I just finished a fascinating article that looked at the impact of telling family stories. It turns out that kids that know a lot about their families do better when they face challenges. Dr. Duke and Dr.…

When your child was a baby, she or he would wake up more frequently at night during significant developmental changes such as crawling and walking.



But as early as 18 months old, your child can wake from experiencing nightmares—vivid and emotionally intense dreams. Researchers have found that approximately…

Emotional intelligence involves understanding your feelings, managing your feelings, motivating yourself, and productively persisting in the face of setbacks.

Emotional intelligence, as Daniel Goleman stated in his book…

Speech and language developmental milestones for three year olds.

Speech-Language developmental milestones: Three year old

Below are some general guidelines to determine whether your three year old's speech and…

Speech and language developmental milestones for four year olds.

4 year old speech and language milestones

Below are some general guidelines to determine whether your four year old's speech and language development…

As parents, we are tempted to believe that our children’s thought development follows the same pattern as their physical development.

Fingers start out small and grow bigger. Crawling leads to walking. However, creativity peaks in early childhood largely because it is such an important learning tool. It is…

As your beautiful baby grows, you notice that he will look at you for longer periods.

He will even make faces to try to get your attention. These moments are especially important in laying down the foundation for visual attention. Every second you can grab to look at and talk with your baby is key to building…

A child’s eyes light up when he or she sees something common used in a new way. Common objects like a cotton balls become a source of fun and exploratory learning. If you start playing simple surprise games with common household objects, your child will begin to look for creative connections in other parts of her daily activities. That is, she’ll learn, by following your lead, to think of multiple uses for one object—a key concept for good critical thinking…and it’s…

Marital conflict is a significant source of environmental stress for children, and witnessing such conflict may harm children’s stress response systems which, in turn, may affect their mental and intellectual development.

These conclusions come from a new study by researchers at Auburn University and the…

Inventing a few handy cleaning games has really made a difference in our home.

The I Spy Game:

This is a great one for kids of any age, from preschool to pre-teen . When kids…

Writing is a uniquely human activity; and therefore, a wonder to watch develop.

(My daughter 'wrote' her name 'Abby' - she was 3 at the time)

For your child to write, he or she must develop a sophisticated collection of cognitive, fine and…

Children walk on their toes for various different reasons. Some parents look at toe-walking as a benefit to the future ballerina and other parents become very concerned when their child is constantly tiptoeing around. Frequently, toe-walking is completely benign, indicating nothing more than the child has a tendency to walk on their toes. Regardless,…

If your child mentions an imaginary friend, add another seat at the dinner table and regard this wonderful aspect of your child’s developing mind and emotions with respect.

Once thought to be a sign of concern, today child development specialists agree that imaginary friends and…

Not sure where to start? Here are some tips to consider that will help your child to have a successful start in school.

Build your child’s self esteem and resilience:

• Mastery of life skills leads to feeling capable, so it’s important to allow…

“I’m not your friend anymore!” We’ve all heard an indignant toddler yell these words to a playmate.

Any parent of a daughter will tell you, girl drama starts young. But while little girls resolve issues quickly, as girls get older, friendship problems become more difficult.…

Get an Early Start on Promoting a Healthy Relationship with Food

How many adults do you know who are constantly conflicted about what they eat… wanting to eat things they know they shouldn’t, then feeling guilty, then spiraling into over-consumption or even…

Dental trauma in young children is very common. Pediatric dentists often hear stories about a child hitting the edge of a tub or coffee table or hard floor surface. It is estimated that 30 to 50 percent of children have some type of injury to a baby or primary tooth or to the mouth during their childhood. A child learning to crawl and walk combined…

What is the best way to support a baby’s budding language skills?

You may be surprised to learn that responding to your child’s interests during simple everyday activities is the key to language development.

Researchers at Puckett…

Head lice are a common and frustrating problem for parents and children, with the main symptom being an itchy scalp from the bites.  Fortunately, lice are not dangerous and do not spread disease, but they are contagious, so it is important that those infected get proper treatment as soon as possible. 

What do head lice look like?…

Simply exchanging words with your toddler is the most powerful way to foster language development. A 2009 article in the journal Pediatrics points out that a two-sided conversation is more powerful for language acquisition than being read to or watching television.

Below you will find some key…