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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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This Twist on a Classic Teaches Children Loving Limits and Boundaries

by Ashley Patek

While some may say that The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein is a tale of selfless love, others find the story actually sends a much different message --- one of co-dependency.

Santa's 'Naughty List' Has Been Canceled This Holiday Season

by Ashley Patek

The holiday season is meant to be a magical time, but often it is used as leverage to control a child’s behavior. We have a real opportunity to rewrite the narrative. Here's how.

What Young Children Need You to Know About Separation Anxiety

by Rebecca Eanes

Children are born with a need for attachment and so it stands to reason that separation is a great fear for many children. This doesn’t mean we cannot ever be separated from them, but rather that we take time to understand the developmental aspect of this issue so that we can fulfill their need for attachment in our absence.

Portable Emotional ToolKit for Sensitive Kids

by Guest Author

How do you discipline a highly sensitive child? Using time-ins help children understand and mange their deep emotional world, nurturing connection and emotional intelligence. Here are 8 tips to building a portable ToolKit for your child to help them regulate not only at home but on the go.

Thank You: A Father’s Day Poem

by Guest Author

This mama writes a poem to her husband as she navigates her baby blues, teary eyes, breastfeeding, and raw limits.

Why Is My Child Behaving This Way?

by Ashley Patek

Power struggles ... meltdowns ... defiance. Here's what's causing your child's behavior and tools for transforming it.

Emotional Intelligence is More Than Naming Emotions

by Alex Petrou

Emotional intelligence is more than naming emotions. Remaining calm when our child is emoting requires great patience, often more than we have in reserve.

The Stories Kids Want To Tell About COVID

by Rebecca Eanes

Our children grew up in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. Their brains developed in quarantine. Their bodies changed in lockdown. They are emerging from this as different people, and the impact it had on them is yet to be told. Here are 4 things we can do to support our children’s social-emotional health this school year ...

Building A Resilient Brain Through Spirituality

by Ashley Patek

So many of us are here, questioning if we are “too broken” and “not enough” while equal parts terrified that we will “ruin our children” while also desperately trying to do things differently than were done to us. Maybe this one thing is the answer to our mental health crisis.

6 Meaningful Christmas Gifts

by Ashley Patek

Rather than storing unwanted toys in the closet, this year give the children on your list meaningful memories instead. Here are six connection-based gift ideas for ages two and up that we love for the holidays.

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.

To My Strong-Willed And Sensitive Boy

by Ashley Patek

A poem to her son. One mom watches her strong-willed boy drift to sleep and she sees the child under the big emotions and power struggles, and it restores her for whatever tomorrow brings.

female nurse with aesthetic moder art style

National Nurses Day: Celebrating A Work Of Heart

by Ashley Patek

National Nurses Day is celebrated annually on May 6th, providing an opportunity to thank nurses for the contributions they offer daily to serve the health and well-being of others, and to educate the public about the important role nurses play in our lives.

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.