Author: Chien Liu

Executive function is one of those terms that appearsfrequently in conversations about child development,school readiness, and learning difficulties — and israrely explained clearly enough to be useful to parents.This article covers what executive function actually is,how it develops across childhood, why it matters so much,and what parents can specifically do to support it. What Executive…

Anxiety is the most common mental health concernin childhood — affecting approximately one in eightchildren at any given time. Yet it is also one ofthe most frequently missed, misunderstood, andmistreated by well-meaning parents who do notalways recognize what they are seeing or knowwhat to do about it. This article covers what childhood anxiety actuallyis, how…

Mindful parenting is one of the most talked-aboutconcepts in contemporary parenting culture — andone of the most misunderstood. For some parentsit conjures images of meditation cushions andperfect emotional regulation. For others itsounds like one more standard to fall short of. The research on mindful parenting tells a moregrounded and more useful story than eitherof these…

Teaching children about emotions is one of the mostimportant things a parent can do — and one of theleast explicitly taught. Most parents assume thatchildren will simply learn to understand and managetheir emotions through experience. The researchsuggests that explicit, intentional emotion educationmakes a significant difference — and that the wayparents talk about emotions with their…

Few parenting moments are more unsettling than catchingyour child in a lie — particularly the first time, whenit arrives earlier than expected and feels like a signof something going wrong. The research on children andlying tells a more nuanced and more reassuring storythan most parents expect. This article covers what the research shows about whychildren…

If you have ever watched two toddlers playing side by side —each absorbed in their own activity, apparently ignoring eachother, yet clearly aware of the other’s presence — you havewitnessed parallel play. It is one of the most characteristicfeatures of toddler social life, and one of the mostmisunderstood by parents who wonder whether their childis…

Independence is one of those qualities that almost everyparent wants for their child — and one of the easiest toaccidentally undermine with the best of intentions. Theimpulse to help, to step in, to solve, to smooth the pathahead is one of the most natural impulses in parenting.The research suggests it is also one of the…

Shyness is one of the most common temperamentaltraits in childhood — and one of the most frequentlymishandled by well-meaning adults. The instinct topush a shy child toward social situations, to encouragethem to “just say hi,” to reassure them that “there’snothing to be scared of” — is understandable. Theresearch suggests it is also often counterproductive. This…

If your child feels things more intensely than most,notices things others walk past, melts down in loudor busy environments, and seems to be affected byexperiences that other children shrug off — you mayhave encountered the term sensory processingsensitivity without fully understanding what it means. This article explains what sensory processingsensitivity actually is, what the research…