As kids reach their preschool years, they have the teeth and ability required to chew up their food into smaller pieces before swallowing. Kids also develop stronger tongue muscles for increased dexterity needed to push food into range of their teeth. As a result, you can start introducing foods that were previously off limits for
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4 Unexpected Movements in Your Baby’s 1st Year
by Marnie Bii September 8th, 2025 | Development, Infants/Toddlers
As you eagerly await your baby's first movements, you may be surprised at the way the learning process transpires. Your child may throw you a curveball by inventing his or her own interesting ways to move around. Since the traditional movements will quickly follow suit, you can sit back and enjoy the inventive movement techniques your child develops. Read on to learn about four movements kids often employ before picking up the natural crawling and walking methods you likely expected to see.
Teen’s Perspective on Back to School Behavior
by Sam P. September 1st, 2025 | School, Teens
School is here, but no one wants to go. It seems to be this way every year. Of course, I am eager to go back. I start my senior year, but I am also dreading it. The thought of being a senior is exhilarating, but also terrifying. I feel as though I am not ready to apply to colleges, decide what I want to major in, or choose where I want to live for the next four years of my life. I do know one thing though, you need a
3 Steps to Effective Written Communication
by Lori Sciame August 25th, 2025 | Communication, Tweens
As a college English teacher, I often work with students who have trouble communicating through the written word. Most of these students have magnetic personalities, and they are highly verbal. However, they just can't seem to organize their thoughts into an effective essay. Why does this happen? From experience, I have learned that most of these students "dislike" reading and writing. They simply have no value for the written word - other than what is found on social media.
As the parent of a tween, you still have
Build Elementary Communication Skills
by Joe Lawrence August 18th, 2025 | Communication, Elementary
Communication is the biggest problem in any organization. Elementary-aged children and parents are no exception to this. With some simple guidelines, you can eliminate most communication barriers.
Ask any CEO or General and they will tell the importance of communication and the dangers of barriers to communication. In our workplaces we see this all the time. Someone sends an email that the recipient misunderstands, and tempers begin to flare. We have the same issues in our homes, too. Most of the fights between my wife and me
Tweens: Get Them Biking
by Michele August 11th, 2025 | Seasonal, TweensPerhaps the title of this article should be, "How to Get Them Biking?" Many kids enjoy biking when they are elementary aged. It gives them a small amount of independence whether it is riding up and down the driveway, to the end of the street and back, or all the way to a friend's house. However, the middle school years arrive, and it seems that it isn't as fun to ride bikes. What's a parent to do?
The first and most difficult way is to do as you
Battling Through Sickness: From the Teen’s View
by Jacob P. August 4th, 2025 | Teen Perspective, Teens
Right now, I'm one week into football practices and dealing with a major cold at the same time. (When I say major cold, I'm not exaggerating. This might be the worst cold I've ever had.) This combination, while not tragic, is still
4 Super Social Activities for Tweens
by Lori Sciame July 28th, 2025 | Social, Tweens
Study after study tells parents that children spend too much time on electronic devices. The ramifications of doing so are many, including decreased social development. This summer, work with your tween to improve his or her social skills by moving away from the computer, and into the real world. Check out the following four super activity suggestions; they will surely work to enhance your child's social skills.
1. Swimming with Friends
Take your tween and a few of his friends to the
How to Prevent Sunburns in Children
by Lori Sciame July 21st, 2025 | Elementary, Safety
A day at the beach can be blissful...the crashing waves, the cool water, the endless sunshine...what could go wrong? A parent's first thought may be drowning. I agree. Children should be monitored at all times to prevent this from happening. However, another safety issue should be on one's mind: the possibility of sunburn.
The tricky thing about sunburn is that is doesn't show up for several hours after exposure. This leads to being lax about keeping the skin protected. And those who have dark skin may think that
How to Protect Your Preschooler From the Sun
by Jessica B. July 14th, 2025 | Preschool, Safety
In some ways it can be trickier to protect your preschooler from the sun than your little one, because they have a bit more independence. Here are a few tips to make sure your preschooler takes sun safety seriously. You can all work together to make sure your kid is covered and safe in the sun.
