Children benefit from specific cues that help them determine what information is important. The brain is not meant to attend to everything and therefore only focuses on what is important in a given moment. This serves as a survival mechanism for us, but can also be an annoyance when trying to ask your child to come to dinner and they are glued to the much more entertaining IPAD in front of them. What may seem like blatant noncompliance may actually be a skill deficit or lack of attention. Rather than working hard after a behavior has occurred (which unfortunately is the most obvious and likely scenario we find ourselves in) try to recruit your child’s attention before stating a request or introducing a new task.

At a young age, children have the capacity to learn about their thoughts and feelings, and how to manage them. The trick? Teaching it in developmentally appropriate ways in their natural environment. With your help, they can first learn to identify, practice, and develop healthy ways to understand their emotions and cope with future challenges. By teaching emotional skills just as we would academic skills, children are better equipped to tackle problems and cope with big feelings. Most toddlers and young children only have the capacity to think concretely through their own experience. They have a hard time grasping adult concepts, applying what seems like simple logic, and they can’t think beyond their own thoughts and feelings.  Until the age of seven, most children are yet to have the capacity to truly combine ideas separate from their own thought. This is just how the brain develops.

Just like adults, children need an optimal level of arousal throughout the day to help keep their brains and bodies regulated. When we have moments of high concentration, pressure, or demands—we need moments to recharge. When we have lots of rest and relaxation, we need to get up and moving in order to feel more energized. Rather than trying to inhibit or restrain the behavior of hyperactive children, which may induce more problematic behavior and low self-esteem, it is important to match your child’s activity level and shape more appropriate behavior throughout the day.

Every family is different and so is a child’s ability to navigate change. Below are five general tips that help your child cope with integrating back to school or other pre-pandemic activities. The tips below not only support the way your child copes and adjusts to new routines, but also helps foster healthy emotional regulation for any and all of the inevitable change they experience in the future.

Covid-19 pandemic has likely impacted aspects of your child's routines and sleep. Depending on age, children and adolescents need anywhere from 9-14 hours of sleep for healthy development. Children also need predictability and routine, especially during times of change. Increased screen time, reduced activity & virtual learning stressors. Here are tips to improve your child's sleep routines.

All behavior communicates something. While they live in the same world as adults, children do not perceive the same world as adults. The developing child brain is not able to interpret, explain, or find language for big feelings or uncomfortable new experiences. Why is this important? Young children cope with change, regulate their emotions, and communicate big feelings through behavior. This places pressure on parents to help make sense of that behavior to know how to respond. If parenting wasn’t hard enough…now you need to read the mind of a 3 year old?!………