Cultivating strong friendships isn’t easy for every child — pandemic or no pandemic. Neurodiverse children or those with behavioral or mental health needs may require additional external support for themselves and their caregivers. Here’s how you can help your child make and keep friends — at any age. Read more ›
The way we talk to our kids about using technology can have a huge impact on their ability to become smart and well-rounded adults. After years of researching how to moderate kids’ screen time, I discovered how the most successful parents help their kids find balance. Read more ›
When Julie Lythcott-Haims served as a dean at Stanford, she found that many students relied upon parents to handle the run-of-the-mill stuff of life for them. Meanwhile, members of the Millennial generation more broadly were going on record as not knowing how to be adults, not wanting to be adults and finding adulthood scary. Read more ›
The young teen years are a ripe time for forming friendships. It’s an age when kids are particularly focused on peer relationships and social status, developing their sense of identity and social skills. Read more ›
With so much to do, buy, and organize, parents might overlook another crucial way of equipping kids for school — getting them mentally prepared. Karen Stewart, MD, adult and child and adolescent psychiatrist for Kaiser Permanente in Georgia offers 5 tips for reducing back-to-school anxiety. Read more ›
Is your child having trouble developing friendships? Help him feel more confident with these tips and activities for making friends at school. Read more ›
For those children that struggle with anxiety in school, in particular, school closures provided a natural escape from having to face their fears. Many with performance anxiety found temporary relief in the transition to open note testing and pass-fail grading systems, and those with social anxiety seized the opportunity to turn off their cameras and retreat from the classroom. Read more ›
Stereotypical gendered parenting differences remain entrenched in American households. In some cases parents may simply be unaware that they are parenting daughters in ways that are different from sons. Things are changing slowly, but gender stereotypes are still entrenched in parenting practices. Read more ›
We have all learned a great deal in the last 18 months. These have been forced lessons at the hands of a global pandemic. We know much more than we ever wanted to about the effects of COVID-19 and the trauma surrounding chronic stress, grief, and loss. It’s no surprise that our weary hearts and minds wonder…what’s next? What should I expect so that I can be better informed and prepared, especially as a new school year approaches? Read more ›
Parents today often look for teachable moments – and opportunities abound. When reading a book with a child, for example, it might mean discussing story plots with him. If she isn’t allowed to play a videogame, it means explaining why. Read more ›
