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Once upon a time, babies’ first smiles would often be dismissed as “probably just gas.”
Now, scientists know better.
Starting nearly from birth, infants’ ethereal grins provide a window into their social and emotional development, researchers say. And the responses those enchanting and goofy expressions elicit can help program babies’ brains for a lifetime of social interactions.
It doesn't help. Here's what to say instead.
Today’s kids are more worried than any kids in recent history. According to some long-term surveys of mental health literature, the average kid today is more anxious than people who were hospitalized for anxiety in the 1950s.
Does your child get anxious or angry often or frustrated easily? In the moment it’s often best to err on the side of support rather than challenging or giving logic and reason as an answer to their emotion. It’s often helpful to acknowledge the emotion and provide empathy and give time and space to let a child calm down.
Don’t stop reading aloud to your kids—even when they’re in their teens. It sounds weird and funny, but speech language therapist Anthony D. Koutsoftas, PhD., one of the speakers at “Beyond Borders,” the first convention by the Philippine Association of Speech Pathologists (PASP), insists it is one of the best ways to improve your child’s reading and language abilities.
Are you ready to be committed for 5 minutes for this divine happiness?
Here are eight vital life skills that children aren’t taught in school:
1. Independence: Teaching children, a little at a time, to be independent, can show them that they can make decisions on their own. Letting them make their own mistakes can teach them valuable lessons they’ll carry with them.
2. Compassion: Compassion is needed to work well with others, to care for other people and to find happiness through making other people happy.
3. Individuality: They need to be taught that we come in all sizes, shapes and colors, and it is perfectly OK to be unique.
4. Welcoming Change: Teaching children that change isn’t something to be afraid of – just something to prepare for – can help them in so many aspects throughout their life.
5. Happiness: Many parents coddle their children in an attempt to keep them happy and safe, but it can make children rely on their parents for their happiness. Teaching a child from an early age that they can be happy on their own, by things like playing, reading and imagining, is a valuable life lesson.
6. Finding Passion: Many people struggle with finding their passion. Helping a child find what he or she is passionate about by allowing them to try a bunch of different things can help them find a source of lifelong internal happiness and motivation. Encourage the adventure, but let children decide on their own, where they find passion.
7. Asking questions: Teaching children that asking questions is a good thing, can encourage their curiosity and help them continue to seek knowledge in different aspects of life.
8. Solving problems: Constantly solving a child’s problems for them won’t help them as they grow. They need to know that they can solve problems on their own. New skills, a new environment, a new job – they’re all just problems to be solved. Modeling problem solving and allowing children to come up with their solution ideas can help them develop confidence and let them know that whatever comes their way, they are capable of handling it.
No matter the age of your little Picasso, these creative compositions are simple yet elegant, making for a stunning wall of kid art. And each activity boosts your child's budding fine motor skills and imagination with basic materials you can pick up at your local craft store.
A child needs a good partner in learning. Instead of telling our children to read more, maybe we can start putting aside our time to join them in this can't-emphasize-enough activity that will expand your child's potentials.
How can you keep your kids safer without being their full-time watcher?
Most of us modern parents worry at some point (maybe daily!) whether we are parenting our kids the right way. At a time when we see countless examples of helicopter parenting and entitled children who can't cope with setbacks, there are plenty of reasons to be asking ourselves if we're firm enough with our kids.
Any good parent wants their kids to stay out of trouble, do well in school, and go on to do awesome things as adults. And while there isn't a set recipe for raising successful children, psychology research has pointed to a handful of factors that predict success.
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Unsurprisingly, much of it comes down to the parents. Here's what parents of successful kids have in common:
Elaine Rose Glickman, parent and author of Your Kid’s A Brat, And It’s All Your Fault, says that a kid’s shitty behavior, at least partially, comes from the ones that made them.
“Most people have a sense of when their child has gone off the rails, and lot of times we deny it and we try to push it down,” says Glickman. It’s completely natural for a kid to test the limits, but when it becomes behavioral pattern, that’s when they’ve crossed the line into brattiness, and it’s up to you to do more than just dismiss it as a tantrum or a phase. “Some things we overlook or explain away are behaviors we need to deal with.” So how should we deal with?
