Hi there! My name is Lesley. Welcome to my new positive discipline/respectful parenting blog! I’m so glad you’re here:) First things first. I am, by no means, an expert on anything. None of the information you’ll find here is intended to take the place of advice from a licensed psychologist, therapist, doctor or any other professional you can think of. This blog is just a place for me to share things that have worked for me as a parent and as an early childhood teacher over the years. I’ll also share my struggles, mistakes, goals and parenting philosophy. No matter where you are in your parenting journey, I hope you’ll join me in mine.
What is Connected Hearts Parenting?
The name Connected Hearts Parenting was inspired by the idea that we must first form a connection with a child before we will be able to successfully correct their behavior. “Connection before correction” is something that I learned in the very first positive discipline class I took and the concept has stuck with me. Small connections over time can lead to a strong relationship in the future. Building healthy relationships with our children will give them a strong foundation for all their future relationships. This is why I believe so firmly in respectful parenting and positive discipline.
About Me
I’m the mom of two girls (ages 11 and 8) and one boy (age 5). My Positive Discipline journey actually started before I had my own children, as an early childhood teacher. I started working in early childhood education while I was still in college and have been teaching for about 16 years now. Most of my classroom experience is with infants and toddlers, but I’m fairly comfortable with preschool aged children. Although I never had any formal training in it as a teacher, I used many of the tools in the classroom. In addition to many child development and early childhood education classes, I also have training in PITC (The Program for Infant Toddler Care) and RIE (Resources for Infant Educaring). Positive Discipline, PITC, and RIE all share the underlying theme of respect for children. Respecting children is often confused with treating them like adults, when in fact all it means is treating them as people. Children may be small and inexperienced, but they are still whole people with their own thoughts, feelings, and opinions…but more on this in a future post:)
I had already been working with children for about five years and had taken several child development classes when I had my first daughter. I thought I was completely prepared for motherhood. Spoiler alert: I was not. I took my first Positive Discipline class as a parent when my oldest daughter was about three years old. She had just become a big sister and we were struggling. Tantrums. Hitting. Kicking. Screaming. I needed help and support, so a dragged my husband to a class. Let me tell you, it was life changing. I won’t lie, we still have our struggles but now we also have tools to help us through those struggles. After years of using Positive Discipline in my own home and in my classroom, I realized that I had a passion for sharing the tips and tools that I had learned over the years. I became a Certified Positive Discipline Parent Educator in April 2019. Now, I’m in the process of setting up my classes and am excited to teach my first class in January 2020.
Thanks for reading my first blog post:) I’m looking forward to sharing this journey with you.
Connected Hearts Parenting 