noticing and wondering about stories

This is a summary of the third episode of the CosmoParenting Podcast titled "noticing and wondering about stories." To listen to the complete episode, access the episode transcript, subscribe to the CosmoParenting Subtack, and leave comments to engage in dialogue with our community, follow the link below.

Listen to Episode three of CosmoParenting here.

What do you 'notice'? What do you 'wonder'?

Episode 3 of the CosmoParenting Podcast is out now and in this episode, Abbie is joined by Stephanie Higgs- a gifted educator with 14 years of experience teaching students from Pre-K to 5th grade- to share a parenting strategy inspired by practices from her classroom.

First, Stephanie explains the concept that inspired these 'Animate' episodes- "pre-teaching."

"The idea of pre-teaching involves explicit training and teaching on a variety of strategies, as we hope to help children build, develop, and refine a toolbelt that’s filled with resources they can pull from in a variety of situations... Let’s think about the time of the day when students may feel overstimulated- recess! Energy and emotions are running high and conflict may be likely to occur. In moments like this, it can be difficult to try and teach life lessons because kids are often already upset or dysregulated. Instead, pre-teaching means that we are hypothesizing through imagined, likely, real-world experiences, but in a neutral setting. This way, when similar instances occur in the child’s life, they have access to some tools and strategies that they can employ in real time."

Next, Stephanie offers us the strategy 'Notice and Wonder.'

"Today, we are pre-teaching a useful strategy called 'Notice & Wonder.' It’s a simple format that helps people of any age frame and understand a variety of concepts. It involves asking yourself two questions: First, what are you noticing? And second, what are you wondering? This allows you to take some time to feel attunement and develop an awareness of your observations. Then, it’s time to act on what you ‘Notice and Wonder!’"

This week there are no prompts for reflection. Just a prompt for ACTION! Create a moment to use 'Notice and Wonder' in your parenting. You can also practice in non-parenting contexts. Consider how this might be useful with your friends or at work!

Listen to the full episode here.