Extraordinary Parenting: the essential guide to parenting and educating at home

that children’s challenging behaviour is always a form of communication.

‘yes spaces’ effectively negate the need for a lot of traditional discipline.

Offering your child the space to ask ‘why’ time and time again is one of the most precious gifts you can give them.

With younger children especially, leaving an invitation to play for them to find in the morning can be a great way to buy you time to have a quiet coffee first thing.

If we want our children to learn to value their play, then we must show them that we value their play.

Rather, it’s about treating our children with respect and compassion, consciously slowing down and reclaiming our children’s right to play, and creating a rhythmic, intentional home environment where our children feel safe and flourish.

Rhythm is not just for children. Having an evening each week to go to for a run or a date night with our partner each month (even if it’s a takeaway pizza on the sofa in front of the TV) can make a huge difference to our lives, as we can anticipate that enjoyment and feel we have a right to it.

the environment doesn’t invite activity, exploration, or curiosity, then we always look at how we can fix the environment, not the child.

When you start to view challenging behaviour not as naughtiness which needs training, punishing, or discipline, but as a problem to solve together, the dynamic of your parenting shifts