Early Leaders Hub

By: Joe Matten. There’s nothing like the father-son relationship. As a boy grows up, there will be many people who influence him and his development into adulthood. As a father, you are, and should be, his most important role model. He needs you. Tomorrow we’ll cover the 7 things a daughter needs from her dad. However, today here are 7 things a son needs from his father. 1. He needs you to love his mother. When you love your wife, or the mother of your son, you are showing him how to treat his mother, his sisters, and all the women he’ll meet in his life. This will set the foundation for the relationships he will have later in his life. If you are divorced and the relationship is difficult, do what you can to treat his mother with respect. 2. He needs to see you fail, not just succeed. “The best teacher is failure. The best type of failure to learn from is someone else’s.” The best teacher is failure. The best type of failure to learn from is someone else’s. When your s...

There are so many math websites for kids, it’s hard to tell which sites are high-quality ones that will help kids learn. These websites also have  resources to help kids conquer math skills and facts! This list of math websites for kids will help you find free online games for kids to play, as well as resources to help you teach them important skills! When looking for math websites and resources to use with kids, it is important that they offer something high-quality and equally as effective as your own teaching. Here you will find just that! The included websites have free games for students to play, giving them an interactive and hands-on approach to practicing math skills they need to learn. You’ll also find websites that have fantastic teacher resources so that you can better plan and carry out your math lessons. Math Website for Kids: 1.Fun Brain Math Zone- The Math Zone on Fun Brain is filled with fantastic games kids will love. They can play Connect the D...

By: Rebecca Parlakian. When I called a friend to tell her how I was failing at enrichment activities for the kids recently — there’s been lots of screen time and maybe some stress eating — she interrupted me and said: You are enough. I’m grateful for all the guidance on daily learning schedules, at-home science experiments, parent-led learning activities and online tours of the world’s museums. I love all those resources, really. But if I’m honest, they are also seriously stressing me out. The expectations for being “perfect” during quarantine can add up. The best thing we can do right now is give ourselves what our friends offer us so willingly — the reminder that we are enough. That means you’re allowed to go a full day without a STEM experiment. You get to skip sentences while reading (super long) children’s books. You can hide the finger paint or tell your child that it dried up. You’re also allowed to go easy on the rules. Have a picnic on the living room floor. Let th...

By: Bakshi Sidhu. With the COVID-19 pandemic, parents all over the world are worried. Although the gravity of the pandemic varies in different countries, there are still a significant number of families who are faced with the problem of disruption. One of the most hurtful disruptions caused by this pandemic is the change in the normal routine of our children. Some kids are forced to go out of school because schools are closing. Even social interactions like playdates with friends are stopped because of fear that kids might catch the virus. So how do we deal with these kinds of disruption in our children’s lives? What can we do to help them still live a normal life? Here are some tips to help our children live normal lives despite the pandemic: 1. Do not panic and set an example of how to deal with COVID-19 crises. This is not the first crisis that your children will ever encounter. Set the right example. Do not show them that panicking is the best response to crises. Ne...

By: Sharon Harding. Have you ever wondered how screens truly impact your child? I went looking for answers in recent scientific studies. Click through to read what I discovered about the effects of technology on our children’s brains and learn how to find a healthy balance (includes free info sheet and helpful tools). I have a confession. I’m not going to make it easy for you. This could be a hard post to read.It sure as heck was a difficult one to write. I’ve procrastinated for months. But here’s the thing. I simply can’t stay quiet any longer. It all started when I read Hey Internet- Let’s Have An Honest Talk About Screens This Summer by Kristen Welch. This powerful post touches on the sorrow of screen addiction in children, the need to regulate screen use, and the struggle for families to find a balance. It is well worth the read! And it got me wondering: What are the effects of technology on our kids? I looked at some of the studies and research.What did I find? T...

