After two years of full-time writing, closely collaborating with a stellar on-the-job-trained parenting expert, several brilliant editors, and a delightful book illustrator, my first book is finally ready for you:

FLOW TO LEARN: A Parent’s Guide to Recognizing and Supporting Your Child’s Flow State –the optimal condition for learning.

FLOW TO LEARN is an uplifting, illustrated parenting guide featuring 52 weeks of practical suggestions and compassionate insights for creating independent play and learning opportunities for children at home. Using practical, evidence-based tools from the fields of child development, psychology, and child-centered education, readers are guided step-by-step through the creation of simple hands-on activity stations that boost children’s love for learning. In these prepared environments, children naturally experience flow, the deeply focused, fulfilling state scientifically proven to be the optimal condition for learning. Creating flow-friendly learning opportunities at home frees up parents’ time while strengthening children with spaces that support their inherent talents, creativity, and wide-ranging intelligence.

This book helps parents to see children as guides to accessing their own flow states, which brings more joy and purpose into life, and also helps develop a deeper understanding of and relationship with their child. Each of the 52 weeks/chapters is divided into two parts. First, reflections and information about flow are shared. This is followed by practical suggestions, “TRY THIS,” on how to facilitate flow in life with children. Some weeks include authentic, inspiring, and encouraging insights from a mother who incorporates the flow-parenting approach with her family.

When adults allow children to be in flow, they provide access to the child’s potential of mastery. Proficiency takes more than thinking, reading, hearing about, or just wanting something. Advanced skill levels take practice, and the most powerful, effective practice is done during activities that children choose for themselves.

In this book, parents will discover how to:

✩ Support the flow state in children to help them grow and thrive.

✩ Create a home, a sanctuary, where you and your children love to spend time, find fulfilling activities, and can replenish from school and work.

✩ Create spaces and choose toys and learning materials that help children drop into flow states.


✩ Debunk current myths in education, including the overuse of rewards and the erroneous expectations of academic rigor in early grades.

✩ Help children process their time at school and other potentially stressful experiences with tension-release supports.

✩ Nurture mutual respect between you and your child.

✩ Reinvigorate your own life with flow experiences.

Conscious and mindful parenting necessarily leads parents to think about conscious education. The preferred solution would be to offer children a school they love. If there is no child-friendly school in your area, NLC Consulting can help you learn how to provide an inspiring home environment and become an advocate for your children’s needs at their current school.

“Through Mindful Parenting, parents learn the power of allowing their children to live in a state of “being” rather than incessant “doing.” Instead of imposing their will onto their children, parents learn to build alliances with their children in a manner that optimizes their inherent strengths and virtues. Here, the parent-child relationship is viewed as a two-way street where transformation is deeply and mutually reciprocal.” – Dr. Shefali Tsabary, Phd

Dr. Shefali’s Mindful Parenting concepts are easily adapted to the educator-student relationship. As with parenting, educators learn to allow children to live in a state of being, avoid imposing their will on them and learn to build alliances with children.

The NLC approach provides a container for conscious educators to remain in ongoing dialogue with their students and adapt themselves, their learning environments, and teaching methods to the genuine needs of their students. In addition, educators in the NLC model learn to take care of their own needs and heal from personal childhood wounds, thus interrupting the chain of negative conditioning transferred from generation to generation.

Conscious parents are willing to learn together with their children and keep their hearts and minds open to find an educational approach that is suitable for their child.

So let’s not give up on the possibility of creating conscious schools. NLC is dedicated to helping create child-friendly schools worldwide through its online courses and personalized consulting:
– Existing schools can transition to child-directed learning and non-invasive teaching.
– Homeschooling parents can find like-minded parents, connect in groups, and share learning environments, hands-on materials, and other resources.

The NLC facebook group is an online forum for educators and parents to connect online:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/NewLearningCulture/

Here are a few links to books about Conscious Parenting:
Dr. Shefali: The Conscious Parent

Dr. Chris White’s Mindful Discipline: A Loving Approach to Setting Limits and Raising an Emotionally Intelligent Child

For infant and toddlers: Emmi Pikler,  Anna Tardos , and Magda Gerber discovered self-directed learning for infants and toddlers. Janet Lansbury is continuing their work and adapting it to our time:
Janet Lansbury: Elevating Child Care: A Guide to Respectful Parenting

Healthy children love to be active and play; they are naturally drawn to touching and exploring their environments. Why not collaborate with this natural instinct and provide opportunities for experiential learning? Especially basic math, such as fractions, geometry, algebra etc. should be taught with tangible materials – to keep the joy of learning alive!

Hands-on experiences build a foundation for the abstract concepts of books and results in deep understanding that is rooted in the body. This is the foundation for heart-based intelligence. Through the use of hands-on materials, children can more naturally develop their skills, such as fine and gross motor, sensorial and academic skills, logical, visual, and kinesthetic thinking. They can make use of their natural capacity to focus all energies on one activity in the present moment, and master the elementary and middle school curriculum with ease.

