Articles About Parenting School-Aged Children and Being a Parent by Ann Douglas

Articles about parenting and being a parent.

General Parenting Advice

• Sibling Relationships Are a Marathon, Not a Sprint: Sibling relationships are a long game: think marathon, not sprint. The two school-aged siblings who can’t stand to sit beside one another in the car could very well be best buddies and one another’s fiercest defenders by the time they hit high school or college.
• How to Come Up With Creative Parenting Solutions: Every day is a new beginning when you’re a parent. Your child is changing and growing. And so are you. Each day you wake up with more wisdom and insights than you had the day before. 
• Let Them Be Bored: A healthy amount of boredom is good for kids.
• Personality Clash: How to bring out the best in your child, even if you and your child have opposite personality styles. 
• A Short History of Parental Guilt: A guided tour of the parenting advice books of yester-year.
• VIDEO Q&A: How do I become a more patient parent?
• VIDEO Q&A: How do I get my child to stop lying?
• VIDEO Q&A: What can I do to stop my child from whining?
• VIDEO Q&A: Is there a way to make my child more outgoing?
• VIDEO Q&A: How can I help my child stop wetting the bed?
• VIDEO Q&A: How can I get my child to move faster in the morning?
• VIDEO Q&A: How can I get my kids to try new foods?
• Book Explores Stigma That Remains for Adopted Children: The anthology Somebody's Child: Stories About Adoption (Touchwood) explores the complex emotional terrain of adoption.
• Parents Shift Focus From Disability to Possibility: With help from other parents of children with special needs, moms and dads can turn the surprise and grief of a difficult diagnosis into hope.
• Parenting a Child with ADHD Made More Stressful Because of Stigma, Misunderstanding: It's tough enough parenting a child who has ADHD. The stigma that surrounds the disorder makes it tougher.
• ADHD Parenting: Panic less. Live (and love) more. 
• New Leader for Kids' Mental Health Promises a "Listening Tour": The Hospital for Sick Children, The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, and the University of Toronto announced last week that  Dr. Peter Szatmari, head of the division of child psychiatry in the department of psychiatry and behavioural neurosciences at McMaster University and the director of the Offord Centre for Child Studies, had been appointed to a newly created combined position responsible for developing and leading an integrated child and youth mental health program on behalf of the three organizations.
• Guiding Kids Through Mom's Cancer: One of the toughest things Karyn Stowe faced after being diagnosed with breast cancer at age 37 was finding a way to explain the disease to her kids.

Play and Learning

• Why Our Economic Future Depends on a National Childcare Programme: With a lack of spaces, inconsistent quality control and a reduction of subsidies, Canada’s child-care system is severely under-developed. This puts the economic future of our country in jeopardy and leaves our kids severely disadvantaged.
• Caring Connections in the Classroom Boost Student Engagement and Learning, Study Shows: Students tend to thrive in classroom environments in which teachers are sensitive to students’ needs; teacher-student relationships are warm, caring, nurturing, and congenial; teachers take students’ perspectives into account; teachers refrain from using sarcasm and harsh disciplinary practices; teachers express warmth towards, respect for, and interest in students; teachers encourage student cooperation; and teachers are aware of the students’ emotional and academic needs.
• 5 Ways to Draw Out Your Child's Inner Bookworm: You have an important role to play in encouraging your child's lifelong love of reading.
• Digital Photography Helps Wired Kids Plug Into Nature: Digital photography may be the key to encouraging a generation of wired kids to unplug their screens long enough to head outdoors and connect with the natural world. Or at least that’s the key finding to emerge from a recent study conducted by a graduate student at the University of Minnesota in Duluth, Minnesota.
• Kids Are Natural Scientists: You can encourage your child's sense of wonder as he moves from age to stage by providing him with ongoing opportunities for discovery.
• 5 Reasons to Own a Family Pet: Why owning a pet may make you happy and healthier.
   

Ann Douglas is the author of The Mother of All Pregnancy Books, The Mother of All Baby Books, The Mother of All Toddler Books, The Mother of All Parenting Books, and numerous other books about pregnancy and parenting. She recently collaborated with Today's Parent Magazine on a series of parenting videos.