Kids can really get something from family traditions that happen with the seasons, and they become important to how families are. These traditions are a way for children to really see how time passes, how things change, and where they fit into the family. A picnic in the spring, a stroll in the summer as…
After school is often the most chaotic time for families. Kids get home from school feeling exhausted, needing food, overly excited, or full of energy, and at the same time parents are dealing with their jobs, dinner, getting everyone to their other things, and homework. If you don’t have some sort of plan, these hours…
Lots of parents who are thinking about their child starting school naturally think about things like learning the alphabet, counting, and starting to read. These skills are important of course, but people who study how children grow and learn say a different ability is equally important for how a child does in class: listening. Before…
It’s totally typical for families to argue, but loads of parents are anxious that one bad fight will ruin things with their kids. Experts in how families talk to each other see conflict in a different way. It’s not so much that disagreements occur, but what happens for adults and kids to get back to…
Adults frequently assume very young children get the idea of taking turns fairly quickly, but it’s a skill that comes along slowly; many families don’t understand that. When kids are little, being able to wait, share, or allow another child to be in charge of something isn’t just about them wanting to be nice. They…
Bedrooms are for sleeping, relaxing and calming down, but many kids’ rooms have become places for all types of entertainment. Things like phones, tablets, TVs, video games and all their chargers can really change the room from a place of rest. Experts on sleep for the family and doctors looking after children frequently say bedrooms…
We frequently hope for a lot of quality family time during the weekend, yet these times can easily get overly scheduled, surprisingly costly, or tricky to arrange. For a lot of families, the best things you do together aren’t necessarily the biggest or most spectacular, but are those which get everyone focusing on the same…
Family mornings are so stressful as a lot of things are happening at the same time. Kids have to get out of bed, get clothes on, have something to eat, get everything for school and go from home to wherever they’re going for the rest of the day, and they usually have to do all…
Most families would like to help their children with learning at home, but they don’t want every night to feel like school all over again. Experts in how children grow and are taught pretty much agree with this. Helping kids learn at home is most effective when it boosts how well they can focus, their…
People usually concentrate on academic skills when getting their kids ready for kindergarten, but experts in how children grow say social skills are just as important for those first years at school. Lots of kids are still figuring out things like sharing, being part of a group and its schedule, dealing with being annoyed, getting…