Our brains are hard-wired to develop social relationships, and infants as young as 4 – 6 weeks demonstrate social skills with their smiling and cooing. Research consistently demonstrates the importance of our social relationships, including friendships, in our overall health. However, the social skills necessary to develop friendships must be learned and reinforced in childhood […]
As a parent, you generally have a good idea of when your child is being themselves or being distant or upset. There are usually pretty clear indicators that tell you when something is off or something is right. However, there are the occasions when parents cannot tell if something is wrong, they miss the signs […]
In 2016 there were 40.6 million people in poverty, and 15 million of those people were children. Most of these children have parents who work, but low wages and unstable employment leave their families struggling to make ends meet throughout the year, and especially during the holiday season. Thankfully, there are many government and non-profit […]
Few things are more painful for a parent than to learn that their child is being bullied at school, especially when there doesn’t seem to be an easy way to stop it. Bullying involves aggressive, negative behavior in a patterned manner over time toward an individual of weaker power. It may take many forms: Physical, such […]
Play has developmental value Research has repeatedly shown that play has numerous developmental benefits for children. Children “practice” the concepts they learn through their play. It is delightful to see children focus on a block or science activity for hours as they learn about how things work. Other reasons for play include: Children learn math […]
Computer games–sometimes children just can’t seem to get enough of them. But could this fascination with each new, eye-catching, and highly detailed game become a problem or even a serious addiction for our children? Video and computer games have only been around for the past three decades, and much research is still needed to […]
The information for this blog post comes from a two-part article by Craig H. Hart that was called “What Children Need from Parents” and was published in the journal of Marriage and Families in 2004. This is part two to the early post on this topic. Click here for Part 1. Limits. What constitutes an […]
This is the second blog in a series titled, “The Core Concepts of Development.” Click here for part 1. All families and cultures have different backgrounds, experiences, dreams for their children, habits, and customs that guide their thinking about raising children (Coll & Magnuson, 2000). I was raised in a military family. Punctuality was important […]
Resilience: the ability to adapt effectively in spite of serious threats to development. This is something that we all want our children to develop. We want to help them succeed even when the odds are against them. Research has found some consistent themes of what factors promote resiliency in children. These protective factors fall under […]
