The second 10 years of a child's life is their last opportunity to prepare for the challenges of adult life. This guest post was written by Elisabeth Stitt, a parenting expert who focuses on middle school adolescent children. She is the author of Parenting as a Second...
Mindful - an often-used word. According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, it means "aware of something that may be important." Aware - feel or experience something Something that may be important. One of the most important things you can be mindful of: your child....
Reading Parenting...As a Second Language is like chatting with a wise, compassionate woman who's experienced every aspect of being a parent. It's more like a conversation than listening to simple advice. The author, Elisabeth Stitt, happens to be one of the most...
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...
Adults care a great deal about the youth in their communities. They want fewer kids to be at risk. They want more kids growing up to be strong, happy, successful adults. They're willing to be mentors to young people. And it’s important that they do because it takes a...
Teenagers know they're growing up, and they don't like being treated like little kids. They need the wisdom and guidance of parents and other adults. But they hate lectures, sarcasm, put-downs, screaming, commands, threats, ultimatums, shaming, judging, and blaming....
A teenager made a dumb mistake and damaged a tool. His father, angry, shouted at him about carelessness and irresponsibility. No love, understanding or respect was communicated in the heated interchange. The boy felt like a failure and resented his father for putting...
Two decades ago, Michael Gurian's best-selling book, The Wonder of Boys, created a stir. The push for women's rights assumed the developmental needs of both genders were the same. Going against this assumption, he made a convincing case that while boys and girls...
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 though the...
[five_sixth] [/five_sixth][one_sixth_last][social_buttons hide_share_count="true" facebook="true" twitter="true" pinterest="true" linkedin="true"][/one_sixth_last] The Sacred Purpose While most youth sports organizations publicly declare that their primary mission...