Gayle H. Swift's Blog, page 3

Empathy Is an Inside Job

November … thoughts of Thanksgiving, family and festive gatherings come to mind. I can think of no better way to mark this important time than by focusing on having empathy and being kind, inclusive and responsible for our own choices. In her...

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How Kindness Looks, Sounds and Feels

Discussions about kindness appear frequently as we strive to understand how to handle the challenges and social turmoil of our current times. Although we frequently admonish children to be kind we’ve done little to educate them on how kindness might...

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Things Aren’t Always How They SEEM to Look

Red written and illustrated by Michael Hall shares a simple yet profound message that riffs on the old adages “You can’t judge a book by its cover,” and “Be true to yourself.” It accomplishes this through bold illustrations and humorous,...

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Mapping Good Memories

Memory operates through a peculiar process. Some events burn indelibly into our brains while others prove more elusive. When the destruction of war forces a young child to leave her ravaged town, she embarks on a goodbye trek around her...

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I Am Enough: Finding Affirmation and Self-confidence

I am enough! We all want to believe the truth behind this statement about ourselves. And as adults who care about children, we dream of the day when all children believe this fact about themselves. The reality is, however, that most...

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Who Is in and Who Is Out?

The Big Umbrella by Amy June Bates answers the question, Who is in and who is out? in a subtle yet persuasive way. The metaphor of a big, inclusive umbrella may be familiar to adults, however, to kids it’s relatively novel....

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In the World of Imagination All Is Possible

Little Worlds by Géraldine Collet and lavishly illustrated by Sébastien Chebret shows us how all is possible in the world of one’s imagination. Each spread shows a child totally engaged in a unique physical space. But what makes their individual worlds...

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Coaching for Success in Life and Athletics

How to Coach Girls written by Allison Foley (head coach of Boston College Women’s Soccer) and Mia Wenjen (volunteer coach and soccer mom)  is a concise and practical guide that outlines an effective way to coach girls. Decades of experience...

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Freedom on the Menu–Every Voice Counts

Freedom on the Menu: The Greensboro Sit-ins by Carol Boston Weatherford and illustrated by Jerome Lagarrigue tells the story of lunch counter sit-ins, a protest movement that helped end discriminatory practices in the South. Told through the eyes of a...

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Kindness in Action

"The Mitten Tree" offers an easily gleaned message of helping others & highlights that one must not only notice when a person needs help, one must take action to help fulfill that need. Kindness Is a thought before it is an action. Kindness disengaged from action is an empty promise.

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