Sophie Pauline, LMSW, presents the developmental milestone of learning how to use the toilet. Though this is often seen as a grueling project for caregivers to take on in toddlerhood, Sophie will speak about the necessity of allowing this to be a child-led endeavor. She will introduce ideas on how to recognize your child’s natural …
Continue reading "Toilet Training with Sophie Pauline, LMSW"
According to a BYU study, grandparents can help kids be kinder, more involved, and sometimes even a little smarter. BY JEFF HADEN It takes a village to run a successful business. To thrive, your business needs a community of people to pitch in: employees, vendors, suppliers, key partners … While the buck may stop with you, no one ever …
When you talk to your kids (or any kids for that matter) how do position your body? Hmmm, is that a strange question? I have a good reason for asking, so give it some thought. 😉 Do you stand tall over them and look down? Or do you squat down and look them in the …
One of the things we at POTA do best is invite children to enter “the zone,” a state of “flow” that is so enjoyable, a child can lose the sense of time and simply be at peace within themselves as they bring a personal vision to life. Painting, molding clay, making wax candles—no matter the …
Continue reading "Flow and Happiness: Do you have to be an expert to be happy?"
The pandemic has forced people to pay attention to this long overlooked industry, and as a result, we are about to see real change.
Parents League School Advisory Service We at the Parents League know what you’re going through: we’ve been there. Even before your baby is born, you begin to plan for childcare. Will it be in or outside your home? Part-time or full-time? You imagine your baby as a young toddler. What sorts of activities will be …
Scientists who have studied the ways children process and use the information hidden by masks say that children will find ways to communicate, and that parents and teachers can help.
When you sing a lullaby to your baby, you convey love and language and dreams of the future — and also, of course, you are trying to help your baby to a more immediate future of being asleep.
A newly published study gives some insight into what may be happening inside young children's brains in each of those situations. And, says lead author Dr. John Hutton, there is an apparent "Goldilocks effect"...
These 21st-century storytellers turned to cardboard for the same reasons that children have long preferred the box to the toy that came in it: cardboard is light and strong, easy to put up, quick to come down and, perhaps most important, inexpensive enough for experiment.
The TV legend possessed an extraordinary understanding of how kids make sense of language.
Researchers say that singing is among the most meaningful activities we share with children.
The most famous painting of children at play is “Children’s Games,” the 1560 work by Pieter Bruegel the Elder of a town square in which children from toddlers to adolescents (scholars have counted 246) are playing a range of timeless games.
Learn more about the benefits of reading to your kids and how to get them interested in books
“Childhood — and parenting — have radically changed in the past few decades, to the point where far more children today struggle to manage their behavior.
Parents are sometimes concerned about having a picky eater and they might be encouraged to try all kinds of tricks or maybe even put for the parents… put their child in front of the TV while they’re eating, give them all this food so they don’t really know what they’re eating.
It’s no secret that hearing our kids cry makes us uncomfortable. Just think about how anxious you feel when your little one tears up without an obvious reason. We know that a newborn’s main way to communicate is to cry, yet we still look at it as something to be “fixed”. Once that infant becomes a walking, talking toddler, we sometimes expect them to process emotion the way we do, rather than the way they have always done: through crying.
The leaves in our front yard were piling up. Thinking my 10-month-old would enjoy getting some fresh air and watching neighbors pass by while I raked, I loaded him into the backpack and headed outside. Little did I know how much he would enjoy the leaf-raking itself. This chore that seemed so simple to me captivated my son.
As in fashion, old things often come back in style in education. The Parents League workshop reflects a renewed faith in unit blocks — those basic, indestructible wooden toys created in the early 1900s — sweeping through some elite swaths of New York’s education universe.
Does your child have a favorite book they want to read over and over again? Or worse, wants you to read over and over again? I bet you’ve memorized every word. You loved its adorable illustrations and clever text when you first brought it home, but now...
Empathy, an important component of social and emotional development, emerges within consistent and caring relationships over several years. Much of the groundwork is laid during early attachments formed in infancy:
In the beginning, very young children’s capacity for self-regulation is limited, and they are very dependent on their teachers for co-regulation. For those working with infants and toddlers, warm and responsive interactions are truly foundational for the development of self-regulation
On the eve of the American Physical Society’s annual March meeting, a Sunday “stitch ‘n bitch” session convened during happy hour at a lobby bar of the Westin Boston Waterfront hotel.
“…when the parent doesn’t want to do anything with the [child], has no plans other than wanting simply to be with the child; just floor sitting, being available, being there with all senses awakened to the child; watching, listening, thinking only of that child…”
We are all desperate for our children to share. Sharing is vital. The future of the world depends upon our children’s spirit of generosity. We fear that if we don’t remind our children to share, they might become selfish, stingy outcasts. Or, we worry that we will be judged an indulgent, inconsiderate and ill-mannered parent.
