When your child does something positive, give him a specific complimentary adjective. This is different from saying “good boy”. Why not say “good boy”? Say you ask your child to clean his room. You walk in and the floor is clean and it seems everything…
Reading means understanding a passage, understanding the vocabulary, making connections with life, and decoding words like c-a-t. Before a child can get to that, though, he needs oral language, alphabet knowledge, book knowledge, phonics, and phonological awareness. Phonics, which you hear everyone talking about, means recognizing symbols and connecting them…
The process a child undergoes to learn to speak, read, and write is interesting to consider in light of how oral and written language have evolved throughout history. Our little kids will master the basics of written language in three or so years. Yet it…
The definition of intelligence depends on the time and culture you live in. During Socrates’ day, intelligent people were those who could memorize extensive passages and then recite them. There were hardly any written texts in 500 BC so this ability to memorize was valued.…
Play is a natural promoter of intellectual growth, literacy, creativity, imagination, and social/emotional development. Play promotes intellectual growth. Children, while playing, develop the ability to learn to think symbolically and abstractly. The development of symbolic and abstract thought is the ability to represent thoughts, feelings…
The holidays are often the times when you and your child are with relatives you don’t see very often. Of course, you want your child to be on their best behavior. So, then why does she sometimes act her worst? Think about the whole thing from…
You ask your child to clean his room, and the result is tears, frustration, or tantrums. There are many things you can do to prevent this response. It is essential that you understand that children have cognitive limitations in organizing and to work within those…
Your Aunt Maria says that all you have to do is set boundaries. Your uncle says that it doesn’t matter what you do, kids will just turn out the way they are going to. People are often bombarded with a wide range of parenting suggestions…
Children have different learning styles. Developmental psychologist Howard Gardner defines six different intelligences/learning styles. Linguistic intelligence: sensitivity to spoken and written language. Logical-mathematical intelligence: the capacity to analyze problems logically, carry out mathematical operations, and investigate issues scientifically. Musical intelligence: skill in the performance, composition,…
What would life be like for us if no one really listened to us? What if we got home from work and wanted to tell our story, and those around us just looked at their cell phones and didn’t look at us. What if our…
I have outlined below ways to help your child with imagination/creativity, emotional intelligence, literacy, math, joy of learning, writing development and service. As you interact with your child, remember children are not mini-adults. They are qualitatively different in their ways of learning and thinking from…
Your child won’t listen? There are a couple more things to do when a child won’t listen. For levels 1, 2 and 3, see “HOW TO GET YOUR CHILD TO LISTEN- POSITIVE TALK” and “HOW TO GET YOUR CHILD TO LISTEN- INFORMATION/FEELINGS”. LEVEL 4 Asking…