How Climbing Trees And Making Dens Can Help Children Develop Resilience

Despite all the research that tells parents how good it is for their children to spend time playing outside, they are spending more time indoors than ever before.

Hippocrates said circa 400BC that “food should be our medicine and medicine should be our food”.

One of the most valuable lessons parents can teach their children about money might be how to give it away.

We are born to connect. As human beings we are relational and we need biological, emotional and psychological connection with others.

The benefits of music education are widely reported. Playing an instrument has been shown to have significant cognitive benefits.

Young people get a huge amount of their news from social media feeds, where false, exaggerated or sponsored content is often prevalent.

Parents often receive books at pediatric checkups via programs like Reach Out and Read and hear from a variety of health professionals and educators that reading to their kids is critical for supporting development.

Over the past few decades of Australian life, government policies have gradually offered more support to working mothers, particularly through childcare subsidies and parental leave.

Both in Europe and the US, more than 90% of adolescents have their faces buried in screens before bed. 

At the parent-teacher conference, I sat across the table from my first grader’s teacher in a chair made for a 6-year-old. 

You may have heard of play. It’s that thing children do – the diverse range of unstructured, spontaneous activities and behaviours.

Imagine you’re a 14-year-old girl on the train on your way home from school, when out of nowhere a “dick pic” appears on your phone. Surprise! You’ve been cyber flashed.

I recently worked a shift in the emergency room at a Toronto-area hospital and was asked to see a 12-year-old boy who had cut himself for the first time, on his wrist.

You know something though,” she quipped “compared to the WWIIs, the baby boomers, well … they’re so … emotionally needy!

What’s the best way to raise your child? It’s a question that has provoked the publication of numerous books, and seen authors race to coin the next quirky name for a new style of parenting.

Some Australian students are reportedly shunning Year 12 exams in favour of more favourable, and less stressful, pathways to finishing school.

The use of self-tracking and personal surveillance technologies has grown considerably over the last decade. There are now apps to monitor people’s movement, health, mindfulness, sleep, eating habits and even sexual activity.

The human species is one of the very few, along with orcas and pilot whales, where females cease to be fertile after approximately 45 years of age.

The Age newspaper recently highlighted the issue of so-called “helicopter parenting” at universities.

Each May, the United States celebrates Mother’s Day, and for good reason. According to surveys I’ve conducted, over 25% of Americans cite their mother as their number one hero.

Spatial reasoning measured in infancy predicts how children do at math at age 4, a new study finds.

Private tutoring is a growing business, with people spending hundreds of billions of dollars. But is it worth it? And how does a person pick among all the options?

The world is still reeling in the aftermath of the horrific shootings in Christchurch, New Zealand. The attack has also raised a number of side issues, including the ethics of broadcasting the live stream of the attack, which was later shared on other platforms.

Death is, unfortunately, an inevitable consequence of life. In most animals growing old is accompanied by progressive deterioration in health and vitality, leading to an increasing likelihood of death with age.

It’s 4pm on a Thursday, and your child is on the couch with the iPad. You need to leave for the weekly music lesson in half an hour.

ClassDojo is one of the most popular classroom communication apps in the world. It claims to assist teachers to create happier classrooms and bills itself as “the simple way to build an amazing classroom community”.

Homeschooling is on the increase globally. The BBC recently reported that the number of homeschooled students in the United Kingdom increased by 40% from 2014 to 2017

Between 2011 and 2017, the number of children homeschooled in Australia grew by more than 80%. In Queensland, it nearly quadrupled during this period. This suggests one in 200 Australian students were home educated in 2017.

Warm, nurturing messages need repeating over and over again with our children.

Imagine listening to your favorite song, how it makes you feel, and the flood of memories the sounds bring with them.

A successful homeschooling experience happens when children and parents know the expectations, set targets and enjoy it.

Around 80% of secondary school students who had classes about diverse religions claim to have positive views of Muslims. This compares to around 70% who had not attended such classes.

Helping our children to develop healthy eating, exercise and screen-time behaviours is an important public health goal globally.

A New Zealand-led international study published today provides the strongest evidence yet that women can more than halve their risk of stillbirth by going to sleep on either side during the last three months of pregnancy.

Pregnant women who use cannabis may slightly increase the risk their child will develop psychosis later in life, according to a new study.

Many were horrified by the viral video of New York City police officers ripping Jazmine Headley’s one-year-old from her arms as she cried out, “They’re hurting my son!”

Teachers, parents, and academics have become increasingly concerned about the increase of mental health distress in students. Many schools have begun to address this issue by focusing on building student resilience.

