fbpx

happiness

Back-to-school articles

Best Back-to-School Articles for Parents: 2023

Back-to-school is always a time when parents and teachers revisit what is important for children and how to best support their positive development. This popular list of back-to-school articles, started in 2012, has been updated for the 2023-24 school year. Some articles focus on the challenges of schooling during the […]

Compass-Inspired

Good Grades May Harm Student Health

Good grades are positive, right? The answer is not as straightforward as you might imagine. Of course, good grades can be terrific. That is, unless the stress of getting them causes children to feel unworthy or fail to develop abilities that matter much more than grades. Even for children who […]

Compass-Inspired
The Key to Success is Within Your Child's Developing Mind, by Michele Borba Ed.D.

The Key to Success is Within Your Child’s Developing Mind

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
The Benefits of Play are "Oh, so Big!" by Katie Hurley LCSW

The Benefits of Play are “Oh, so Big!”

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
Kindness: How You Can Teach Children to Care for Others, by Marilyn Price-Mitchell, PhD

Kindness: How You Can Teach Children to Care for Others

Martin Richard lost his life when the second of two bombs exploded near the finish line of the Boston Marathon in 2013. This 8-year-old boy believed in peace and kindness, values he proudly displayed on a poster he made at school. How do we honor Martin’s wish for a more […]

Empathy
Listening for Understanding: A Win-Win for Families, by Marilyn Price-Mitchell PhD

Listening for Understanding: A Win-Win for Families

Listening to one another is one of the most important ways parents and children create close, loving relationships. When kids feel seen, heard, and understood, they learn the meaning of empathy. They acquire the abilities to emotionally connect with others, make friends, and develop lifelong social skills. Yet listening is […]

Empathy
Negativity and Your Child's Brain: How to Help Kids Stay Positive, by Marilyn Price-Mitchell PhD

Negativity and Your Child’s Brain: How to Help Kids Stay Positive

How does negativity affect your child’s healthy development? It’s likely no surprise to learn that all of us have inner voices, private conversations we have with ourselves. Neuroscientists have discovered that those voices are naturally more negative than positive in tone. Unfortunately, children’s inner voices are particularly negative, usually driven […]

Self-Awareness
50 Gifts that Grow Happy Kids, by Marilyn Price-Mitchell PhD

50 Gifts That Grow Happy Kids

Don’t you love the excitement an unexpected gift brings to a child? I remember the way my daughter eagerly anticipated the arrival of Santa Claus and how each gift brought joy to her face. Some toys or stuffed animals became favorites for many years to come. But most gifts brought […]

Compass-Inspired
Raffi: Advocate for Children, Earth and Music, by Marilyn Price-Mitchell PhD

Raffi: Advocate for Children, Earth and Music

Many of our cherished memories are tied to childhood and music. Today, neuroscience is beginning to understand how music heals the body, influences our emotions, sparks creativity, and even connects us with nature. From infancy onward, I tried to fill my daughter’s life with melody – from classical to folk […]

Compass-Inspired
Psychology Today Articles: 10 Essential Reads for Parents, by Marilyn Price-Mitchell PhD

Top Psychology Today Articles for Parents

Some of the best psychologists and educators in the world author Psychology Today articles in a variety of fields, including child development, parenting, autism, happiness, intelligence, and resilience. In the same spirit that I publish and update my list of the Best Back-to-School Articles for Parents in late summer, this […]

Compass-Inspired