The Feeling is Bright Named Book of the Year
The feeling IS bright here at Conscious Discipline as we celebrate receiving Creative Child Magazine’s Book of the Year in in the Self-Regulation Books for Kids category for The Feeling is Bright: Self-Regulation through Rhythm and Rhyme. The Feeling is Bright is co-written by Conscious Discipline creator Dr. Becky Bailey and Neuro-Rhythmic Trauma Certified C.A.R.E. Room Supervisor Rob Leytham, and illustrated by artist and educator, Jolie Spelman. The Feeling is Bright is a delightful, cross-disciplinary tool that uses a combination of art, music, and literacy to teach self-regulation in homes, schools, and centers.
Music stimulates more systems of the brain than any other human function. The Feeling is Bright boasts a 32-page hardcover book, 12 songs and collage art spreads in addition to an accompanying 32 drumming and chanting songs.
“We want them [students] to develop their own creative mind, increase their focus, slow their breath down and find the rhythm that they have in their life and their mind,” Rob says, “I use the drum to help support students who may have trauma in their lives.”
Rob brought his C.A.R.E. room experience, percussion background and education in Neuro-rhythmic Trauma Therapy to the special project. The C.A.R.E. room provides a classroom-like setting where students are coached to self-regulate and solve conflicts in the moment. Most often, the C.A.R.E. room is for prevention purposes, utilizing specific Conscious Discipline powers, skills, and strategies such as the Kindness Tree, the Feeling Buddies, and the Five Steps to Regulation.
A book would not be the same without the enhancement of visual art; thankfully, book illustration was on Jolie Spelman’s bucket list. “As an artist you have a checklist of things you have always wanted to accomplish—a solo show, teach private classes. I always wanted the opportunity to do a children’s book. It was such a unique experience; I could not pass it up.”
In March 2021, Jolie was hospitalized for 40+ days with a debilitating case of Covid. When she recovered, she had a renewed desire to accomplish all the things she had always dreamed of doing. When the opportunity to work on The Feeling is Bright arose, Jolie knew it was meant for her. While the process of illustrating a book was new for her, Jolie is a seasoned artist and teacher of 30+ years. When people ask her what kind of artist she is, she often replies., “My serious art is abstract landscape painting, but my fun whimsical stuff is my collage.” You can feel the fun and freedom of her collage art right from the moment you see the giraffe on The Feeling is Bright’s front cover.
Full of applicable, interdisciplinary lessons to assist students PreK through fifth grade in learning self-regulation, The Feeling is Bright brings the magic of art, music and poetry into your home or school.
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Jenny Shannon
Jenny Shannon has a B.A. in English, an M.A. in Educational Leadership, and an abiding commitment to believing that what you focus on, you get more of. With a strong background in education and communications and the love of a good story, she is thrilled to work on Conscious Discipline’s Marketing Team as copywriter. She lives in a 200-year-old home in northern New Jersey where she moonlights as chauffeur for her two daughters, can be caught singing showtunes in the kitchen and has strong opinions on the best place to grab a cup of coffee.