    What academic standards do you use, and what do I need to know about them?     How will you respond if or when my child struggles in class?     What are the most important and complex (content-related) ideas my child needs to understand by the end of the year?     Do you focus on strengths or weaknesses?     How are creativity and innovative thinking used on a daily basis in your classroom?     How is critical thinking used on a daily basis in your classroom?     How are assessments designed to promote learning rather than simple measurement?     What can I do to support literacy in my home?     What kinds of questions do you suggest that I ask my children on a daily basis about your classes?     How exactly is learning personalized in your classroom? In the school?     How do you measure academic progress apart from the standardized testing?  ...

By: Athena Staik, Ph.D.  A parent’s nurturing presence provides the emotional connection that not only helps strengthen the parent-child relationship, but also teaches the child how to regulate his or her emotions. Since conflict between parents is inevitable, it’s important to note a few rules parents can use to protect their children from marital issues. If you want your children to be confident, stand up for and respect themselves, they need to learn how to ask to be treated with dignity and respect, and to learn to respect themselves, and to do so in the context of the family they grow up in the formative years of their lives  Respect here does not mean obedience, it means mutual and unconditional respect for self and other as human beings. In other words, if your children had the cognitive and affective development of an adult (and they won’t until they’re about 25 years of age), and they wrote you a letter, they would say something like the following: Dear ...

If you have children, you know that maintaining peace in your home can sometimes be a challenge. One minute, our kids are getting along great, and the next they’re throwing legos at each other and screaming like someone just lost an eye. Massaging the relationship between siblings can take patience (along with ear plugs) when things feel overwhelming when they’re at each other’s throats, but when love is the goal, there are some steps you can take to set siblings up for getting along and to have a positive relationship. The sibling dynamic is an interesting one and while as parents, we of course want our kids to get along, stick up for one another and find ways to play together nicely, it also requires room for learning how to communicate, share their surroundings and know when it’s time to get some space. Also, knowing when and how to intervene can make a big difference in your children’s relationships with one another. Learn all my magic tips to manage sibling rivalry...

Dear Parents, Learn what to do when your child hits you , their siblings or friends.  Effectively stop your child from hurting others without yelling, time out or getting physical. By: Lauren Tamm. I literally stepped out of the room for 20 seconds. That’s the amount of time it took for my oldest to tackle his little sister while she proceeded to whack him in the head. The two wrangled on the floor as I attempted to separate them. Both kids were screaming. I was frustrated. And I would’ve given my tallest cup of black coffee and a biscotti to anyone who could make it stop. I just kept wondering why is my child so angry and aggressive? From ages three and below, it’s especially normal to see aggressive behavior in kids. They live in a very physical world of communication that is often lacking in words. When you get to ages four to seven, it’s also pretty normal to see aggressive behavior from time to time. Especially when kids get tired, frustrated, or in general, do...

Struggling with math can make kids feel like they’re not smart. And that can take a toll on their self-esteem. Let your child know that everyone struggles with something and that all people have strengths, too. Help your child develop a growth mindset and stay motivated to keep trying, even when math is hard. It’s not uncommon for kids to have trouble with math. Math difficulties can show at different ages and in lots of ways. If your child is struggling with math, you might wonder why, and whether it’s something to be concerned about. Some people are just bad at math, right? Some kids who have trouble with math just need more time and practice to learn math skills. Others need extra help and support to get there. Math Difficulties You Might Be Seeing If your child is having difficulty with math, there are certain behaviors you might see. Kids who struggle with math might avoid doing math homework or get upset when they have to do it. They might cry before ma...

Through the eyes of a child, the world is full of possibilities. You can be a pirate, sailing to undiscovered worlds. You can be a doctor, caring for your stuffed bunny with only one good eye. You can be a master builder creating spaceships, forts, and whole cities all with the click of a block. We need creativity and imaginative thinking present in our children’s lives because it builds creative and divergent thinking skills, develops physical dexterity, and teaches comprise and negotiation tactics.  CNN.com published an article discussing with educational psychologist Kyung Hee Kim creativity scores in 300,000 American K-12 students saying, “Creativity scores have significantly decreased since 1990. […] Creativity scores for kindergarten through third-graders decreased the most and those from the fourth through sixth grade decreased by the next largest amount”. An article published by the National Association for Gifted Children in 2017 says, “Creative thinkers are more a...

