To be motivated to sit at home and study, instead of going out and playing, children need a sense of themselves over time--they need to be able to picture themselves in the future.... If they can't, then they're simply reacting to daily events, responding to the needs of the moment--for pleasure, for affiliation, for acceptance.
Stanley GreenspanWe need to take a less narrow look at our childrenโs problems and, instead, see them as windows of opportunityโa way of exploring and understanding all facets of our childrenโs development. If we can understand the underlying developmental process, we can see a childโs struggles as signs of striving toward growth instead of chronic problems or attempts to aggravate adults.
Stanley GreenspanIf our society were truly to appreciate the significance of children's emotional ties throughout the first years of life, it would no longer tolerate children growing up or parents having to struggle in situations which could not possibly nourish healthy growth.
Stanley GreenspanParents are led to believe that they must be consistent, that is, always respond to the same issue the same way. Consistency is good up to a point but your child also needs to understand context and subtlety . . . much of adult life is governed by context: what is appropriate in one setting is not appropriate in another; the way something is said may be more important than what is said. . . .
Stanley GreenspanIf you do a little bit of looking at books with your children and inspire them to be curious about the pictures and ... what the word means, but don't get into very structured systematic teaching at too early an age, and you also interact emotionally and have fun with pretend play ... then you have the best of both worlds.
Stanley Greenspan