Controlling the Chaos
[youtube id="65pEBuuxYBE?" width="600" height="350"]
Early Childhood Depression
Dr. Borba on The Doctors
Creating Happy Kids
Top 10 Reasons to Build Our Children’s Moral IQs
Moral Intelligence is what helps youth act right with or without our guidance, and the best news is that this critical intelligence can be nurtured, modeled, reinforced and taught. Here are my 10 reasons why we must build our students’ Moral IQ and recognize our children must have hearts as well as minds! 1. Nurtures Good Character The foundation to good character--or "moral intelligence"--consists of seven core virtues: empathy, conscience, self-control, respect, kindness, tolerance, and...
3 Steps to Reduce Stress in Kids
Parenting advice to help kids and teens learn healthy ways to handle stress Think stress is just for adults? Not these days. Stress builds and there goes those happy family memories. REALITY CHECK: Research finds that between 8 and 10 percent of American children and teens are seriously troubled by stress and symptoms. And stress is also hitting our children at younger ages. If left untreated stress not only affects children’s friendships as well as school success, but also their physical and...
100 Ways to Let Kids Know You Care
I've just come from keynoting a conference on how to stop school shootings and bullying. The audience was packed: educators, mental health professionals, law enforcement, parents as well as elected officials who represented 23 school districts in Southern California. I shared 12 keys that FBI, Secret Service, law enforcement, CDC, as well as research says are our best hope for preventing the tragedy of another Sandy Hook or Columbine. While we know that physical safety (crisis plans, lockdown...
7 Ways to Raise An Ethical Child
Why we must nurture children's hearts as well as minds: 7 ways to teach kids strong, ethical behavior and character in a decade of moral erosion This might as well go down in history as the “Decade of Moral Erosion.” Wall Street so-called “leaders,” politicians, celebrities, and even the clergy and their parade of unethical acts were continual news stories. The Internet became scarier; TV featured more casual sex and vulgarity; political and corporate scandals became raunchier and more...
How to Get Kids to Listen…the First Time!
REALITY CHECK: Many experts say learning to listen is one of the most crucial habits our children need for handling life. Parenting for this change lays the foundation that fosters respectful communication as well as acquiring new knowledge. Improving your kid’s listening skills will benefit every arena of his life—from improving his school performance, relations with friends, job performance, as well as family harmony. Parenting advice to help tune up your child's listening skills, learn to...
25 Ways to Help Your Students Learn Responsibility
"Taking responsibility means never blaming anyone else for anything you are being, doing, having or feeling." ~ Susan Jeffers RESPONSIBILITY is one of the most desirable character traits. It means being accountable, dependable and trustworthy. Once acquired, it nurtures other character traits such as respect, peace ability, cooperation and caring. Responsibility is the backbone of solid citizenship, employability, friendship and self-reliance. It is vital for success in the home, school,...
4 Simple Ways to Nurture Kids’ Empathy
Empathy is the moral virtue that helps children "identify with and feel other people's concerns." When they do, they are more likely to reach out and respond in more caring, compassionate ways to others. Unlike genetics or appearance or most temperaments, empathy can be cultivated, and research shows that our infants are already hard-wired. The best way to nurture empathy is for children to witness or experience it. So now review the last few days: "What has your child done or seen that would...
7 Steps to a Calmer, Less-Yelling Family
Let's face it, these last few days have been a stressful roller coaster ride as we watch the economy tumble and job market become scarcer. My email box has been flooded with notes from concerned moms and dads asking for tips on how to stop yelling at their kids. Stress builds quickly and turns into anger. Yelling is contagious, so if you, or another family member, have been screaming, your child may have caught the “screaming bug.” It’s time for a temper makeover. Reducing temper tantrums...
BIG BOOK OF PARENTING SOLUTIONS
The Big Book of Parenting Solutions: 101 Answers to Your Everyday Challenges and Wildest Worries. Today show's Michele Borba's cures for difficult childhood behaviors. In this down-to-earth guide, parenting expert Michele Borba offers advice for dealing with children's difficult behavior and hot button issues including biting, temper tantrums, cheating, bad friends, inappropriate clothing, sex, drugs, peer pressure, and much more. Written for parents of kids age 3-13, this book offers...
