If you’re in the GIA community, you may have heard the term “Love and Logic” used around campus or in communications about the school. In this post, we’ll explain exactly what Love and Logic means, how it’s used in different areas, and why GIA decided to adopt this approach of discipline to create more personally responsible scholars!

The Love and Logic Institute, founded by a child psychiatrist and a longtime educator, was created with the idea that parenting and teaching did not need to be a difficult, and in fact, that it should be fun and rewarding! So, what is Love and Logic? According to the Institute, “children learn the best lessons when they’re given a task and allowed to make their own choices (and fail) when the cost of failure is still small. Children’s failures must be coupled with love and empathy from their parents and teachers.” The core reasons why Love and Logic works include:

  • Using humor, hope, and empathy to build up the adult/child relationship
  • Emphasizing respect and dignity for both children and adults
  • Providing real limits in a loving way
  • Teaching consequences and healthy decision-making

The Love and Logic approach can be used in both teaching and parenting scenarios, and are highly complementary if used at the same time. In the classroom, scholars are given freedom to problem-solve and make their own decisions. Teachers administer respect, admiration, and even love to their scholars which allows them to be far more motivated and cause fewer problems in the first place. Showing empathy and compassion for scholars having a more difficult time has also shown to be effective in the respect teachers receive in return. At home, Love and Logic is used when parents show their kids sincere admiration and encourage decision-making around basic household and schoolwork needs. One of the Institute’s most impactful taglines reads, “Our children learn that the quality of their lives depends on the quality of their choices.”

GIA’s Executive Director, Patty Messer, explains that the Love and Logic method is a simple, no-nonsense way to address behaviors. It allows scholars to retain their dignity and prevents adults (teachers and parents) from entering into an unproductive power struggle. GIA has used Love and Logic for several years and have seen great improvements in scholar’s self-awareness, ability to regulate their behavior, as well as bouncing back from mistakes that result in discipline.

If you’d like to learn more about Love and Logic, and how you can directly benefit from this strategy, visit the Love and Logic Institute’s website here. You can also contact GIA directly at [email protected] for more information on how it’s being used in the classroom.

This post is not sponsored by or affiliated with The Love and Logic Institute.