tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-142811672009-07-04T08:25:00.161-05:00Kids Talk is a column dealing with childhood development issues written by Maren Stark Schmidt. Mrs. Schmidt founded a Montessori school and holds a Masters of Education from Loyola College in Maryland. She has over 20 years experience working with young children and holds teaching credentials from the Association Montessori Internationale. She is also Creative Director for a video-based reading series for children ages three to six, The Shining Light Reading Series. Contact her via e-mail at maren@shininglightreading.com. Visit www.shininglightreading.com for more information. Ask your local newspaper to carry Kids Talk. Call, write or e-mail your local newspaper editor and recommend Kids Talk.Maren Schmidthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07588810130654241828noreply@blogger.comBlogger256125http://www.shininglightreading.com/kidstalknews/kidstalk.JPGWelcome to Kids Talk by Maren Schmidt, presented by Shining Light Reading Series. This is an XML content feed. It is intended to be viewed in a newsreader or syndicated to another site, subject to copyright and fair use.tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14281167.post-12414238625304520642009-07-04T08:25:00.000-05:002009-07-04T08:25:00.233-05:00As we approach Independence Day, my mind turns to the idea of freedom. Freedom is a difficult word to define. Ask 10 people what freedom is, and you will get at least 10 different answers. There are...<br/> <br/> Visit http://www.shininglightreading.com/kidstalknews/main.html or for full links, other content and more!Maren Schmidthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07588810130654241828noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14281167.post-51012043509768240952009-06-27T08:25:00.000-05:002009-06-27T08:25:01.981-05:00Malcolm Gladwell in his book Outliers makes a case for understanding successful people. We may think that someone is a self-made person, that they had overnight success or were born with talent to...<br/> <br/> Visit http://www.shininglightreading.com/kidstalknews/main.html or for full links, other content and more!Maren Schmidthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07588810130654241828noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14281167.post-84743118768257156112009-06-23T11:38:00.002-05:002009-06-23T11:39:28.191-05:00What can I say? It's finished! It's done. It's ready! Understanding Montessori: A Guide for Parents is for sale at my website, MarenSchmidt.com, as well as...<br/> <br/> Visit http://www.shininglightreading.com/kidstalknews/main.html or for full links, other content and more!Maren Schmidthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07588810130654241828noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14281167.post-72342308054801407042009-06-20T08:25:00.000-05:002009-06-20T08:25:00.328-05:00Daniel Pink in his 2005 book, A Whole New Mind, tells us the world is changing and that our brains need to change, too. Pink sees the world becoming geared more towards creative endeavors in order to...<br/> <br/> Visit http://www.shininglightreading.com/kidstalknews/main.html or for full links, other content and more!Maren Schmidthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07588810130654241828noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14281167.post-50864271063446718542009-06-13T08:25:00.000-05:002009-06-13T08:25:00.600-05:00An indicator of healthy and normal development in children (and adults, too!) is the presence of self-discipline that seems to appear almost out of nowhere. In reality, there are factors that...<br/> <br/> Visit http://www.shininglightreading.com/kidstalknews/main.html or for full links, other content and more!Maren Schmidthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07588810130654241828noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14281167.post-53714234328915289212009-06-06T08:25:00.000-05:002009-06-06T08:25:00.704-05:00We are raising adults, not children. Our job as parents (and parent support systems) is to guide our children to complete independence. Little by little, day by day, we help our children develop...<br/> <br/> Visit http://www.shininglightreading.com/kidstalknews/main.html or for full links, other content and more!Maren Schmidthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07588810130654241828noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14281167.post-52656632809860445622009-05-30T08:25:00.000-05:002009-05-30T08:25:00.347-05:00Children naturally want to connect to the adults in their lives. Obedience to these adults is a sign of natural and normal development in a child. Obedience, though, does not refer to an automatic...<br/> <br/> Visit http://www.shininglightreading.com/kidstalknews/main.html or for full links, other content and more!Maren Schmidthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07588810130654241828noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14281167.post-20400122440784950482009-05-23T09:00:00.000-05:002009-05-23T09:00:01.008-05:00My husband likes to stop and indulge in an Italian dessert at our local gelato shop. On any given day there may be 30 different varieties of gelato on display. Untried flavors, such as mango/lime,...<br/> <br/> Visit http://www.shininglightreading.com/kidstalknews/main.html or for full links, other content and more!Maren Schmidthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07588810130654241828noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14281167.post-44958299018497199942009-05-16T09:00:00.000-05:002009-05-16T09:00:01.414-05:00For the child under the age of seven years an indicator of on-track development is the sublimation of the possessive instinct. This transformation of the possessive instinct occurs when the child is...<br/> <br/> Visit http://www.shininglightreading.com/kidstalknews/main.html or for full links, other content and more!Maren Schmidthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07588810130654241828noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14281167.post-12604953894720518882009-05-09T09:00:00.000-05:002009-05-09T09:00:01.099-05:00The nature of the young child following natural and normal development is one that loves silence and working alone. Until children enter into a different stage of development, around the time that...<br/> <br/> Visit http://www.shininglightreading.com/kidstalknews/main.html or for full links, other content and more!Maren Schmidthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07588810130654241828noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14281167.post-46400431304327711942009-05-02T09:00:00.000-05:002009-05-02T09:00:00.135-05:00The almost four-year-old boy visiting my classroom was wonderfully verbal. He had just given me a detailed explanation about his family's move into their new home. ...<br/> <br/> Visit http://www.shininglightreading.com/kidstalknews/main.html or for full links, other content and more!Maren Schmidthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07588810130654241828noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14281167.post-29953404392674106412009-04-25T09:00:00.000-05:002009-04-25T09:00:00.931-05:00In the young child there are observable characteristics of behavior that help us know that a child is following normal development. These characteristics follow: love of order, love of work, deep...