A few weeks ago, Shorecrest proudly announced that The Experiential School of Tampa Bay has achieved recognition as a certified outdoor classroom by Nature Explore, one of only 13 such schools in the state of Florida. Attaining this certification was the result of two years of work by the faculty. These efforts were undertaken because we recognize the benefits to our students of having a quality outdoor environment in which to play and explore.

Children can become masters of deal making and negotiating, and parents often resort to bribery. The question is, when these methods of deal making become the norm for resolving conflicts or gaining children’s cooperation, who wins and who loses? When talking about interactions between adults and children - whether parents and their children, or teachers and their students - the answer to this question is everyone loses.

Children’s social and emotional development and well-being are key to their personal, academic and future success. To develop positive self-esteem, children should be given and be expected to do things that are challenging but within their reach. When children are unwilling to do tasks of which they are capable and are rescued or excused from doing them, they get one of two messages:

With spring in full swing, many parents are now in the process of making summer plans and arrangements for their children. My favorite word regarding most things is “balance,” and children’s summers are no exceptions.