ONLINE CONFERENCE


EDUCATION: NEXT GENERATION

Welcome to the Speaker Notes from:
#EdNextGen Conference – Fall 2016

presented by Happily Family – Cecilia and Jason Hilkey

Download The Entire Conference

25 videos, audio MP3s and all notes

Dr. Daniel Siegel

Mindsight and Mindfulness in Raising Successful Kids

Dr. Daniel Siegel is a clinical professor of psychiatry at the UCLA School of Medicine and the founding co-director of the Mindful Awareness Research Center at UCLA. He is also the Executive Director of the Mindsight Institute which focuses on how the development of mindsight in individuals, families and communities can be enhanced by examining the interface of human relationships and basic biological processes.

Summary:
Dr. Siegel teaches that when a parents and teachers see and understand their own mind and their child’s mind, they all thrive. According to the research, parent’s self understanding–making sense of their past–is the number one predictor in children’s well being. Our connections with other people are important for our health, happiness, and the health of the planet.

Links:

Angela Maiers

Liberating Genius in Kids

Angela Maiers is an Educator. Entrepreneur. Leader. Disruptor, and Visionary. She has been creating and leading change in education and enterprise for 25 years, teaching every level of school from kindergarten to graduate school and consulting with companies around the world.

Angela helps learners and leaders understand the transformative power of technology and the Internet. She is the author of six books, including Classroom Habitudes and The Passion-Driven Classroom and Liberating Genius, and her You Matter talk at TEDxDesMoines has been viewed several hundred thousand times.

Angela is the founder of Choose2Matter, a global movement that challenges and inspires students to work collaboratively to develop innovative solutions to social problems.

Summary:
Angela Maiers has redefined what it means to be a genius. She helps kids and adults find their own passion and put it to work in the world. In this inspiring conversation Angela talks about how our deepest human needs are to belong, contribute, and to do the work we are meant to do in the world. Doing work that you are passionate about involves courage and risk, but Angela has practical tools to help us.

Links:

Robin Grille

Psychologist, Author of Parenting for a Peaceful World

Robin Grille is a father, psychologist, parent educator. His articles and books on parenting and child development have been widely published around the world. Robin is the author of ‘Parenting for a Peaceful World’ and ‘Heart to Heart Parenting’. Robin believes that humanity’s future is largely dependent on the way we collectively relate to our children.

Born in Uruguay, South America, into a multicultural family, he currently lives in Australia and feels a strong affinity for a broad span of cultures, across the universal human family.

Robin’s courses have helped many people to embrace parenting as a transformative, personal growth journey. Drawing from 25 years’ clinical experience and leading-edge neuropsychological research, Robin’s seminars and courses focus on healthy emotional development for children as well as parents; while building supportive, co-operative parenting communities.

Summary:
Robin’s study of schools around the world has shown the benefits of democratic education, an emergent curriculum, and the free school system. These benefits are not just for the children, but also for the teachers and the community, in lower levels of bullying, violence, destructive behavior, depression, school refusal, and mental illness. Robin believes that we are creating the future and that we each need to push for it actively.

Links:

Jennifer Miller

Fair Fighting for Kids and Families

Jennifer Miller has twenty years of experience helping adults teach social and emotional learning to children. She is a regular expert contributor NBC Education Nation’s Parent Toolkit. She is the author and illustrator of the site, Confident Parents, Confident Kids, which has 22,000 followers from 152 countries around the world. She has contributed articles to popular publications such as Parent Magazine, The Huffington Post, Edutopia, Responsive Classroom, and The Community Psychologist. She offers webinars and workshops, and coaches parents and educators. She lives with her husband and nine year old son in Columbus, Ohio.

Summary:
Jennifer talks about the research of fighting and relationships. Research shows that it’s not the quantity of fighting but the quality that determines the emotional health of the relationship. Jennifer presents 4 barriers to communication to avoid during fighting and 4 practices to ensure better communication.

