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Latest Episodes:

Supporting Students with Dyslexia :: Kerri Irvin [Ep 317] Mar 08, 2021

Show notes

When it comes to learning differences and special education diagnoses, it can feel overwhelming and defeating to see your child struggle. My guest Kerri Irvin is a dyslexia specialist who has worked with countless children, teens and adults to help them thrive and embrace their learning differences.

“It amazes me the gifts that God provides for all children, alongside their challenges. For every challenge, an equally important, if not more significant, gift has been provided and their challenges, without fail, are gifts that support them with their talents and make them better learners and people.”

We talk about what dyslexia is, how students with dyslexia learn differently, ways to partner with your child’s teachers to help them succeed, and how to support friends who have children with learning differences. Kerri shares with passion and hope about how dyslexia is not just a learning challenge, but can be a strength.

Connect with Kerri

Email: kdicalt123@gmail.com

Site: SK Designs for Learning

Links Mentioned:

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Bruce Learns to Label His Feelings :: Bruce and Heather [Ep 316] Mar 01, 2021

Show notes

“What’s something you’ve grown in but at different speeds?”. After collecting listener questions, this question stood out to my husband Bruce. So instead of doing a general Q and A episode (in honor of our 22nd wedding anniversary), we decided to discuss Bruce’s journey in learning how to identify what he is feeling, labeling it and sharing it with others.

Listen to how we learned to process our feelings through church small group. And how we’ve grown as a couple to express those emotions in a healthy way.

“I think a common theme through all of this is just having a really constructive, clear language to talk about things. It is not like any one of these methods solves things. It's not a formula. The more precise and constructive and simple we make this language, the more effective communication can be.”

Here are the cards we reference in the show (see website show notes).

More Episodes with Bruce:

Links Mentioned:

Steps into God’s Grace (12 step program) by Lynn Hoffman
Recovery for Life :: Lynn Hoffman [Ep 129]
BOOK: People Fuel by John Townsend

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A Lil Help with Boys and Screens :: David Thomas [Bonus] Feb 26, 2021

Show notes

David Thomas and I talked for SOOOO long in our interview because he's the BEST. The last part of our convo was specific to handling screen time with boys. The DMA team figured we could shorten the main episode by releasing this part separately. Of course, David and I did not cover every angle of managing technology (people write whole books on that topic). But I hope it helps you feel less alone in the struggle and empowered to do a few things:

Create a Family Media Plan (or at least use the media calculator)--see links below
Discuss what creative things your family has done outside of screen time. After reminiscing, brainstorm new ideas.
Ask your son about one of his favorite video games. Perhaps sit down and play one with him. Let me know how it goes.

Links:

AAP family media time calculator and Media Plan
Among Us game
Mafia group game
Fortnite
Roblox
List of Movie Recs by Raising Boys and Girls (a page on my site, not on IG for you non-Instagram peeps)
Time and Space for Flourishing in a Tech World :: Andy Crouch [Ep 208]

Understanding Boys Better :: David Thomas [Ep 315] Feb 22, 2021

Show notes

Understanding the emotions of boys is a challenge no matter the age. Anxiety that presents as anger or distraction. Depression shows up as low-grade irritability. David Thomas returns to the show to answer listener questions about all things boy.

David is a family therapist and director at DayStar Counseling Center in Nashville. He has lots of experience counseling families and children and has a set of twin boys himself. We talk about teaching our sons about emotional language, going to counseling, helping sibling relationships, and managing boy energy levels.

“I think we need to be clear with boys. I think it's always helpful to use concrete language with them. When we're concise, clear, and concrete, those are kind of three rules of thumb, we can consistently be adopting. The mistake that I think we can make is we kind of soft pedal and dance around things.”

If you are a parent of boys, this is an episode for you! Watch for a bonus episode coming out later this week too.

Connect with David:

Website: raisingboysandgirls.com
Facebook: facebook.com/raisingboysandgirls
Instagram: @raisingboysandgirls

Links Mentioned:

Featured Sponsors:

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Talk to Your Kids about Race :: Kirsten Watson [Ep 314] Feb 15, 2021

Show notes

The topic of racial inequality and the need for reconciliation and education on race in America is a BIG. It can seem overwhelmingly big when it comes to teaching our kids how to be allies for people who are different from them.

My guest Kirsten Watson breaks down why we shouldn’t shy away from these conversations, but how to show our children the importance of diversity and how to righteously fight for what's right.

“As a believer, as my sister in Christ, the reason it's so imperative for you to have this conversation with your kids is because when it happens to my kid, when the joke is made, I need your kid to stand up for my kid. Because they know that my kid was made in the image of Christ and they know that God made us all different. That they would stand up for my kid, because my kid is any kid who is not white.”

Having these conversations with our kids and bringing it back to God's truth allows us to change the narrative and raise the next generation to continue to work toward racial unity.

Connect with Kirsten:

Website: https://thewatsonseven.com
Facebook: facebook.com/kirstenwatsonofficial
Instagram: @_kirstenwatson_

Links Mentioned:

Featured Sponsors:

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Overwhelmed Beyond Your Strength :: Jackie Askvig [Ep 313] Feb 08, 2021

Show notes

My guest Jackie and her husband David always thought they would foster and maybe adopt. After starting a family of their own, fostering siblings for a time and having twins, a viral photo of a malnourished orphan in Ukraine changed everything.

As Jackie and her family prayed for the boy to be adopted and cared for, God spoke to her heart.

