Category: Early Childhood Development

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…

Death is one of the topics parents most dread discussingwith their children — and one of the most important toget right. Most parents know they should say somethingwhen death enters their child’s life. Few know exactlywhat to say, when to say it, or how to say it in a waythat genuinely helps rather than frightens…

Kindness is one of those qualities that almost every parentwants for their child — and one of the least understood interms of how it actually develops. Most parenting adviceon the topic amounts to “model kindness” and “praise kindbehavior,” which is not wrong, but is far from complete. The research on how kindness develops in children…

Self-esteem is one of the most discussed conceptsin parenting — and one of the most misunderstood.The popular version of the concept, which dominatedparenting culture from the 1970s through the 1990s,suggested that self-esteem was the key to virtuallyevery positive child outcome, and that the primaryway to build it was through praise — telling childrenthey were special,…

If you have read anything about parenting styles,you have probably encountered the term authoritativeparenting — often described as the gold standardof parenting approaches, the one that researchconsistently finds produces the best outcomesacross virtually every measure of child development. But what does authoritative parenting actually mean?How does it differ from authoritarian parenting —a term that sounds…

Change is one of the most constant features of childhood —and one of the most challenging. A new school, a newsibling, a house move, a change in family structure,the loss of a pet, a shift in friendships — childrenencounter significant change repeatedly across theirearly years, often before they have the cognitiveor emotional tools to navigate…

Resilience is one of the most talked-about qualitiesin contemporary parenting — and one of the mostmisunderstood. The popular version of the concepttends to frame resilience as toughness: the abilityto endure hardship without being affected by it, tobounce back quickly from difficulty, to get up andkeep going without complaint. The research tells a more nuanced and…

Defiance is one of the most exhausting parentingexperiences — and one of the most misunderstood.A child who says no to everything, who argues withevery request, who pushes back against every limit,is not necessarily a troubled child or evidence offailed parenting. In many cases, they are a childwhose developmental drives are working exactly asthey should —…

Positive discipline is one of those parenting terms thatsounds self-explanatory but turns out, on closer examination,to mean something quite specific — and something quitedifferent from what either its supporters or criticsoften assume. It is not the absence of discipline. It is not lettingchildren do whatever they want. And it is not simplybeing nice to children…