How Do I Get My Child to Behave without Spanking?

29AugAugust 29, 2012 By Rick

How do I get my child to behave? How do I teach my child to be polite or thoughtful of others? Is spanking ever O.K.? How do I get my children to practice the piano or do their homework? How do I get them to do anything or even listen to me? What do I do when they’re bad? What kind of discipline should I use?

Do I back off or get in their face like a “tiger mom?” How can we exercise parental authority so that our children will become authorities themselves? It’s actually not hard; it’s just tricky. Don’t get mad; get creative. Continue reading →

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Parental Involvement Will Not Make Schools Better: Good Teamwork Will

20AugAugust 31, 2012 By Rick

Calling for more parental involvement in our children’s education will not make things better in schools. It’s not about more or less engagement, but about teamwork. The team that is raising the child needs to get organized, so that everyone on the team “plays position.” Here is an example that sixth grade teacher, Continue reading →

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Overparenting: How Not to Get Kids Ready for School

17AugSeptember 9, 2012 By Rick

Last school year, I saw a young mother and father in the Decatur Public Library leaning forward over a small table overparenting their three-year-old daughter as she tried to put together the puzzle of an alligator with 26 green pieces A to Z. Continue reading →

What Are the Elements of a Great Educational Moment?

13AugAugust 17, 2012 By Rick

What does Allan and Elise’s experience tell us about the essential elements of an educational moment?

Shucking Corn with Elise

By Allan Stern

Continue reading →

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The Terrible Twos: Children’s Self-Determination and Four Lessons for Parents

08AugAugust 10, 2012 By Rick

If parents understand the “terrible twos” as a developmental stage for parents as well as children, they can take parenting to the next level and keep supporting their children’s drive for self-determination. Continue reading →

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Raising Competent Children Is Easier than Raising a Spoiled Brat

02AugAugust 2, 2012 By Rick

A teacher friend of mine recently transferred from a “Title One school to a school for Entitled Ones,” as she puts it. According to her the Title One children were generally appreciative, creative, resourceful and loving, the Entitled Ones (not all of them, of course) were demanding, unappreciative, disrespectful and very difficult to teach. Continue reading →

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