“Mine! That’s mine!”

If you have a toddler in the house, you’re probably hearing that phrase quite often, perhaps even about things that don’t belong to your child. Although this experience can be frustrating, know that this is a normal part of toddler development — something that usually kicks in around 18 months old. Research, meanwhile, shows that for children aged 2 and 4, they often believe that the first person who possesses an item is the owner. That’s why you may hear, “But I had it first!”

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Social media helps to connect children with friends and family, allowing them to easily communicate and share what’s going on in their lives, among other benefits. But just because kids typically understand how to use social media platforms, they may not yet be able to understand the risks associated with its usage.

Here’s how you can help with their online safety with social media activity.

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Yes, it can be easier and faster to just dust, sweep and feed the cat yourself. But, when you assign age-appropriate chores to your young children, this can benefit them in numerous ways. These include:

• providing them with a sense of accomplishment
• helping them to build their self-esteem and work ethic alike
• showing them the importance of doing a job well, which helps to create a sense of responsibility in them
• demonstrating how important it is to keep your home clean and neat
• allowing your young children to feel part of the family team

VeryWellFamily.com provides insights into what household tasks are reasonable to expect children to perform at a young age.

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Yes, it’s cold and flu season — a time when young children may very well be passing germs between them. But how can you tell whether your child has a cold or the flu? Both are respiratory illnesses with similar symptoms. In general, symptoms are more intense with the flu than the common cold, but that can sometimes be hard to judge.

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Young children can benefit in many ways when they develop organizational skills, which includes but isn’t limited to time management skills. The benefits of organizational skills include having the ability to set priorities and make plans, and to focus on completing tasks — which can naturally help your child be more successful.

This post will share tips and strategies to help children become more organized at school and at home.

Easy as 1-2-3

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“With the help of a frilly dress, tiara and magic wand, your 3-year-old is transformed into the queen of a magical universe where her hobby horse is a winged unicorn. When you're asked to taste the pink clouds, you agree that they're a lot like bubblegum.” (KidsHealth.org)

The preschool years have also been called the “magic years” of a child’s life. That’s because his or her brain has developed to the degree that amazing stories can be imagined during pretend play — but the child hasn’t yet reached the stage where he or she might wonder if such a story could really happen.

The imagination of preschool children can help them test out scenarios — what would it be like to be a lion? — while also helping them learn problem-solving techniques. This type of play helps kids discover how to handle intense emotions, as well, and more.

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Children can experience fear and anxiety after going to bed or when waking up in the middle of the night. It isn’t unusual, for example, for youngsters to be afraid of the dark in general — or to have a more specific fear, such as a monster lurking beneath the bed. What’s most important is how you respond to these fears and how you reassure your child.

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Overall, early childhood experts consider preschool to be the period of time that starts two years before a child begins kindergarten. Many preschools make 3 the minimum age, with others willing to accept 2-year-old toddlers. So, before you begin preparing your child for preschool, make sure that he or she is—or soon will be—an acceptable age for preschool programs of choice. 

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Phonics is at the very heart of how children learn to read. More specifically, the concept of phonics involves learning how letters have certain sounds — for example that the letter “F” has the sound that starts the word “fish.” Armed with this knowledge, your child can begin to sound out words and start to comprehend the relationship between the written and spoken word.

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The Developmental Assets Profile (DAP) is a widely used survey that assesses the strengths, supports and noncognitive factors essential for young people’s success in school and life.

The DAP is based on Search Institute’s framework of Developmental Assets and grows out of 20 years of research with millions of young people. The Search Institute is a nonprofit organization that studies and aims to strengthen youth success in schools, coalitions, youth and family organizations, and the faith community.

In order to provide the best programs to its school-aged students, Horizon Education Centers uses data from its DAP surveys to create program curriculum and assess our students’ internal strengths and external supports.

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