Your child’s dreams reveal a part of the vast unconscious processes working beneath the surface of her awareness, helping to transform her relationship to the world in a natural way.
If your child should share her dreams with you, here are some suggestions for understanding and working with them:
⢠Don’t criticize or judge her dreams in any way. This can only serve to cut off communication, and may cause your child to begin to mistrust her own inner light.
⢠Acknowledge and accept her dreams just as they are, no matter how outlandish or bizarre they may seem. Avoid interpreting the dream according to some psychological theory, as this can serve to only to deprive the dream of its vitality.
⢠Give her suggestions for coping with the frightening aspects of a dream. For example, if she reports a recurring dream with a horrible monster, suggest that she bring in some protective device, such as a sword, a shield, a safe place or a beam of light, to help her out!
⢠Finally, share your own dreams, perhaps as a family, at the breakfast table so that each family member has the opportunity to express her inner world, and feel that it’s a valid and significant force in her life.
Thomas Armstrong, Ph.D. is an award-winning author and speaker with twenty-eight years of teaching experience from the primary through the doctoral level, and over one million copies of his books in print on issues related to learning and human development. He is the author of nine books including Multiple Intelligences in the Classroom, In Their Own Way, Awakening Your Childâs Natural Genius, 7 Kinds of Smart, The Myth of the A.D.D. Child, ADD/ADHD Alternatives in the Classroom, and Awakening Genius in the Classroom. His books have been translated into sixteen languages, including Spanish, Chinese, Hebrew, Danish, and Russian.