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Social Emotional Learning in the Classroom: Simple Tools for the New School Year

by Suzanne Tucker

Social emotional learning starts in everyday classroom moments. Explore simple SEL strategies teachers can use to build emotional literacy, support regulation, strengthen relationships, and create a classroom where children feel safe, understood, and ready to learn.

Woman kneeling to comfort a young boy, with illustrated hands exchanging a gray cloud for a red heart in the background

Positive vs. Negative Reinforcement: A Guide for Parents

by Alex Petrou

Learn how positive vs. negative reinforcement influence your parenting style and the ways positive reinforcers can support your child’s development.

Mother comforting her highly sensitive teenage son during an emotional moment, illustrating parental support, empathy, and teen mental health.

Helping Your Highly Sensitive Child Gain Confidence

by Rebecca Eanes

When our children are highly sensitive, rejection and criticism hurt more deeply. They get embarrassed easily and have strong emotional reactions, which can make them the target for bullying. Here are 5 tools to boost your child's confidence.

Woman looking at an old childhood photo of herself, surrounded by illustrated hearts and clouds

Healing From A Childhood You Don't Remember

by Ashley Patek

While we may not remember our childhood with our mind and verbal words, our body keeps the score and stores the information it receives from our formative years, namely which parts of us to grow and which to shrink. These downloads show up as patterns in adulthood and in our parenting. Read more.

Woman with eyes closed and hand on her chest, staying calm, with a flower graphic beside her

9 Mantras I Use When Low On Patience With My Kids

by Ashley Patek

Mantras can change the wiring of our brain and create a new lens to see ourselves, our kids, and the world at large. Here are 9 parenting mantras I use when low on patience with my kids.

of two young girls/ siblings fighting, one pulling hair

End Sibling Rivalry And Bring Peace Into Your Home

by Ashley Patek

Siblings are natural competitors for attachment, bidding for our love and attention. Here's 3 Parenting Do's and Don'ts when it comes to sibling relationships.

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5 Parenting Hacks For Getting Through A Day With Kids

by Ashley Patek

Looking to make it through the day without yelling, power struggles or the dreaded parenting guilt? Stop what you're doing and check out these 5 simple (and effective) parenting hacks!

Sometimes Our Kids Just Want Us To Listen: 3 Tools For Connected Parenting

by Ashley Patek

These tools are invitations for you to show up to your child’s wants and needs with curiosity instead of immediately throwing down the hammer with a rebuttal. Because maybe they do want that thing they are mentioning, or maybe they are just sharing with you their heart, and their only real ask is that you listen.

Conventional Discipline Doesn't Align With Child Development. Here's What To Do Instead.

by Rebecca Eanes

As well-meaning parents, we second-guess ourselves instead of trusting our inner wisdom. We often feel the pressure to raise a “good” kid and be a “good” parent, and thus fall into the trap of conventional parenting. Here's how to escape the cycle.

Tired mom lying down with hand on face while her child sits beside her, surrounded by low battery and stress icons

I Am Not An Angry Mom. I'm An Overwhelmed Mom.

by Ashley Patek

We aren’t angry parents. We are just parents with unmet needs, lagging skills, and lots of overwhelm - both sensorially and emotionally. Here is the one real solution.

Hey Mama, I Know You Cried Today

by Rebecca Eanes

Motherhood. Nothing brings us more elated joy or crushing heartache. The good news is, you’re up for it. You can handle every up and down, every tear and every grin, because you were chosen for it. You being her mama is not an accident.

School Culture Affects Black Student Achievement

by Selina Armstrong

As students prepare to return to school this fall, there are many things for parents and educators to consider. We are still in the midst of a pandemic and living in an environment where racial disparities are being brought to the forefront where they can no longer be swept under the rug to be ignored, tolerated, or forgotten.

Ask Andrew: Grandparenting

by Andrew Patterson

Andrew answers today's question: How can I, as the grandmother of a diagnosed five-year-old grandson be a solid support to him and his parents? I live in CA and they live in AZ.

You Are My Reason: A Mother's Poem For Her Daughter

by Guest Author

"Even though you are the reason I wake through the night, you are the reason I wake in the morning." A sleep-deprived mother's poem to her baby girl.

You Can't Spoil A Baby With Your Love

by Ashley Patek

Keep holding them. Keep tending to their needs. Keep doing what feels right. It is impossible for you to spoil them with love.

I Have More Patience With My Kids Than I Do My Partner. Is That Wrong?

by Ashley Patek

My patience threshold for my children far outweighs that for my husband. Here's why, and how my husband and I found a way to reconnect.

Why Does My Child Meltdown After School & What Can I Do?

by Ashley Patek

So often parents report, "My kids are so put together at school and then they get home and are a total mess." Why does this happen and what can parents do to help their children regulate? (We offer 8 ideas)

Resilient-Informed Care Removes Stigma From Trauma

by Ashley Patek

When we label those with adverse experiences as “traumatized” we can create a stigma that there is something to fix, which shadows the wholeness of the individual. The resilience-informed approach is a strength-based framework that shifts the question of “What happened to you?” as seen in a trauma-informed approach to “What is right within you?” Here are 3 ways to mindfully become more resilient after trauma.

Does Self-Care Feel Like A Chore?

by Ashley Patek

Empowerment self-care is when we can be with the current moment with joy and ease, noticing how we feel and asking ourselves, “What is it that I want and need, and how do I make that happen?” Here's how to listen to your sensory body and 5 simple self-care breaks for you and your child.

Three Ways To Stop Misbehavior

by Rebecca Eanes

When time-outs didn't work, this mom turned to three things, and it stopped her child's misbehavior.

Collecting Moments Watching Our Toddlers Grow Into Teens

by Rebecca Eanes

One mama urges, "Bring awareness to your moments. Collect them even though most of them will eventually fade away and be forgotten, because each one leaves its mark. And even when the mind can no longer recall it, it doesn’t matter because that moment has become you."

Ask Andrew: Finding Ways To Motivate

by Andrew Patterson

Andrew answers today's question: I am working with a family that struggles to motivate their son to practice the application of new skills. Any advice on how to discuss the importance of things or improve motivation? This kiddo is highly intelligent and strong-willed.

Teaching Your Child How To Be Mad

by Ashley Patek

It’s not about teaching our children not to be mad, sad, or frustrated. It’s about teaching them how to be mad, sad, and frustrated. Rather than teaching them to suppress or bottle their emotions, we can empower our children to move through them in healthy ways. Here's how.