The Caring Instinct: Recent Episodes
Olga and Joe
A podcast for parents, carers, grandparents and childhood professionals - anyone with a significant role in a child's life. We, your hosts Olga and Joe, talk about developmental science, relationships, learning, play and emotional health in a way that we hope will be fun and helpful! If you'd like to join the conversation, check out our support group https://www.joeatkinson.co.uk/the-caring-instinct-support-group and follow our Facebook page for updates https://www.facebook.com/thecaringinstinct
Music by ManLikeChez
A strictly 10+ conversation about navigating Santa’s imminent arrival with young children. Where does the idea of Santa rewarding good boys and girls and punishing bad ones come from? Do we want to jump on the elf-on-the-shelf bandwagon? What if someone tells my child that Santa is not real? And what if Santa’s secret is the same as Nature’s: that there are no naughty kids?
thecaringinstinct #childdevelopment #developmentalapproach #behaviouralapproach #santa #behaviourmanagement #elfontheshelf #elfontheshelf2022 #christmas #themagicofchristmas #unconditionalparenting #5to7shift #fatherchristmas #understandingchildren #attachment
Welcome to our book club - and check out the video for this episode on https://www.facebook.com/thecaringinstinct where you can see the beautiful picture books. We share our favourite children's books and talk about how they can help to explore feelings with your little ones and develop their emotional intelligence and resilience.
These books are best for younger children: books to grow into and books to grow with! The books are Where The Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak, Today I Feel: An Alphabet of Feelings by Madalena Moniz and Now Matter What by Debi Gliori.
thecaringinstinct #thecaringinstinctbookclub #childrensbooks #emotion #feelings #booksaboutfeelings #emotionalintelligence #emotionalgranularity #emotionalagility #wherethewildthingsare #mauricesendak #todayifeel #madalenamoniz #thelonelytree #nicholashalliday #nomatterwhat #debigliori
We are used to thinking about emotions as reactions to what happens to us. But what if emotions precede experience? In the final part of The Play Instinct series we talk about the emotions of care and grief, how they show up in play and bring our children a message of resilience
thecaringinstinct #childdevelopment #developmentalapproach #play #playtherapy #attachment #care #grief #emotion #jaakpanksepp #neuroscience #attachment #parenting #resilience #emotionalresilience #mentalhealth #emotionalhealth
What happens to our joy, sadness or anger when we can’t express them without pushing away our loved ones? Who would win in a match between authenticity and attachment? And what has play got to do with it? We deep dive into the inner conflict faced by children and adults alike and bring you some surprising solutions and concrete examples – great for your parenting toolkit!
thecaringinstinct #emotion #mentalhealth #attachment #authenticity #play #playtherapy #childdevelopment #developmentalapproach #developmentalpsychology #gabormate #gordonneufeld #parenting
"The opposite of play is not work - the opposite of play is depression," says Dr. Stuart Brown. When we start to understand play, we find that we hold the key to mental health and resilience, stronger relationships, easier discipline, joy and growth. Play as a resource, what forms it can take, what stands in its way and our own journeys with it are some of the things we talk about in this episode.
thecaringinstinct #play #playtherapy #childdevelopment #emotion #attachment #parenting #developmentalpsychology
Halloween! When is it too much and when is it just the medicine the child and their grown-up need? Dr Gordon Neufeld’s theory of alarm defences and what your child’s take on Halloween can tell you about their alarm system. Can being ghouls, vampires and witches for a day be good for your relationship? And most importantly, will Joe ever love Halloween as much as Olga does?
thecaringinstinct #developmentalapproach #attachment #anxiety #alarmbasedplay #play #playtherapy #neufeld #halloween #halloweenforchildren #childdevelopment #developmentalpsychology
Joe and Olga chat about what happens when learning is rewarded, the loss and recovery of intrinsic motivation aka knowing what you want, a teacher who went cold turkey on rewards and marks, the ‘absorbent mind’ and Maria Montessori’s ideas and freedom and self-direction at a Sudbury school. Leave us a comment on https://www.facebook.com/thecaringinstinct to join the conversation!
thecaringinstinct #motivation #learning #education #absorbentmind #montessori #montessorieducation #montessorischool #rewardsandpunishments #earlyliteracy #literacyskills #sudbury #sudburyschool #autonomy
This episode is about parenting young children through persistent news of war and violence, something Olga’s English-Ukrainian family has been doing a lot of. We look into harnessing the protective power of a safe relationship and… playing war.
To add: like us, children feel empowered through action! Even just letting them know that we (as a family) have donated / volunteered/ raised our voices for good against evil makes them feel stronger and closer to us.
We’re honoured that people from all over the world listen to our podcast. We do realize that the timeline and proximity of violence is different for everyone. It might be much closer than WWII that we mention. We also understand that playing with guns is not only a developmental need but a privilege and is unsafe for many Black children. We stand with you for a safer and more just world for everyone.
thecaringinstinct #attachment #play #playtherapy #war #developmentalapproach
Rewards and punishments, pride and shame - we've been using them for centuries to get children to behave. But what are we losing sight of when we are focusing on behaviour? And why does the behavioural approach backfire? We start down the motorway of philosophy but quickly find ourselves on a bumpy country lane of raw personal experience in Episode 3 of the Caring Instinct podcast.
thecaringinstinct #behaviourism #behaviorism #behaviouralapproach #behavioralapproach #emotion #mentalhealth #depression #developmentalappoach #attachment #rewardsandpunishments #discipline
Olga and Joe continue talking about the challenges of starting school / nursery for the little ones and their families. Why tears in the morning and the dreaded after-school meltdown are precious for the child's emotional health, how to help our little ones feel connected in the morning and hold on to this connection throughout the day and how a game of hide-and-seek can train the child's alarm system. Give it a listen, follow, share and come for more!
developmentalpsychology #thecaringinstinct #startingschool #attachment #playtherapy
How to help a child who is starting school to feel safe, loved and connected. Practical ideas, the language of connection and the protective power of a right relationship between a young student and a teacher - as well as a chat about our own little ones!