by Dennis Coates | Adolescence, Parent-child Communication
Listening is the most powerful skill a parent can have. It has the potential to “change the game” with regard to your relationship with your child. In my writing about this skill, I refer to it as “listening to understand,” a phrase I borrowed...
by Dennis Coates | Adolescence, Adolescent Brain, Critical Thinking
Often when I write about adolescence, I make reference to a part of the brain called the prefrontal cortex. To help you appreciate where that part of the brain is and what it does, I’ll give you a quick guided tour of your brain. I’ll do my best here, even...
by Dennis Coates | Adolescence, Adolescent Brain, Critical Thinking, Education, Parenting
I accidentally help wire my boys’ teen brains for critical thinking. It was Christmas 1982, and like all parents at the time, I knew nothing about the teen brain. But I didn’t think twice about what to give them for Christmas. It just seemed like a great...
by Dennis Coates | Adolescence, Parent-child Communication, Parenting, Parenting Books
Between Parent & Teenager (1967), by Dr. Haim G. Ginott, was published before many of today’s parents of teenagers were born. Ginott, who has been dead for forty years, was a well-known child psychologist and parent educator. His insight was to encourage...
by Dennis Coates | Adolescence, Parenting, Self-Esteem, Work
Helicopter parenting has been the focus of quite a few articles in the media. Parents over-praising their kids because they feel it promotes self-esteem, even though in the long run it creates adults who are afraid to fail and so play it safe. Parents intervening to...
by Dennis Coates | Adolescence, Critical Thinking, Drugs, Parenting, Parenting Videos, Personal Strength
Have you seen the movie, “Lonesome Jim” (2005)? Starring Casey Affleck and Liv Tyler, it’s the story of a man in his late twenties who, after failing to create a life for himself in New York City, returns home to live with his parents while he...