Links:

Meg Hickling and Saleema Noon

Why, When and How to Talk to Kids About *Sex*

Saleema Noon holds a Masters degree in sexual health education. She has been teaching in the field of sexual health, empowerment, assertiveness training, internet safety, healthy relationships, body image and self-esteem since 1997. She is a step-mom to two teenaged girls, and her book for parents written with Meg Hickling, Talk Sex Today, was released in September 2016.

Meg Hickling is a retired registered nurse and an award winning educator and author who has been instilling knowledge of sexual health in children and adults for over 30 years. She is an internationally recognized advocate in educating children about human reproduction. Meg believes that knowledge bring about empowerment.

Summary:
Saleema and Meg express the importance of sex education. They present it as a conversation that needs to happen many times over the course of children’s life, in order for kids to be educated about their own bodies, and to keep kids safe from sexual abuse. They tackle tough issues like pornography, internet safety, gender and body image. They cover practical tips as well as share some really funny stories!

Links:

Day Two

Download The Entire Conference

25 videos, audio MP3s and all notes

Tara Mohr

Overcoming Fear, Criticism & Self-Doubt to Play Bigger in Life

Tara Mohr is an expert on women’s leadership and well-being. She helps women play bigger in sharing their voices and bringing forward their ideas in work and in life. Tara is the author of Playing Big named best book of the year by Apple. Tara is the creator of the Playing Big leadership program for women, which now has more than 1,000 graduates from around the world, and creator of the global Playing Big Facilitators Training for coaches, therapists, and other professionals supporting women in their personal and professional growth. Tara has an MBA from Stanford University and an undergraduate degree in English literature from Yale. Tara’s work has been featured on national media from the New York Times to Today Show to Harvard Business Review.

Summary:
Tara presents the Playing Big model including tools for quieting the inner critic, working through fears, unhooking from praise and criticism to tap into our personal strength and inner wisdom. She shares stories of different ways teachers and parents have used these techniques with children.

Links:

Scott Noelle

Self-Directed Education and Partnership

Scott Noelle is a coach, mentor, writer, and speaker. His passion is helping people develop their parenting, relationship, and self-empowerment skills, so they can raise confident, connected, creative children.

He collaborated with the late Jean Liedloff, author of The Continuum Concept, and Peter Gray, author of Free to Learn. His background as a voice teacher helping adult singers overcome inner and outer obstacles to creative expression laid much of the foundation for his work as a parenting/life coach beginning in 2003.

Scott created The Daily Groove, a free short daily email, when he realized that parents need reminders to change their way of thinking about children and parenting. He lives in Portland with his wife and two children.

Summary:
Scott believes that the person who is most qualified to direct learning is the learner themselves. When we allow children to be self-directed in their education they are much more efficient and empowered. By adopting a lifestyle or a classroom of curiosity and learning and exploration, children’s own natural engagement will increase.

Links:

Elena Brower

Cultivating Spiritual Intelligence and Attention

Elena Brower is a renowned yoga teacher and speaker. Influenced by several yoga traditions, she is recognized internationally for her expertise in combining physical alignment and the art of attention. Since 1998, Elena has been offering these practices as a vehicle for approaching our world with realistic reverence and gratitude. She is the author of Art of Attention, a yoga workbook that has been translated into five languages and the creator of teach.yoga, a virtual home for yoga teachers worldwide. She's contributed to the Huffington Post, MindBodyGreen, Origin, Mantra, and has been featured in Yoga Journal, the New York Times and on major network-news channels.

Summary:
Elena believes in taking good care of herself so that she can care for everyone else. She teaches principles and practices that she uses in her day to foster emotional intelligence, handle conflict, and create emotional safety in her family. She talks about gratitude, attention, and reverence and how to change our physiological state.

Links:

Charles Eisenstein

The More Beautiful World Our Hearts Know is Possible

Charles Eisenstein is an internationally recognized speaker and writer focusing on themes of human culture and identity. He is the author of several books, most recently Sacred Economics and The More Beautiful World our Hearts Know is Possible. He has a degree in mathematics and philosophy from Yale. He lives in Asheville, North Carolina with his wife and four children.

