Having well-developed social skills is fundamental to achieving personal success and happiness. Social skills help kids express themselves, advocate for their needs, collaborate with others, and establish strong, fulfilling relationships. Without adequate social skills, children often become isolated and prone to emotional and behavioural problems, which may lead to more severe issues later in life. Kids learn the bulk ...
Learning how to forgive and be forgiven is one of the most important lessons of childhood. As parents, we want our kids to empathize with others, demonstrate compassion, and take responsibility for their actions. From an early age, we tell our children to apologize after they’ve caused harm, believing that apologizing will encourage the aforementioned traits. Unfortunately, research shows ...
We all want our children to treat others with kindness, empathy, and compassion. Many of the rules and boundaries we set are designed to teach our kids what is (and isn’t) socially appropriate, and we constantly strive to inform our children about the ways their actions can affect others. However, the manner in which we discipline our children has ...
One of the biggest myths about children is the idea that they lack empathy by nature. In reality, though children can be self-focused and lack knowledge and perspective, they’re hard-wired to feel empathy for others. How much this quality develops, however, is largely dependent on how a child is raised. Empathy is, after all, part instinct and part learned ...
The human brain processes all sensory information whether or not you are fully aware of it. Most children are able ...
With climate change becoming an increasingly common theme in politics, news, and even entertainment, it’s no wonder more young ...
If your child is struggling behaviourally or academically, his school may recommend that he take what is known as a ...
When we’re observing someone else’s behaviour, it’s easy to appreciate the value of self-restraint. When we coach our children to “take a deep breath” or have a time out when they’re upset, for example, the value of emotional management becomes plain to see. Sometimes, however, we don’t recognize our own need for self-regulation strategies. Parenting ...
Children, as any parent knows, can be baffling and unpredictable; they may tantrum seemingly out of nowhere, or develop stubborn behaviours (such as hitting a sibling or adamantly refusing to tidy up after themselves) and maintain them irrespective of the consequences and the pleas of adults. When such events occur, parents are invariably left wondering, “Why? Why is my child ...
Narcissism screams from the headlines nowadays. Google searches for “narcissism” have doubled since 2013. Writers hotly debate on the narcissism of each USA presidential candidate. Closer to home, doting parents worry they may unwittingly be raising a narcissist. As a former teenage narcissist and member of a multi-generational narcissistic family, here's a few pointers for how not to raise a narcissist ...
Many years ago I remember a New Yorker cartoon depicting two parents bringing their child to school for the first time and talking to the principal. To paraphrase what I remember from the cartoon their comment was something like this: “We have raised Johnny so that he has never experienced a harsh word or any negativity in his whole life. ...
