The holidays are the perfect time to help children cultivate and express their gratitude for friends, family, and their community. Building on last month’s article, this issue contains excellent activities from The University of California Berkley, Greater Good Program. Many of these family friendly crafts and events can be adapted to fit any age level. [...]
Thanksgiving is more meaningful than simply gathering family and celebrating a good meal. With many public schools dropping the celebration of all holidays, parents have a unique opportunity to teach their children about thankfulness. This time of year is perfect for cultivating an understanding and practice of gratitude. A grateful perspective has been shown to [...]
Parents often wonder what is the best method in which to teach children that are learning how to behave and how to think. Good parenting and discipline often equate the same thing: effective teaching. Discipline does not equal punishment. Discipline is an emotional education: a way of teaching your young child to handle their feelings [...]
When we agree to love something or someone, we agree to face loss at some point. Adults can rationalize the process of love and loss while young children may face difficulty in processing what death is and what to do with the emotions of grief. There is not one proper way to process death and [...]
Disney-Pixar’s latest movie, Inside Out, illuminates the intricate world of the human brain in a way that playfully captures the attention of children and adults. The developmentally appropriate (yet still accurate) depiction of the way people feel and think opens up opportunity for dialogue among families in regard to our brain, emotions, and our behaviors. This [...]
When did preschool learning become the new nature or nurture debate? Decades of research have indicated that both nature and nurture contribute to the development of a human. Similarly, the past forty years of research have demonstrated that play and social learning contribute to the intellectual development of a preschooler. Play and learning are not [...]
When should young children learn to save, to spend, and to use money as a form of helping others? Research indicates that children as young as age three can begin to understand the value of saving and spending. By age seven, many children have already developed habits and mindsets for how money is earned and [...]
In the last article we examined how praise can have negative effects on children’s motivation and performance. A wide body of motivational and psychological research suggests that parents and educators have options besides praise to encourage and support their children. Even praise itself has various forms, such as process praise, authentic praise, and meaningful praise. [...]
According to a survey conducted by Columbia University, 85 percent of American parents think it’s important to tell their kids that they are smart and to praise them for grades, performance, appearance and intelligence. Many well-intended parents and teachers praise children for everything from reading a book, playing jump rope, climbing up the stairs, and [...]
Scientific research indicates there is a very strong relationship between social-emotional learning and cognitive development and well-being. Children as young as 18 months exhibit compassion, empathy, and altruism. Some schools have programs designed to help students better identify and manage their emotions, establish respectful caring relationships and resolve conflicts using nonviolent means. A decade of [...]