6Rs to Reduce Bullying
Borba-6_Rs_To_Bullyproof
Teaching Kids How to Be More Than Bystanders And Stand Up to Bullies
In this NBC's Dateline special: "The Perils of Parenting," I appear as the expert on bullying. Producers asked me to teach middle school students--when bullying peaks--specific bystander strategies to deal with bullies. I developed the techniques after reviewing dozens of studies on the “Bystander Effect” and have trained hundreds of educators in how to use them with students. The US Army also invited me to teach these skills on our 18 of our bases in Europe and the Asian-Pacific. They work...
11 Possible Signs of Cyberbullying
What Is Cyberbullying? Cyberbullying is an electronic form of communication that uses cyber-technology or digital media to hurt, threaten, embarrass, annoy, blackmail or otherwise target another minor. Every adult who interacts with kids–parents, educators, librarians, police, pediatricians, coaches, child care givers–must get educated about this lethal new form bullying so you can find ways to stop this horrific trend. One reason for such a dramatic increase in cyber-abuse is that it’s just...
How to Wean Kids from TV and Video Games and Back Into L.I.F.E.
Overlooked dangers of raising a generation of plugged-in couch potatoes. Parenting tips to help kids find healthier alternatives and discover "life beyond the remote" that I shared on the TODAY show REALITY CHECK: • Kids aged six months to six years spend three times as many hours watching TV as they do reading or being read to • One-third of kids aged six and younger have a TV set in their room • The average American kid watches four hours of TV a day The majority of parents admit their kids...
Why Overparenting Erodes Kid Confidence
7 ways to step back from being an "Over-Hovering Parent" No parent wants their child to suffer heartaches and disappointments. Our basic instinct is to try and protect our kids from frustrations and problems. But doing so deprives our children from developing the confidence they’ll need to deal with the multitude of issues they’ll face in the real world. How will they ever learn to stand up for themselves, take responsibility for their actions, and confidently cope with life if they’ve always...
How to Know If We Are Pushing Our Kids TOO Hard
The topic of Pushing vs. Nurturing is a hot one and I continue to receive countless queries from parents. Here is a question I received from a mom that is similar to many others. Dear Dr. Borba, Both my husband and I were in gifted programs in school and our 2 year old is already showing signs of being gifted as well. She can spell her first name, count to 10, identify colors and shapes and sort by multiple criteria such as "Show me the three yellow stars" or "8 red circles". We don't push her...
11 Possible Signs of Cyberbullying
What Is Cyberbullying? Cyberbullying is an electronic form of communication that uses cyber-technology or digital media to hurt, threaten, embarrass, annoy, blackmail or otherwise target another minor. Every adult who interacts with kids–parents, educators, librarians, police, pediatricians, coaches, child care givers–must get educated about this lethal new form bullying so you can find ways to stop this horrific trend. One reason for such a dramatic increase in cyber-abuse is that it’s just...
Building Moral Intelligence
Building Moral Intelligence: The Seven Essential Virtues that Teach Kids to Do the Right Thing. Gain a new understanding of moral intelligence, and a step-by-step program for its achievement from bestselling author, Michele Borba. In this indispensable book for parents, Borba has created a new break-through in conceptualizing and teaching virtue, character and values under the auspices of a measurable capacity -- Moral Intelligence. This book confronts the front-page crisis we now face in our...
BIG BOOK OF PARENTING SOLUTIONS
The Big Book of Parenting Solutions: 101 Answers to Your Everyday Challenges and Wildest Worries. Today show's Michele Borba's cures for difficult childhood behaviors. In this down-to-earth guide, parenting expert Michele Borba offers advice for dealing with children's difficult behavior and hot button issues including biting, temper tantrums, cheating, bad friends, inappropriate clothing, sex, drugs, peer pressure, and much more. Written for parents of kids age 3-13, this book offers...