We’re delighted to welcome Mary Willow, esteemed and sought-after parenting expert to our kura (school) this June, many of you will recall just how wonderful her sessions have been during her past visits!
Talks will cover the whole of childhood, well into the teenage years.
Breaking Through: Rescuing Childhood and the Parent–Child Relationship with Mary Willow
Monday 8 June | 9:30–11:00am
Tuesday 9 June | 7:00–8:30pm
Titirangi Rudolf Steiner School Hall
Please note that both sessions are identical and you are welcome to attend one or both. These times will hopefully cater to a range of needs and schedules in our community. It will be a one hour talk, followed by 30 minutes Q&A.
There is no need to book, this is a free event- please feel free to share with your whānau and friends outside our school, all welcome!
Mary is a hugely revered and sought-after parenting expert. She brings a depth of knowledge and insight to child development and child-parent relationships – beloved by parents for her warmth, wisdom, and ability to help parents navigate the challenges they are facing. Mary has spent 34 years working with parents and children as a nurse, midwife, and Waldorf teacher. Since founding Plum Parenting in 2004, she has mentored hundreds of families across New Zealand and beyond, including many within our own community.
“There has long been a cry for a more humanistic model of parenting that allows a child to be a child. This might sound obvious and easy, but if children are enslaved to their defence system with its myriad reactive behaviours, they will never be free to be a child, no matter what approach is applied. Building healthy, respectful relationships with our children means grasping a single critical factor that is hiding in plain sight: there is not one child to parent but two! – the True Child, and the child’s defence system – the Guard Dog. Each has a contrasting set of behaviours, and each requires a radically different parental response. It is not the child’s flowering intellect that is at the forefront of brain development. In fact it is the child’s ancient survival brain that wants to run the show. And that character cannot be reasoned with!”
We warmly encourage you to come along if you can. Deepening our understanding of child development not only benefits your own family, it strengthens our collective connection to the kaupapa of the school, enhancing and better enabling the teachers’ work with our tamariki and rangatahi.
More info: www.PlumParenting.com
Mary will have copies of her book available for purchase
We hope to see you there! All welcome!
Email cdc@trss.nz with any questions.
