Reaching Roots For Parents

In a time where we currently save every memory and picture online, what’s often missing is the voice of our grandparents and great-grandparents.

Stories that helped younger generations understand where they come from and gave them tools for the future have been lost to live-streaming and comment sections.  Yet, those lessons can provide valuable insight into ourselves and how to overcome some of our biggest struggles.

Jill Phillips grew up in a London that no longer exists, London in the early 1960’s. The stories of her parents and relatives who struggled to overcome the trauma of WWII touched her deeply.  Motivated by the stories, Jill recaptured that unique time to pass on to the younger generation through her lively and hilarious book, Lamlash Street.

In this episode, Jill talks to us about how today’s families can connect younger generations and kids to their family’s history, preserve family stories in writing and the surprising and enlightening lessons that come with understanding her own past family strife.

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In today’s world full of screens, parents have to work hard to set boundaries and to enforce them.  Screens are everywhere and most times, children binge on video games, Netflix, or YouTube or some form of social media.  These technologies also forcing our kids into more mature content sooner, given the difficult of controlling some of this.

Drew is the marketing director of at Tonies, a company that created a brightly colored, screen-free smart speaker for kids, the Toniebox.   They married technology together with physical kid’s toys or figurines that they call ‘Tonies’.  Whether it be a Lion King toy or a Cars toy, they have lots of these Tonies that kids can play with and place on top of a magnet, to open up a whole new world of story-telling adventures and imagination.

Tonies originally launched in Germany in 2016 and is currently one of the fastest growing toy brands in Europe.  They have launched recently in North America and have already sold over 1.7m Tonieboxes.

In this episode, Drew talks to us about - Why removing the screen is critical to the creative development process and how we can use the power of storytelling to empower children to be creators, authors, and performers.   He also talks about how purely instruction-based toys prevent our kids from developing their creativity. 

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Most Parents feel awkward or unprepared to have a conversation about sex and relationships with their children.   Mandi says "What you think you should be telling your kids about sex, is not what you should tell them."

Research tells us that kids and teens who have regular conversations with their parents and caregivers about sex and their bodies are less likely to take risks with their sexual health, and more likely to be safe, have healthy relationships and have higher self-confidence with their bodies. So how do you start this conversation with your kids?

Mandi Nutall is the author of The Birthday Suit Books, which teach parents how, when, and what to say as they approach talking to their children about anatomy, sex, fertilization, pregnancy, and safety.  She encourages open and honest communication, so our children feel safer coming to us with personal questions.

Mandi makes it simple and empowers parents to then empower their children to respect and love their bodies. Her mission is to help amend generations of shame and embarrassment about our body—our greatest gift—into one of admiration and respect.  She says “We have one shot to teach our kids to respect their body, and we can't leave that up to the world—it's our job and divine responsibility.”

Mandi, is a former high school health teacher, a collegiate volleyball player, a photographer, and a mother of 5. Through a life of struggle, surviving cancer, miscarriages, and helping her 2-year-old daughter fight cancer, Mandi believes in miracles and in the limitless potential within families to do good and raise knowledgeable children.

In this episode, Mandi tells us why most teenage kids are clueless about their bodies and sex, and how we can prepare them better.

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Many parents fail to recognize that their kids have different ways. Gail Swift recognized this with her young children - that they work in a different way than she does.

She describes these differences as “I thrive on having a lot of things going on at once and work best under pressure. I brainstorm with my mouth then see if it’s a viable option. Noah, my oldest, needs to finish what he starts. He likes to have a plan before he begins, but if he’s put in a room with kids that need the details and kids that want the big picture, he can find the middle ground and bridge the gap. Tyler, my youngest, doesn’t need to finish what he starts (which can make chore time difficult), but excels at physical tasks. He’s a natural with body language and can usually tell when someone is having a bad day”

As a parent, you need to figure out your child’s strengths and natural abilities. Identifying this, helps them find an optimal path in life, find a career in which they will excel and to gives them the best chance to succeed.

Gail Swift is a proven professional that helps parents find their children’s unique natural abilities.  She is a speaker, a certified life coach and President of Plans to Prosper.  In this episode, Gail talks to us about how every person is uniquely and perfectly capable of creative problem solving, and how our individual creative instincts are the source of mental energy to create our own pattern of taking action.

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With the pandemic, so many kids have gained weight or developed unhealthy eating habits...along with too much screen time and perhaps a decrease in their sports or daily exercise. 

