[ArmsOfLove]

one thing that I want to learn to do is have amazing conversations with my dd during those teaching moments... how do I learn to do *THAT* without an example to see? Some of the conversations you've had with your kids that I've read in your writings just make me ... you are so incredibly skilled at breaking things down to their level, but not "dumbing" it down... is there a book I can read or something? I so long to be a wise teacher, to help her make sense of life...but I don't even understand most of life right now.

First, thank you for your kind words

As for how to know what to say . . . it really helps that I taught the Kindergarten class at the church where I learned a lot of what was to become the foundations for GBD I realized when you can figure out how to explain deep theological concepts, and big life concepts, to children then you can explain them to anyone. But getting there meant I tuned in to the very confused faces of children as I tried to explain those things. Lots of before I finally got a You should have seen the little boy who was saying his throat hurt when I asked if he was just a little hoarse? No, I mean, did he have a frog in his throat? I mean . . . does your throat hurt? "Oh, yes."

mostly I just think about what the basics of something end up being. And I try to tell it in a story-telling way. It also really helps that my oldest has autism because when you start out your mothering having to explain what a smile and a frown are you learn how to explain lots of things most people take for granted. And, as it turns out, that has allowed me to explain things to my children very early compared to when lots of children will pick things up. You might see if your library has some books on Social Stories in the special needs section--you can see lots of story telling and dialoguing broken down into very simple terms.

I also love, "How to talk so kids will listen and listen so kids will talk"

hth