by Dennis Coates | Jan 7, 2024 | Behavior Change, Critical Thinking, Teen Success
Growing up to be a happy, successful, independent adult means creating a self. This includes life skills, relationship skills, thinking skills, learning skills, character strength, values, attitudes, and more. it’s a lot, and every child has to do it. Some leave...
by Dennis Coates | Dec 12, 2023 | Adolescence, Critical Thinking, Parent-child Communication, Parenting, Parenting Blogs, Strong for Parenting
I was in a hurry to get home, but so were many other people in rush hour traffic. I had to wait in line to turn right and then immediately I had to wait in a long line at a stoplight. When the light turned green, the car in front of me didn’t move. The driver...
by Dennis Coates | Oct 30, 2023 | Behavior Change, Critical Thinking, Education, Parenting, Strong for Parenting, Teen Culture, Teen Success, Youth Athletics
Heman Bekele is a 14-year-old boy who won First Prize in 3M’s Young Scientist’s Challenge for working to create an affordable soap that could treat skin cancer. Read more about him here… As a young man, he wasn’t focused on being popular. He...
by Dennis Coates | Jul 8, 2023 | 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 | Jun 1, 2023 | 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 | May 15, 2023 | 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...
