Allied Health Education Trends - The Changing Landscape Behind the Scenes

With more than 500,000 jobs added since the start of the recession, it's no surprise that allied health fields are forecasted to remain a key source of job growth. Jobs in inpatient and outpatient settings and nurse care facilities will be in high demand and the healthcare support industry (such as medical technicians, physician's assistants and physical therapist assistants) are slated to experience 48% growth.

Involved with the delivery of health or related services, workers in allied health care fields include a cluster of health professions encompassing as many as 200 health careers. There are 5 million allied health care providers in the United States who work in more than 80 different professions representing approximately 60% of all health care providers. Yet, that number is no match to the number of allied health care workers that are needed to meet current and future needs in America.

Highly regarded as experts in their field, allied health professions fall into two broad categories - technicians (assistants) and therapists/technologists. With education requirements and curriculum varying depending on the chosen field, academic prerequisites range from less than two years for technicians to a more intensive educational process for therapists and technologists that include acquiring procedural skills. With such explosive growth in allied health care career options and so many diverse fields from which to choose, it's no wonder students preparing for their future are seeking opportunities in allied health fields.

Yet, with more than 5 million current allied health professions in the U.S. and more on the horizon, careful examination of the educational development and environment of emerging students identifies areas of needed improvement to meet the diverse needs of this ever-changing landscape.

A New Path of Education - Trends Affecting Allied Health Education

With student enrollment in allied health education programs gaining momentum, major advancements in technology coupled with shifts in education audiences, learner profiles, campus cultures, campus design and faculty development have spawned a new wave of trends that are dramatically affecting where and how allied health students learn. Understanding the dynamics of allied health trends begins by taking a brief look at a few of the societal and economic factors that have affected the educational landscape as a whole.

Economic Trends:
* With the economy in a recession, the nations' workforce is being challenged to learn new skills or explore advanced training options.
* The U.S. Labor Department estimates that with the current economic climate, nearly 40% of the workforce will change jobs every year. As a result, the demand for short, accelerated educational programs is on the rise.
* With retirement being delayed until later in life, a "new age" of workers has emerged into the job market creating an older generation of students.

Societal Trends:
* Adult learners are the fastest growing segment in higher education. Approximately 42% of all students in both private and public institutions are age 25 or older.
* This highly competitive learning market allows educational institutions to specialize in meeting particular niches in the market.
* The number of minority learners is increasing.
* More women continue to enter the workforce - 57% of students are women.

Student / Enrollment Trends:
* Students are seeking educational programs that meet their individual demographics, schedule and learning style.
* More students are requiring flexibility in the educational structure to allow more time for other areas of responsibility.
* Students are attending multiple schools to attain degrees - 77% of all students graduating with a baccalaureate degree have attended two or more institutions.

Academic Trends:
* According to the Chronicle of High Education, traditional college campuses are declining as for-profit institutions grow and public and private institutions continue to emerge.
* Instruction is moving more toward diversified learner-centered versus self-directed, traditional classroom instruction.
* Educational partnerships are increasing as institutions share technology and information with other colleges, universities and companies to deliver cooperative educational programs.
* Emphasis is shifting from degrees to competency as employers place more importance on knowledge, performance and skills.

Technology Trends:
* Technology competency is becoming a requirement.
* Immense growth in Internet and technological devices.
* Institutional instruction will involve more computerized programs.
* Colleges will be required to offer the best technological equipment to remain competitive.

Classroom Environment Trends:
* Classroom environments are being designed to mirror real-life career settings.
* Flexible classroom settings geared for multi-instructional learning.
* Color, lighting, acoustics, furniture and design capitalize on comfortable learner-centered environments.

The Application of Knowledge - A Move Toward Lifelong Learning Concepts

To meet the ever-changing educational needs of students entering allied health fields, classrooms, curricula and teaching philosophies are becoming more responsive to the diverse settings in which varied populations are served. Educators and administrators are seeking educational environments that engage and connect students with their learning space to capitalize and foster knowledge, growth and learning.

Flexible Classrooms and Lab Space:
Adaptable learning environments that provide versatility to shift from classroom to lab space and the flexibility for plenty of future growth are the driving force behind allied health classrooms of the future. Modern allied health classrooms will provide flexible, multi-functional, comfortable classroom environments that encourage a sense of community, essentially inviting the students and instructors to work together and interrelate. Studies reflect that students are better able to actively process information when sensory, stimulation, information exchange and application opportunities are available. Flexible classroom spaces encourage students to share what they know and build on this shared base.