1) Talk to your kid about sunscreen
When you start adding sunscreen to your getting ready to go out ritual, make sure you talk to your
Teddy Bear Picnic For Young Children
by Tania Cowling July 7th, 2025 | Infants/Toddlers, SocialEating a meal al fresco (AKA picnic) is fun for all ages. And, your baby or toddler will enjoy eating this new way outdoors amongst their teddy bears, just like in the book The Teddy Bears' Picnic by Jimmy Kennedy. There are quite a few teddy bears at the picnic, and the author tells you if you want to know what is happening, you'd better go in disguise.
At the beginning of the story, a little boy is dressed in a bear costume
Teen’s Perspective on Vacations
by Sam P. June 30th, 2025 | Teen Perspective, Teens
As your kids get older vacations become harder and harder. Between conflicting schedules and cranky teens, they seem almost unenjoyable at this point. But fear not, vacations are not just some idea of the past, they can still be fun and family filled like they used to be. Every kid's ideal vacation is something like a cruise
4 Ways to Create a Memorable Vacation
by Lori Sciame June 23rd, 2025 | Tweens
Family vacations rule! Why? They provide a much needed break from the daily grind, as there are no deadlines to meet, no school lunches to pack, and no fourth grade science projects to complete. Even more importantly, they have the
No Sweat, Active Indoor Games for Kids
by Tania Cowling June 16th, 2025 | Elementary, Entertainment
Summer weather can often be so hot and humid that no one wants to be very active. These no-sweat active indoor games for kids do not require high-energy output but are exciting and fun. Living in the south, these activities kept my kids engaged in easy competitive and skill games in the comfort of the cool air-conditioned house. "No Sweat Olympics" can be set up as a team competition or you can give each child a list of activities to do depending on the child's age
Vacations With Preschoolers and Fun for Parents
by Joe Lawrence June 9th, 2025 | Preschool, Seasonal
Vacation season is finally here. Summer is just around the corner, and many of us have or are starting to make plans for the family. What can you do to make the vacation fun for the whole family?
Plan for the kids
I noticed that most of our vacation plans have been centered on the children for the past several years. For the most part, this is fine. In all honesty, most of our trips would not be happening if it were
Take a Summer Learning Walk With Your Child
by Tania Cowling June 2nd, 2025 | Development, Infants/ToddlersAdd some mystery to the next walk you take with your toddler. Your little detective will have fun discovering colors and shapes in nature.
A day before your walk, talk about color families. Put out crayons from a box of 24 to 48 colors and let your child pick a crayon. Discuss whether the crayon belongs to the blue, red, or yellow families. To future break the families into "cousins" you can create
5 Ways Having A Pet Helps A Teen
by Jane Wangersky May 26th, 2025 | Social, Teens
When we think of pets being good for our children, we usually think of elementary age kids. After all, they're at the age when it's good to start learning responsibility. Teens, not so much. Your teen probably already has a fair amount of responsibilities, maybe sometimes more than they think they can handle.
So if your family has lost a pet, or never had one before, you may not be thinking
3 Ways to Assess Pet Readiness
by Lori Sciame May 19th, 2025 | Social, Tweens
Bringing a new pet into the home can be an amazing experience or an awful one, especially when tweens are involved. While pre-teens may express a desire for a cat or a dog, they simple do
3 Necessary Social Skills
by Lori Sciame May 12th, 2025 | Elementary, Social
Children need to learn a variety of social skills to be able to fit in with their peers. These many skills are critical in the development of a young person's self worth. As suggested by Social Skills Central, "failure to make friends can have a significant impact on a child's life, and can contribute to severe emotional problems in childhood and adolescence."
As a parent, you can do a lot to help your child become adept in a variety of social situations. Remember, you are his or
Get Moving With Your Child This Month and Forever
Tania Cowling May 5th, 2025 | Entertainment, PreschoolMay is National Physical Fitness Month and a reminder that exercise is so important for health. But, there are many ways to get your kiddos moving that are fun, as exercise shouldn't just be jumping jacks and pushups. It should include daily activities, as well as sporting games. Here are a few daily movement activities that get the