1. To Be A Parent, You Have to Actually BE A Parent
2. “It’s Just A Phase” Is BS
3. The Whining Has to Stop
4. Limit Their Options
5. Let Them Be Mad Sometimes
6. Mind Their Manners
You don't really need to answer that. We can save you the trouble of trying to figure it out and just say that the answer is most likely 'no'. Your child is probably not getting enough sleep. At least that is what the experts are saying. In fact, it is said that the average person will spend about 40% of their childhood asleep, but this is still not enough according to some experts.
My husband and I thought we were done having kids after we had our first two. Then when our youngest was 3 and we had just celebrated chucking the diapers—surprise!—pregnant! We rolled with it, and now I can’t imagine life without our three kids.
According to a new study by Leipzig University, the first-born children get an IQ boost from having to teach their younger siblings. Receiving undivided attention also benefits the IQ. These differences in intelligence is thought to occur from nurture and upbringing, rather than biology.
We all know that besides looking after you, stealing the last bar of chocolate from the fridge and sending you jokes only they find funny, it’s a dad’s main purpose in life to relentlessly mock the hell out of you.
Learning and reciting nursery rhymes in early childhood is important for language development and early literacy skills. These free printable sequencing activities will increase comprehension of the stories and will also build critical thinking skills.
This post was originally titled 'Notes to Self' but I'm thinking we could all do with some reminders. Here are some notes for all Montessori parents.
It is usually observable very early on, and parents know because their child is constantly on, constantly challenging the status quo, and constantly testing boundaries in any and every situation in attempt to gather and learn information about their world.
Kids who understand gratitude have better grades and are less likely to get depressed. This was the conclusion of a recent story in the Wall Street Journal that struck a chord with both my husband and me.
A few weeks ago, my 5-year-old stubbed his toe for the billionth time, then began to cry inconsolably. While he bawled for a full half-hour—not exaggerating—I alternated between reassuring him, second-guessing whether I was over-reassuring him, and wondering whether he actually broke his toe.
Can you really raise happy, well-behaved, resilient, confident children just by consistently rewarding them with delicious pastries? Perhaps, but that’s not what The Danish Way of Parenting is about.
1. Get the timing right: Make your tot’s appointment for a time when they’re alert and rested.
2. Parent by example: Mums and dads have the greatest influence on their tyke’s dental health. Your child will pick up on your anxiety, so focus on staying cool, calm, collected and confident.
3. No surprises: Bambinos handle dental procedures best when their parents know what to expect and have prepared them for the experience.
4. Look on the bright side: Answer your tot’s questions in a positive way. For example, use words like ‘healthy’ instead of ‘hurt’ and definitely steer clear of scary dental anecdotes!
5. Come prepared: Take along some questions about your child’s oral health.
6. Over to them! When the big day arrives, give your mini-mite some control over their dental visit, such as choosing their own ‘tooth doctor outfit’. Then it’s time to climb into the exciting dentist’s chair and let the check-up begin!
Understanding what they are feeling is crucial for children to grow healthy. Here is the card game that will make your child talk about their experiences of a range of emotions, their body’s physical reactions to emotions and strategies for overcoming overwhelming emotions. It’s a great resource for home and school, and it’s available as a free printable.
Adequate magnesium levels are crucial for brain, cardiac and muscle function!!
Taking care of a pet has been shown to help children develop empathy and compassion for animals, people and themselves. But how can you tell if your child is ready for the responsibility of caring for a pet?
It's October! The air is crisp, the trees are starting to turn, and there's candy everywhere! Yay!
A new study is sure to make some parents giddy as it reveals a simple solution to treat kids with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). There is no more need for prescribed medication, just a change of lifestyle would be able to solve the child's behavioral and attention problems.
Homemade Root Veggie Chips are a great way to add color and introduce your kids to new vegetables. It’s also a great way to use up extra root vegetables in the fridge. We make these homemade chips as a special treat to eat with sandwiches or hotdogs. They’re so pretty!
The characteristics gifted children have often lead to social and emotional behavior problems that can affect their development. To understand your gifted child completely, it's a good idea to see how your child's giftedness can influence his behavior.
Today’s children come to school emotionally unavailable for learning, and there are many factors in our modern lifestyle that contribute to this. As we know, the brain is malleable. Through environment, we can make the brain “stronger” or make it “weaker”. I truly believe that, despite all our greatest intentions, we unfortunately remold our children’s brains in the wrong direction.