Student Areas:
Connecting students with the "center of gravity" core spaces for studying and socializing further enhances the new wave of allied health campuses. Flexible student areas that foster circulation, interaction, collaboration and learning enhance various learning styles and further reinforce students' abilities to harmoniously blend learning with discovery and collaboration.

Integrating Advanced Technology:
The use of technology in the classroom plays a vital role in how students learn and the long-term effect of knowledge gained. When students are using technology as an educational tool they are in an active role rather than a passive role in a typical teacher-led lesson. The integration of advanced technology in an allied health classroom allows students to actively engage in generating, obtaining manipulating or displaying information. Through this process, students become empowered to define their goals, make decisions and evaluate their progress. Coupled with student applied technology, classrooms are being equipped with state-of-the-art equipment and tools to prepare students for the transition from classroom to career.

Lecture / Laboratory and Classroom Models:
High Performing Buildings: As allied health programs shift to incorporate collaborative, interdisciplinary classrooms and clinical experiences that mirror real-life settings, students are empowered to move beyond mastery of skill to lifelong learning concepts. By creating classroom models that take students directly into their chosen field and allow them to "step into" their chosen career in a classroom setting, students are essentially provided a "business internship" that prepares them for their careers far beyond traditional text book curriculum. Bridging the gap between textbook knowledge and the application of "real world" experiences is the foundation of the new allied health classrooms settings.

Each school day 50 million children and 6 million adults enter our schools nationwide; each of whom is directly affected by the physical environment. And, while most people have heard about the benefits of sustainable design from an energy savings standpoint, few truly understand the benefits gained from a student performance perspective. High performance schools have several distinct advantages:

* Higher Test Scores. Studies are confirming the relationship between a school's physical condition and student performance. Factors such as increased day light, indoor thermal comfort and indoor air quality will enhance learning which equates to improved test results.

* Increased Average Daily Attendance. Indoor air quality plays a vital role in the health of students. By controlling sources of contaminants, providing adequate ventilation and preventing moisture - all designed to reduce sources of health problems and inhibit the spread of airborne infections - students and teachers will experience fewer sick days, especially for those suffering from respiratory or asthma problems.

* Reduced Operating Costs. High performance schools are specifically designed, using life-cycle cost methods, to minimize long-term costs of facility ownership. Using less energy and water than standard schools, means lower operating costs. Savings can then be redirected to supplement other budgets such as computers, books, classrooms and salaries.

* Increased Teacher Satisfaction and Retention. Designed to be pleasant and effective places to work and learn, high performance classrooms are visually pleasing, provide the appropriate thermal comfort and capitalize on effective acoustics for teaching. A positive and inviting place to work and learn improves overall satisfaction for teachers and sets the foundation for improved learning and retention of students.

* Reduced Environmental Impact. High performance buildings are specifically designed to have low environmental impact. They are energy and water efficient, use durable, non-toxic materials that are high in recycled content and they use non-polluting renewable energy to the greatest extent possible.
In short, we have an obligation to equip our students to do the hard work ahead of them.

A Vision for the Future
With the rapidly changing landscape of education as whole, taking on the challenge of designing multi-functional educational facilities means more than just designing a building. From technology to curriculums, campus structure to classroom environments, those involved in the planning, design and construction must be dedicated to providing solutions that meet the distinct needs of today's students.

Achieving Health the Good Old Classic Way

Today's world is full of stresses that we encounter everyday - stress from work, domestic duties, personal problems, conflicts in the workplace and other things that we have to face to make our lives as worthwhile as possible. Add to that little things that we have to deal with such as air pollution, traffic, squabbling children and the like. Sometimes, we all wish we could just spend our time in some faraway island where we can be free from all of these things. But our minds can only tell us that this is not possible - at least, not for a very long time. These are realities that we inevitably have to face, if we are to adhere to the standards of the good life we and our society have set upon us.

However, try as we may, there are things beyond our control that will affect us in ways we wish we never had to experience. When our health begins to suffer, that's when we become concerned. A lot of us get sick merely from having to cope with life's demands, and sometimes, we end up with even more problems to solve than what we started with. When we miss a few days in the office, for example, we are faced with more documents to process once we get back on our feet.

Hypertension, heart disease, cancers - these are only some of the evils that we all hope we will never have to face. But, of course, we cannot really expect to put up a good fight unless we do something to protect ourselves. The good thing is, there is nothing extraordinary or special about the things we need to do to strengthen our bodies against these diseases. Everything is about plain old common sense in terms of achieving good health.

