Healthy child development rests on the foundation of unconditional love. That’s what allows for the provision of all the things a child needs. What are these things?
Dr Gordon Neufeld says there are four. (You can read more about these in Gabor Maté’s book The Myth of Normal.)
“The attachment relationship: children’s deep sense of contact and connection with those responsible for them.”
“A sense of attachment security that allows the child to rest from the work of earning his right to be who he is and as he is.”
“Permission to feel one’s emotions, especially grief, anger, sadness, and pain - in other words, the safety to remain vulnerable.”
“The experience of free play in order to mature.”
Is it not true that children who arrive at school
+ secure in their connection to their caregivers,
+ with a strong sense that who they are is ok,
+ able to express themselves,
+ and full of vim and vigour and curiosity about the world that play gives them
are the ones who learn well?
Which begs the question: As a society, which of these four needs have we made easy for parents to provide and which ones are hard?
And going further, for whom is the provision of these needs easier or harder?
Today’s message from Pluto
“The best thing is being together. Woof!!!”
