Helping Kids Be Less Likely to Be Rejected
All children are turned down by friends--even the most popular kids! Researchers found in a study of second and third graders that 26 percent of the time, even the most well-liked children in the class were told they couldn’t join groups already playing.But oh the pain of knowing your child is left-out! Do tell your child before he attempts to join a group: “Everyone gets turned down now and then so if a group tells you “no”, accept it and find another group. Don’t argue, beg, cry, or plead...
36 Ways To Nurture Kids’ Character
The family is the first school of virtue, so make sure you're schooling your child in the lessons of character. Hundreds of years ago Aristotle, the Greek philosopher, said that the best way to teach character is through example. That premise still stands up today. Kids are great imitators, so let's give them something great to imitate. Let's model what we hope our children copy. Even in our increasingly toxic culture, parents can still have the inside track in their children's development...
Reducing Test Anxiety
How to curb kid test jitters, get ready for those tests, improve scores, and know if it's time to seek medical advice One of kids more dreaded four-letter words: T.E.S.T. These days it seems even for many kids even if they’ve studied hard and done their homework when test day comes they’re hit with a wave of panic. Butterflies hit their stomach and their heads are filled with a wave of negative thoughts: “I’m going to flunk.” “I’m so dumb.” And then their mind goes blank. The diagnosis is:...
Kid Boredom Busters
REALITY CHECK: Beware: a new trend shows our Micromanaged, Over-structured, "Plugged-In" Generation can't stand boredom. Maybe it's because we might be doing too much scheduling, entertaining and solving? Just a thought! There is a concerning new trend with twenty-first century kids. Perhaps because they’re been programmed and scheduled and micromanaged and adult supervised, many seem to have a tough time enjoying their own company and entertaining themselves. So when it comes to free time,...
9 Secrets to Curb Homework Wars
Parenting tips to minimize our nagging and maximizing their learning ...until they can finally do homework solo style! "You can't make me!" "Why do I have to do homework?" "Can't I pleeeeease just go to bed?" Homework time in many families can be very stressful and tension-filled for both child and parent. According to a survey by Public Agenda almost half of all parents of school-age students said they have arguments involving tears or yelling with their kids about homework. And one third of...
How Not To Raise A Quitter
Teach your children to hang in there when the going gets tough, but know when to let them throw in the towel. Perseverance often makes the critical distinction between whether kids succeed or fail. Will they have the inner strength to keep on or be plagued by self-defeat, be unwilling to give it their best shot? Children who learn to bounce back and not let setbacksget them down have gained a valuable skill for life. If our children are to succeed in this competitive world, they must learn...
Helping Kids Learn Money Management
How to use everyday shopping outings to teach kids money management, financial literacy and sticking to a budget while curbing kid bickering and begging REALITY CHECK: A study by researchers at the University of Vienna, Austria found that the influence children wield over their parent’s purchase decisions in stores are grossly underestimated. In fact, twice as many store purchases are triggered by kids that their parents are aware. So make sure this season you don’t not back down from your...
The Artful Act of Giving
By Marilyn Price-Mitchell, PhD Much like the creative inspiration that flows through paint brushes and words of poetry, giving is an artful expression of caring for someone or something beyond ourselves. Most of us learn the art of giving in our childhoods. I remember how my mother coordinated a neighborhood bake-off so we could take sweet holiday treats to our local nursing home. With several other families, we delivered trays of goodies and sang carols for the residents. I remember how I...
To Decrease Stress, We Need to Take Back Childhood: A Guest Post by Katie Hurley
Note to Readers: One of my favorite parenting writers is Katie Hurley. Her latest book, “The Happy Kid Handbook: How to Raise Joyful Children in a Stressful World”, is one that all parents should have on their nightstand. It's a wonderful parenting reference to help us all recognize that one of the most our important roles as moms and dads is to help raise happy, healthy kids - particularly in today's topsy-turvy, troubling world. Here is a guest blog from Katie that features sound advice from...
Girls Got Game? Discussing Video Games and Stereotypes In the Classroom
A Guest Post by Rosalind Wiseman Here's a special post from my colleague, Rosalind Wiseman, author of the must reads, Masterminds & Wingmen and Queen Bees and Wannabes and is an extraordinary source on bullying, creating cultures of dignity and the boy and girl scene. The realization came upon me gradually, that is until it hit me over the head. In casual conversations, I noticed that more and more, girls were telling me they liked playing First Person Shooter (FPS) games. These are games...
How to Talk To Kids About Scary News
Parenting advice I shared on the TODAY show on how to talk to kids about troubling news and reduce their fears and jitters about world events Tsunamis. Cyclones. War. ISIS beheadings. Nuclear meltdowns. Pilot takes down a plane If you are feeling a bit jittery about the news lately, imagine how our kids must feel. We know that constantly hearing about troubling world events does more than just increase children’s jitters, but can also cloud their views about the world. This week’s current...
