by Susie Windle | Apr 12, 2017 | Parenting Playbook, The Power of Play
Pretend play can be powerful because reality can be suspended. By suspending reality, children can level the playing field and even feel that they have the advantage. After all, though children can be very wise and insightful at times, there are some real frustrations...
by Susie Windle | Mar 8, 2017 | Parenting Playbook, The Power of Play, Your Child's Brain
Downtime is important for the healthy growth and development of your child. Your child’s brain needs breaks in order to process the incoming flood of new information. Being idle allows the brain to take what it already knows and then think, reflect, and change. Idle...
by Susie Windle | Feb 8, 2017 | Discipline and Trying Times, Parenting Playbook, The Importance of Emotions
Sometimes, with the best of intentions, parents impede their child’s growth by putting themselves in the middle of their child’s problems. It is important to resist the temptation to steal our child’s struggles because we all learn from our mistakes. It is a gift to...
by Susie Windle | Feb 1, 2017 | Parenting Playbook, Parents: Practice Self Care, The Importance of Emotions
Implicit memories—our memories that are not on a conscious level—cause us to form expectations about how the world works. These expectations are based on our previous experiences, and it is important for parents to examine how subconscious memories of past experiences...
by Susie Windle | Jan 25, 2017 | Parenting Playbook, The Power of Play
Play complements love and work. Play is a critical piece in the complex dynamic of healthy physical, intellectual, and social-emotional development at all ages. When play, love, and work are all involved, learning and development are the most effective. One of the...
by Susie Windle | Jan 11, 2017 | Parenting Playbook, Parenting Skills, Parents: Practice Self Care
Decades of research reveal that ten essential parenting skills are important for bringing up healthy and happy kids. The skill that tops the list is the skill most parents already know, believe, and try to practice every day. The most important skill and gift is...
by Susie Windle | Dec 21, 2016 | Parenting Playbook, Your Child's Brain
Did you know that you can help your kids improve their ability to remember? Memory is a brain function that gets stronger with practice. The more we exercise memory, the stronger it becomes. So, when you give your kids practice at remembering, you improve their...
by Susie Windle | Aug 31, 2016 | Parenting Playbook, Parenting Skills, The Importance of Emotions, The Power of Play
Telling stories is one playful way to help children address important themes in their lives, particularly those that children might prefer not to talk about. Discharging powerful feelings connected to memories and experiences is important, though, so residual feelings...
by Susie Windle | Aug 17, 2016 | Parenting Playbook, Parenting Skills, The Power of Play
When thinking about how to best prepare our children for the big wide world out there, developing resilience comes to mind. We hope our kids can feel secure and confident as they learn the skills they will need to cope with everyday challenges, disappointments,...
by Susie Windle | Mar 30, 2016 | Parenting Playbook, Parenting Skills, The Importance of Emotions
How can we help our children develop a sense of responsibility? Let’s consider some of the possibilities. First, children need to experience their own feelings. We want to protect our children, yet we cannot shield them from all of life’s experiences and the emotions...
