Have you ever heard the saying "boys will be boys"? Or "girls are so emotional"? These may seem like harmless phrases that explain our parenting experiences, but they may actually be limiting our children's potential. Gender Differences We are always hearing about another new finding on the "many" differences between boys and girls - whether that's in how they learn, who's better at math, who's more aggressive, etc. Researcher Christia Spe...

I was reading an article the other day that talked about studies in favor of toddlers sincerely enjoying and wanting opportunities to help those around them. After finishing the article, I wondered, "where does all that 'helping spirit' go when they get older?" And why is it that some older children are more willing to help than others-- why do some children have more intrinsic motivation? The Deets on Motivation Motivation is generally categoriz...

All a parent wants is to see their child grow up healthy, happy, and safe. There are many things that pose a threat to the safety of our children, and as parents, we do our best to warn and protect our children against these dangers. We teach our children to stay safe by looking both ways before crossing the street. We teach them to walk carefully when they are holding scissors and much more. A threat that is more sensitive and serious is the thr...

School is back in session and with that comes homework. Homework can be stressful for a variety of reasons and there are days where it may seem like the fight to get homework done just is not worth it. No parent wants to expend all their efforts and energy on getting their children to do homework. One of the first things parents can do is show their children that they believe learning is important. A parent's attitude about homework and school ca...

Summer break is one of the most exciting times to be a kid; a time to forget about the most demanding part of life-- school. But does a summer break without learning really help children in the long run? A report pointed out that, on average, children forget the last month of learning from the previous school year, with some areas reporting a greater loss of 25-30% of the learning of that same year! The greatest loss of learning was measured to b...

Growing up, I had a very difficult time with reading and writing. My mild dyslexia and difficulties with reading comprehension made picking up a book a dreadful chore. Thankfully, when I was starting to fall behind with my literacy skills, my dedicated mother and teachers challenged me to read at least 20 minutes a night. For 10-year-old me, I thought 20 minutes of reading was a steal compared to the hour I was doing before. However, you'd be sur...

"When I was four years old, I was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes. It was a huge struggle for my family, as it was early in the technology of Diabetic care and everyone in my family (parents, five older siblings, and a twin) had to learn how to take care of me. My siblings have never forgotten practicing with syringes on oranges. As we became more educated, it became easier to care for my diabetes. About four years after my diagnosis, my twin brot...

By the time I was 2 years old, I had been to the Emergency Room no less than 8 times for breathing troubles. My first visit was at just 6 weeks old. A few months before my third birthday, I would be diagnosed with severe persistent asthma . Today, my asthma is so well-controlled that you would never know that for most of my childhood, I spent days at a time struggling to breathe, and the moments between these flare-ups being terrified that I migh...

The percentage of bilingual children in the United States has risen steadily for the past decade, causing families to wonder if it really is worth it to have their child learn another language or if the process is too lengthy and costly. This blog is to inform and help families navigate their way to having their child become bilingual, so families can decide if it is truly worth the effort. Pros and ConsLike all abilities, bilingualism also inclu...

As a parent, you are always concerned about our children and we tend to ask ourselves an abundance of questions. For instance: "Is my child doing well in school?" "Why is my child so picky?" "How can I tell if my child's speech is normal?" These are questions parents can usually answer or seek out resources to obtain answers for. But what answers do parents have when the question is "how do I explain the LGBTQ community to my child?" It can be a ...

Allergies are among the most common chronic childhood diseases. Allergies affect about 50 million children! Oh my! Unfortunately, many symptoms and illnesses are often confused with food allergies. So don't you as a caregiver want to know the symptoms of food allergies and how to recognize and treat the symptoms? Well that's what we're here for. The following is information from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) about food allergies. A foo...