Empathizing with your child when his behaviour is frustrating can be challenging, but it’s an essential part of being a supportive, trustworthy parent. When you empathize with your child, you let him know that you respect and value his feelings, even if you don’t always agree with how he handles them. You show him that you care about ...
The friendships kids make during their preschool years are important. These early peer bonding experiences help kids learn the social and communication skills they’ll need to enjoy a happy, healthy childhood and adolescence. Making strong friendships at a young age also builds confidence and self-esteem, giving a kids a more positive outlook on themselves and others. Making friends comes ...
If your child has been through a traumatic experience, as a parent, your foremost thought is probably restoring her sense of safety and emotional security. While these instincts are correct, it’s important to also understand that the aftermath of trauma is complex and often challenging to manage. Without a solid understanding of the many ways trauma can affect children, ...
We all want our kids to enjoy the social and professional advantages conferred by high intelligence, but few parents understand how to effectively nurture this trait. Though a wealth of purportedly intelligence-boosting toys, apps, books, and games exist, the evidence behind them is mixed and often insufficient. In fact, research has shown that many simple, traditional childhood activities rank among ...
While most of the issues adopted children face while growing up differ little from the challenges experienced by non-adopted children, ...
As children grow older, their behaviours change dramatically. While a hysterical tantrum over something minor is completely normal at two ...
Anxiety disorders are found in children much more often than many people realize; ten to twenty percent of all children ...
Though childhood is portrayed as a carefree time, the day-to-day lives of our kids are often more stressful than we realize. At the same time kids are learning to function independently in the world, they must work hard to get good grades, make friends, and deal with social pressures (both online and offline). Children may also become anxious about global ...
Experiencing fear is an important stage in emotional development. Normal childhood fears (e.g., being scared of the dark, monsters, etc.) teach kids how to measure and understand risk, evaluate potentially dangerous situations, and manage anxiety. Learning these skills is a necessary part of preparing for adulthood, and there’s a lot parents can do to help their kids process ...
Kids misbehave for a wide variety of different reasons, and some children are inherently easier to parent than others. Finding the right methods of guidance can therefore feel confusing and overwhelming, especially if techniques that worked with one of your children don’t work with his or her siblings. However, while it’s true that parenting is an adaptive and ...
Having an imaginary friend is a normal, healthy part of most kids’ development. Studies show that up to 60 percent of children between the ages of three and eight will invent an imaginary companion at some point. Some imaginary friends are completely incorporeal beings, while others are personified by physical objects, such as a favourite stuffed animal or doll. Regardless of ...
