by Susie Windle | Feb 15, 2017 | Discipline and Trying Times, Parenting Playbook, The Importance of Emotions
Parents can help their children develop a sense of moral goodness with an accompanying feeling of obligation to do the right thing. The formation of “conscience” is promoted when parents nurture awareness and the development of feelings. Conscience is also promoted...
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 | Feb 17, 2016 | Parenting Playbook, Parenting Skills, Your Child's Brain
Self-talk is powerful because having conversations with ourselves—even silently—links thought, language, and action. Self-talk is really like a delay switch to action allowing us to think things through. Children are great teachers for showing us how language can...
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 | 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 | Jul 8, 2015 | Discipline and Trying Times, Parenting Playbook, Parenting Skills
Disagreements are merely differences of opinion. Since disagreements are unavoidable, the real key to disagreeing is doing it in a way that respects the parties involved. Kids need to learn how to respectfully disagree, and parents have an opportunity to teach this...
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 | Sep 3, 2014 | Parenting Playbook, Your Child's Brain
Learning, practicing, and acquiring good social skills is an important process. Good social skills include having the ability to grasp another person’s perspective, to create mental models of others, and to understand that the beliefs and intentions of different...
by Susie Windle | Aug 13, 2014 | Discipline and Trying Times, Parenting Playbook, Parenting Skills, Your Child's Brain
Parents can pass on moral values to their kids, but it takes a little thought and energy. Values are passed along based on what kids see and hear and by what they experience in their parent-child relationship. If they see honesty, they learn honesty. If they...
