by Susie Windle | Oct 7, 2009 | Discipline and Trying Times, Parenting Playbook, Parenting Skills, Your Child's Brain
Parents and teachers can get frustrated by behaviors that seem to be characteristic of the teen years—behaviors such as using bad judgment, having trouble foreseeing consequences, and acting impulsively. These “juvenile” behaviors in teens are the result of an...
by Susie Windle | Aug 26, 2009 | Parenting Playbook, Parenting Skills, The Power of Play, Your Child's Brain
The beginning of the school year has arrived for many children, so taking a look at the importance of recess seems timely. Recess is defined as a break in the school day that offers children a chance to engage in free, unstructured, active play. Research about recess...
by Susie Windle | Jun 10, 2009 | Discipline and Trying Times, Parenting Playbook, Parenting Skills, The Importance of Emotions, The Power of Play, Your Child's Brain
Children can be passionately possessive of a toy, and a couple brain-based reasons are behind their feelings of ownership. First, emotional attachment releases opioids in the brain—even if the attachment is to a toy. A child gets a sense of well-being when playing...
by Susie Windle | May 20, 2009 | Parenting Playbook, Parenting Skills, The Power of Play, Your Child's Brain
As parents, you can help protect your child both from becoming a bully and being bullied by others by nurturing your child’s self-defenses. You do this by helping your child develop emotional strength, empathy, and friendship skills. At home, give lots of praise...
by Susie Windle | Jan 28, 2009 | Discipline and Trying Times, Parenting Playbook, Parenting Skills, Your Child's Brain
Disciplining is more than managing behavior. Disciplining your child involves teaching. Through discipline, you will develop your child’s social, emotional, and moral intelligence. The words you choose when you discipline can either activate the higher thinking brain...
by Susie Windle | Dec 10, 2008 | Discipline and Trying Times, Parenting Playbook, Parenting Skills, Your Child's Brain
Temper tantrums for control, referred to as “Little Nero tantrums” by educator and author Margot Sunderland, are very different from distress tantrums. During a distress tantrum, a child’s brain and body are flooded with stress chemicals, and the child experiences and...
by Susie Windle | Sep 9, 2008 | Parenting Playbook, Parenting Skills, The Power of Play, Your Child's Brain
Harold Gardner put forth Multiple Intelligence Theory (MI) in his book Frames of Mind in 1983. Gardner’s theory redefined aspects of human intelligence, and one of the strengths of Gardner’s work was that he could accurately pinpoint parts of the brain that correlated...
by Susie Windle | Aug 13, 2008 | Parenting Playbook, Parenting Skills, The Importance of Emotions
Everyone has all sorts of emotions. We all can feel intense joy and contentment or we can feel hurt, afraid, frustrated, sad, angry, and anxious to name a few. If we are lucky, we have found a way to express our feelings freely, safely, and constructively. If feelings...
