What does it take to be a good parent? We know some of the tricks for teaching kids to become high achievers. For example, research suggests that when parents praise effort rather than ability, children develop a stronger work ethic and become more motivated. Yet although some parents live vicariously through their children’s accomplishments, success is not the No. 1 priority for most parents. We’re much more concerned about our children becoming kind, compassionate and helpf

Kids thrive on the kind of regularity and predictability that seems boring to adults. Day-in and day-out routines make them feel secure and help them learn about order. That's why simple rituals such as singing a song before bed become so pivotal for toddlers and preschoolers. If yours is a busy family with a lot of unexpected events and hectic schedules, these fixed points may even be more critical for both you and your child. Holidays are especially important times to devel

Easy discipline tricks that will end whining and battles with your toddler It's time to leave the store. My daughter, the usually cheerful Page, does not want to go. Let's set aside the fact that it's tempting fate to bring a 2-year-old to a toy store when the goal is to buy somebody else a birthday present. And that it's a really bad idea to do so as one last stop during a morning of errands, squeezed in perilously close to nap time . The net result: a full-out Limp Noodle,

This article is adapted from Tap, Click, Read: Growing Readers in a World of Screens (Jossey-Bass, 2015) by Lisa Guernsey and Michael H. Levine. Children’s books captivate young children, and teachers love to see kids engrossed in their pages. But what if that book is an e-book? Does that change the equation? That question has gnawed at Adriana Bus, a professor of education and child studies at Leiden University in the Netherlands, who has been studying electronic storybooks

Virtually all teachers in the early grades value reading aloud as an essential classroom literacy practice. Decades of research document that reading aloud to kindergartners through second-graders promotes development of early literacy skills and establishes a foundation for positive attitudes toward literacy (Van Kleeck, Stahl, & Bauer 2003; Trelease 2013). Specifically, reading aloud builds oral language and vocabulary (e.g., Hargrave & Sénéchal 2000; Wasik & Bond 2001; Ble