Category Archive:
Great parenting tips

Learning the Gift of Gab

Learning the gift of gab

Language occurs in two basic ways. Receptive language is what we understand. Expressive language is what we can say. For most of us our receptive language is larger than our expressive language. A twelve-month-old can follow simple directions but can’t talk. At the doctor’s office, we can understand the doctor’s explanation of our diagnosis and […]


FREE SERIES: Empowering Kids Now

free series empowering kids now

It’s not easy being a kid in today’s world. There’s a lot of pressure, social and academic. Some kids get bullied, or are bullies. Some kids have anxiety or depression. What if you could make a difference by learning cutting edge solutions to empower the kids in your family or community to feel happy, healthy, […]


Please, Don’t Eat the Marshmallow

please don't eat the marshmallow

In the 1960’s, Walter Mischel conducted the now-famous “marshmallow study” at the Bing Nursery School at Stanford University. A researcher would let a four-year-old choose a treat from a tray and tell the child that he or she could eat the treat right away or wait until the researcher returned and have two. About one-third of […]


John 15:13

john 15:13

The idea of selfless service was the theme of a story from my kindergarten days. The Sunday School lesson told of a firefighter who died saving families from a burning building. The Bible verse to memorize for the week was John 15:13, which reads, “God hath no greater love than this, that a man should […]


Beginning a Conversation

beginning a conversation

We were looking forward to spending the weekend with old friends and their eight- and ten-year-old sons, whom we had never met. As soon as quick introductions were made, the boys picked up their electronic game machines and headed toward the den. At dinner the boys made plates of food and sat at the coffee […]


Four Keys to Raising a Self-Disciplined Child

four keys to raising a self disciplined child

Do you dream of having a child who is self-composed, articulate and respectful of others, young or old? In our children’s pre-verbal days it seems like those attributes may be impossible, but there are some teaching tools you can use to help your child have the self-discipline to live a peaceful life as a toddler […]


Ten Little Words

ten little words

As soon as my southern drawl is detected, I am usually greeted with something like, ”Aren’t you from the South?  Southerners are so polite.”  Folks from all over the world marvel at our use of “yes, ma’am” and “no, sir”. My imagination is not large enough to consider growing up and not saying “yes, ma’am”.  […]


Accentuate The Positive

accentuate the positive

“If I tell Ginny not to do something, she just looks me in the eye, and does it.  She seems defiant.” Sam, Ginny’s dad, told me at a company picnic. Ginny, an almost four-year-old curly headed brunette, ran over from the swings at the park.  “Ginny, how about playing a little game with me?  I’m […]


A Secret Of Good Teaching

A secret of good teaching

Between the ages of birth to four-and-a-half, children are in a sensitive period for refining their senses.  Children at this age are capable of learning to discern hundreds of qualities of the things around them.  Perfect pitch is acquired before the age of six.  Too often adults stop giving information after certain basics are mastered. […]


Empowering Children To Collaborate

Brotherly and sisterly struggles

“Stop!” I heard six-year-old Alan tell a couple of three-year-old girls.  “I think you’ve got a problem.” Lila and Susan, the three-year-olds, were tugging and grunting to see who would get possession of a puzzle.  Alan continued, “I think you both want to do this puzzle by yourself.  Do you want to work this out? […]