In this powerful opening episode of Foundations First: The ECE Mini-Course, Instructor Mike challenges the myth that early childhood education is just glorified babysitting. Backed by developmental science and real-world insight, this episode explores why the early years—birth to five—are the most critical window for brain development, emotional wiring, and identity formation.

Whether you’re a parent, educator, family member, or someone who just “watches kids,” this episode will shift your perspective—and give you the language and framework to treat early childhood care as the professional, life-shaping work that it truly is.

Because you’re not just changing diapers.

You’re constructing futures.

In this explosive episode of Family Matters with Instructor Mike, we dismantle one of the biggest lies in modern parenting: that emotional expression is enough.

With only around 3,000 emotionally labeled words out of 170,000 in the English language, most of our communication is built on function—not feelings. But we’re front-loading children with emotion-first language and then wondering why they struggle with focus, decision-making, and accountability.

Instructor Mike breaks it all down:

• Why feelings belong in the background, not the foreground

• The danger of raising emotionally expressive but functionally weak kids

• How to retrain your parenting language using repetition, structure, and problem-solving

• Tools to defend against well-meaning teachers who unknowingly center emotion over execution

If you’re tired of soft skills without structure, therapy talk without traction, and emotional overload in education—this episode is your wake-up call.

Because it’s not that your kids don’t feel enough…

It’s that we forgot to teach them what to do with what they feel.

🎧 Listen now and get trained.

Why do children lie—even the “good” ones?

In this eye-opening episode of Family Matters with Instructor Mike, we dive deep into the science, psychology, and parenting wisdom behind why kids lie—and why that’s not always a bad thing.

You’ll learn:

• Why lying is a developmental milestone, not just a discipline issue

• What the brain is doing when a child invents a story

• How adult reactions can either train truthfulness or trigger fear

• Practical, non-punitive strategies to coach honesty

• Why labeling a child as a “liar” may cause more harm than good

With real-life insight and science-backed tools, this episode challenges the way we think about truth, trust, and childhood growth.

“A child who lies isn’t broken—they’re developing. Your response teaches them whether the truth is safe to tell.”

In this powerful episode of Family Matters with Instructor Mike, we challenge the myth that mothers—especially single mothers—have to know everything to raise strong, emotionally intelligent boys. The truth? You don’t have to be the expert. You just have to know who to ask.

Instructor Mike breaks down the CEO-style approach to parenting, showing why building your son’s “Board of Directors” is smarter than trying to become an overnight authority on manhood, emotional development, and leadership. With real talk, cultural insight, and developmental wisdom, this episode gives moms permission to lead strategically, not solo.

Whether you grew up without a father or simply feel under-equipped, this episode will help you shift from pressure to power—by learning to recruit the right support, structure your child’s learning environment, and prepare the “house” before moving in the lessons.

Because it’s not about doing it all.

It’s about doing it well—with help.

Why do kids act out?

What if we told you they’re not being bad—they’re being developmentally accurate?

In this episode of Family Matters, Instructor Mike breaks down what “acting out” really means through the lens of brain science, behavior theory, and powerful metaphors that shift how we see childhood behavior. From tantrums and outbursts to grabbing and running off, these aren’t just problems—they’re performances.

You’ll learn:

• Why young children act before they understand

• How behavior becomes a form of communication

• The real difference between manners and emotional suppression

• Why asking “How do you feel?” can stall growth—and what to do instead

• How to coach children through rehearsal, not reprimand

Using relatable stories and hard-hitting science, this episode will transform your approach to discipline, emotional coaching, and what it means to help children “act right.”

Whether you’re a parent, teacher, coach, or mentor—this episode teaches you to stop punishing the performance and start directing the actor.

Have you been told you’re dealing with a “generational curse”? Do you feel like something spiritual or unexplainable is holding your family back?

In this episode, Instructor Mike pulls back the curtain on one of the most misused and misunderstood phrases in our culture—“generational curse.” But instead of mysticism, we break it down with psychological clarity and developmental science.

You’ll learn:

• Why “curse” language keeps you emotionally stuck

• The actual science behind intergenerational patterns

• How family, culture, and repeated adversity shape behavior

• The difference between trauma and chronic adverse experiences

• What experts like Lisa Feldman Barrett, Bruce Perry, and Nadine Burke Harris teach about emotional conditioning

• How to say something more accurate, powerful, and healing

You’re not cursed. You were conditioned. And what was conditioned… can be unlearned.

It’s time to trade superstition for strategy. Let’s break the cycle with tools—not just talk.

#GenerationalHealing #AdverseChildhoodExperiences #EmotionalIntelligence #FamilyPatterns #BlackFamilies #TraumaRecovery #InstructorMike #DevelopmentalPsychology #BreakingCycles #GenerationalTrauma #ParentingPodcast #CulturalHealing

How do we prepare children for the real world without breaking their spirit?

In this episode, Instructor Mike unpacks the misunderstood art of pressure testing—a technique that builds emotional strength, not through trauma, but through scaffolded stress, safe challenges, and smart boundaries. Drawing from neuroscience, child development theory, and real-world examples, this episode explores:

✅ The difference between toxic stress and training stress

✅ Why walking away is often more powerful than speaking up

✅ How to coach emotional control without shaming

✅ Polyvagal theory, Vygotsky’s zone, and constructed emotion explained

✅ Sample scripts, dos and don’ts, and real-life practice scenarios

This is the episode every parent, teacher, and youth mentor needs. Because strength isn’t taught by yelling—it’s trained by intention.

⸻

“We’re not trying to toughen them up. We’re trying to train them wisely.”

— Instructor Mike

In this eye-opening episode of Family Matters with Instructor Mike, we challenge one of the most common—and often misunderstood—practices in early childhood development: the overemphasis on naming feelings.

What if young children don’t need to name every emotion…

What if they just need to learn how to fix the problem?

Drawing from developmental science, cognitive theory, and years of real-life parenting and educator experience, Instructor Mike breaks down why solving problems should come before emotional reflection—and how well-meaning adults may actually be training kids to dwell instead of grow.

You’ll learn:

• Why children “act out” instead of reflect (and why that’s normal)

• How adults accidentally reinforce emotional loops instead of emotional growth

• What Piaget, Vygotsky, and Barrett really teach us about problem-solving and emotional construction

• Practical ways to teach skill over sorrow in daily situations

Whether you’re a parent, educator, or therapist, this episode will shift the way you think about feelings, fix-it moments, and what emotional intelligence really looks like in the early years.

🎧 Listen in and discover how to train up children who don’t just feel better—but know how to do better.