Ask Yourself

 

Did you ever find yourself looking at your children or students and wondering what kind of adults they will become? Will they find the types of happiness and fulfillment that we wish for them? Answers to these questions will often lead to a more fundamental concern; what can we do as parents and teachers to help them reach a successful future? The first step in figuring out the mechanisms of parenting and teaching is an honest and ongoing process of self-evaluation. Defining what we believe in and knowing what is important to us is a good beginning point. Try to ask yourself and answer some basic questions. Continue reading

Kids Who Share Bedrooms Benefit

 

From Lifezette.com – By Deirdre Beilly (June, 2016)

Having children share a bedroom may create lasting values of cooperation and compromise, provided they don’t drive each other — and their parents — crazy in the process.

In nearly two-thirds of homes with two children under age 18, kids share a room, according to the Chicago Tribune. This is creating an interesting new parenting trend: Even when they have the space to give them separate sleeping arrangements, moms and dads are instead having their kids bunk together. Continue reading

As Long As You Tried Your Best

 

Parent and school responses to the performance of children serve as a powerful force in the development of motivation, perseverance, confidence, and deeper feelings of self-worth. For many of us, 100’s on report cards and tests, home runs or great plays in Little League, and a house full of friends and numerous playdates, are a source of great pride and satisfaction. Continue reading

Loving Parenting Paradox

 

In my prior article, “Loving Parenting”, I raised the question as to why we are more at ease and more effective when managing other people’s children than our own. It seems that when we take “love” out of the equation, we are better able to utilize more rational and problem solving approaches to management, and that children are more able to identify rules and conform to expectations. Continue reading

Helping Kids Play

 

Social skill development has its origins in the social interactions of family life. Like most skills, the forces of practice, modeling, coaching, reinforcement, consequences, making mistakes and problem solving, are involved in improving one’s performance. How then as parents, can we provide our children with the opportunity to model and practice the skills needed for social success? Continue reading