Check Out New Parent-KId Activities From Making Caring Common

Many parents and caregivers are spending more time with their kids these days. Wouldn’t it be nice to try a new family activity and receive a gift card while you’re at it?  Our friends at Harvard’s Making Caring Common are here for you! They are looking for parents and caregivers of kids ages 4-10 to join their parenting …

Harnessing the Strengths of Your Survival Impulses

KEEPING YOUR RESPONSES TO STRESS, UPSET AND UNCERTAINTY HEALTHY “It was all your fault,” I hear either as a real statement or the sub-text of an accusation from family members and with my whole body, I want to run. “I’ve gotta get outta here!” I think with a sense of pressing urgency. My survival personality …

Expanding Social Awareness and Teaching Activism through Your Summer Reading

Widen Your Family’s Circle of Concern through Children’s Literature When we consider our child’s daily interactions with others, they may not get the kind of exposure to various skin tones, cultures, differing belief systems, or other income levels to expand their circle of concern. We want to raise socially aware and inclusive kids who are …

The Missing Link in Social and Emotional Learning

Why Social Justice and Equity Are Essential to Social and Emotional Learning By: Shannon B. Wanless and Tia N. Barnes There is much to be proud of in the social and emotional learning (SEL) field, but we are struck by how much work there is to be done to see, value, and address the racial …

“SAY THEIR NAMES” – A TOOLKIT FOR DISCUSSING RACISM FROM Chicago PUblic Schools

A toolkit to help foster productive conversations about race and civil disobedience “In a racist society, it is not enough to not be non-racist, we must be anti-racist” – Angela Davis. Say Their Names. George Floyd,  Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and the countless others that came before.  If you are planning on talking to your …

On NBC’s TODAY Parents Blog…

The NBC TODAY Parenting team did extensive research to tell the stories of what families are going through during the COVID-19 pandemic. They examined what children are feeling and how stay-at-education and social distancing might impact their development. And finally, they asked experts like Jennifer Miller of Confident Parents, Confident Kids what we can do …

Family Responsible Decision-Making

In Uncertain, Stressful and Dangerous Times, How Can We Make the Best Choices for our Family? “We rented a vacation home with one other close family friend thinking that situation could be low risk. But then, they surprised us when several of their cousins showed up with them.” “The whole group of girls, friends from …

Ending the School Year at Home

Creating Reflective Opportunities to Support the Transition during #COVID-19 Motivation to engage in school work may just be at an all-time low as public places slowly begin to reopen, the sun shines a bit brighter, and the end of distance learning for the 2019-2020 draws near. Children may be excited about the freedom of summer …

“Reread and reflect on the childhood stories that shaped you and see what they say about your life today,” was one of the instructions from an online class on clinical psychiatry my husband was been taking during the #COVID-19 Quarantine. This was an easy assignment since he had begun reading “The Hobbit” by J.R.R. Tolkien …

By Guest Author Alexandra Eidens, Founder, Big Life Journal Those who journal are in good company. Some of history’s greatest visionaries, including Ben Franklin, Winston Churchill, and Marie Curie, kept journals. But aside from famous company, there are other important reasons for journaling. Studies show that keeping a journal reduces stress, improves focus and boosts mood. …