Pause… Breathe… Smile… those are the 3 magic words I constantly try to hone in with my 5-year-old. Do they work? With reminders and on a good day, yes. Otherwise… not so much. Surprisingly, while trying to teach these to my son, I ended up using these words as my own personal motto to help stay calm and in control. As ...
If your child is struggling behaviourally or academically, his school may recommend that he take what is known as a psycho-educational (“psy-ed”) assessment - or you may wish to seek such an assessment independently. This comprehensive evaluation is designed to measure a child’s cognitive processing abilities (including logical reasoning, memory, attention, and executive functioning), his current level of academic ...
While there is no way to make divorce “easy” on a child, there are ways to keep a divorce from damaging a child in a severe, lasting way. To the eyes of a vulnerable child, there is a world of difference between two parents separating amicably — while reassuring the child that he or she will remain important to both of ...
Not all gifted children automatically flourish at school; for some, academic activities seem to be a source of frustration or boredom, even as those same children will happily apply considerable effort to demanding activities outside of school, exhibiting a great deal of creative potential. While many parents and educators are quick to assume a behavioral issue when presented with the ...
As a psychologist living and working in Toronto, where 51% of residents were born outside Canada, I deal with immigration related ...
As children grow older, their behaviours change dramatically. While a hysterical tantrum over something minor is completely normal at two ...
So here you are. Your child has done something wrong or hasn’t done something they should have done. In ...
For many teenagers, the pressure to be “perfect” is an unavoidable reality; whether it's envying those students who appear to ace every subject at school with ease, longing to be one of the popular kids, or wishing to rank among the star athletes, almost all teens have experienced the pain of feeling “less than” at some point. While this is ...
While many children may appear to bounce back quickly on the surface, the trials and tribulations faced by school-aged children can leave deep scars if not managed correctly. The challenges, setbacks, failures, and social pressures most children experience at school can gradually undermine their confidence and sense of self-worth unless their parents work with them to develop their resilience. For ...
There are many theories trying to explain why we see such a rapid increase in the rates of anxiety among children. Regardless of the explanations, the fact remains that child anxiety is on the rise and we now see more and more young children - often as young as 5-6 years old - with clinical levels of anxiety. Parenting chronically ...
For many children, the start of a new school year produces feelings of excitement and anticipation: The idea of seeing old friends again, discovering new subjects, and meeting new teachers makes the prospect of schoolwork seem more like an adventure than a chore (albeit often temporarily). For children with ADHD, however, the idea of returning to school often invokes a ...