There is also no special formula that you need for doing these things. You just simply choose the food you eat and how much exercise you engage in. Eating more vegetables and less meat, for example, is an all-encompassing trick to avoid illness, especially when coupled with an hour or two of jogging a day or working out in the gym. After all, our body systems only need a balance of these things in order to function as optimally as possible. A person who devotes his life trying to achieve this balance rarely becomes seriously ill, or when he does, we can trust that this is probably related to genetic factors and no longer within his control.

Still, another dimension that one may explore when trying to achieve good health is mental and spiritual wellness. We must admit this is an aspect that is least considered by people these days. While everybody is busy pumping iron at the gym or counting calories at the dinner table, their mental and spiritual health could still be suffering. Why? Because, whether we like it or not, our existence is and will always be affected by factors way beyond the physical realm. A good way to achieve mental and spiritual health is through meditation. There are many holistic health disciplines that focus on meditation as a way for the body to connect with their souls. Yoga is one. In fact, it is the most widely practiced method of achieving mental and spiritual wellness today.

The Joys Of Parenting - Having A Girl's First Period Talk

When should I start talking to my daughter about her first period? How much information should I provide my preschooler about the conception, growth, and birth of a new sibling? How come my son thinks he knows so much about the "birds and the bees" and he is only eight years old? The family-rated television show was loaded with sexual innuendoes. Should I have insisted that we turn it off? How carefully should I monitor my children's entertainment in the future?

These are just a few of the common concerns that we parents face as our children interact with a culture that bombards them with sexual messages. Understanding the broader dimensions of sexuality and the roles that family, friends, school, and the media play in influencing children's views of themselves as sexual beings is essential for charting a safe, smooth course through the potential minefields between childhood and adult sexual identity. Many parents wait to address sexual issues until their child enters puberty. Obvious bodily changes in their youngster force some parents to deliver "the talk." Others hope the school will do what they don't want to and are relieved when their child returns home clutching pamphlets handed out during a lecture on sex education.

Moreover, most parents have not had much education in the field of human sexuality themselves. They may have vague memories of awkward speeches by one or the other of their parents; a booklet about a girls' first period, the book about human sexuality tucked in the back of the bookcase; or the week devoted to reproduction in health class. Given this set of circumstances, it is understandable that parents often put off educating their own offspring. Many parents also have beliefs that if they don't talk about sex, their children won't be interested or tempted. But waiting until puberty, or worse yet until your daughter has her first menstrual period, to approach the topic of sexuality is unwise. Sexuality is an important part of the child's life from the moment he or she is born and plays an important role throughout his/her entire life. Providing children with the necessary information that allows them to make informed choices and be the architects of their own lives is the essence of parenting.

Talking about sexuality requires the same communication skills that contribute to healthy relationships in general between parents and children. If parents can cultivate open dialogues with their young children as they explore the topics of sexuality together, this same openness will allow parents to offer advice and guidance as their youngsters approach their teenage years. However, if parents do not begin the process early, the subject of sexuality will feel less natural for both parents and their children, and both may be uncomfortable with this new intimacy and with the sheer magnitude of the issues that must be dealt with in a hurry. But keep in mind that starting late is far better than never starting at all.

As a pediatrician and mother of three children, I, too, have struggled with communication "how-to's," with the various versions of "the birds and the bees," and with the many dimensions of sexuality. The challenge has been difficult. Prior to my oldest daughter's taking health class at school, I casually inquired about the health curriculum. Her answer disturbed me. The curriculum seemed insufficient, to me, and was to be taught by the male gym teacher. Even though he was a nice person, I felt uneasy for my daughter, and I sheepishly volunteered my services. My offer to teach the class was readily accepted, and I felt sudden anxiety as the relieved male teacher showered me with gratitude and handed me the scant curriculum. I faced many hurdles as I prepared to teach the hugely important class about puberty, menstruation and conception. Perhaps my greatest challenge was broadening my own perspective of sexuality. The topic is much more comprehensive than it appears at first glance. Sexuality includes not only the nuts and bolts of human reproduction, but encompasses relationships, values and many life skills as well.

