Not all adolescents rebel nor need to. How would any of us ever survived teaching middle school if they ALL have to? lol!

This is a lie. The ones who rebel are usually the ones coming from some sort of hurting or controlling environment. Did they lose a parent due to divorce? Death? Or were the parents very controlling or never available emotionally from the start? What other trauma occurred?

Rapunzel (in Disney’s movie version) got wise advice from Flyn. She did have to rebel against her mother. For her mother was keeping her from growing up. She had isolated her and prevented her from doing so in order to meet her own selfish needs. She, the mother, never learned how to meet her needs appropriately through healthy adult relationships. She believed the only way to get those needs met was to do so through manipulative control.

Too many parents never received or experienced healthy love themselves when they were children. They only “know” how to manipulate to get what they want. Their “love” (or better lack there of) comes from their fears of being known, accepted and loved.

Love frees.  Fear controls. By which are your motivated by?

Click on http://redpandanetwork.org/red-panda-wisdom-from-a-cub-called-rojo/    to see why Rojo fits in perfectly for Bully Prevention Month inspiration.

Click on RojoWhether you are big or small  to download a coloring page in English

RojoWhether you are big or smallEspanol2 to download a coloring page in Spanish

http://www.nbcwashington.com/contact-us/community/Be-Kind-October-is-National-Bullying-Prevention-Month-328871821.html

#BeKind #BeRespectful

Mark your calendars for September 19, 2015.  Click on International Red Panda Day 2015 to find or to create an event near you.

Miami come out and join us at Zoo Miami.  Look for the table under the tent outside the gift shop.

#InternationalRedPandaDay #redpandas

Happy International Literacy Day!  Let’s all find uplifting and inspiring texts like Rojo to read on this special day.  May we then use the words to speak encouragement to one another.

#LiteracyDay #Inspiration

Rigor in the classroom. Click on the statement in green for an informative article on educational rigor written by Laurie Futterman in the Miami Herald on August, 11, 2015.

Rigor should not be confused with oppressive work load.  If you feel your child is overwhelmed with too much homework, speak up.  Talk to the teacher and be your student’s advocate.

Not all teachers or administrators fully understand how to implement rigor in a motivational way.  Plus our society’s innate laziness may initially counter it.  Self-discipline and delayed gratification are lost practices of our day.

I love what technology has to offer, but it too easily enables “dumb-ing down.” It’s not politically correct to bring up our weaknesses, ie. laziness, but we only fool ourselves by pretending they don’t exist.

While we embrace what technology has to offer, let us not forget to build a strong foundation with basic skills.  And may we remember to practice them often least they get lost while we push buttons.

#rigor #parenting

Sunday, August 16, 2015 Hope will be signing copies of Rojo.  Her daughter will be leading children in making red panda masks.  Both will be educating about pandas, endangered species, and how one can make a positive difference!  Join the fun.

I’m a few days late, but this is better than missing it completely.

Wearing red on  last Friday symbolized support of stopping the violence that has kicked back up in this country as if we’ve reverted back to the pre-civil rights era.  Get your facts straight. Click on this article Union between BLM and other political organizations and see how Rojo combats this trend and gets us back on track.‪

“The BDS anit-Israel movement hopes that by drawing comparisons to South Africa’s apartheid regime in the 1980’s toIsrale today they can trick the naive into believing their cause is equally just.”  

Don’t be naive.  Just like the misconception that the Giant Panda is the original panda they’re trying to deceive you into believing a whole other lists of non-truths.

Whether you are big or small, black or white, rich or poor,  healthy or sick you matter!

Special days like “Endangered Species Day” are designated to increase awareness and understanding of how humans can better care for their shared environment with a multitude of different species.

Click on EndangeredSpeciesDay2015 to open a complimentary lesson for 4th-6th Grade Students.    Check out “Rojo, The Baby Red Panda at the Zoo” to accompany.  After all books are critically endangered too.  Click on Beyond the Classroom: Books — a critically endangered species by Laurie Futterman

#EndangeredSpeciesDay #FreeReadingActivity #Redpandas

Feeling trapped in being completely misunderstood.  Struggling to fit in with the norm.  Acting out in frustrated emotion from the two.  And then the cycle starts all over.   Does this describe autism?

I wrote “Rojo, The Baby Red Panda at the Zoo” from observing how often those frustrated by whatever limits them,  behave in self-destructive ways that originate from pity party thinking.

Misinformation will lead others to think incorrectly about us.  Most of us don’t know that red pandas were named panda 40-50 years prior to the giant panda.  Most of us think pandas have to be big, black, and white.

Likewise, how much do we not know as a society about autism?  Do we miss out on how these humans contribute to our lives just as much as the rest of us who may not struggle with autism?

Be inspired as Rojo learns to reject the misinformed view kids have about her as she learns to embrace what God had in mind by creating her as a red panda instead of a giant panda.   Check out a copy today at your favorite online retailer.

#LIUB World Autism Awareness #autismawareness #books #Parents # kids #Red Panda

Click on Vote to conserve red pandas in Nepal by March 30, 2015!   to go to European Outdoor Conservation Association link to vote.

Thanks Zoo Miami for hosting me today for a great day of fun and education.