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emotional intelligence

Words Matter: Adjusting Popular Books and Songs to Align with Positive Parenting Strategies

Our words matter. Children receive messages from all around them and this includes the books, songs, and stories we share with them. Sometimes those messages are affirming and sometimes they are dismissive. Read how to make your words count to nourish your child's social-emotional skills.

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Social-Emotional Learning Starts At Home

Students who are self-aware and able to understand their emotions have a greater ability to relate to others, make decisions, and excel academically. Here is how to help your child develop social-emotional skills at home. 

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Social-Emotional Learning Is Key in the COVID-19 Pandemic

Social-emotional instruction has been proven beneficial during normal times; it is now an urgent need. Here are 5 SEL activities for the classroom and 5 for home. Together, we can bridge the school to home gap. 

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To My Kids: I Messed Up Today, And I'm Sorry

I messed up today in ways big and small. I am an imperfect mom. I used to shame myself for it, but not anymore. And here is what I say to my children.

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Discipline Your Child's Behavior, Not Their Emotions

There is a difference between how our children feel and how they behave. Rather than trying to force our children to not feel certain emotions (especially the ones that are inconvenient for us), we can teach them how to deal with emotions. Here are four ways to do this. 

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Is It Okay For Me To Cry In Front Of My Child?

How do we straddle the line of expressing emotion in front of our children while letting them know that they are not responsible for our feelings? The process can be vulnerable and uncomfortable, but this is often how it feels when we commit to breaking cycles of generational wounding.

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I’ve Never Grounded My Teenager - Here’s Why

In our culture, we are accustomed to training children through pain. We are fooled into thinking it’s good because it works, but it only works for a short time, and the reason it works is heartbreaking. Here's what to do instead of punishment.

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4 Effective Ways To Break The Generational Cycle Of Yelling

I yell. I was yelled at. My guess is, my parents were yelled at too. Poor emotional regulation - and its wounding - has been handed down from one generation to another. Here are 4 effective ways to break the cycle so that our children don't have to carry that...

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Tuning Into Your Own Voice With 3 Simple Tools

These 3 simple practices will help you learn to lean into your own voice, and with time and practice, you’ll be able to discern it above all others most of the time.

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Children Don't Have Standardized Minds. Let's Quit Testing Them As If They Do.

Our kids who are daydreaming or squirming in their seats or not listening or who show poor impulse control are being told that they are not behaving in ways that conform to the classroom. But perhaps their brain is not built for the standardized classroom. What if school looked like...

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Our Children May Be Self-Centered, But They Aren't Selfish

Every time our child snatches a toy or melts down or forgets to say “thank you,” we worry our children will grow to be disrespectful, which motivates us to teach the lesson. But when we understand brain development, we can approach these situations in ways that build the skills without...

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7 Easy Ways To Have Hard Conversations With Your Child

In having hard conversations with our kids - whether it be their untamed anger as a toddler, their heartbreak as a teen, or their transition from one gender to another - we strengthen our parent-child bond and equip them with resources for how to handle future situations. Here's how to...

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