with how to deal with it so perhaps a bit of light reading can help! 

Two Highly Recommended Books: Summer Book Series #1

Two Highly Recommended Books: Summer Book Series #1

I have always been a reader ever since I was a child but sometimes life gets in the way and I have found I don’t make much time for it so I used a recent vacation to spark my love for pleasurable reading again. After posting about this on Instagram, I was really inspired by one of my comments; to make a list of books to read over the summer and start a podcast series about it!

Self-Care in COVID-19

Self-Care in COVID-19

Self-care can feel like just another thing to add to your to-do list. I KNOW life is hard right now. My kids are fully remote, and sometimes it's a struggle to make it through the next class or piece of homework. I have to thank my colleagues because I keep getting emails and seeing posts about self-care. It's a reminder to me to talk about it and do it. I find that I need to take time for myself. Otherwise, I find myself being more crabby or cranky, and it's hard to accomplish anything. And I need to practice what I preach.

© Encourage Play, LLC / Coping Skills for Kids 2021