As a mom I couldn’t stand hearing my daughter cry herself to sleep, but as a physician I knew that sleep training was safe and that a well-rested baby would be a happy baby

Many siblings, when they get together as adults, joke about which child was loved the most. But is it really a joke or is there an edge of truth that still rankles us?

Women have traditionally been supported by a companion during childbirth, and there is good evidence this benefits both the woman and the baby.

Our youngest learners benefit when educators with complementary skills combine their expertise.

While most first-year college students in a new study had positive feelings about computing and computer-related majors and jobs, gender and socioeconomic status seemed to play a role in whether parents shaped those perceptions.

Distressing events like terrorist attacks affect us all in different ways.hile adults often have enough life experience to be able to take a long-term perspective towards such disasters, children can face different challenges.

It’s a parent’s responsibility to protect their children from harm, no matter where that threat of harm comes from. But what if the threat is a hoax?

Pregnant women in low-income work often face an unappealing choice: lose their job or perform duties that endanger their health and that of their baby.

New parenting books seem to pop up all the time. How to do it the French way, the Tiger Mom way, the New Kid by Friday way, or how to just muddle through – the choice can be a little overwhelming.

Right now, thousands of Australian school children and university students are taking a well-earned break from the classroom.

Neuroscience has found a clear relationship between music and language acquisition. Put simply, learning music in the early years of schooling can help children learn to read.

Parents worry about whether their teenagers are getting enough sleep.

Giving children an instrumental music education can be expensive. In addition to purchasing an instrument and paying the cost of music lessons, parents invest their time by encouraging practice, attending recitals and driving their child to and from lessons.

The federal government in Canada has announced new initiatives aimed at keeping young athletes safe from abuse and harassment. “No athlete or child should ever experience abuse and my heart breaks for those that have suffered...”

Children’s mental health has become one of British society’s most pressing issues. Children growing up in the UK are said to be some of the unhappiest in the industrialized world. The UK now has the highest rates of self harm in Europe.

With all the time that young people spend in front of screens these days – from TVs to laptops, cellphones and iPads – children are bound to see a lot of ads and commercials.

Children are learning how emotions work, what to do with the challenging ones and how to create helpful ones, and the power of paying attention to their bodies and feelings in becoming emotionally healthy.

For tweens and early teens, the rise in time spent on Snapchat, WhatsApp, Instagram and other social media is really quite dramatic.

Some men may shudder at the thought of “the snip”. But vasectomies are a safe and effective form of contraception for men who have completed their family, or don’t wish to have children.

In Africa, it is understood that children hold the knowledge and gifts that ensure the survival of the village and the tribe. In essence, the child is the king of the village. Children complete the community! When a child walks into...

The term “test anxiety” typically conjures up images of a high school or university student obsessing over an upcoming exam.

Here are five points for parents, athletes and sporting organisations to consider for talented sports programs – and kids playing sport in general.

Some people think talent is born. The often-told story of Mozart playing piano at 3 and composing at 5 reinforces such beliefs.

Oh, to be a child again! To find joy in the newness of each day and be in awe of what lies waiting to be discovered.

In a recent essay published in The Washington Post, a mother explained her decision to continue writing essays and blog posts about her daughter even after the girl had protested.

Kids who have more conflict with their mothers while in the early years of elementary school may find it more difficult to find a sense of purpose as adults, a new study suggests.

So your friend decides to forget the “12 week rule” and tells her family and social networks she is pregnant.

The beginning of the 2019 school year will be a time of planning and crystal-gazing. Teachers will plan their instructional agenda in a general way. Students will think about another year at school.

Bottle feeding infants is associated with left-handedness, according to a new study.

Recalling positive memories may help lower the risk of depression in young people who have had a difficult childhood, our latest study has found.

Secondary school can be a lonely place for adolescents who don’t have a best friend or a group of trusted friends.

The news that McDonald’s has launched a new plant-based “Happy Meal” for children based on a vegan “wrap” would seem to bear this idea out. McDonald’s new offering is the latest in a wave of vegetarian or vegan product launches

Does it ever seem like you’re invited to an awful lot of summer birthday gatherings? For good reason.

As the new year dawns, parents likely turn their thoughts to their child and new beginnings they may experience as they enter an early childhood education and care centre or preschool.

In the build up to Christmas, I’m sure there’ll be many parents who have guiltily allowed their children extra screen time so cards get written and presents wrapped.

Our children feel things deeply, including surprise, delight, disgust, anger, frustration, revenge, jealousy, and enthusiasm. They often don’t even have the words to communicate their feelings, which is why they sometimes act them out inappropriately, but once they learn...