Summary:
Charles talks about how, as a culture, we are moving away from the “story of separation” and into “the story of interbeing”. He urges us to listen, have empathy, trust, and non-judgement for children. In this wide ranging conversation we talk about how “interbeing” effects education, parenting, philosophy and spirituality.

Most of us have grown up in a society that trains us, from Kindergarten or even earlier, to do things we don’t really want to do, and to refrain from things we want to do. This is called discipline, the work ethic, self control and it has been seen as a cardinal virtue… Part of our revolution is the reunion of work and play. If it feels like work, stop it.

Links:

Yalda Uhls

What To Do About Tech: Lessons From Research & Real Life

Dr. Yalda Uhls, is a child psychologist scientist, who works with schools, non-profits, and companies. Her research and book, Media Moms and Digital Dads, focuses on how media impacts the social behavior of preadolescents. Her position is balanced, based in fact, and relevant to those concerned with using media in positive ways to shape youth development. Dr. Uhls also works with Common Sense Media and does research with UCLA. Her work has been featured in Time Magazine, the NY Times, USA Today and NPR. Prior to her academic career, Yalda spent over fifteen years as a senior entertainment executive and producer at studios such as Sony and MGM, and consulted for Google. Most importantly, she is a mom of two digital teens (a boy and a girl).

Summary:
Dr. Yalda Uhls brings a balanced, well-research perspective to address parents’ and teachers’ concerns about kids using technology. She addresses violence in video games, teaching self regulation, the impact that technology has on creativity and distractibility, and technology addiction.

Links:

Marji Zintz

Becoming a Peaceful Parent

Marji Zintz works as a parent coach and educator, helping parents of children of any age for two decades find effective and peaceful solutions to common parent-child relationship hurdles. In addition to maintaining a private practice (called The Peaceful Parent Whisperer) in the Catskill Mountains region of New York State, she is a member of the administrative team that runs the nearly 12,000-member international parenting group Gentle Parents Unite. Marji is an empty-nester parent herself and also works as a professional performing musician. She has presented nationally, speaking on the topics of parenting, home education, and music.

Summary:
Marji teaches about how to question the thoughts and stories that we tell ourselves in our head. She has a beautiful way of explaining and understanding the words and behaviors of children. She shows us how to shift from reactivity in the moment to being the kind of parent that we want to be. Marji instructs parents and teachers about how to move away from victimhood and into joy by connecting to our needs.

Links:

Day Three

Download The Entire Conference

25 videos, audio MP3s and all notes

Ted Fujimoto

Relationship is the Foundation to Education

Ted Fujimoto is the president of Landmark Consulting Group, Inc., a management and investment consultancy for scaling innovations in learning. He is the founder and co-chair of the Right to Succeed Foundation, a nonprofit focused on transforming public education worldwide and through the creation of at least 6,000 American Dream Schools within the next 10 years. Ted helped to design and create the replication systems and strategy for several of the largest scalable, fastest growing, highest performing public school designs in the country that created over 400 schools, including New Tech Network and Big Picture Learning.

Summary:
Ted talks about the 3 critical pieces–relationship, relevance, and rigor–common in schools that address the “whole child”. He also outlines the first few steps of reforming a school or starting a new one, including who you need on your team–civic and business leaders, educators, parents and children.

Links:

Dr. Roberta Michnick Golinkoff

Becoming Brilliant: What Science Tells Us About Raising Successful Kids

Dr. Roberta Michnick Golinkoff is a Professor of Education, Psychology, and Linguistics, at the University of Delaware. She served as editor of Child Development, and authored over 150 journal publications, book chapters, and 14 books. She is passionate about using developmental science to improve the lives of children and families. She lectures internationally to parents and professionals about language development, playful learning, and spatial development. Her latest book is called Becoming Brilliant: What Science Tells Us about Raising Successful Children. Golinkoff also co-founded the Ultimate Block Party movement to celebrate the science of learning and play.

