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Meet Pam Leo
Pam Leo is an independent scholar in human development, a leading voice in the Conscious Parenting Movement, and a family literacy activist. She is the author of Connection Parenting and the children’s book, Please Read to Me, which was a recipient of two Stephen and Tabitha King Foundation grants for $25,000 in 2021 and 2023. Please Read to Me, the board book, was distributed to Maine babies and children through the King Foundation grant monies. A soft and hard bound version of the book is forthcoming through Kindred World Publishing House.
Pam has worked with children and families for more than forty years. Her parenting education field work includes teaching incarcerated parents, parents in rehabilitation and recovery programs, and teen parents to connect with their children. From her work with at-risk families, she learned that all parents very much want to provide for their own children. She has "never met a parent who didn't want life to be better for their children than it was for them." She also realized at-risk families were caught in cycles of trauma and illiteracy, and the two could be addressed with strategic, relational activism based on her Connection Parenting insights. Today, the Book Fairy Pantry Project and Read-Aloud Parenting are her dynamic initiatives that serve at-risk families, and all families.
Pam is a third-generation homeschooler and homeschool advocate. She was the keynote speaker for 900 homeschooling moms at Wild +Free Homeschooling Conference in Nashville, TN, in 2022. (See photos above.) Early in her life experience, Pam was a birth doula, and childbirth educator. She brought Joseph Chilton Pearce to Maine for The "I Am a Magical Child" weekend conference attended by 400+ parents, practitioners, and educators. Joseph Chilton Pearce is credited with launching the Conscious Parenting Movement with his seminal works, including Magical Child, 1977. (See the photo of Pam and Joe above.)
Pam’s long history as a leading voice of the Conscious Parenting Movement includes being a founding board member of the Alliance for Transforming the Lives of Children, aTLC, and a board member of the award-winning nonprofit, Kindred World. She has written for Empathetic Parenting Journal (beginning in 1997, see photo above), Mothering Magazine, Pathways to Family Wellness Magazine, and is currently a contributing editor to Kindred Magazine. She is a regular presenter at homeschooling, parenting, and literacy conferences, and featured on podcasts and television news programs nationally.
Pam is an early literacy and read-aloud advocate. Her enduring love of children's books, her passion for literacy, and her commitment to empowering parents, are combined in her new role as the founder of a grassroots literacy movement through the Book Fairy Pantry Project and Read-Aloud Parenting. Both family literacy initiatives are part of Kindred World's ongoing, award-winning nonprofit work. Pam serves on the board of directors for Kindred World.
Read Pam’s posts and listen to podcast interviews on Kindred Magazine.
Visit the Book Fairy Pantry Project.
Pam Leo is one of the world’s most quoted and beloved independent human development scholars. Read her quote collection on Pinterest.
Watch her video interview collection on YouTube.
Read Connection Parenting: Parenting Through Connection Instead of Coercion, Through Love instead of Fear
Pam Leo, as a child
Pam's Story
In Her Own Words...
After my first child was born in 1972, it became my passion to understand human behavior. I began to study child development, psychology, sociology, and anthropology. I wanted to learn why we are each born as a tiny innocent being, and some of us grow up to be a Mahatma Gandhi while others become an Adolf Hitler. What determines the difference? I was determined to find out.
My journey has been and continues to be a wondrous one. While raising my two daughters, I supported us by being a family child care provider for children ages two to ten, fifty hours a week, fifty weeks a year, for twenty-two years. During that time I homeschooled my daughters and continued my own independent study of human development. In 1989 I developed the seven-session parenting series, "Meeting the Needs of Children" which I teach publicly and in the prison system with inmate parents.
The feedback I most often get from parents is, "I wish I'd had this information from the beginning." In response to this feedback I created a prenatal parenting class. I became certified as a childbirth educator and as a doula as preparation to teach my new class. The "Bonding with Your Baby" class draws from the works of Joseph Chilton Pearce, Jean Liedloff, Ashley Montagu, and James Prescott. The class focuses on supporting expectant parents in creating the best possible foundation for a strong parent-child bond.
If I had to put into one sentence all that I have learned about optimal human development and parenting it would be this: our effectiveness as parents is in direct proportion to the strength of the bond we have with our child. Securing and maintaining that bond is our primary work as parents and is the key to optimal human development.
My passion to learn how to support optimal human development grew into a mission to share all I had learned. In addition to teaching my classes, I have been sharing this information through my "Empowered Parents" column in the Parent & Family paper here in Maine since 1994. When one of my articles was reprinted in the Empathic Parenting Journal I was invited to work with the group of people who have now become the Alliance for Transforming the Lives of Children.
It's been a dream come true to have the opportunity to work in person with many of the people who have unknowingly been my mentors. Our common bond is our passion for and dedication to working together to make this information available to all people who either raise children or impact the lives of children.
I can think of no work more worthy of my time, energy, resources and love.
Pam Leo
Pam Leo Is One of the Most Quoted Parenting Thought Leaders Worldwide, Read Her Posts and Podcasts on KindredMagazine.org
Read Pam Leo on Kindred Magazine
Pam Leo On Connection Parenting & Family Literacy
Raising Children Who Won’t Have To Recover From Childhood: A Connection Parenting Interview with Pam Leo
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We Bring The Magic: Pam Leo Shares Book Fairy Pantry Project And Wayfinder Stories
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Pam Leo Reads Her New Book, Please Read To Me
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Pam Leo On Family Literacy As Social Justice And Her New Book
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Connection Parenting: An Interview With Pam Leo
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How To Help Kids Master And Control Their Emotions With Pam Leo
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Literacy Bonding: Pam Leo’s New Book Fairy Pantry Project
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Please Read: A New Poem By Pam Leo
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Connection Parenting Lost And Now Found: An Interview With Pam Leo
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Powerful Parenting Magic
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What The Dragonfly Said: Letter From The Editor, August 2022
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100 Places Before Fall: Free Summer Family Adventure And Reading Challenge
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It Takes A Community To Raise A Reader
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Are You A Witch Mom?
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Are You A Connected Or Controlling Parent?
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Connection Parenting: A Review Of The Classic, Beloved Book
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Book Fairy Pantry Project Receives $25,000 Stephen King Grant
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Kindred World Announces Inaugural Cohort Of The 2021 Kindred Fellowship Program
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Global Pandemic Triggers Family Literacy Epidemic
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New Study: Long-Term Relationship Building, Not Verbal Reasoning Or Nonviolent Discipline, For Positive Benefits
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Welcoming The Light: What’s Really Happening Tonight?
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Kindred’s Top 12 Stories Of 2020
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Kindred World Elects Darcia Narvaez, PhD, President And New Board Members
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The Forever Gift
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Teaching Through Love Instead Of Fear
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Parenting For A Peaceful World Goes To China: An Update From Robin Grille
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The 45 Million Word Difference
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He Raised Us: A Tribute To Joseph Chilton Pearce
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Book Fairy Pantry Project Joins Families For Conscious Living And Kindred
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The New Story: Push Pause, Then Play
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Why Dads Leave: Insights And Resources For When Partners Become Parents (New Book)
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After Divorce: Staying Connected When You Are Apart (Part 2)
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After Divorce: Staying Connected When You Are Apart (Part 1)
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The Missing Connection
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Bringing The Magic: Making Sense Of The World With Mathemagizing
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Can Too Much Togetherness Cause Disconnection? What To Do
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Mass Killers Explained By Syndrome E (Evil)
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Evolutionary Parenting Critiques New Dangers Of Bedsharing Study
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Kindred, the first global, eco-parenting magazine, began in 2002. Pam Leo is a contributing editor.
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