As I taught the health class, I was struck by the students' reluctance to use their family members as resources. Comments such as, "I am too embarrassed to speak to my mom about having my first period," were common; yet these young girl were willing to ask a stranger for answers. There was a chasm between mothers and daughters, between parents and their children. I sensed a need to unite family members in the educative process. This urge led to my establishing a community class for mothers and their daughters during which we reviewed the normal physical and emotional changes of puberty as they both prepared for her first period and all the ups and downs associating this menstruation period.

I discovered that mothers delighted in the opportunity to review the basic physiology of their daughters' bodily changes and were eager to share their concerns with other mothers about the emotional turmoil they experienced with their maturing daughters. Similarly, girls in the class had an opportunity to participate with their mothers, forming a bond, a bridge of communication, during an interactive, educational process. For some families, this class was a start. Although it is best not to wait until puberty to bring up topics like a girl's first period, there is certainly a window of opportunity during these prepubertal years to open the door of communication about sexuality and to share your values with your children. Imagine classes where fathers and sons could share similarly; or, why not a class where both parents attend with their children?

Children and Sports - Avoiding Burn Out

Parents need to be aware of the repercussions associated with living their lives or striving for their goals through their children. In most cases children perform better and stay in their chosen sport longer if coached by a third party not a parent.

Coaches need to be passionate about coaching, but even more passionate about ensuring a well balanced life for all of their athletes. A coaches philosophy should be "athletes first, winning second', coaches need to care about nurturing all of their athletes in their overall wellness, far too many young talented athletes get driven and ultimately suffer the fate of "burn out.

Kids been driven too hard too young and their direction guided solely by their parent/s goals not their own. Then ultimately what happens is those kids who have dominated in their sports in the junior years either drop out, rebel against their parents, or suffer a long term injury.

Starting with the individual in the middle the balanced wagon wheel looks like this:

Sport/s

Studies/school

Social/friends

Hobbies/Relaxation

Family

Occupation/job

Cultural/religion

When you find the right balance between all areas you find the right balance within yourself. Achieving this encompasses optimum levels of emotional, physical and spiritual health allowing everything to work in harmony with each other.

Sport is just one important spoke in the wheel and it is the coaches job (along with many others) to ensure that all children keep a balanced perception of the big picture and not forgo one spoke, the wheel needs all spokes working to keep progressing smoothly.

The Essential Nature of Child Spirit

This article explores the spiritual nature of children, a profound and significant aspect of being human, gracefully present from birth. The most divine form of human life arrives in the smallest of packages-a newborn babe. As these tiny beings enter the world in a flurry of commotion and anticipation, a spirit is also reborn among us. They come to us with open hearts and pure souls, exuding a spiritual essence that belies their fragile and vulnerable nature.

What is Childhood Spirituality?

The term as well as the concept of "spirit" is elusive. It no longer exclusively pertains to religious beliefs, learned values, or cognitive conceptions. Rather, it is the holistic experience of the human being, both physical and nonphysical, as well as allusion to a Higher Power or universal energetic presence. Spirit is the life force, the essence of our being as well as the essence of all things. Spirit manifests in human beings as cosmic memory, collective knowing, unconditional love, intuition and creativity - it is the universal energetic which creates existence, experience, the material world, and consciousness. The embodiment of the human spirit is present and active from birth, and is uniquely energetic in children.

We are born with our spirits fully intact; with a connection to the collective spiritual realm as tangible as our physical bodies. In a culture which has largely ignored the spiritual aspect of our being, those children able to consciously maintain their connection to the metaphysical are gifted with an inherent sense of self, purpose, and service. The importance of understanding and embracing the concept of childhood spirituality is imperative to the healthy development of the child, and therefore, to the continuous evolution of our race as we know it. It's imperative because the spiritual aspect of humans is as critical to our well being, natural development, and overall evolution as the cognitive, emotive, and biological aspects.

If we are to truly understand our purpose here on earth, if we are to grasp the meaning of life, if we are to reach our full potential, both as physical and spiritual beings, the pursuit of such understanding must honor and embrace the entirety of our experiences, from birth to death. The significance and influence of child spirituality is as important as, if not more so than, adult spirituality. The childhood spiritual experience may be more crucial because of the substantial impact and influence childhood spiritual experiences have on the aggregate of our adult lives. The natural and essential link between mind-body-emotion must include spirit as well.

What does Child Spirit look like?

