Behavior & Environment
Spring is here, and now’s the perfect time to start planning a garden with the kids. Optimally, your garden will be outside, but even those with limited outdoor space can enjoy the benefits by being creative with indoor and patio space. There are so many benefits to gardening with kids; here are our top three. […]
Temper tantrums are one of the most common and most frustrating challenging behaviors to handle. They’re not just restricted to the toddler set, they can happen with kids of all ages. Tantrums happen when a child is overwhelmed by a big emotion they’re not developmentally able to manage or they don’t have the skills to […]
Even when we understand child development in-depth, we often find ourselves falling back into old patterns that are at odds with what we know. Our reactions reflect how we were brought up rather than how we want to be as caregivers. How do we change that? 1. Work Through Your ChildhoodThis isn’t as odd as […]
One of the biggest decisions a parent will make is who will care for their children they’re not able to themselves. And for a child care provider, as a business owner, choosing the right families for their program is essential to their job satisfaction and continuous income. Each person’s child care approach is uniquely theirs […]
When kids are fighting with each other, for many of us, our first instinct is to jump in and solve whatever problem they have. We want the squabbling, the fighting, the poking, the whining, the annoyance to stop. However, when we solve the conflict for them, we take away their opportunity to learn how to […]
Intellectually, we know kids aren’t perfect. However, emotionally we often have unrealistic expectations around their behavior. We expect things we wouldn’t expect of ourselves or other adults. Here are three behavior areas we often struggle with. 1. Play Nicely with Others We want kids to share, speak kindly, include others, and display all kinds of […]
Every day we negotiate with the kids and adults we interact with. They’re most often small negotiations like what activity to do or how to best address a challenging behavior. Being able to quickly and comfortably navigate these small negotiations throughout the day plays a big part in maintaining a positive, (relatively) stress-free environment for […]
One of the most important set of skills you can teach the kids you care for are conflict resolution skills. These skills will help them in their personal relationships with parents, friends, teachers, coaches… pretty much everyone in their life. They will also help them learn to share their personal perspectives, better understand the perspectives […]
We all know modeling is one of the best ways to teach kids. To encourage kids to be polite we say please and thank you, to demonstrate empathy we show concern for a someone that is sad, hurting, or just having a tough day. We share, we put things away after using them, we patiently […]
Every child is born with a particular temperament. Ask any parent and you’ll hear stories about who their child is at their core. They share things like “He’s been an anxious kid from day one,” or “She’s always been a laid-back kid. Things that upset other kids just roll off her back.” Although kids are […]
When kids fight with each other, it can be really frustrating and tiring. It’s also one of the toughest behavior challenges to overcome. Here are some ways that you can take the pressure off yourself as the referee while also teaching cooperation and problem-solving. 1. Set clear expectations of respect and kindness. Kids may do lots […]
Engagement between children and caregivers through responsive interactions is what developmental researchers at Center on the Developing Child at Harvard have coined as “Serve-and-Return” interactions. This is the way that infants bond and learn from the caregivers in their lives through a back-and-forth exchange. Let’s look at an example: an infant looks at the adult […]