<br/> <br/> Visit http://www.shininglightreading.com/kidstalknews/main.html or for full links, other content and more!Maren Schmidthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07588810130654241828noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14281167.post-80301707141396601862009-04-18T09:00:00.000-05:002009-04-18T09:00:00.712-05:00The young child's love of work, or being involved in meaningful activity, is an inborn trait. With proper nourishment this love survives a lifetime. Even in utero the child is involved in what can...<br/> <br/> Visit http://www.shininglightreading.com/kidstalknews/main.html or for full links, other content and more!Maren Schmidthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07588810130654241828noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14281167.post-27791841844495428782009-04-11T09:00:00.000-05:002009-04-11T09:00:00.847-05:00As parents and teachers we are concerned about doing the right things with our children. When our children go through difficult periods, we can spend nights tossing and turning about what can be the...<br/> <br/> Visit http://www.shininglightreading.com/kidstalknews/main.html or for full links, other content and more!Maren Schmidthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07588810130654241828noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14281167.post-83616938620198985492009-04-04T09:00:00.000-05:002009-04-04T09:00:00.254-05:00In the gardening shop I looked up to discover a sign over my head. ''What If the Hokey Pokey Is What It's All About?'' For whatever reasons, I started to laugh. Uncontrollably. My husband came from...<br/> <br/> Visit http://www.shininglightreading.com/kidstalknews/main.html or for full links, other content and more!Maren Schmidthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07588810130654241828noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14281167.post-38862586612523978322009-03-28T08:00:00.001-05:002009-03-28T08:00:01.120-05:00Misbehavior. That's when you don't act the way I want you to when I want you to. But what about when I do what I want when I want to do it? Some might call it...<br/> <br/> Visit http://www.shininglightreading.com/kidstalknews/main.html or for full links, other content and more!Maren Schmidthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07588810130654241828noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14281167.post-55950240391766703352009-03-21T08:00:00.000-05:002009-03-21T08:00:01.601-05:00In my elementary and junior high school years I always sat in the back row. Except in my seventh-grade English class. I wondered why I inevitably sat in the back...<br/> <br/> Visit http://www.shininglightreading.com/kidstalknews/main.html or for full links, other content and more!Maren Schmidthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07588810130654241828noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14281167.post-1495499597843792342009-03-14T08:00:00.000-05:002009-03-14T08:00:00.795-05:00A funny thing about the mind; it takes a while for our minds to figure out how to ''don't.'' ''Don't hit your baby brother.'' The young child doesn't have the...<br/> <br/> Visit http://www.shininglightreading.com/kidstalknews/main.html or for full links, other content and more!Maren Schmidthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07588810130654241828noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14281167.post-12813428162208624832009-03-07T08:00:00.000-06:002009-03-07T08:00:01.613-06:00The bestselling book The Secret talks about the problem of not having a clear vision of what we want. We spend the majority of our time avoiding or getting rid of stuff in our lives that we don't...<br/> <br/> Visit http://www.shininglightreading.com/kidstalknews/main.html or for full links, other content and more!Maren Schmidthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07588810130654241828noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14281167.post-89788231147667239782009-02-28T08:00:00.000-06:002009-02-28T08:00:01.196-06:00Research shows that learning new skills in the most efficient manner requires self-discipline and practice. That seems like common sense to most of us. Science is confirming that, yes, to get better...<br/> <br/> Visit http://www.shininglightreading.com/kidstalknews/main.html or for full links, other content and more!Maren Schmidthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07588810130654241828noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14281167.post-55489653958373593882009-02-21T08:00:00.000-06:002009-02-21T08:00:00.684-06:00''I'm worried that my four- and six-year-old will be spoiled. They have such a great life--plenty of love, food, toys and money. I want them to be thankful for what they have,'' Melinda said. ...<br/> <br/> Visit http://www.shininglightreading.com/kidstalknews/main.html or for full links, other content and more!Maren Schmidthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07588810130654241828noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14281167.post-39893836130925886212009-02-14T08:00:00.000-06:002009-02-14T08:00:10.730-06:00The hostess at the dinner party asked me question after question, keeping me actively engaged in conversation. The next day I realized I had done most of the talking....<br/> <br/> Visit http://www.shininglightreading.com/kidstalknews/main.html or for full links, other content and more!Maren Schmidthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07588810130654241828noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14281167.post-15445206488293539642009-02-07T08:00:00.000-06:002009-02-07T08:00:01.178-06:00Somehow between Madison Avenue and Hollywood, and all the places where kiddie culture is fed, we're given the view that children are rowdy and eternally needing to be entertained. ...<br/> <br/> Visit http://www.shininglightreading.com/kidstalknews/main.html or for full links, other content and more!Maren Schmidthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07588810130654241828noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14281167.post-87389400781161040582009-01-31T08:00:00.000-06:002009-01-31T08:00:00.523-06:00Blaise Pascal, the 17th century philosopher and mathematician, wrote, ''All man's miseries derive from not being able to sit quietly in a room alone.'' Almost 300...<br/> <br/> Visit http://www.shininglightreading.com/kidstalknews/main.html or for full links, other content and more!Maren Schmidthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07588810130654241828noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14281167.post-5731175684888732772009-01-24T08:00:00.000-06:002009-01-24T08:00:00.456-06:00A sign in my father's office read, ''Sometimes I sits and thinks, and sometimes I just sits.'' Ungrammatical, but it captured the essence of my father. My dad spent a...<br/> <br/> Visit http://www.shininglightreading.com/kidstalknews/main.html or for full links, other content and more!Maren Schmidthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07588810130654241828noreply@blogger.com0