Yes, it was an extreme punishment from the beginning. However, the boundaries between extreme punishment and child discipline can be blurry for some people. Perhaps, before barraging blames to the accused parents, it is time to remind ourselves again of the unseen repercussions of child discipline so to prevent such incident from recurring.
An FBI agent is lending an insight into distinguishing lies by kids.
The only disadvantage children of single parents face is the knowledge that their mum is being judged.
This FREE Farm Animals activity includes 8 farm animals that children have to match to their beginning letter sounds. Includes both uppercase and lowercase letters so you can choose which one is right for your child.
Let’s face it – no matter how “angelic” you think your children are, there will be times in your life as a parent when you’ll find yourself dealing with your kids’ annoying behavior; attempting to calm them down when you won’t buy what they want; and feeling helpless when they start “acting out” or throwing tantrums.
Although there are several tried-and-tested ways on how to deal with such episodes, parents may also want to know how to teach their children to “channel” or refocus their negative emotions, so that they can avoid the dreaded tantrums in the first place.
Parenting is nerve-wracking. You love your children and want them to grow up to be happy, successful adults, but some days you’re not sure how to make that happen.
Sometimes you fear that something you’re doing or saying will mess them up permanently. But here’s the good news: Part of great parenting is avoiding mistakes. Even better news is that you don’t have to discover these mistakes for yourself.
- See more at: https://www.familiesforlife.sg/discover-an-article/Pages/20-Guaranteed-Ways-to-Mess-Up-Your-Children.aspx#sthash.7UKv8IoI.dpuf
Reading develops only with practice -- the more you read, the better you get; the better you get, the more you read. So how do we help children enjoy reading and choose to read more often?
In a country where more than 35 per cent of girls are discouraged from studying and going to school, young prodigy Sushma Verma from Lucknow has a different story to tell! At age 7 when most of us were barely able to dedicate 30 minutes to studying, Sushma had already completed her 10th. At the young age of 13, she had enrolled herself in college and was getting her Master’s Degree in Microbiology from Lucknow University.
"See babies as people in their own right, naturally deserving of our respect. See babies not as helpless beings but as active, phenomenal learners with an innate urge to explore their world and the people in it, from birth. When we see babies in this way, our practice will naturally change for the better." - Lisa Sunbury Gerber
This is the most delicious cauliflower recipe you’ll eat and on top of that it’s such an easy addition to include a roasted cauliflower in your family’s dinner plan or for a dinner party with friends.
Below are 13 tips for parents that will help them teach their kids about healthy money management.
If your child is having a hard time breaking into a group or getting along with her peers, she may need your help -- though how (and how much) you should intervene depends on the particular dilemma. We've rounded up some common kid complaints and suggested solutions.
After a negative interaction with your child, it’s hard to see how to connect with your child and close the gap. Which is why you need the magic 5:1 ratio
I see it all too often: Mom or Dad bring in their toddler for their first visit to the dentist, and I have to break the news to them that their toddler has several cavities.
Just because baby teeth fall out doesn’t mean cavities are okay for the baby teeth. Cavities in baby teeth can absolutely affect the adult teeth, as well as the size of the oral cavity later on in development.
Like many other American parents, I had an obsession: academic success for my child. Only, I was going about it completely wrong. Yes, my daughter would later go on to test above average with her academic skills, but she was missing important life skills. Skills that should have been in place and nurtured during the preschool years....
You might think it’s cute – that big, wet and slobbery tongue reaching out from your canine’s jaw and affectionately lapping at your face. But what if I told you there was something quite sinister about it?
No, I’m not saying your beloved Fido is trying to harm you. Your little (or big) furry friend genuinely is trying to display affection. Too bad the same can’t be said for all the bacteria on the dog’s tongue.
Too bad the same can’t be said for all the bacteria on the dog’s tongue.
Raise your hand if you end up doing the majority of your kid’s language arts homework? Or is it just me who spent an entire weekend making a booklet on penguins and writing an essay on Mandela? It isn’t so much that I want to control everything, but I have a fear that if my son hasn’t properly researched a speech or presentation he has to make, he’ll get up in front of his class and make a huge fool of himself. My husband frequently reminds me, “It isn’t your homework, it’s his.” He refuses to get involved, but I just can’t help myself.....