As you are all aware, over the past couple of months I have been writing a blog on Gloria DeGaetano’s excellent book called “Parenting Well in a Media Age”. So far, I have posted 7 blogs covering the introduction and first 6 chapters. There are only two chapters remaining which I am going to cover in the New Year, so please stay tuned! So far, I hope that I (through DeGaetano) have given you some insight into the effects that living in this media / industry generated culture can have on families today. In this inspiring book, the author provides us with a guide and many practical and simple ideas to help us safely navigate these deep, highly influencial, enticing and persuasive waters in order to maintain our identity, parent well and not get swept up, engulfed and left reeling by the tide. Creating a “Strong Parenting Identity” forms the platform for the Vital 5 essential needs as listed below (Gloria DeGaetano): 1. A loving Parent Child Bond 2. An Interior Life 3. Image Making 4. Creative Expression 5. Contribution as Relationship (Coming in January 2015) Time spent with your children during the holiday period will be a wonderful way …Read more →

Welcome to Chapter 6 of Gloria DeGaetano’s book “Parenting Well in a Media Age”. This chapter covers the fourth essential need of the vital five, that being CREATIVE EXPRESSION. In this intriguing chapter, the author highlights the need “to see creative expression as a basic human need” and examines how our creativity can become dampened in this media / industry-generated culture where we can be made to feel that our small creations are seemingly insignificant as compared to the mass displays of creative output everywhere. The author does make it clear that as much as we are surrounded by creativity and productivity she makes the distinction between mass-generated creativity and what she calls “commonplace creativity”. It is this commonplace creativity that she believes children today seem to be short changed of. How often do we hear of children today having hobbies such as bird watching, stamp collecting, sewing, knitting, drawing, woodwork, pressing wildflowers or painting? Children today spend much of their free time in front of screens, many of them playing non-creative games which is often their sole hobby. When our children spend time on screens we need to see that time as being time not spent doing other things, …Read more →

Being able to imagine, create pictures in our minds and visualize are what research is showing to be crucial elements to healthy brain development in children. Today I will be discussing chapter 5, “The Third Essential Need: Image Making” in the book Parenting Well in a Media Age by Gloria deGaetano. In this chapter she highlights just how important this is and how living in this media / industry generated age can rob children of the capacity to develop these key skills. “Imagination is more important than knowledge” – Albert Einstein For the following reasons DeGaetano believes that image making is paramount to all of our thinking process: Images weave a tapestry of thought and feeling that enable us to integrate knowledge with experience They provide an impetus to action They influence behaviors and decisions The ground floor of knowledge lies in our image-making capabilities According to the author we can facilitate this image making process: 1. Listening to Language: It can be achieved by reading to your children and by developing and enhancing their listening skills. Asking thought provoking questions that encourage them to think about what they see in their minds when they listen to a story is …Read more →