Your elementary school-aged child may not yet have encountered intensive studying or lengthy projects. However, this is a great time to begin instilling good study habits in your child. At this impressionable age, children can begin to grasp the...
Read MoreAha! Blog
Mr. Too Cool for School
Michael was seven years old and headed to class in second grade. Here’s what he was wearing: pointy black cowboy boots, a brown leather aviator jacket, and faded blue jeans, each knee with a rip of his own making.
He had also put on black...
Read MoreHow to Raise a Happy Kid in the Digital Age
Happiness is a warm puppy. If you're happy and you know it, clap your hands. Don't worry, be happy! Rules for how to live happily are nothing new. But lately, our well-being -- and that of our kids -- seems to be in free fall. Depression, anxiety...
Read MoreThe Stories Our Photos Tell Us
That’s my son Michael in the photo right there. He might be a month old, maybe two. He’s asleep. I’m in the picture, and my wife, Elvira, is there, too, leaning toward him. We’re both smiling. Our faces seem to say, We have our own kid now—yay!...
Read MoreHow to Begin Preparing Your Child for Kindergarten
The first day of school prompts many emotions for both parents and kids—excitement, fear of the unknown, and the promise of endless possibility. However, the transition from preschool to kindergarten can also be challenging for your young child....
Read MoreWho Do You Love More?
On special occasions, like birthdays, my parents would let my sister and me share a can of soda with our dinner. I remember how we would put two identical glasses side-by-side on the table and take turns pouring a little soda into each of them,...
Read MoreHow to Set Screen Rules That Stick
By Caroline Knorr, Parenting Editor, Common Sense Media
In many homes, getting kids to turn off their cell phones, shut down the video games, or quit YouTube can incite a revolt. And if your kids say they need to be online for schoolwork,...
Read MoreHow to Raise a Farm-to-Table Eater
One thing that’s better about raising kids today is the access we have to locally grown food—and a growing awareness of its benefits. The number of farmers’ markets has increased dramatically across the country in the last decade, from under 2,...
Read MoreTake the Summer Slide into Fun and Learning
School’s out. That big whooshing sound you hear? That’s the collective exhale of parents everywhere, who were, at the end, hanging on by their fingernails.
Now, it’s summertime, and the living is, if not exactly easy, easier. No more...
Read More5 Ways to Make Summer Reading Fun
The summer months offer a great opportunity to show your child how fun and engaging reading can be. Looking to strengthen your child’s reading skills while simultaneously getting him excited about reading? Here are five ways to do just that:
... Read More