by Dennis Coates | Adolescence, Self-Esteem, Teen Culture
A classic conflict: a teenager who is discovering who they are and wanting to be popular is tempted to give in to peer pressure to do things that are ill-advised or even dangerous. It’s the kind of conflict that few teens know how to deal with. Have you tried...
by Dennis Coates | Adolescence, Adolescent Brain, Critical Thinking, Education, Parent-child Communication, Parenting, Parenting Blogs, Teen Success
An obvious fact: very young children don’t understand about the future. If they’re 6 years old, they simply can’t conceive of the fact that in a few years they will be in high school. This inability to comprehend their own desired or possible future...
by Dennis Coates | Adolescence, Behavior Change, Parent-child Communication, Parenting Books
I recently talked with a mom who was discouraged because her attempts to try some new listening techniques hadn’t worked for her. She said they felt strange and she often forgot to use them. So she gave up trying. This is not an uncommon story. And there are...
by Dennis Coates | Adolescence, Behavior Change, Critical Thinking, Education, Encouragement, Parent-child Communication, Parenting, Parenting Books, Teen Success
As i write this, swallows have built a nest above our front entrance way, and the momma and poppa swallows are busy catching bugs and feeding them to their three hatchlings. On occasion, we see three little heads peeking above the rim of the nest. Before long, the...
by Dennis Coates | Adolescence, Adolescent Brain, Critical Thinking, Parenting, Parenting Books
At puberty, a child’s brain is primed to develop the kind of critical thinking that will make them successful as adults. This fact of adolescence is massively important but all too easy to forget. At puberty, the brain cells in their prefrontal cortex, the part...
by Dennis Coates | Adolescence, Parent-child Communication, Parenting, Parenting Books
A friend of mine wanted me to help him with a project. We met and talked about what might work, but we didn’t agree on what to do. I told him, “Why don’t you give more thought to what you’d like to do, and we can meet again to nail down the...