Summary:
Roberta talks about how we are entering a new era in the workplace and in education. Social scientists and business leaders agree that 6 core skills are needed. In her book Becoming Brilliant, Roberta presents the 6 C’s of Collaboration, Communication, Content, Critical thinking, Creativity, and Confidence. She uses examples from business, education, and research and also gives parents and teachers tools that they can use to develop these abilities in kids.

Links:

Tommy Rosen

Starting a Meditation Practice with Kids

Tommy Rosen is a yoga teacher and addiction recovery expert who has spent the last two decades immersed in yoga, recovery and wellness. He holds certifications in both Kundalini and Hatha Yoga and has 24 years of continuous recovery from drug addiction.
Tommy is one of the pioneers in the field of Yoga and Recovery assisting others to holistically transcend addictions of all kinds. Tommy is the founder and host of the Recovery 2.0: Beyond Addiction Online Conference series and the #MoveBeyond Group Coaching Program. He leads Recovery 2.0 retreats and workshops internationally and presents regularly at yoga conferences and festivals. Tommy’s first book, Recovery 2.0: Move Beyond Addiction and Upgrade Your Life, was published by Hay House in October 2014. Tommy and his wife, yoga teacher, Kia Miller, live in Venice, California, where they teach yoga and grow organic vegetables in their backyard.

Summary:
Tommy defines addiction as any behavior that we continue to do, despite the fact that it brings negative consequences into our lives. He believes that we can prevent many people from becoming addicted if we work with them, as children, to teach them to attend to their emotions, develop the abilities to self reflect and self correct, and to have self esteem. He shares practical steps to introduce kids to meditation.

Links:

Patty Wipfler

“Where’s the happy medium?” Limits, Freedom of Expression, and Self-Care for Parents

Patty Wipfler has worked with parents and children for 40 years. During that time she developed a revolutionary parenting approach based on a fresh understanding of the way relationships in the family affect children's behavior and ability to learn. She founded the nonprofit Hand in Hand Parenting in 1989. Since then, more than 800,000 copies of her Listening to Children series have been sold. Patty continues to train hundreds of therapists, social workers, and parent educators in the US and 10 other countries, and offers parents accessible support for the vital work of parenting through Hand in Hand Parenting.

Summary:
Patty teaches that children release emotions, they are expressing disconnection. When we allow kids to express their feelings and get reconnected, then they can think and come up with ideas to solve their problems. Patty presents 5 listening tools that allow kids to develop connection, emotional intelligence, and listening.

Links:

Chris Morasky

Connecting Kids to Nature Through Experiences and Stone Age Skills

Chris Morasky is a wildlife biologist with over 30 years experience teaching Stone Age skills and nature connection and is considered one of the top Stone Age skills experts in North America. Chris has lived most of the past 20+ years in the wilderness and small communities of British Columbia, Idaho and Utah, including living in a tipi for 6 years. His teachers include Lakota, Shoshone, Arapaho, Crow, Blackfeet and Serri tribesmen. Chris’ workshops focus on awakening instincts, ancient skills and deep nature connection as doorways to understand more fully who we are and why we're here.

Summary:
Chris teaches us that in early times people sought connection with one another, they relied on the community for security, and valued cooperation over competition. In order to develop and use intuition–especially in these modern times–we need to come from stillness and have a beginners mind. He explains how to use our vision, walking, listening and sitting to tap into our intuition. He encourages people–young and old–to develop on their instincts. Chris shows us how we can learn empathy by being in nature.
Links:

Dr. Michelle Charfen

Self-Care for Parents and Teachers

Dr. Michelle Charfen received her MD from Harvard Medical School; and a Masters of Science in Epidemiology from the School of Public Health at UCLA. Michelle has taught in a variety of capacities, ranging all the way from teaching preschool and elementary students to training medical residents. Michelle is a Certified Echo Parent Educator through Echo Parenting and Education, and combines this training with her experience and knowledge to help others learn effective tools for compassionate communication.

