by Susie Windle | Oct 28, 2015 | Parenting Playbook, Parenting Skills, The Power of Play, Your Child's Brain
The evidence for including physical activity in a school’s curriculum is accumulating as research links students’ cognitive performance with markers of physical fitness, such as aerobic capacity and body mass index. Rather than cutting back on recess time, encouraging...
by Susie Windle | Oct 21, 2015 | Parenting Playbook, Parenting Skills, Your Child's Brain
Temperament is a term referring to a genetic foundation for individual differences in personality. The overall stability of temperament, however, is actually low in infancy and toddlerhood and only moderate from preschool age on up. This means that children’s...
by Susie Windle | Oct 7, 2015 | Discipline and Trying Times, Parenting Playbook, Parenting Skills, The Importance of Emotions, Your Child's Brain
When babies reach six to eight months of age, separation distress kicks in . . . and it often continues in some form until children are well over five years old. Understand that your child is not being “needy” or “clingy” when he or she can tell you’re about to leave...
by Susie Windle | Sep 23, 2015 | Parenting Playbook, Parenting Skills, Sensory Information, The Importance of Emotions, The Power of Play, Your Child's Brain
Have you ever noticed how kids run around freely for a period of time and then suddenly stop by to sit on their mom or dad’s lap . . . or lean on them . . . or “touch base” in some way? They may stop by for seconds or minutes, and then they are off again. For kids,...
by Susie Windle | Sep 16, 2015 | Parenting Playbook, Parenting Skills, Your Child's Brain
Middle childhood typically arrives with major advances in the ability to take another person’s perspective. Children in this age group (about six to eleven years) have the capacity to imagine what someone else might be thinking and feeling. Over time, children come to...
by Susie Windle | Sep 2, 2015 | Parenting Playbook, Parenting Skills, The Power of Play, Your Child's Brain
First friendships play an important role in the social and emotional development of your child. Typically, these first friendships are formed through interactions in preschool and kindergarten. Most children aged four to seven understand that a friend is someone with...
by Susie Windle | Aug 26, 2015 | Discipline and Trying Times, Parenting Playbook, Parenting Skills, The Importance of Emotions, Your Child's Brain
Sometimes it seems that children just won’t sit still at mealtime. On occasion, they may be more inclined to stand up and turn in circles or imitate a favorite action hero than to sit nicely and eat the food that has been prepared for them. There is a reason for this...
by Susie Windle | Aug 12, 2015 | Parenting Playbook, Parenting Skills, The Importance of Emotions, Your Child's Brain
In favorable conditions, a child learns how to manage feelings of anxiety by being exposed to just the right amount of distress. The optimal amount of anxiety to be experienced by a child will depend on his or her age as well as temperament. No mathematical formula is...
by Susie Windle | Jul 15, 2015 | Parenting Playbook, The Power of Play, Your Child's Brain
Play is a wonderful way to learn, and one of the ways children learn major motor skills is through repetitive play. The first time a child makes his or her way up and down a set of stairs leads to a second and third time. Practice makes perfect. After mastering a...
by Susie Windle | Jun 17, 2015 | Parenting Playbook, The Power of Play, Your Child's Brain
Your child may seem unable to sit still, but there is a reason for it. The brain wiring needed to curb his or her restless impulses is not yet developed. That’s why children need room to roam, a change of scene, or a novel toy—all of which activate the calming...
