peace – Peace Learning Center

17 07, 2015

Family Bonding Time

Brandi Metzger2021-05-20T17:42:12-04:00July 17th, 2015|Tags: family, peace|

Children learn how to behave by watching their parents interact with each other and in society. Family bonding time is an excellent way to model behaviors for your children and teaches them how to communicate with family members, friends and society. In my house, our family bonding time is Sunday dinner followed with a game. During dinner we go "round robin" style asking questions and talking about each one. "I don't know" is not an option when we ask questions like: What was the best thing that happened this week and why? What was the worst thing that happened this week and why? What is something new you've learned this week? What did you do to help another person this week? This really opens up communication for us, allowing us to praise the good things, learn new things and actually "hear" what's going on in the lives of our family as well as reinforcing the importance of helping others. We try to keep it light so no one feels frustrated, angry, or closes up and doesn't share. As parents, we get to impart life experiences and wisdom by asking guiding questions to help our children make better choices and think about the decisions they make. Without even realizing it, our parental frustration and worry level goes down because our children open up and communicate with us. We are bonding, we are learning what's happening in each others lives, and we're displaying behaviors that can be used in children's lives. Once

16 07, 2015

5 Tips for Parents

Brandi Metzger2021-05-20T17:42:12-04:00July 16th, 2015|Tags: parenting, peace|

5 TIPS FOR PARENTS Parents have tremendous responsibilities. Each child is born into this world with an open heart and open mind. Each moment helps shape a young person's thoughts and feelings for a lifetime. With four children in our household, my wife Meg and I get many chances to raise young people. Each child is different with their unique personalities. Parenting is the most rewarding and consuming part of life I've experienced. Here are a few ideas about parenting I've picked up over the last 20 years: Tim with his extended family at last year's Mustached Turtle Dash! Kids need love and acceptance - not criticism and judgment - but it is a balance. Can you be a nurturing authority that sets boundaries and tolerates action within those boundaries? It is better to have positive and open relationships with your children than an oversight and monitoring role. Our children need us when they get in trouble. If they think sharing with you will get them in deeper trouble and not be helpful, you may miss opportunities before things really get bad. Keep calm and don't yell. I've had my share of mad dad moments to later regret my behavior because the louder you get, the louder the whole house will be. Not a good example. In this age of computers and electronic devices, it is best to make plans and tell your kids they will be joining

21 04, 2015

The Mindful Path – Students Learn Peace Through Mindfulness

Brandi Metzger2021-05-20T17:42:19-04:00April 21st, 2015|Tags: Mindfulness, peace, students, teachers|

Hello from guest blogger, Lisa Robinson! In this post, I want to tell you about an excellent resource for teachers who want to help themselves and their students learn to use mindful practices. Here’s a link to the site "Mindful Teachers - Living, Learning, and Teaching with Mindful Awareness": https://ow.ly/LSMiV. Mindful Teachers provides a blog, free resources and lesson plans, and many other resources. If you are a teacher or a parent interested in sharing mindfulness with students, you will find excellent information here. Here you’ll find description of a Pebble Meditation that helps students cultivate internal peace so that they can share this approach with the world around them: https://ow.ly/LSMQq. The process uses four pebbles, mindful breathing, and visualization. See more details in the book “Teach, Breathe, Learn,” by Meena Srinivasan. I hope that you enjoy the wide range of resources at the "Mindful Teachers" site. Please leave any questions or comments you may have in the section below. I wish you the peace and satisfaction that can come from experiencing mindfulness.

11 03, 2014

Feeling angry? Remember….Count to Five

Brandi Metzger2021-05-20T17:42:59-04:00March 11th, 2014|Tags: conflict, count to five, peace, sesame street|

We heart Sesame Street! This refreshingly beautiful music video featuring Gwen Bunn & Phonte is a great reminder for people of ALL ages to take a "Peace Breath" and count to five before responding to a situation that could lead to conflict. Just imagine what a better world this would be if all of us remembered and utilized this simple advice.