by Susie Windle | Jun 19, 2013 | Parenting Playbook, Parenting Skills, Sensory Information, Your Child's Brain
Children can be, and most often are, quite resilient. That does not mean they are immune to stress, however, or to its resulting responses in the brain and body. In fact, children are highly vulnerable to stress during the first few years of life. As a parent, you can...
by Susie Windle | Jun 5, 2013 | Parenting Playbook, Parenting Skills, The Importance of Emotions
Your child will have strong (strong!) feelings from time to time, and strong feelings will get in the way of problem solving if no one is there to listen and help name the feelings. Think about a time you were very upset. Did it help when (or would it have helped if)...
by Susie Windle | May 8, 2013 | Parenting Playbook, Parenting Skills, Sensory Information, The Importance of Emotions, The Power of Play, Your Child's Brain
According to many research studies, moving our bodies directly affects our brain chemistry. When we change our physical state, we change our emotional state. This means that moving can help kids reset emotionally, and resetting emotionally will allow them to feel...
by Susie Windle | Apr 24, 2013 | Parenting Playbook, Parenting Skills
When we try to describe a child’s temperament, we are inclined to look at the “how” of behaviors—how intense, moody, adaptable, and predictable the child tends to be. Because temperament is about tendencies, temperament is malleable to some degree, and parents play a...
by Susie Windle | Mar 20, 2013 | Parenting Playbook, Parenting Skills
When we become parents, life changes. We experience new challenges, stresses, struggles, responsibilities, obligations, and vulnerabilities in addition to all the new errands and noise! Our little miracles—each and every one—are well worth it. Children are vibrant and...
by Susie Windle | Mar 13, 2013 | Parenting Playbook, Parenting Skills, Sensory Information, The Importance of Emotions, Your Child's Brain
For a toddler, the reasons to resist bedtime and sleep can be many. Some toddlers feel they are losing control when they let sleep take over. Others have a hard time giving up the fun they have when they are awake and with the rest of the family. Some toddlers feel...
by Susie Windle | Mar 6, 2013 | Parenting Playbook, Parenting Skills, Your Child's Brain
Dyslexia has historically been considered a developmental reading disorder. But parents, teachers, and other children’s caregivers may be interested to know that new research suggests that assumption may be inaccurate. According to a new report in Current Biology,...
by Susie Windle | Feb 13, 2013 | Discipline and Trying Times, Parenting Playbook, Parenting Skills, Your Child's Brain
Children differ in their rate of development of self-regulation. Because of this difference, it can seem that some children won’t follow instructions when in every other way they seem perfectly capable of taking direction and completing tasks. Children can even seem...
by Susie Windle | Jan 30, 2013 | Parenting Playbook, Parenting Skills, Your Child's Brain
The benefits we receive from the technology that has become part of our lives are definitely many. Yet, if we are not mindful, our children can spend the majority of their time relating to their world by way of machines. In some cases, children spend more time in...
by Susie Windle | Jan 23, 2013 | Parenting Playbook, Parenting Skills, The Importance of Emotions, The Power of Play
“Floor time” does not have to occur on the floor. Floor time simply refers to time spent interacting with your child on his or her own turf, where your child’s interests, resourcefulness, and thoughts are considered. When you play on a level that is eye to eye, which...