Matt Cox knew he would be criticized when he forced his 10-year-old daughter to walk 5 miles to school in 36-degree weather as her punishment for being suspended from the school bus twice for bullying.

Fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) is often overlooked and understudied. Caused by prenatal alcohol exposure, it is sometimes referred to as an “invisible disorder.”

Santa here. I know this season has been hard. Your eight-year-old looked at you baldfaced and said I wasn’t real. How can this be? Is the innocence and magic already gone?

Improvisational theater training can reduce fearfulness and anxiety among teens struggling with social interactions, according to a new study.

When school begins later, teens get more snooze time—and grades and attendance improve, a new study shows.

Both the Santa story and consumer culture promote the ideal of wish-fulfilment, but parents can model adaptability and a healthy understanding of limitations by supporting children through disappointment

Shopping for a new high-tech gift for the child in your life this holiday season? It’s easy to be overwhelmed by all the options. Bright boxes, colorful apps and cute plastic robots will promise that learning outcomes will improve if your child plays with x, y or z.

Psychologists first became interested in imaginary friends in the early 19th century because they feared they could be a sign of emotional unstability or psychological problems in children.

As early as the fifth century, the Greek philosopher Thucydides contrasted the self-control and stoicism of Spartans with the more indulgent and free-thinking citizens of Athens.

Multiple hormones produced by the mother, placenta and the fetus drive and coordinate the amazing biological changes and development of the baby that occur with conception, fetal growth and birth.

Don’t force an unremorseful kid to apologize until they’re truly sorry, new research suggests. The point of an apology—to express remorse and repair relationships—is lost because children may dislike the apologizer even more after the insincere apology than before.

Maternal and child health in Australia, like most countries, has traditionally focused on health during pregnancy and in the early years of life. But this approach may be missing a key opportunity to improve pregnancy and birth outcomes.

Women often wonder what the “right” length of time is after giving birth before getting pregnant again. A recent Canadian study suggests 12-18 months between pregnancies is ideal for most women.

New research shows how intensive instruction changes brain circuitry in struggling readers.

Research suggests children can be reliably diagnosed with autism before the age of two. It also shows that many of the behavioural symptoms of autism are present before the age of one.

Over the past three decades, there has been a steady increase in the average age of parents. Advances in fertility science mean that people can, literally, put their eggs or sperm on ice and delay the start of parenthood.

An investigative report by the BBC recently found that the number of antidepressants prescribed to children in England, Scotland and Northern Ireland has risen 24% over the past three years.

Healthy sleep leads to healthy brains. Neuroscientists have gotten that message out. But parents, doctors and educators alike have struggled to identify what to do to improve sleep. Some have called for delaying school start times or limiting screentime before bed to achieve academic, health and even economic gains.

Good emotional health as a child lays the foundation for good life satisfaction in adulthood. However, in the UK children and young people’s happiness with their life is now at its lowest since 2010.

It seems impossible, right? We have been taught from the time we were young that babies are made when a sperm and an egg come together, and the DNA from these two cells combine to make a unique individual with half the DNA from the mother and half from the father.

Births by caesarean section are rising, worldwide. The latest figures (2016) show that 25% of births in Western Europe were by caesarean delivery; in North America it was 32%, and in South America 41%.

A common childhood fear is fear of the dark. Many children become terrified of the dark and can't go to sleep in a darkened room alone, convinced the "bogeyman" or some other night creature is waiting in the shadows to get them. I had a client whose son was terrified...

Reading instruction in the classroom is a key concern for all teachers and there are many ways to go about it. However, is our determination to achieve excellence in reading skills in our children killing their love and enjoyment of a good book?

We often hear about the benefits of reading storybooks at bedtime for promoting vocabulary, early literacy skills, and a good relationship with your child. But the experts haven’t been in your home, and your child requests the same book every single night, sometimes multiple times a night. You both know all the words by heart.

Everyone’s family background has affected them, for better or worse. In the UK today, it is difficult for young people to get a good job, and this means that families are having to provide more support for young people.

Individuals with ADHD may be our most creative individuals, our most extraordinary thinkers, our most brilliant inventors and pioneers. The children among us whom our teachers and psychiatrists say are 'disordered' may, in fact, carry a set of abilities -- a skill set -- that was necessary for the survival of humanity in the past, that has created much of what we treasure in our present 'quality of life,' and that will be critical to the survival of the human race in the future.

Adolescence is the life stage when mental illnesses are most likely temerge, with anxiety disorders being the most common. Recent estimates suggest that over 30 percent of teens have an anxiety disorder. That means about one of every three teenagers is struggling with anxiety that significantly interferes with their life and is unlikely to fade without treatment.