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…
If we had to choose only one parenting tool to use, it would be family meetings. Positive Parenting: A to Z by Jane Nelson Weekly family meetings made our family’s life a lot smoother. By anticipating what the bumps in the weekly schedule would be, we…
If you want your child to have a high sense of self-esteem, don’t go out of your way to praise her; go out of your way to make sure she experiences mastery in many different ways. We want to be teaching life skills, not providing…
ROLE MODELS Children need role models to show them how to behave in specific situations. They also absorb the behavior they see from others in every day life or in videos. Very young children need direct guidance to know how to behave in…
MRI studies, longitudinal observational studies and input from tens of thousands of educators of young children have changed the way most view how one should appropriately interact with and guide very young children. Historical discipline has given way to strong guidance. Some historical discipline approaches…
Is your child being bullied? Is she too passive with others? How can you make sure your child is not someone else’s doormat? Is your child bullying others? How can you teach them to rein in aggressive tendencies so they don’t hurt or alienate others? Teach…
Is my child OK socially? What should she be doing at this age with her peers? You are in luck. NAEYC, an early education organization and the largest education group in the world, has figured this out for you. The following checklist will help you…
What are some signs that your child is having to deal with bullying behavior? There is an imbalance of power within their friend group. Power differences can be based on almost anything. Any time one person really wants something, there is potential to be kind towards…
Children who bite, hit and scratch often need to work on the following skills: language, self-awareness and emotional self-regulation. As a parent, you can help by giving your child more attention, reducing screen time and learning more about developmentally appropriate expectations. Kids often fight and…
The developmental psychologist Vygotsky said teaching should occur in the zone of proximal development. This means you support a child doing a task that is “challenging for the child, slightly above his or her independent level of functioning, but not frustrating” 1. In that interim…