Many child-centered educators developed hands-on learning materials, knowing very well that children learn by doing. New Learning Culture Consulting uses selected materials, elements, and teaching skills from Maria Montessori, Friedrich Froebel, the Reggio Emilia approach, democratic education, Boris and Lena Nikitin, Rudolf Steiner/Waldorf, Célestin Freinet, Elfriede Hengstenberg, Eduard Seguin, Rebeca and Mauricio Wild, Anne Beate Huber, Claus-Dieter Kaul.

Topics, usually taught only on paper, can be introduced with hands-on learning materials: addition, subtraction, multiplication, times-tables, division, fractions, decimals, percentages, money, geometry, square-roots, basic algebra, language, grammar, science, history, astronomy … you name it!

Materials are available for each developmental stage. Some are interesting for all ages. For example, a square root board can be used for square root equations, and also to make beautiful patterns.

Many materials can be made at home with art supplies and recycled materials such as egg boxes. Visit the NLC blog for a few DIY instructions to materials or check some of the countless online resources.

When hands-on materials are provided in a self-directed learning environment with healthy boundaries, children can learn at their own pace while receiving error feedback and experiencing the direct results of their activities. This is very empowering and allows for intelligence and even brilliance to emerge.

LINKS TO VARIOUS EDUCATION APPROACHES:
(Note: I list these links because I like them. I do not receive any portion of the sales.)

Maria Montessori
Montessori materials are developed for kindergarten, elementary and high school ages. They are basically divided into practical life, sensorial language, mathematics, biology, and geography materials.

•To create your own materials/DIY:
My blog and articles

www.montessorimom.com

www.montessorimaterials.org

• To buy materials:
www.earlyschoolmaterials.com (Made in US, family-owned business)
www.montessoriequipment.com (Affordable Materials made in China or Thailand, not clear from website)
www.nienhuis.com (Founder Albert Nienhuis collaborated with Dr.Montessori)
www.etsy.com (A global hand-made market place)

Friedrich Froebel
The Froebel hands-on materials, called “Gifts” were developed for kindergarten ages, but can be provided for elementary grades, too. They train spatial, mathematical, and architectural thinking. Frank Lloyd Wright loved them! They clarify the concepts of two and three dimensions, building, constructing, structuring, recognizing, and creating meaningful patterns.
They can be used in three different ways:
– Forms of Life (to tell/hear stories in connection with the child’s life),
– Forms of Knowledge (to learn specific math, geometry or language skills)
– Forms of Beauty (to explore symmetric patterns, such as mandalas, and assymmetrical patterns)

• Philosophy:
www.froebelfoundation.org
www.froebelgifts.com

• Materials:
www.froebelusa.com
(Scott Bultman’s company, Author of “The Paradise of Childhood: Froebel Quotes”)

Boris and Lena Nikitin
The Russian parents Boris and Lena Nikitin raised their seven children in the 1960s believing firmly in the natural ability to learn and adjust to environments. They transformed their home into play and learning environments and developed highly intelligent learning materials which are being used in European alternative schools. I haven’t found them for purchase in the U.S. yet.

www.spielundlern.de
www.nikitinmaterial.de

The Reggio Emilia approach
The Reggio Emilia approach originated for kindergarten in Northern Italy after WWII. Today a few alternative schools are continuing this approach for elementary children.
To summarize, Reggio Emilia is based on the following:
– Raising awareness for community through participation in the village/town events, and providing a community space and art gallery at the school.
– Developing the child’s “One-Hundred Languages” (a famous poem by founder Loris Malaguzzi) through art. In fact the children are provided with an elaborate art studio that also allows self-directed learning.
– “Look at the child” is a descriptive term for teachers getting inspired by the child’s world and imagination, and allowing an emerging curriculum through co-creation with the child.
– High awareness of “the environment being a third teacher”, next to the child, and the teacher.

• North American Reggio Emilia Alliance NAREA:
www.reggioalliance.org

Rudolf Steiner/Waldorf
• Philosophy:
www.iaswece.org

• Materials
www.thewoodenwagon.com

Célestin Freinet
• Philosophy:
www.freinet.org

Emmi Pikler and Anna Tardos
• Wisdom for being with babies:
www.wholefamily.com
www.pikler.org

Elfriede Hengstenberg
• Materials:
www.pikler-hengstenberg.at
www.aipl.org/Autriche-A.html

Rebeca and Mauricio Wild
• Philosophy:
“Raising Curious Creative Confident Kids” (book)

Eduard Seguin
• Materials:
www.earlyschoolmaterials.com

Ancient Materials
• China: Abacus
• Incas: Taptana, Yupana

Child-friendly Furniture
www.communityplaythings.com (Made in US, family-owned business)