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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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I Am Not An Angry Mom. I'm An Overwhelmed, Single Mom. Now What?

by Ashley Patek

Being able to take a break is a privilege. Having mental health resources is a privilege. Having options is a privilege. Not all of us have it. So what do we do when there is no one to pass the baton to?

8 Children's Books To Nurture Inclusion

by Ashley Patek

While June is a month to honor and celebrate those in the LGBTQ+ community, inclusion is not a one-time or one-month conversation. It is an everyday lived experience. Here are 8 children's books to nurture inclusion.

8 Children's Books To Nurture Inclusion

by Ashley Patek

Children Need Less Academics and More Social-Emotional Learning in the Classroom

by Ashley Patek

Starting school or starting a new school year can be stressful at the best of times, let alone during a global pandemic.

Parenting: Control Isn't The Goal

by Rebecca Eanes

Nothing makes you feel like a failure quite like having a child you can’t control. Until you realize control isn’t the goal. Control starts to slip away as children grow, and you either have to up the ante to maintain that illusion of control or you have to accept the fact that you really don’t have control at all.

5 Therapeutic Art Activities for Emotional Health

by Rebecca Eanes

Art can help your child release and express feelings they may not know how to process and let go of otherwise. Use these 5 art activities to navigate loss, stress and transitions and to nurture emotional intelligence such as managing big emotions.

The Harm Of Forcing Manners On Our Children (And What To Do Instead)

by Ashley Patek

If we want to step away from punitive measures and towards a deep understanding of manners, and an internal motivation to practice them, it stops with “say the magic word” or “say you are sorry” or “what do you say???” And it starts with these 5 tools.

3 Ways To Transform Your Child's Behavior

by Ashley Patek

This mom was searching for a way to transform her child's misbehavior. And it was these three connection-based tools that did it.

Foster Families Are Making It Safe For Kids to Feel

by Alex Petrou

One foster family shares how they are managing emotions on a daily basis in raising their five children.

Social Distancing Impact on Children

by Ashley Patek

We share parents' top concerns and frustrations about their children’s behaviors during this time of staying home, and tools for navigating regression and other stress responses.

10 Tough Emotions Parents Feel But Don't Talk About

by Ashley Patek

Here are 10 feelings you may be feeling as a parent. There’s a good chance you aren’t talking about these feelings because they are the ones we fear others will judge us for, and they are the feelings we criticize ourselves for. It is when we notice and share those feelings that we find our way back to ourselves.

Ask Andrew: Facing The "I Don't Knows"

by Andrew Patterson

Andrew answers today's question: I ask my daughter something and she replies “I don’t know” even if it is a matter of clear opinion. Like … “Shall we get ice cream? … Why is that?” After I reframe the questions she suddenly knows.

A child writing for Santa this Christmas

I Didn't Make My Kids Sit On Santa's Lap And They Are Better For It

by Ashley Patek

Children are wired to seek approval from their caregivers because it is how they are designed to survive. How we respond as parents to our children’s intuition and their bids to voice their consent greatly impacts their ability to speak their truth, set boundaries, and trust who they are. Read more.

To My Children

by Ashley Patek

To my children, without you ... Our house would be clean and organized yet there would be no handprints on the glass to remind me of your littleness.

The Day My Son Told Me "Mad is Bad"

by Ashley Patek

When our children believe that unpleasant emotions are "bad", they become unsafe to feel those emotions. However all emotions are sacred and useful. Here's why. Read more.

8 Ways To De-escalate Meltdowns With Your Child

by Ashley Patek

Teens and toddlers alike can demonstrate aggressive or uncooperative behaviors from time to time as influenced by big emotions and neurological overwhelm. De-escalation tools help parents defuse a situation and help their child calm and regulate their system.

What Co-Regulation Looks Like

by Alex Petrou

A young child is so frustrated and overwhelmed that she just hit her big sister. As the adult responsible for managing this moment, how can you navigate this? Enter co-regulation.