Timeless Teaching – Education for each child

Attitude

Questioning the Question Part II:

January 17, 2023 / By: Chanie Monoker

The Questioner Last time I discussed the questions we may ask our child or student. This time I would like to focus on the questions a child or student may ask us. Questioning in Learning Asking questions is the best way for someone to learn. It shows mindfulness and interest in learning. What we would call curiosity. Types of Questions A question can be simple gathering of basic facts and usually will begin with “What”. For example, What was the date of that historic event? What was that mathematical formula? What was the name of…? A question …

Attitude

Questioning the Question Part I: Asking the Right Question

January 2, 2023 / By: Chanie Monoker

There are 2 perspectives regarding questions, the ones students ask and the ones we ask. In this post I am focusing on the questions we ask. Asking the right question is half the answer “Why can you get A’s in math and not in history? It must be because you aren’t trying hard enough.” “Why can you sit for hours reading books you’ve taken out, and yet can’t crack open your science book? It must be because you are irresponsible.” These kinds of questions are judgemental. While it may seem like you have the answer, the opposite is true. By …

Attitude

Please Empathize, It’s a Stormy Life

June 2, 2020 / By: Chanie Monoker

A friend of mine, in discussing the COVID-19 quarantine and its social, emotional, educational and financial impact, expressed it so eloquently. “WE ARE NOT IN THE SAME BOAT … I heard that we are in the same boat. But it’s not like that. We are in the same storm, but not in the same boat.” This is the best I have ever heard it expressed. I may be drowning, surviving or thriving. Afterall, you don’t even know what kind of boat I am on and what condition it is in. And if you don’t know, then you don’t know how …

Knowledge

Inhibition: Proceed With Caution

November 10, 2019 / By: Chanie Monoker

It is important to raise your child as an individual. People often confuse developmental milestones for a developmental blueprint. This can either inappropriately inhibit you and your child or put undue pressure on you and your child. Just because the average child is toilet trained at three years old does not mean your child is average or must be. I learned this one from personal experience. When Beth* was 2 ¼ she wanted to play on the computer like her older siblings. (She was a petite little thing and back then the mouse only came in one size… bigger than …

Knowledge Tools & Techniques

Autonomy and The Terrible Twos

November 3, 2019 / By: Chanie Monoker

You have heard the phrase “terrible twos” and been taught to cringe, but are they really so terrible? What is so challenging about that stage? Personally, it is one of my favorite ages. It is when your child starts asserting more independence and learns to make decisions. This means the child is moving away from you in their pursuit of autonomy. This can mean butting heads when you decide your child must (you fill in the blank here) and he says “NO!, want__________”. He is moving on from not just not wanting what you want, but moving towards knowing what …

Attitude

Give As Good As You Get or Get As Good As You Give?

October 25, 2019 / By: Chanie Monoker

The following question was posed, “Thoughts on cursing at work, most of us do it, some more than others. BUT is it really ok?” Some of the responses included the following (italics): A: “Personally, I have no issue with it. I generally find people who curse to be EXTREMELY genuine. But I do know it rubs some people wrong and I do want people to feel comfortable around me. While it does depend on the culture, I find people who curse to be real straight shooters which I like.” B: “I wouldn’t curse in front of someone I don’t know …

Knowledge

Balancing Act part 3: Realistic Expectations

October 4, 2019 / By: Chanie Monoker

(In case you were wondering, I believe in practicing what I preach.) To my loyal followers who were wondering what happened to my posting, for the last few months my parents unexpectedly ended up living by me – and my mother is quite ill. Simultaneously, I just launched my new office which …

Attitude

Gifted

May 17, 2019 / By: Chanie Monoker

Once upon a time it used to be more common for employers to provide employees with a cell phone. Now imagine your boss gave you an iPhone, much to your delight. 3 years pass and you decide you need another phone. You approach your boss and he agrees to order you a phone. You wait with great anticipation; you have heard about all the newer features on the latest edition of the iPhone and can’t wait to have one. The following week you find a package on your desk and it is an Android phone. How do you feel? Disappointment, …

Attitude

Be Kind…To Yourself

May 9, 2019 / By: Chanie Monoker

We know that when you fly the flight attendant instructs you to take care of yourself before you take care of anyone else. The flight attendant has to give these instructions because too often, moms in particular, neglect themselves to take care of their children. However, if you don’t take care of yourself you are no good to anyone else. Similarly, it behooves you to take care of your physical and emotional needs. This is not the same as wants. You need oxygen, even if it is polluted. Certainly you can work on improving the quality of your oxygen, but …

Knowledge

So SAD

March 31, 2019 / By: Chanie Monoker

SAD is the acronym for the Standard American Diet. Amongst those in the know that the typical diet of Americans is indeed tragic we find it to be a most fitting label. So many conditions clearly point to a dietary cause. Including but not limited to leaky gut, celiac disease, crohn’s disease, the rise of diabetes in younger children, enuresis, high blood pressure due to too much salt, to name a few. Here I would like to discuss the two main contributors to our dietary woes. Sugar and overindulgence. Sugar is the biggest cover-up since the carcinogenic effects of smoking …