7 Practices That Nurture Respect In Children
Though most teachers admit that there are some students they never forget, the same is true about parents. I vividly remember a mother of one of my students all because of the way she conveyed respect to her child. She did so beautifully in how she listened. I watched her several times throughout the year on our field trips and in our class parties or just those times she’d wait at the door to pick him up. Each time Ricky would talk, she'd stop what she’d do, get down to eye level, look into...
The Power of Gossip
This week's article is a guest post from Rosalind Wiseman on the negative impact and harm that gossip can have in reducing a safe and caring school climate and creating a dehumanizing "us" vs. "them" dynamic. She also includes solutions to curtail the gossip scene. Rosalind is a leading expert on bullying and creating cultures of dignity. Her most recent and must-read book is Masterminds and Wingmen: Helping Our Boys Cope with Schoolyard Power, Lock-Room Tests, Girlfriends, and the New Rules...
Helping Girls Become Confident Leaders from the Inside Out
Parenting advice on how to raise strong, confident daughters from the inside out What parent doesn’t want their daughter to be a leader? After all, that top role—be it, debate captain, head cheerleader, newspaper editor, play director, student body president-is deemed the epitome of success. These are the girls who adults applaud and peers look up to. Make no mistake, each leadership success is one more step up a ladder, and each rung up that ladder gives girls that needed “edge” to be...
Seven Ways to Build Strong Character and Integrity in Children
Wondering what can you do to help your kids counter negative influences and stand up for what they know is right? The answer is to nurture a solid moral core that will guide them to stand up for their beliefs and act right without us. And the best news is that we can teach kids the core virtues and skills of strong character and moral courage and can begin when they are toddlers. Here are seven parenting tips from my book, Building Moral Intelligence: The Seven Essential Virtues That Teach...
Parenting Our Fabulous Middle Kids: 7 Typical “Issues” and Solutions
Is the "Middle Kid Syndrome" really a problem? Not if we apply the research. Have more than two kids? Then I'm betting you've heard a few of these: “It’s like I’m stuck in the middle.” “But I don’t want to do things like my sister.” “I want my own stuff not these hand me downs.” “My coach always asks why I can’t play like my brother.” As soon as my third son was born I became very aware of the so-called "Middle Kid Syndrome." It wasn't hard...everyone warned me with this: "Watch out ...you...
Hidden Benefits of Left-Handed Kids
Parenting tips for our left-handed children and some surprising research on how they turn out Do Lefties Have the Upper Hand? I admit I'm always glued to the news. But I tuned into an unexpected political revelation. I caught it the moment President Obama was signing a bill. It wasn't what he signed, but how he signed the law. He used that unmistakable hooked handwriting scrawl of a left-hander. Through a little self-induced sleuthing I discovered that Obama isn't alone as a southpaw...
How to Help Kids Learn From Mistakes
Tips to help kids recognize a key to success: "Learn from your failures." Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new. ~ Albert Einstein Do you want your child to succeed? (And what parent doesn't.) Then know this: kids cannot learn to persevere, hang in there, or succeed unless they recognize how to deal with failure. Mistakes can be a chance to start over. In fact one of the most highly correlated traits of successful individuals...
What We Can Learn from Little Mean Girls
Making a Difference in the Lives of All Young Girls: A special guest post by Michelle Anthony, author of Little Girls Can Be Mean Here is a guest post by Michelle Anthony, author of the wonderful (and MUST read book) Little Girls Can Be Mean: Four Steps to Bully-Proof Girls in the Early Grades. This is part of my special blog series on stopping bullying and I can't think of a better person to address the issue with young girls than Michelle. “Those Girls” are Our Girls All girls can (and...
Teaching Kids Financial Literacy
Parenting tips to help teach the critical ABCs of money management starting when our kids are young! Do you feel like you are your kid’s ATM machine? Does your child spend faster than he saves? Do you worry that you’ll still be delving out an allowance to your child when he is forty-five year old? If so, you’re not alone. Some of parents’ biggest concerns center around their kids’ inabilities to handle money and it is a legitimate worry.. How a child learns to save and spend in those early...
7 Ways to Nurture Tolerance and Acceptance in Kids
REALITY CHECK: Did you know that today’s American youth are displaying intolerant actions at alarming rates-and at younger ages? The FBI reports that most hate crimes are committed by youth younger than nineteen. The Associated Press announced that 2009 saw most federal hate crime cases since 2001. The Southern Poverty Law Center reports that those stats are “severely flawed” and much higher. One thing is certain, kids aren’t born hateful. Prejudices are learned. Hatred and intolerance can...