School refusal is a term used to describe the signs of anxiety a school-aged child has and his or her refusal to go to school. It is also called school avoidance or school phobia. It can be seen in different types of situations. Read more ›
School avoidance – sometimes called school refusal or school phobia – is not uncommon and occurs in as many as 5% of children. These children may outright refuse to attend school or create reasons why they should not go. Read more ›
Parenting Bright Kids Who Struggle in School guides parents through the challenging and often unfamiliar landscape of raising kids who have been labeled with learning differences, including dyslexia, ADHD, autism, sensory processing disorder, and more. Read more ›
It’s distressing to watch a loved one experience panic attacks and face anxiety every day, but there are things you can do to help. It starts with recognizing the signs of excessive worry and understanding the best ways to support your loved one. Read more ›
Social-emotional learning is about cultivating a deeper care for the self in the present moment. That is something we all can do, and that is something that we should all do.
You can begin teaching social-emotional learning in your class in four steps: planning to pause, practicing, tracking it, and finally, by talking about it. Read more ›
My 9-year-old’s previous school tried to teach him skills such as self-regulation and empathy, but in practice the whole thing felt like just another item on his busy teacher’s daily checklist. But when my son switched schools last year, I saw how effective SEL can be. Read more ›
The coronavirus pandemic has affected the mental health of children and teens, and therapists are tapped out and booked up. But that doesn’t mean care is impossible. In fact, caregivers can learn therapeutic strategies to support, reinforce and teach our children healthy coping skills. Read more ›
School shootings in the U.S. are national tragedies, and the toll they take in lives cut short and traumatized distinguishes the U.S. from other high-income countries. But there is another way that guns are killing American children, and in far greater numbers: suicide. Read more ›
Children vary in their development of speech and language skills. However, they follow a natural progression or timetable for mastering the skills of language. A checklist of milestones for the normal development of speech and language skills in children from birth to 6 years of age is included below. Read more ›
Even though it can be challenging for some kids to start a new school year, there are a few simple steps that parents can take to make the process easier and less stressful. As a former school principal and district superintendent, I’ve witnessed firsthand how some students struggle to settle into routines when a new school year begins. Read more ›
