Developing emotional intelligence in children is critical to their success in life. Often characterized as the depth to which individuals experience and perceive emotions, emotional intelligence can be exercised, just like intellectual intelligence, through meaningful children’s activities and experiences. Singing songs about feelings is one way that expands children’s emotional […]
Empathy
When you become a parent, you often have this idealized notion of how it is going to go. You will fall in love with your baby and your baby will fall in love with you. You will figure out how to help them grow. It will all work out. After […]
Compass-Inspired
Like many adults, I can recall the profound influence that youth mentoring has had on my life. Not only did my mentor, a high school teacher, support me through my challenging teen years, but I have felt her positive influence for a lifetime. Why is youth mentoring so important? How […]
Compass-Inspired
How is self-esteem related to unconditional love? How do parents show approval for kids as human beings even as they must often show disapproval for children’s behavior? In the article, Does Self-Esteem Function as an Emotional Immune System?, Guy Winch, PhD, asserts that a variety of studies have begun to […]
Resilience
Child and adolescent psychotherapist, Katie Hurley, believes in empowering girls. And she thinks the time to start is now. She’s not alone. Stories that have emerged from the #MeToo movement have made it abundantly clear that a woman’s lack of self-esteem and her silence on bullying, abuse, and other gender-based […]
Resilience
A group of fifteen girls ages 8-11 sit before me. We’re discussing “what does it mean to be assertive” and “why is it sometimes so very difficult to speak up?” Specifically, we talk about school. They watch each other carefully, unsure what to say even within the safety of this […]
Sociability
Your encouraging words for kids can help them thrive in school and life! How do your words matter? Positive words from parents, teachers, and mentors are a rich source of internal motivation and guidance to children and teens. Often, kids recall your words of encouragement for years to come. At […]
Compass-Inspired
“No.” This simple two-letter word is often absent from our parenting vocabulary. Yet, a firm “no” can be a positive developmental tool for building resiliency in children. In parenting today, we are encouraged to focus so absolutely on our children’s happiness, self-esteem, and emotional health. It is perhaps this that […]
Resilience
Every parent wants to know the key to success that will help a son or daughter thrive in life, that “secret sauce” for raising a healthy child. Does such a sauce exist? The answer depends on your mindset as a parent and how you turn your mindset into practice with […]
Empathy
Coaches often utter the words “believe in yourself” to young people struggling with self-confidence. But what does it mean to believe in yourself? And why is it so important to the development of healthy and successful youth? No one in the world of psychology is better known for the study […]
Compass-Inspired
The phrase “family values” conjures an array of reactions in today’s politically charged world. And that’s a shame. Because whether our family values are conservative or liberal, they shouldn’t really change the ideals we hold for raising and educating our children. Family values have far too long been associated with […]
Compass-Inspired
Many scholars have studied and written about the benefits of play for children. According to psychologist and research professor Peter Gray, play “serves many valuable purposes. It is a means by which children develop their physical, intellectual, emotional, social, and moral capacities.” For quite some time, my daughter was afraid […]
Creativity
