by Susie Windle | Nov 11, 2015 | Parenting Playbook, Parenting Skills, Your Child's Brain
As children spend more time in school, with peers, and in after-school activities, they spend less time with their parents. This shift creates changes in the parent-child relationship. Less direct parental control adequately supports the continuing development of...
by Susie Windle | Nov 4, 2015 | Parenting Playbook, Parenting Skills
Not only does a sense of gratitude feel good, research shows that this pleasant emotion and its expression result in higher levels of happiness, vitality, optimism, and hope. According to those interested in studying gratitude and its effects, people who consciously...
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 | May 6, 2015 | Parenting Playbook, Parenting Skills, The Power of Play, Your Child's Brain
Adults can easily forget that kids learn a lot through physical play. Physical play might involve roughhousing, wrestling, climbing, swinging, and running around. All children need this kind of play, and participating in it is one of the ways kids can learn to solve...
by Susie Windle | Apr 1, 2015 | Parenting Playbook, Parenting Skills, The Importance of Emotions, The Power of Play, Your Child's Brain
Children love it when a parent will play with them, and child-led play builds a strong emotional bond. When children lead parents in play, opioids—the natural chemicals that give us a general sense of well-being—are activated in their brains. Child-led play has been...
by Susie Windle | Mar 25, 2015 | Discipline and Trying Times, Parenting Playbook, Parenting Skills, The Power of Play
It can be hard to understand aggressive play: things like teasing, pretend fighting, mimicking of superheroes, pointing toy or pretend guns, horsing around in a rough-and-tumble way, and dramatizing battles for dominance and power. It can sometimes be difficult to...
by Susie Windle | Feb 25, 2015 | Discipline and Trying Times, Parenting Playbook, Parenting Skills, Your Child's Brain
Words are powerful. Words can build up or break down your child’s confidence, shape her identity, and affect her emotions. And words are never just words. Words are voiced with tone and volume. When you speak to your child, the tone and volume of your voice are...
by Susie Windle | Jan 28, 2015 | Parenting Playbook, The Power of Play, Your Child's Brain
Play is fun and important. Play allows children to try on new roles, rehearse new skills, and learn about their personal capabilities and limitations. It encourages children to learn social rules and the difference between fantasy and reality. Play is also one way...
by Susie Windle | Jan 21, 2015 | Parenting Playbook, Parenting Skills, The Power of Play
As a parent, you can’t prevent stressful events from entering your child’s life. You can, however, teach your child what to do to control reactions to stress. Here are a few quick tips that you can teach your child to use in the face of stressful situations. Talk it...
by Susie Windle | Jan 14, 2015 | Parenting Playbook, Parenting Skills, The Importance of Emotions, The Power of Play
When children and parents spend time apart during the day, adjustments are necessary when reconnection takes place. This reentry into each others’ lives can create some missteps because everyone is full of feelings remaining from their time apart. Everyone also has...
