Dr. Stanley Coren has written a book on sleep deprivation, Sleep Thieves, and says his research shows that “for each hour under eight hours of sleep, you lose one point in IQ. And for every hour below seven you can lose two points of IQ.” Since children are required 10-12 hours of sleep a night, if […]
One of the most effective activities that you can do with an anxious child is to make a Worry Jar. Since children are concrete thinkers, they need to see their worries rather than just letting them spin in their minds. Anxiety is nothing more than spinning thoughts and once you get those thoughts out of […]
Change is hard for anxious kids. Whether it’s a change in schedule, a change in schools or a change in friend groups, anxious kids would rather things stay the same than for them to change. The start of school creates an abundance of change for anxious kids. After a summer of unstructured time and freedom, […]
When I was a kid, the 4th of July was my least favorite holiday. The day itself was fine…eating watermelon, playing in the sprinkler, but when the fireworks came out I headed straight for my bedroom and shut the door. I loved the way the fireworks lit up the sky and if I’d had a […]
Third grade is when the social structures for children start falling into place. Up until 3rd grade, kids may not know if they are popular or not or why they didn’t get invited to the birthday party that everyone else got invited to. Third grade brings about a shift and suddenly kids begin seeing the […]
When children misbehave, the most common response is to give an immediate consequence. Even if that means taking away birthday parties, future play dates or video games for the rest of their lives, consequences are often thrown at children at rapid speeds in an effort to change their behavior. To these threats, children say, “I […]
This is a great article about Highly Sensitive People. It applies to both kids and adults and I’ve recommended it to numerous parents. It’s definitely worth reading! This article can be found on psychology today at this link http://www.psychologytoday.com/node/68392 or found below: Sense and Sensitivity Settling into a chair for coffee with a friend, Jodi […]
Asynchronous development occurs when children develop “out of sync” or not at the same time. For example, a six-year-old is supposed to look, think, and feel like a six-year-old. A six-year-old’s development should look like this: Physical Development – 6 Intellectual Ability – 6 Emotional Maturity – 6 But what happens when one of those […]
Outward Processing children solve problems by talking about them. Whether it’s a problem with friends, a problem with siblings, or simply not getting their way, Outward Processors sort through difficult emotions by discussing them. Sometimes those discussions lead to meltdowns and outbursts but nonetheless, with Outward Processing children emotions are going to come out verbally. […]