“There were plenty of reasons that we could come up with, but no real reason that seemed good enough to say ‘no’ to it. So we committed to adopting him. We didn't even know what country he was from to start with people. God just said, that's your son.”

After committing to their first adoption, another boy in Ukraine in a similar situation came to their attention. He was soon to “age out” of the adoption system and was desperate for a family. Again, Jackie and her family prayed and again God called them to adopt.

Listen to the episode to learn more of Jackie’s story and all that God has done from them simply saying “Yes” to this assignment outside of her own strength. Another reminder not to overcomplicate motherhood, to watch how kids can flourish with love and care.

Here are side-by-side pics of Miles and Jonah from the day of adoption, to 1 year and 2 year anniversaries.

Connect with Jackie:

Instagram: @askvigsadopt

Links Mentioned:

Featured Sponsors:

Function of Beauty—
Hello Bello—

Why Read the Entire Bible? :: Tara Leigh Cobble [Ep 312] Feb 01, 2021

Show notes

Have you read the whole Bible? That was the question my guest Tara-Leigh Cobble struggled to answer while talking to a pastor friend. As she thought back through her life growing up in a Christian home, being involved in church and now working in full-time ministry and she couldn’t say for sure that she’d really read ALL of the Bible.

So she started a chronological reading plan to read it all, even the genealogies. But as she read, Tara had to wrestle with stories she’d never heard from the pulpit.

“I was questioning the Bible because I was reading the Bible and I was questioning not is this true, but is he good? Yeah. Do I like him? My mentor said the places where you have difficulty with God lean in because the good stuff is on the other side of this. The good stuff is on the other side of this struggle.”

After completing her own journey of reading the full Bible and seeing scripture and God in a new way, Tara-Leigh created The Bible Recap podcast and book to help others encounter God through his Word. And she’s here to give us a pep talk for reading the full Bible too.

“You behold the living God in scripture, and all of a sudden, instead of feeling burdened by your to-do list, you're going to be buoyed and carried along by the love of the God of the universe and by the person of who he is. And that's what I want you to take away from scripture every day, a vision of the God who loves you and who has already accomplished all that he requires of you.”

Connect with Tara-Leigh:

Website: www.taraleighcobble.com
The Bible Recap: www.thebiblerecap.com
Instagram: @taraleighcobble

Links Mentioned:

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Getting Brave About Anxiety :: Sissy Goff [Ep 311] Jan 25, 2021

Show notes

Sissy Goff is one of our favorite counselors to have on the show and she’s back with us to talk about her new guide for helping teen girls with worry and anxiety. But beyond that she offers hope and help for all of us as we experience hard emotions in the midst of this pandemic.

We talk about strategies for working through worry and anxiety for different ages and stages of kids and for us as moms. And Sissy reminds us to trust our instincts when it comes to helping our kids.

“You are not alone. And as a mom, your gut is your superpower. You are so intuitive and trust your gut on what's going on with your kids and, and have a few people that you trust a lot that you can talk to. Definitely talk about it because anxiety left untreated only gets worse. I'm seeing so much more in the pandemic that it's spilling over into depression.”

She also reminds us that asking for help is a brave and often necessary step for helping our kids learn practical ways to fight back when worries come up.

Connect with Sissy:

Website: raisingboysandgirls.com
Podcast: raisingboysandgirls.com/listen
Facebook: facebook.com/raisingboysandgirls
Instagram: @raisingboysandgirls

Links Mentioned:

Featured Sponsors:

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Finding Yourself in Motherhood :: Amber O'Neal Johnston [Ep 310] Jan 18, 2021

Show notes

Amber O’Neal describes herself as a homeschooling mama using Charlotte Mason principles in an atmosphere where “Charlotte Mason wears an afro.” She joins me to talk about how she unexpectedly found she loved homeschooling and working to help her kids love themselves and others.

“The Holy Spirit is the supreme educator and the Holy Spirit will speak directly and work directly with our children just as he does through us. And that was a total reframe for me because it gave me a lot of freedom and released a lot of pressure for me when I realized that I'm actually not the supreme educator, I am a guide and I'm going to come alongside my child and that my job is not to teach in the traditional sense of teaching, but more to act as a guide.”

Amber shares why she’s creating resources for her children and others to share books and history from people of color and the journey she’s been on with her children as she encourages them to embrace their skin color and cultural history.

And her resources and the Charlotte Mason principles aren’t just for homeschooling mamas. She has book lists of great things to read with your children to give them a more holistic view on black history, poetry and culture.

Connect with Amber:

Links Mentioned:

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Safe Conversations :: Harville Hendrix and Helen Hunt [Ep 309] Jan 11, 2021

Show notes

Harville Hendrix, PhD and his wife Helen Hunt, PhD have been helping couples for years as therapists, authors and speakers. They are on a mission to share the concepts of safe conversations with the world. They join me to share how their method can help us have more effective in-depth conversations with our spouse and children.

This works every time. It works with parents, with children and couples. It is something that we now know scientifically that if you mirror another person back accurately and with warmth and no judgment, something will happen inside of them. Something marvelous.

They model a safe conversation for us and offer a lot of encouragement and hope for couples who are struggling and how “Conflict is future growth waiting to happen.”

Harville and Helen have an amazing offer for DMA listeners. Use code DMA on their site at safeconversations.com to get 50% off your choice of SC Essentials or the Ultimate Couples Bundle, both courses will receive free tickets to a live workshop of your choice, a $196 value.

Connect with Harville & Helen:

Links Mentioned:

Safe Conversations courses: https://safeconversations.com

Featured Sponsors:

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