by Dennis Coates | Parenting, Parenting Books, Personal Strength, Strong for Parenting, Teen Suicide
You’ve probably heard it said that being a parent is the hardest job in the world. Children are a joy, but they surprise you and challenge you to do things you didn’t know you’d ever have to do. Often just getting through a day can be a major achievement. You have to...
by Dennis Coates | Adolescent Brain, Critical Thinking, Education, Encouragement, Parenting, Parenting Books, Teen Success
I’ve been a Dad to over a dozen cats in my adult life. The cat in the photo is Cookie, one of the three cats in my family right now. All three display signs of intelligence. I see this in the way they make decisions. For example, at a certain time each...
by Dennis Coates | Adolescence, Behavior Change, Critical Thinking, Parent-child Communication, Parenting, Parenting Books
The great thing about a mistake or any bad experience is that you can learn from it. But it’s just as easy, if not easier, to not learn a thing. Kids make go through a lot of emotions on the way to growing up. They have so much to learn and the road can be...
by Dennis Coates | Adolescence, Parent-child Communication, Parenting, Parenting Books, Teen Success
At about the age of 12, plus or minus, a child’s body and brain are flooded with growth hormones to begin the physical development needed to become an adult. The growth period lasts about ten years. We call it adolescence. During this gradual transformation, the...
by Dennis Coates | 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 | 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...
