by Dennis Coates | Adolescence, Adolescent Brain, Alcohol, Critical Thinking, Education, Encouragement, Parent-child Communication, Parenting Books, Teen Culture, Teen Success
I’ve posted before about the importance of critical thinking and the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for a young person to lay down a foundation of critical thinking skills in the developing prefrontal cortex – what I often refer to as “the smart...
by Dennis Coates | Adolescence, Education, Mentoring, Parent-child Communication, Parenting, Personal Strength, Programs, Strong for Parenting, Teen Success
In his classic parenting book, The Wonder of Boys, psychologist Michael Gurian claims that “three families – not one” are needed to raise a healthy child to be a happy, successful adult. The first family is the “nuclear family”—the parents and grandparents who raise...
by Dennis Coates | Adolescence, Adolescent Brain, Critical Thinking, Education, Encouragement, Mentoring, Parenting, Parenting Books, Teen Success
During the first few months of life, parents show lots of colorful, noise-making objects to their infant. Slowly, the baby learns to pay attention. The child is doing the work to program the neural pathways for sight. During the first year of life, parents guide and...
by Dennis Coates | Adolescence, Education, Inspiring Quotes, Parenting, Work
I often mention that teenagers have a “full plate.” The demands on their time can be stress-producing, even overwhelming. Part of the reason for this is that to arrive at adulthood, prepared for the challenges they’ll face, they have a lot to learn....
by Dennis Coates | Adolescence, Education, Encouragement, Parenting, Parenting Books, Teen Success
What will the next step be? College? A job? Technical training? A gap year? Missionary work? Military service? Marriage and a family? Every parent who has raised a teenager to this threshold is concerned that the child will be able to handle the challenges and...
by Dennis Coates | Adolescence, Critical Thinking, Education, Inspiring Quotes, Parenting, Personal Strength, Teen Success
Forty years ago, I was in graduate school at Duke University, in over my head, studying hard and learning as much as I could to catch up with my better-prepared classmates. It paid off – I earned my Ph.D. four years later. It was the most intense period of...
