Emotional intelligence is a, relatively, new concept that has gained a lot of popularity and notoriety in recent years.  While one’s intelligence is referred to as IQ, emotional intelligence is thought of as EQ. That’s great but what is emotional intelligence? Emotional intelligence is closely related to empathy.  To be able to empathize with people [...]

Why is Play Important to Children? As parents, teachers, and role models we often get swept up in living our daily lives and forget or postpone our playtime.  It seems that there is always somewhere to go, something to get done, or some responsibility staring us in the face.  Time to play is important for [...]

How Competition can Have Negative Effects on Children Competition is everywhere in the world.  While it may be almost a natural part of society today, some of the negative effects of competition on children are overlooked. In most competitive events there are more of those that do not win than those who do.  Winning can [...]

A child with healthy self-esteem has a natural armor to protect him or her against difficulties of the world.  It is easier for a child to deal with conflict, stress, and negative influences when they have healthy self-esteem.  These kids smile often, are more optimistic, and generally enjoy life. Children with poor self-esteem tend to [...]

Separation Anxiety Help Separation anxiety in children is normal during childhood development.  While it is normal it can still be unnerving for parents to deal with but understanding what is going on within your child can help you manage the situation and help you both. For most children younger than 6 months, adjusting to other [...]

Children begin to feel emotions at a very young age. Emotions are useful to tell us how we feel about things and can be used to help limit negative experiences from happening or reoccurring. All humans experience emotions but not everyone understands them. Helping children understand their feelings will help them know how to react [...]

Negative Results of Children and Competition Being a child in today’s society is not all fun and games.  Pressure and expectations are placed on children from parents, teachers, and peers to compete in school, play, and extracurricular activities.  Children are no longer expected to find enjoyment in what they are doing.  Rather, their enjoyment comes [...]

Rejection Hurts Everyone has feelings of rejection at times in their life. Sometimes, a baby is rejected by her brothers or sisters. A child can be rejected by peers at a playground, in school, or in daycare. Often, adults are rejected in their work life and social life. Parents can even experience rejection when their [...]

Emotional intelligence can be a foreign topic to some. Because of this, it can be confusing when discussing how to build it within our children. This is a task that can be beneficial to children and parents alike. It can also be challenging as many of us adults were not taught much about emotions and, [...]

Self-Esteem The Concept of Self-Esteem The view a person has of himself is what we mean by self-esteem. It’s our own opinion of ourselves. Basically, we judge ourselves and either approve or disapprove. It is a complex process within ourselves. When a child is, overall, approving of himself it is considered high self-esteem. When a [...]