Many family routines rely on constant reminders. Adults often find themselves repeating the same instructions every day get dressed, leave your shoes by the door, start homework, brush your teeth, get ready for bed. When children don’t follow through, it can seem like defiance or a lack of motivation. However, child development specialists generally point…
Kids usually learn best when new abilities relate to what they do every day, even though families frequently help with learning by making time for books, work pages, or proper drills. So, a child will understand something better if it comes up while you’re cooking, at the store, while tidying up, during a chat, or…
Kids will often be much more affected by how you say something, rather than by the thing you actually say. A boundary that’s stated in a relaxed manner might be fine with a child, but the very same instruction, if delivered with tension, impatience or as though it’s an emergency, can really upset them. People…
Kids frequently seem to take a lot longer with normal stuff than adults do. Dressing, brushing their teeth, getting shoes on, filling a bag, or just going from one thing to the next…all of these things take a child a lot longer than a parent believes they should. Experts in how kids grow and learn…
Most adults think kids should learn to be patient with pretty much everything fairly quickly, but experts in how children grow say that learning to wait actually requires a lot more practice than most parents understand. A child might have trouble waiting for a snack, their go in a game, an answer to a question,…
Many families help their children with learning at home by getting new resources, doing different things, and offering different ways to practice. While a mix of things is good, experts in how children grow and are educated usually say kids actually learn better when practicing at home feels like something they’ve done before. Knowing what…
Screen limits often create more tension in family life when they feel uncertain, negotiable, or different from one day to the next. A child may accept a screen boundary relatively well on one occasion and argue intensely on another, even when the amount of device use seems similar. Family media specialists generally note that children…
Families often feel pressure to create exciting plans, surprising outings, and memorable experiences that stand out from ordinary life. While novelty can be enjoyable, family relationship specialists generally note that familiar activities often carry deeper long-term meaning for children. A repeated walk, a regular game night, a favorite park visit, or a familiar baking ritual…
Many families say some version of the same thing: a child hears the words, but does not seem to respond. Adults may call from across the room, repeat an instruction several times, or feel certain that a child is ignoring what was said. Child development specialists generally note that this pattern often has more than…
Adults usually think kids will pick up on the idea of taking turns pretty fast, but experts in child development say it actually needs a lot of practice and time. A child might be able to say “wait your turn”, but actually doing it when it’s needed is hard. That’s because learning to take turns…