When I was trying to help my children navigate  the exciting journey of learning to read, all I really wanted was for us to have fun. I love books and reading and wanted them to have the same joy. I knew that just by talking, reading aloud, singing and listening to my boys as babies, toddlers, and then preschoolers, I was helping prepare them to read. Kids learn and grow in many different ways. My active boys learned best when they could be active, connected to the real world, and learn through play. We made up ridiculous knock-knock jokes. We put labels on everything. We played dress up, had musical puppet shows, and filled the pots in the toy kitchen with “sound soup” made from ingredients that all started with the same sound (carrots, cars, cards, candy, clothespins). To extend your child’s language ability and vocabulary, I’ve pulled together lots of activities that take little paper or preparation and can fill your home with letters, sounds and word fun. I hope they he...

By-Amy Morin. For years, the American Academy of Pediatrics has recommended no more than two hours of screen time for children and teenagers, and absolutely no screen time for children under 2. However, they’ve now updated their guidelines to reflect the realities of today’s digital world. The AAP's new recommendations acknowledge that technology is integrated into our daily lives, making it nearly impossible to police a strict two-hour per day limit on school-age children. Additionally, technology can be a valuable component of learning. Children access computers and tablets at school and use computers to do their homework. But, some kids are growing dependent on their devices. They're using video games and TV as their main form of entertainment and they're replacing face-to-face communication with text messages and social media. The new guidelines from the AAP focus on setting healthy guidelines that will prevent kids from using their devices in an unhealt...

It’s a heartbreaker. Your child comes home from school one day and says he/she doesn’t have any friends and that nobody likes them - the dreaded words no parent wants to hear. You’ve been there; you know how cruel it can be on the playground and how quickly friendships seem to come and go throughout life. You want to wrap up your little child and protect him/her from the world and most of all, you want to ensure that he/she has plenty of friends. As much as you’d like to step in, you simply can’t make friends for your children. You can, however, give them the tools they need to be social and to be a good friend. Every child is born with an innate need to attach or be in a relationship, but how they go about forming those relationships depends largely on their temperament. Children can start to develop real friendships around the age of four or five. When everything goes smoothly, it can be exhilarating and great. But when you see your children hitting some bumps...

By -Amy Morin. It's tough to know how to help an angry child. But some children—despite their small size—seem to have an endless supply of anger buried inside them. They grow frustrated easily. They yell. They might even become aggressive. But, they usually blow up over seemingly minor events. If you're raising a child whose angry outbursts have become a problem, it's important to teach them the skills they need to deal with their feelings in a healthy way. Here are seven ways to help with anger. 1. Teach Your Child About Feelings: Kids are more likely to lash out when they don’t understand their feelings or they’re not able to verbalize them. A child who can’t say, “I’m mad,” may try to show you they're angry by lashing out. Or a child who isn’t able to explain that they're sad may misbehave to get your attention. Help your child learn to identify and label feelings. Begin teaching your child basic feeling words such as mad, sad, happy, and scare...

By-Nancy Choi Overview... You’ve successfully potty trained your child. At this point, you’re probably relieved to no longer be dealing with diapers or training pants. Unfortunately, bed-wetting is a common occurrence in many young children, even if they’ve been potty trained well during the daytime. In fact, 20 percent of 5-year-olds experience bed-wetting at night. Bed-wetting isn’t restricted to kids 5 and under: Some older kids may not necessarily be able to stay dry at night. While younger children are the most likely to bed-wet, 5 percent of 10-year-olds may still have this problem. Here are some steps you can take to help your child overcome bed-wetting for better quality of life. Step 1: Acknowledge the bed-wetting... Potty training doesn’t simply help stop your child from having accidents. When you teach your child how to use the toilet, they are also learning bladder training mechanisms. As potty training progresses, children learn to recognize the physical an...