• Four Foundations

    Coffee with the Stars

    Someone once told me that reading What Kids Need was like having a chance to have a cup of coffee with some very successful people and ask them how they learned their life lessons. Besides being a neat compliment, that comment got me thinking about successful people I’d like to meet.  Since I’m not always able to snap my fingers and get ‘up close and personal’ with people I’d like to meet, I read about them.  I watch movies based on true stories.  I subscribe  to…

  • Special Topics

    SPECIAL POWER

    by Esther Jantzen, guest poster Often fairytale, book, or film characters have special powers A fairy godmother can turn pumpkins into coaches and mice into horses, and Superman can fly. Kids enjoy imagining they too might have a special power that could help them solve problems and help others. It gives them a chance to think about how they’d like the world to be. This activity can lead to talking about what kids really can do through their strengths and abilities, which are their real ‘special…

  • Special Topics

    Story Circle: Read And Re-Tell

    By Esther Jantzen, guest poster  In the days before television and radio, families often sat together in the evening and retold stories from books they had read or from adventures they had. Retelling stories develops one’s memory and the ability to speak in groups. It can build feelings of self-confidence. This activity encourages kids to pay attention to details and to the order of events in a story. It provides them a chance to show off their dramatic skills. And it’s fun to do this! Here…