Share a couple of the photos you took outside. Write a short explanation for them and answer one or more of the following questions:

1. What inspired you to take these particular pictures of nature?

2. How do you feel when you spend time in nature?

3. What childhood memories do you have of playing outside? What kind of learning do… Read more

Once you become a parent your life will change, parenting is hard for sure, not only is your child growing but you do too.You’ll learn more about each other, as your child grows . Advice i would give is to teach your child respect, what the meaning is and who you should show respect to. Growing up i was always told to respect our elders. I feel…

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Tara, thank you for sharing your advice that was passed onto you. I love being reminded of traditional teachings and makes me want to be a better parent.

When you mentioned the part of favouritism, it reminded me not only about conflict resolution but also about individuality. When a person has conflict with others (or themselves), they…

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Unoccupied/solitary play

I was always outside during my childhood. I’d play in the bushes and trees and pretty much all over that’d catch my attention that looked fun. And I’d also play games with my cousins like hide and go seek and playing in the mud and play all kinds of different fun games.

I believe every child is different and therefore some children can learn things faster than one another but that doesn’t mean it’s not normal. It’s okay if that happens because every child take things at their own pace

Growing up, my brothers and late sister would put my nieces and nephews in a swings and and I remember always being told to wear black thread on your wrist because the loved ones who passed away could try and take you home with them.

I chose the tipi because every pole had a meaning to what kept our families and our community connected.

A traditional practice that I use every day would be smudging either with Sage or sweet grass everyday giving thanks and prayers for everyone. I try to speak as much Cree around my kids that I know,to keep our language strong as I always hear from our elders our language is very important that we have to learn it .Other Traditional…

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Advice I’d give to a dad is although baby seems to always want mom, baby needs them just as much. To help build a bond they can be more involved in baby’s routine which can help mom have a little more time for herself. I think communication is key with your partner to share what you would like to do with baby . Dads can find their own way of how…

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All the traditional teachings mention, I too have the same understanding as you all talked about, that I took into my pregnancies as well such as not to be lazy or make fun of any one while pregnant … One teaching that I didn’t see mention, that my Kokom told me was not to yell or curse when giving birth. Hard ! I know right lol but i think it…

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I have experienced and done each 6 forms of play throughout my childhood, due to different experiences and circumstances. Going from an only child, then to school and making friends to play with all my cousins, then disagreement within those time, then organized sports in school.

Children are pure and must be treated and cared for with the highest honor from the womb to earth side. In the womb, there are things the woman cannot due depending on her culture but this is for protection of her and the child from eating certain foods, sewing, and beading and they all have reasons to them. When they are earth side they are to…

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I would encourage parents to talk to their child, sing with their child and read to them as much as they can. Explain what your doing, why you’re doing it, even if they are a baby because they are smart and this also helps them recognize your voice. Immerse yourself and your child in your culture and learn together, make it a routine to…

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1: How would you define normal?

I do not believe in labelling children or people; every one is unique in their way when it comes to learning, behaviors and gifts. Although we do have charts and maps that are general timelines they should not be the face for ‘normal’.

2: How can developmental milestones help visitors understand individual…

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We used alot of Symbolic Play. Getting paper and sticks or other objects and pretending to play admin or school or dress up or other made up scenarios.

One teaching that stood out to me, is how we conduct ourselves as parents. I feel it’s important as it mention,we are our child’s first teacher. Sharing that with family’s can help bring more cultural teaching around it in many different ways that we use the toolbox cards. It can help bring your cultural knowledge to build around different…

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So much of what we do influences Children. What they see growing up, is what they think is normal. It is so important to show them how to treat yourself and others in a healthy way. They can even feel our vibes, if anyone is upset so its best for children to not feel or see toxicity or unhealthy environments and to feel love and security as…

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Things I was told by my parents and elders about babies is that they were a gift and not just given to us, they were loaned to us from creator. It’s our responsibility as parents to protect and care for them while they are here living on Mother Earth with us. And to never mistreat them because once creator sees things like that he’ll call them…

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Advice I’d give parents about why we should teach our babies/children the Cree language is because it’s who we are as first nations, and it’s in our blood. Even though we may not speak it fluently we should still encourage parents to speak the words they know in cree like “sakitinan” meaning “I love you” it’s important to teach our…

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Advice I’d give to new parents, is to never be afraid to ask for help when it comes to your baby. Being a new parents comes with a lot of growing and learning, and sometimes we don’t know what to do. So having that support to ask for help when needed is nice because you can learn different things from people.

