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Childhood -

From the Inside Out:

 

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs

 

The Phenomenon of Assimilation

 

Building a Network of Prior Knowledge

 

Secret Brilliance

 

encouraging gifts and talents

 

transferring values to young children

 

embroidered truth

 

physiological memory

 

to our friends in the medical community

early childhood literacy education - a pattern of awareness

 

How young children learn - a practical application

 

Reading with your child

 

The Emergent Reader

 

Mind Mapping and visual thought

 

Developing distance-devotion

 

smart room

smart child

 

i can read

 

a rhyme in time

Multi-Tasking

Part of a modern day dichotomy

"I just came across your website ... I LOVED IT! ... Just wanted to say thank you."

Embroidered Truth

 

There are many reasons why children lie.


It's Normal: As part of normal development, very young children are unable to distinguish between fact and fantasy. In such circumstances, they will tell an untruth.

Older children, however, will tell a lie to avoid responsibility or as an attempt to control reality/parents/teachers/consequences/or any number of other circumstances affecting their lives.  We refer to such embellishments as "Embroidered Truth."  Attempting to avoid punishment or disapproval is a natural response to the un-developed conscience. 

But lying can also be a signal to the watchful adult that the child is in need. Feelings of inadequacy, insecurity, or pressure from parents or other significant persons in the child’s life may provoke the child to lie.

One Teacher's Account:

Meet Katy: On the first day of school, Katy entered the classroom and evaluated her new surroundings. Slightly taller than the other children, her shining face glowed between two pigtails tied by bright yellow ribbons. I had no idea then that this bright-eyed child had a need.

What??? During the first parent-teacher’s assembly in October, I was startled when a towering man approached me and introduced himself as Katy’s father and pastor of a church in the community. In his sermon-projecting voice he asked me why I had led the children in hymns while I accompanied them on the piano. Wasn’t I aware of the separation between church and state? I had no idea what he was talking about. "Look around," I said, "I have no piano here.” He stormed off.

The rest of the story: Several weeks later, during a meeting with Katy’s mother, the story began to unfold. Katy had returned home from the first day of school with an in-depth theatrical rendition of how I had gathered all of the children in a circle around the piano in our classroom and led the class in songs of praise. After I met with Katy’s father, he confronted the young thespian and realized that her version of the first day of school had not been accurate. Katy’s mother had come to apologize.  

Perhaps if Katy had felt more secure with her position in the family, she would not have needed to create a story to elicit parental attention and approval. Being the middle child wasn’t easy, especially when the oldest daughter was brilliant and the youngest child was the long-awaited son. Katy needed her own identity. She needed her own star. That year, we worked together to let her light shine.


 

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