Behavior & Environment
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 […]
Restorative justice has a lot of practices that can be used effectively in the in-home environment. Let’s start with the basics; what is restorative justice? The University of San Diego defines restorative justice as “a philosophy and a theory of justice that emphasizes bringing together everyone affected by wrongdoing to address needs and responsibilities and […]
Teaching kids to problem-solve by using real world issues can be incredibly effective if approached with structure to support the intended outcomes. Children’s lives are full of problems that need solving, we just often think of them as just our problems as the adults. By having children participate in the brainstorming, filtering of ideas and […]
Almost every caregiver has dealt with a toddler that bites or hits. It’s a common phase and, at that age, developmentally appropriate. That doesn’t make it any easier to deal with. It’s hard in the moment and sometimes harder when you have to explain to a parent why their child was bitten or hit in […]
We previously talked about facilitating simple brainstorming sessions with kids as a means to teach kids to problem-solve. Now we’ll focus on how to evaluate those ideas and choose the ones you want to try. Before you start filtering ideas, make sure everyone has had a chance to contribute and the ideas are listed where […]
Effective problem-solving is one of the most helpful life skills we can teach kids. It helps them develop positive solutions to the challenges they face with family, friends, in school, on teams, and countless other situations. Kids as young as five can participate in simple brainstorming sessions. As you can imagine, brainstorming with kids, especially […]
Do your kids love to roughhouse? As a caregiver, it can be scary to let kids roughhouse because we worry they will get hurt on our watch. However, roughhousing has a lot of advantages and lessons for kids that are important to healthy development. 1. Physical Touch As kids get older, the amount of physical […]
Giving kids choices is one of the most versatile tools in a child care toolbox. Choices give kids a sense of agency, a sense of control and belief that they can influence and impact things happening in their own world, help kids develop problem-solving skills. This is important to a toddler figuring out what outfit […]
Although it’s hard to see in the moment, when a child disagrees with you, it’s actually a positive sign of their healthy development. For instance: The key is to teach kids to share their thoughts and feelings respectfully rather than scream, demand, insult, or shut down. Here are three things you can control in responding […]
Modeling and encouraging a growth mindset with kids is one of the best ways to help them overcome perfectionism, learned helplessness, performance fear, and many other stumbling blocks that hold them back from trying new things and enjoying the process, regardless of the outcome. What does an environment that promotes a growth mindset look like? […]
The bond between a child and pet is very special. Pets make our lives fuller and happier. They also create a plethora of teachable moments for kids. 1. Pets teach responsibility Kids as young as toddlers can participate in helping to care for pets. From feeding and watering them to caring for their living spaces to […]
When the holidays are over and it’s time to get back into the normal swing of things, it can be hard to get kids out of holiday mode. Here are a few ideas to help. 1. Let Kids Share Their Excitement from the HolidaysKids don’t have an on/off button that you can flip to go from […]