Michelle founded Centered Parenting and offers workshops and seminars in the Southbay of Southern California, where she lives with her husband and three children who are homeschooled.

Summary:
Michelle shares personally about how she used to push her feelings down throughout her teens. When she became a mother she began to adopt healthy coping mechanisms. Michelle talks about her reflection and self care practices that allowed her attend to her feelings, rather than push them down, and to catch herself more quickly when she was using her “old strategies”.

Links:

Day Four

Download The Entire Conference

25 videos, audio MP3s and all notes

Lenore Skenazy

How to Give Kids More Freedom Without Going Nuts with Worry

Lenore Skenazy is a blogger, columnist, author, and reality show host. A mother who lives in Queens with her husband and two sons, her controversial decision to let her then-9-year-old son take the New York City Subway home alone became a national story and prompted massive media attention. She was dubbed, “America's Worst Mom.” In response, Lenore founded the book, blog, and movement “Free-Range Kids,” with the aim of “fighting the belief that our children are in constant danger from creeps, kidnapping, germs, grades, flashers, frustration, failure, baby snatchers, bugs, bullies, men, sleepovers and the perils of a non-organic grape.”

Summary:
Lenore Skenazy explains why kids growing up today in the US (and many other English speaking countries) have very little freedom in comparison to their parents, even though crime is at a record low. She talk about how the Free Range Kids program is changing school districts and communities. By giving kids more freedom, everyone is safer, happier, and healthier.

Links:

Dr. Peter Gray

Giving Kids the Freedom to Learn

Dr. Peter Gray, a research professor of psychology at Boston College, has conducted and published research in neuroendocrinology, developmental psychology, anthropology, and education. His recent research focuses on the role of play in human evolution and how children educate themselves, through play and exploration, when they are free to do so. He has expanded on these ideas in his book, Free to Learn: Why Unleashing the Instinct to Play Will Make Our Children Happier, More Self-Reliant, and Better Students for Life (Basic Books). He also authors a regular blog called Freedom to Learn, for Psychology Today magazine. His own play includes not only his writing and research, but also long distance bicycling, kayaking, cross country skiing, and vegetable gardening. He earned his undergraduate degree at Columbia College and Ph.D. in biological sciences at the Rockefeller University.

Summary:
Peter teaches us how education and learning have changed dramatically over the course of human evolution. He makes a compelling case for infusing the values that were present in hunter-gatherer societies into modern day education, which–research shows–would result in kids having autonomy, social emotional learning, equality, creativity, and the kind of entrepreneurial skills needed to succeed in this new complex society.

Links:

Heather Forbes

Trauma & Children: Fostering Resilience

Heather Forbes is the owner of the Beyond Consequences Institute and the co-founder of the Codega Foundation. She has worked in the field of trauma and healing since 1999. She is an internationally published author on the topics of raising children with difficult and severe behaviors, the impact of trauma on the developing child, adoptive motherhood, and self-development. Additionally, Heather has a heart for children in the classroom and for finding ways to teach the child that seems “unteachable.” Her signature style is to bridge the gap between scientific research and real-life application to equip parents, educators, and therapists with practical and effective tools. Much of her experience and insight on understanding trauma, disruptive behaviors, and adoption-related issues comes from her direct mothering experience of her two adopted children.

Summary:
Heather believes that behavior is a form of communication. She specializes helping parents and teachers shift from seeing acting out as “bad behavior” to healing the trauma or hurt that is at the root. Consistent with the neuroscience research, she teaches adults to use understanding and connection with children rather than consequences, so that the child learns how to regulate, access their executive functioning, and develop skills in the areas that are needed.

Links:

Sam Chaltain

Reimagining the Future of Learning

Sam Chaltain is a partner at WONDER, a global design studio that helps schools and communities reimagine the future of learning. His work focuses on how individuals and organizations can tell stories that capture the emotional center of an idea; build an audience of supporters over time. Sam’s work has appeared in the New York Times, Washington Post, Education Week, USA Today, CNN and the Huffington Post, Sam is the author or co-author of six books. He is also a co-producer of the PBS documentary film, 180 Days: Hartsville; and the online film series, A Year at Mission Hill.