Childhood spirituality is the being essence of the child encompassing mind, body, emotions and soul while simultaneously transcending physical experience and linking the individual to universal collective Spirit. "Spirit is the essence of life, the energy of the universe that creates all things. Each one of us is a part of that spirit-a divine entity. So the spirit is the higher Self, the eternal being that lives within us" (Living in the Light, Shakti Gawain, 1986). Our spirituality is experienced on two levels - an individual, soul level and as an aspect of collective universal energy or Spirit. Spirituality and the human being are inseparable and this spiritual essence, on both the individual (soul) and universal (Spirit) levels, provides the human being with a foundation for experiencing the true meaning of life. Spirituality is a prominent aspect of our being, and such spirituality has a profound impact on who we are, how we experience ourselves and the world around us, and how we live our lives. As a result, without the recognition and nurturance of our spiritual nature from birth we are destined to severely inhibit our physical, mental, and emotional growth in addition to our perpetual development and evolution as a species.

Children possess a natural purity in their experience, expression, and personalities. Insofar as this is believed to hold true with their thoughts, personalities, and emotions, so it is with their spirits. Children are not gifted from some external source with a unique soul or spiritual essence at later stages of development-instead they are simply and, more accurately, innately aware of their inherent spiritual essence, as well as the dual nature of all humans and, perhaps, all living things from conception. Children appear to plainly understand that we are, first and foremost, embodied spirits-that our purpose here on earth is of a spiritual nature. Many children exude a spiritual maturity that is remarkable. Consider, for example, the experience of young Clara who was able to foresee the death of her young cousin who lived miles away,

I said I wanted to see him. When I was asked why, I said he was going to die. They [Clara's parents] said no, Mitch was not going to die, he was perfectly healthy. Only a couple of days later, my grandfather saw Mitch's father in town and was told that Mitch was very sick. Soon after, we learned that Mitch died. When I went to the funeral, even the children kept away from me because they had heard I'd known of the death ahead of time. (The Secret Life of Kids: An exploration into their psychic senses, James Peterson, 2000)

It is not unusual to observe some children weeping over the pain or death of a stranger, even someone they may have heard about in school or seen on television, but to whom they have no personal connection. How remarkable, the wisdom of children-the intuitive, universal knowing we carry forward into this world!

What does Child Spirit act like?

As mentioned previously, the human experience is of a dual nature-human and spirit. As a result, children often experience their spirituality or spiritual essence through metaphysical phenomena. Meta implies an experience or circumstance which lies beyond the physical realm. This spiritual awareness in children is observed to manifest in many different ways, including: experiencing visions, hearing voices, having magical moments, having out-of-body experiences, and experiencing heightened communication (such as extra sensory perception, intuition, knowing, prophesizing, and deep empathy). It is our culturally imposed limits, which are largely dismissive of the legitimacy or significance of nonphysical experiences, which contribute to the tendency to regard children's spiritual essence as inauthentic or invalid. We can change this by understanding and nurturing the spiritual essence in children.

What is it like for a child to experience his or her spiritual being? Many have theorized on the nature and existence of adult spirituality, but few on how the child's spiritual essence materializes or manifests on the physical plane. Based on years of formal and informal research by child spirituality specialists, characteristics associated with spiritually conscious children include: deep compassion; gifted creative and artistic ability, morality, deep connection to people, nature and animals, insight, altruism, seeing the invisible, past-life memories, exceptional abilities (such as extra sensory perception, out-of-body experiences, and understanding others unspoken thoughts or feelings), wisdom, child-world consciousness, attunement to spiritual forces, and many more. For example, Bonnie, age 8, shared her experience of "attunement to spiritual forces",

As I put my two fingers together, I felt the electricity flow down one arm, go through the two fingers, and then move up my other arm and into my chest. It kept going around and around, and I felt my body getting warmer and warmer. Then, just as it got so hot that I was going to stop it by taking my fingers apart, I suddenly saw my body light up-all over! (ChildSpirit, Samuel Silverstein, 1991)

Children often convey, whether through the spoken word or through nonverbal expression, their personal mystical or spiritual experiences as something they have "imagined." With their limited vocabulary and undeveloped grammatical understanding of deeper concepts such as mysticism, the term imagination most accurately describes what they are experiencing. The mystical childhood experience encompasses those experiences which offer a glimpse into the spiritual realm, an unexplainable understanding of life beyond one-self, of the collective cosmic consciousness and infinite existence. To a child these early years are a constantly unfolding mystery. As children explore their physical world and all that it holds, they are also in the process of discovering the nonphysical world - the world of energy and spirit.

