• Supporting Sadness

A young child’s sadness provokes an exquisite kind of pain. Children of any age can have big overwhelming feelings. Knowing that parents will stay as present and loving as the child gets through them instills hope.

Healthy Aggression

 

• Understanding Agression and Connecting

When a parent’s own distress distorts their ability to receive and contain their young child’s healthy aggression, a downward spiral of dysregulation for both parent and child may occur.

 

• Parenting Styles

The differences among authoritative, authoritarian and permissive parenting are important. Authoritarian parenting is linked to difficulty with emotional regulation in children. Authoritative parenting, in contrast, is associated with children having a greater capacity for emotional regulation, flexible thinking, and social competence. 

 

• Teaching Kindness

There is a Quaker saying: “Attitudes are caught, not taught.” Children want to be like the important adults in their lives. They’re watching and listening. Make your vote a teaching moment.

Encourage Pretend Play

• Playful Learning
Fred Rogers said “Play is often talked about as if it were a relief from serious learning. But for children, play IS serious learning. At various times, play is a way to cope with life and to prepare for adulthood. Playing is a way to solve problems and to express feelings. In fact, play is the real work of childhood.”

DIY Classes for Kids

• Grandparents' Academy
Coronavirus doesn't make elders expendable or children less needy. Connect these two generations––conscript the grandparents as teachers. Pool children from the neighborhood and form an online school with their grandparents.

Coronavirus and Toddlers

• Talking to Toddlers About Corona
It's important to confine your answer to the toddler's questions––and not your fears. Preschoolers live in the here-and-now and coronavirus is a momentary inconvenience (to them). Don't share adult worries by over-answering.