It’s understood that children hear and watch their parents’ every move. But what if you found out that you don’t have to talk very much at all to teach your child. In fact, an MIT study suggests that parents should perhaps talk less and listen more.1 “The number of adult words didn’t seem to matter at all […]
When my first child was born, they immediately placed her on my bare chest for an hour of uninterrupted skin-to-skin time. At that particular hospital they call it the “Sacred Hour”. The doctor informed my husband and me that the sacred hour meant keeping the room quiet for the baby to hear only our […]
When it comes to mental health, children are often not at the forefront of the conversation. There are many reasons this is true. For example, children have not yet mastered coping strategies, so when they are expressing how they feel, they can sometimes exaggerate and over-dramatize. To an extent, this is true, but does not […]
During the toddler and preschool years, most children are building their vocabularies rapidly. Since toddler age, children employ an innate skill called fast mapping, in which they quickly connect and contrast new words they hear with words they already know, and thereby almost instantly learn new words when hearing them even only once. Parents […]
We are constantly hearing more about developmental delays in our society. Whether this is because more awareness is being brought to the topic or because there are more cases of individuals with developmental delays, you should know what exactly a developmental delay is and what potential signs are. Before reading further, acknowledge that all children […]
For parents, days are often consumed with work, tasks, and responsibilities. Almost everything that we do as parents is so that we can provide better lives for our children. Unfortunately, this can lead to us being so busy that we miss the opportunity to read to our children daily. The good news is, reading to […]
In an article about helping children learn to sacrifice, author Duane E. Hiatt wrote begins by stating how infants are “self-absorbed, uninhibited, spontaneous, [and] sit in the center of their own universe surrounded by mirrors that reflect their cuteness.” While these characteristics are expected and even necessary for survival in an infant, these are not desirable […]
As you try your best to raise your little ones right, you’ve probably come across the phrase “tummy time.” While it sounds like just a cute catch phrase, tummy time is much more than that! In fact, research shows that babies need tummy time starting at day one (1). While putting your baby to sleep on […]
We’ve all seen those moms or dads cooing and babbling to their little one, making silly faces, or telling the baby about what’s happening around them. While it may seem silly to talk to a baby before baby can really respond, those parents are doing the right thing! As Stanford’s Dr. Anne Fernald says, […]
We often spend a lot of effort teaching our children about a myriad of life and behavior skills: how to dress properly, how to use appropriate manners, how to read, to be healthy, to be active, develop their talents, to get their homework done on time, etc. According to John Gottman, Ph.D., one of the […]