The most important thing I learned growing up for me was smudge and prayer. I’ve always done them when I was younger and now I teach my baby to smudge and soon when she’s at the age to learn how to pray I’ll teach her that as well.

Advice I’d use to help Michelle with Alia in this situation is, let her touch the snow so she can feel how cold it is if she weren’t to wear her boots. Once she knows how cold it’s going to be she’ll most likely change her mind and want to wear her boots

The first teaching that really stood out to me elder Phyllis told in the video, was how you shouldn’t let babies be alone together. Because when I was young I was told babies can talk about when one or another are gonna go, like pass way. So it was always important to never leave them alone.

The second teaching that stood out to me was the…

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Unoccupied play/symbolic play – my childhood memories consisted of being outside with my cousins/siblings. Finding random stuff and playing pretend. Mostly just being outside and making up our own games as we went.

Advice I would give a first time dad is. Be there for mom and baby and help out around the house with things, like chores without mom having to ask. Things like that can help make the relationship better between parents. Because mom takes care of baby full time and if dad was doing those things it’d make things less stressful for both parents.

From everything all the ladies mentioned in their comments I was tough the same teachings as well being pregnant with my first child. I was told to not make fun of anyone or judge anyone, not to attend funerals, stress out yourself because baby feels everything you feel. And not to watch scary movies or to over do things. But to also keep on…

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Giving advice to new parents from what I was taught, my dad and mom always told me children are lent to us they’re creators and we have to be kind to them. Creator will call them home if they’re treating badly.

I would tell the parents our cree language is very important for us to learn and its never too late. Ask parents if they can include cree daily, like counting to 10 in cree or cree songs. That helped me when I was younger.

Along with every other response. Children are sacred gifts from the creator. Your child was chosen for you by our ancestors and comes to this earth with a purpose/gift. Cherish your babies, love your babies, as they are not ours.

I would encourage parents to teach their children the language when they are young. Cree is their native tongue, if children get a grasp on it early then they will be fluent speakers by the time they are 5+. It will be really valuable to their children later in life.

Each child learns at their own pace for example my daughter started walking and talking before my little sister who is older than her. I think each child has their own unique way of learning and thinking.

That makes sense! Thank you!! 🙂

Show her how to put on her own boots, Show her the weather outside and she’ll understand that it’s cold out.

When a family member passes in the family, the kids were always to put black thread on wrists and not to take them off just when it falls off.

unoccupied play- spending hours and hours outside in the trees playing at neighbors houses in the tall fields just being outside and no plans just enjoying outdoors. all kids need to get back to being outside

Teaching a parent to understand babies themselves are gifts and blessings and lent to us to raise and love and it will take a whole community to help with that

the advice i would give parents about teaching their babies the traditional language is that, the language is very sacred and needs to be taught and acknowledged. Understanding the real meaning of the language and knowing that it is very descriptive one word can mean more than one thing. Important to keep our traditional language alive

allowing moms to make baby feel special at any timeline of their life. The difference between boy and girls and the timeline that it takes for them to mature is different ive raised boys and then a girls the girl matured faster and was taught earlier in life my boys matured later teaching kids that its the way the brain develops

Informing families of this teaching can help them along in their child’s development. Especially if the parent is concerned about their child’s growth or ability to reach milestones just like other children. I can offer my personal experience as well. I was concerned about my sons vocabulary before doing these modules, now I’m assured that…

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Like everyone said smudging and also giving thanks to creator for another day can be one.