The embodied spiritual essence of the child is not experienced in a vacuum-it is an accumulation of a lifetime (or possibly many lifetimes), albeit short, of experiences in the context of a world within and beyond their own physical existence. Not infrequently, the level or experience of spirit present in children is vastly different from the experience of spirit in adulthood; however, this does not mean it is nonexistent or less significant in children. Conventional developmental models suggest an adult is capable of more highly intentional, focused, and nonegoic (transcending physical and cognitive experience) states of awareness. Yet, children, in their naivete, pureness and innocence, are more naturally inclined to move freely within their internal and external experiences and between physical and nonphysical realities. The necessity of accepting and nurturing the essence of spirit in children is crucial in order that we not perpetuate the disregard for this significant developmental process.

What can we do to support Child Spiritual Health?

Children possess an innate, natural ability to embrace life and live in this palpable existential relationship with the universe, to stand with one foot in physical reality and the other in the spiritual realm. Children seem to be able to travel between these two planes with ease and ownership. It is largely the active imagination of children and their openness to alternative realities and planes of existence which allows them to so easily shift between body and spirit. Children are born with an understanding of the following, "It is important to recognize that spiritual experiences are magnificent natural processes. We are spiritual beings temporarily clothed in matter, we can and will instinctively experience our spiritual nature when the proper conditions are present" (The Secret of the Soul, William Buhlman, 2001). It seems that childhood itself embodies those proper conditions; the very nature of childhood is spiritual in its essence. Highly spiritual children are free of the typical constraints of both linear time and ego. Children are concerned less with the outer personality and more with the inner world, hence children's proclivities toward: out-of-body experiences, perceptions of non-linear time planes, having mystical experiences, and their ability to travel between physical and nonphysical realities.

In recognizing and supporting the critical nature of childhood spiritual health, it is my goal to assist every parent and adult as they explore and support the presence and active manifestation of children's spiritual essence. Children possess an active spirit which can be broadly observed in 6 areas: Nature, Mysticism, Wisdom, Wonder, Imagination, and Relating (Grace in Small Packages: An Exploration in Childhood Spirituality, Kimble Greene, 2008). Within these 6 areas one can observe the manifestation of characteristics and abilities such as: past-life experiences; near-death experiences; visions of apparitions or the invisible; psychic and extra-sensory abilities; extraordinary creative abilities; indications of profound wisdom, wonder, knowing, and insight; and a highly developed sense of compassion, caring, and love.

Spirit is an essential aspect of our being. How children experience their spiritual essence has a profound impact on who they are, how they experience the world around them, how they live their lives, and who they become. As a result, without the recognition and nurturance of children's spiritual essence, we are fated to severely inhibit their physical, mental and emotional growth in addition to their spiritual development. If we, as adults and parents, disregard, discount, and discourage the natural expression and experience of a child's spirit, we may as well bind a part of their bodies in a mummy-like encasing, for the outcome is likely to be similar - severe restriction of an integral aspect of their being. It is our responsibility to nurture our children's spiritual development just as we do their cognitive, physical and emotional growth.

It is essential to the healthy development of our children, and to the future of our race, that we begin to appreciate more abundantly the totality, depth, and scope of children's spiritual essence-from the magical to the mysterious and on toward the mystical. While children are born with the wisdom and faith necessary to embrace their own spiritual nature, it is the responsibility of parents, researchers, and all adults to do the same by understanding, nurturing, and supporting this graceful spiritual essence in children.

In the box below is a list of 7 specific things parents and adults can do to begin to recognize and nurture children's spiritual essence:

1. Listen to and validate children's imaginings and musings, for they are likely to be of a spiritual nature;
2. Create time for discussions or exploration around the nonphysical, metaphysical, and spiritual aspects of existence. If you are unsure about the existence of these yourself, simply explore the possibility of such things with your child (there are many wonderful children's books on this topic);
3. Children explore, learn, discover and come to understand on all levels; intellectual, emotional, physical and spiritual, through play - create a space and time for enchanted play in their lives;
4. Nature provides endless opportunities for spiritual revelation, self-discovery, and inspiration - encourage your child to spend lots of time in nature, with pets, and observing wildlife;
5. Healthy relationships are key to our overall well-being. Allow your child opportunities for relating to other people, animals and the imaginary;
6. Rely on your own intuition and inner knowing when it comes to parenting and relating to children. Society's "rules" do not always support children's holistic growth and spiritual development;
7. Let children guide you - children know what they need on a deep, profound level. Let children be your teacher!