Ahh, school. To every kid it is an exciting rite of passage and a boring daily grind; both their favorite and most despised place. As a parent, there is a lot to love about school. Below are eight of the things that we think are great about school. 1. Your kids learn social skills. Of [...]

This one is for our sweet and silly children—recite it for them today, and see if you don’t get a cuddle for your efforts! If apples were pears, And peaches were plums, And the rose had a different name – If tigers were bears, And fingers were thumbs, I’d love you just the same! – [...]

A. Guidance is what you give children to help them develop control and a sense of responsibility for their own actions. Punishment is a penalty you impose on children when they do not obey the rules. The difference between guidance and punishment is that guidance involves helping children develop control over their own actions. For [...]

With a flexible menu of skills in our approach, and common sense at work, adults using Love and Logic skills may come across quite differently at times. Nevertheless, the “Love and Logic” approach should always look like the following: A loving attitude toward the young person. A key principle of the Love and Logic approach [...]

When children are very small they are rarely out of the sight of their parents or caregivers. When we think of their safety, it is usually in terms of car seats and choking hazards, steep stairs and too-tall play structures. When they turn the corner from toddlers to preschoolers, things start to change. We stop [...]

1 Work to establish good relationships and social connections. Close ties with friends and family can help foster resiliency. With support and encouragement around you, your ability to cope and move forward is greater. Steps: Host a neighborhood watch or disaster preparedness party. Join local clubs. Help your neighbor out with a daily routine or [...]

Do you like to lose? Most of us don’t. In fact, some of us dislike it so much that we’ll do whatever it takes to make sure that our kids are always winners. When they win this way, they always lose. I sat on the living room floor, playing a simple board game with our [...]

Mei Li: A Vintage Chinese New Year Story Burgin Streetman January 23, 2012 Hurray for January, the month of New Years! According to this book’s jacket, the author and etcher, Thomas Handforth, visited the Far East on a Guggenheim Fellowship and published Mei Li in 1938 based on his experiences. The Caldecott Medal-winning story follows [...]

There is nothing like a week of holiday to make us appreciate schedule-free time with our children. What a relief it was to take a break from the morning routine, and from all of the shuttling to and from schools, classes, play dates and appointments. We’ve noticed lately how many thoughtful commentators are speaking out [...]

Eliza Clark   December 30, 2011    savvysource.com For those of us who love to read, raising our children to become readers may seem like a self-evident process. Read to them nightly, give them plenty of books… what else needs to be done? Alas, it’s not always as easy as that. These days, there are so many [...]