For centuries, parents were taught that effective child-rearing consists of rewarding good behaviour while punishing bad behaviour. Parents assumed that this would teach their children self-control, and having excellent self-control would allow them to resist temptation and act appropriately. Today, we know human behaviour isn’t that black and white. Kids usually act out not because they want to misbehave ...
As most parents realize all too well, we’re living in violent times. From gang and terrorist activity to the prevalence of violence in video games and TV shows, everywhere we look today we’re confronted with aggression. Understandably, many parents find themselves worrying that it may not be possible to raise caring, compassionate children within such an environment. While ...
In recent years, mindfulness has risen to prominence as something of a psychological panacea. Current research tells us that mindfulness exercises can reduce the symptoms of stress, anxiety, depression, and even physical suffering. Mindfulness can also help people with learning disabilities and developmental disorders combat the negative effects of their conditions. What’s more, even those who are not struggling ...
If you find yourself concerned about your child's tendency to give up in frustration and proclaim himself unable to complete tasks or engage socially with his peers, the skill of metacognition — a technical term used to describe the act of understanding your thought process — may be able to help. Metacognition allows children to deconstruct challenging situations, figuring out why they ...
Anxiety disorders are found in children much more often than many people realize; ten to twenty percent of all children ...
Not every relationship works out. This is true whether the relationship in question is a friendship, romantic relationship, or the ...
The human brain processes all sensory information whether or not you are fully aware of it. Most children are able ...
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 ...
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 ...
Too often, the emotional side of giftedness is overlooked; for all that we laud the intellectual complexity of giftedness, seldom do we contemplate—let alone praise—the emotional depth and complexity that accompanies it. The added emotional complexity of gifted children manifests in many different ways. It cannot be said that gifted children simply feel “more” than their non-gifted counterparts; ...
Mindfulness is a concept which has, in recent decades, received quite a lot of attention both from mental health professionals and within the media. Mindfulness is generally defined as a process wherein an individual learns to pay focused, mindful attention to his or her internal and external experiences, and so becomes more aware of the present moment. He or she ...