Summary:
Sam’s work documenting what is happening in education in the US has given him a unique perspective about the challenges facing schools, teachers and families. Ultimately his view is hopeful. He shares stories of innovative schools and teachers, as he bears witness to changes in educational thought happening in the classroom and at the highest levels of government. He shares practical ideas of things that we can do to effect change in ourselves, our family, and community.

Links:

Suzanne Axelsson

Reggio-Inspired Education in Early Childhood and Beyond

Suzanne Axelsson lives and works as an early years director and teacher in Stockholm, Sweden. She has a masters in early childhood education from, Sheffield University, UK, her home country, where she specialized in Reggio Emilia, language, communication, and documentation.

More than 20 years experience in a variety of settings have given Suzanne a broad perspective that supports her work with children, and her blog ”Interaction Imagination” that she started writing in 2012. The blog shares ideas about risky play, listening, creativity. Suzanne is presently collating information for a book with the aim of getting teachers and children to think more critically and creatively.

She presents frequently at conferences, was featured several children and nursery magazines, and in an educational documentary for teachers. Suzanne is also involved with The Freedom Theatre in Jenin, Palestine in an effort to inspire more focus on play in early childhood education.

Summary:
Suzanne shares about the history of the schools in Reggio Emilia, Italy which were created right after World War II, to develop creativity, critical thinking, democracy, to develop the voice of the child, and to use research to guide the interactions with children. She shares inspiration from the classroom about how she explores feelings with kids, fosters competence and confidence, and how she slows down and listens. She has practical examples of how to use the environment as a teacher.

Links:

Dr. Joseph Lee

Empathy: The One Feeling That Affects Everything You Do

Joseph Lee is a psychiatrist with a practice in Southern California. Early in his practice he saw that his patients were clearly getting better, but didn’t seem to be quite “well.” His search to help people truly thrive, led him to a truth-based perspective that he’s been applying personally and professionally, built around developing self-worth, meaningful relationships, and lifelong optimal healthiness. Becoming a parent, made him more intentional about every aspect of his own life – trying to figure out the best way to raise his kids, while maintaining his own health and wellbeing.

Summary:
Joseph believes that empathy is a natural inborn response that we have to connect to others (a “biological user interface”) that we use to we feel what other people are feeling. Joseph argues that empathy determines the success of not just our relationships, but also the success of businesses, products, and services. He believes that having empathy and “core skills” are the key to success in a changing job market and economy. And he shares strategies for developing empathy in children.

Links:

Day Five

Download The Entire Conference

25 videos, audio MP3s and all notes

Dr. Shefali Tsabary

The Awakened Family

Dr. Shefali is a world-renowned clinical psychologist who received her doctorate from Columbia University, New York. She specializes in the integration of Eastern philosophy and Western psychology. Her message has the potential to change people’s lives for generations to come.
Dr. Shefali is a keynote speaker who presents at conferences and workshops around the world. She is the author of the Conscious Parent, Out of Control, and, most recently, THE AWAKENED FAMILY, in which she gives us daily skills and tools to revolutionize our families and our parenting.

Summary:
Dr. Shefali says that we have not been trained to know that life is an inward journey, we are fooled into thinking that the outside needs to be constantly fixed and controlled. Because of the closeness of the relationship that we have with our children our ego gets triggered, our caring of children creates blindness so we can’t see them clearly, and our identity gets threatened. Dr. Shefali teaches us that attunement is being a container, a space, being open and trusting; you lean in when you need to, but nothing more than that. Meditation and contemplation anchors us to ourselves so that we can know ourselves.

Links:

Susan Kaiser Greenland

Cultivating Mindfulness in Children

Susan Kaiser Greenland is an internationally recognized leader in teaching mindfulness and meditation to children, teens, and families. She is the author of The Mindful Child and Mindful Games and has studied meditation with teachers from the Tibetan Buddhist tradition since 1997. She also developed the Inner Kids program to teach secular mindfulness in schools.

