In her most recent book, Michelle Obama shares with the reader some wisdom from her own mother about parenting and teaching responsibility.

The story unfolds… when a kind neighbor with a car, took Gogo, her family, and especially her six-year-old great granddaughter, to the voting poll where she was able to successfully vote.

We are living through troubling times. Our stress and worry affect the children in our lives as well. Using this book can help you open up a discussion with a group of children or with one child who is struggling.

To “assume responsibility” may sound a little like simply following the rules society has imposed on certain everyday paradigms, but it is really about children learning to assume responsibility for and among themselves.

A child will react to a good humored request faster than an order, a calm voice rather than an excited or frustrated one. Modeling working together as a family helps a child to feel part of a whole and more willing to participate.

The children built a voting booth out of blocks and a chair so they could all have turns voting. Then they had the rest of the morning to vote.

In this month’s Dear Olive Branch, we explore both visible and invisible aspects of taking responsibility for ourselves: setting or recognizing boundaries, personal space, and problem solving.

The Significant 7 is a list of beliefs that a child forms about themself over time. How does that happen? Caring adults provide opportunities for children to take responsibility and then talk together about how it went.