Lori Fishman says “At this point, we all need an immunity-booster”.  Lori is a child and adolescent psychologist, a parenting coach, and an Instructor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School.  She has worked with thousands of parents and families, helping them to improve eating behaviors, increase exercise, and ultimately achieve a healthier lifestyle and stronger, leaner bodies.

What if there was a way to dramatically cut down the amount of snacking your family does on a daily basis without being on a "diet" or shaming?  Lori spent 12 Years at Boston Children's Hospital, providing families with behavioral strategies for weight management.  She has helped over 10,000 families and provides training to medical providers, school nurses, gymnastics coaches and girl scout troop leaders.

In this episode, Lori shares with us how parents can safely talk to their children about weight, and improve their family's eating and exercise behaviors...quickly and easily.

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Children growing up today are alarmingly consumed by technology, at a detriment to their social upbringing.

Talking and listening to children fosters bonds, encourages listening and helps develop stronger relationships. Conversation helps kids express themselves, resolve conflicts, ask for help, and learn.  It helps them make friends, create social relationships, build self-esteem, and increase confidence.  Yet, technology can distance children from this fundamental element and skill of everyday life.

John Schwind, an entrepreneur, was inspired by his two kids and the desire to give them a tangible childhood filled with thoughtful and meaningful exchanges.  John created a series of self-guided workshops for families between the ages of 9 to 14, where a child and a parent exchange thoughts, ideas, and feelings that build and strengthen their relationship in the digital age.  He calls his platform, Converlation.

In this episode, John explains the importance of talking with each other, the impact of technology and what we can to regain the lost art of conversation in a digital world.

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Did you know that Preschool math scores predict 5th grade performance, and 8th grade math scores predict high school drop-out rates?

Most high paying jobs, from software development to engineering, from data analysis to architecture – all need math, yet only 25% of high school students are meeting the math standards.

Aditya Nagrath is the CEO and Co-Founder at Elephant Learning Math Academy, an automated math academy that guarantees your child will learn one year of math in three months with only 30 minutes a day.

Elephant Learning was founded by two university mathematicians who based their methods on hundreds of years of research, and have now taught over a million months of math to students.

In this episode, Aditya talks about how to find out your kids' math age, how e-learning help and how his approach equips parents and children with the tools necessary for math success.

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Not every girl wants to be a princess. Some want to run the castle. Design the moat. Or break the glass slipper and open a company with better footwear.

The Startup Squad empowers girls with an entrepreneurial mindset so they can realize their potential, whatever their passions.  It is about helping them become more than they can imagine, by exploring entrepreneurship at an early age. It teaches them basic business skills and helps them learn grit, a growth mindset, and how to fail, and then start again. And again.

Brian Weisfeld, after a rewarding career with world-class brands, like IMAX and Coupons.com, found inspiration through his daughters to create The Startup Squad. He says “When my oldest daughter was 8 years old, she struggled to sell Girl Scout cookies, and then fumbled around trying to run a charity bake sale with a friend.  She was incredibly enthusiastic! But she didn’t know what to do while she stood at the end of our driveway, surrounded by delicious baked goods.”

In this episode, Brian shares with us advice on how to inspire and develop the entrepreneurial spirit in young girls, for them to change the world and improve lives around them.

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Math is a critical skill for children to make sense of the world around them.  It starts early with play, observing patterns and shapes, looking at and counting objects.

Math then becomes an important component of education and a requirement, if a student is to have any success in STEM , which stands for Science, Technology, Math, Engineering.  Many students don’t even consider STEM fields because they lack confidence in their own math skills.  For Marsha, it was not grades, but all the hobbies and creative projects… things that she dreamed up, problem-solved, and figured out on her own that kept her on course.

Math is so important to success in STEM fields, and Marsha has created fun experiments that show the magic and power of math.  She also encourages girls in STEM and enjoys developing experiments to give girls fun experiences with science, engineering, and math.

Marsha spent 35 years at GE Aviation, and has a PhD in engineering.  Today, her passion, as an engineer and an author, is to help students survive and thrive in STEM.

In this episode, we talk to Marsha, about how you can help set your kids up for success in Math, build the resilience that comes from learning from failure, and empower them to follow their dreams, even when it gets tough.

Visit https://wishslate.com/podcasts for Episode Transcript & Links to Resources