Her work has been featured in numerous publications, including The New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, the Chicago Tribune, The Washington Post, USA Today, Real Simple, and Parents Magazine, and the Huffington Post.

Summary:
Susan talks about how mindfulness can be used to enhance attention, balance, compassion–the new “A, B, C’s”–as well as for stress management, peacefulness and calmness in children. As a pioneer in her field, she was one of the first practitioners to use meditation with children in schools many years ago and she saw very quickly how children were interested in it, how they benefitted from it, and how they took it home to their families. Susan shares activities from her new book Mindful Games and reminds all of us that “wisdom doesn’t come from being perfect, wisdom comes from being present.”

Links:

Dr. Carrie Contey

Parenting, Personhood & Partnership

In Carrie’s lively talk she tells us about how raising and teaching little people is an opportunity to become more of ourselves–more abundant, passionate, conscious, happy and healthy. The 4 Pillars of Parenting, Partnership, Personhood, and Prosperity are principles that we can return to, to make the tough times better and make the good times amazing!

Carrie Contey, PhD is a parenting coach, speaker and author. Her background in prenatal and perinatal psychology offers a unique perspective on children, parenting, family life and what it means to be a healthy, happy, whole human being. In her work with thousands of parents all over the world, she guides, supports and inspires her clients to live with a wide-open and courageous heart so that they can approach parenting with both skill and spaciousness.

Summary:
In Carrie’s lively talk she tells us about how raising and teaching little people is an opportunity to become more of ourselves–more abundant, passionate, conscious, happy and healthy. The 4 Pillars of Parenting, Partnership, Personhood, and Prosperity are principles that we can return to, to make the tough times better and make the good times amazing!

Links:

Danay DiVirgilio

Using Yoga to Develop Emotional Intelligence

Founded YogaBuddies in 2004, and has more than thirteen years of yoga experience as a yoga practitioner and teacher. she has dedicated her life to making a difference for children and teens. YogaBuddies unique program and products have touched the lives of thousands of children here in the United States and around the world.

A breast cancer warrior, Danay has designed the YogaBuddies program from what she believes is yoga’s greatest benefit, which is the practice of learning to connect the mind and the body. By learning yoga’s values and benefits at a young age children will make healthier and more mindful choices about what they eat and how they treat themselves, others, and the environment.

Summary:
Danay teaches children yoga poses, tools and breathing techniques to handle stress and upset, increase emotional awareness, and to have fun! Connecting with the mind and body helps children do better in academics and have more focus and joy. In this wide ranging talk, Danay covers using mantras, affirmations, gratitude, compassion, non-judgement, and empathy.

Links:

Cecilia & Jason Hilkey

How To Talk So Kids Will Listen

Cecilia and Jason Hilkey have worked professionally with children and families for nearly 20 years. They’ve worked in the homes and schools of children with disabilities, taught together in the same preschool classroom, and inspired parents and educators to use collaborative methods to teach and raise children.

They founded Happily Family and the Education: Next Generation Conference to respond to the needs of parents and teachers who wanted more support, access to current research about brain and child development, and compassionate tools to use in their lives. Their work has reached over 140 countries and touched thousands of families. They live in California with their two adolescent daughters.

Summary:
Cecilia and Jason believe that behavior is a form of communication. They explain how kids will be more compassionate and better equipped to solve their own problems, if we help them to understand their own feelings and needs–as well as the feelings and needs of others. Jason and Cecilia offer a practical 3-step process to handle conflicts with children, in the home or classroom. And, of course, they use puppets to demonstrate how it all works!

Links:

Download The Entire Conference

25 videos, audio MP3s and all notes

LEAD. LEARN. LOVE.

HOME | TERMS & CONDITIONS | © 2024 HAPPILY FAMILY | PRIVACY POLICY | CONTACT US