The Innovative Dad
A psychologist’s blog about raising and educating children through the lens innovation.
Parenting Strategies to Kid Habits: Belly Breathing
Deep breathing is a core part of helping children (and adults) calm their anxiety. It's also a crucial part of practicing mindfulness. But telling someone to breathe deep can often result in someone taking heaving breaths like they just ran 5k. Here's how to put your...
Proofreading Your Work
Perhaps one of the most important skills that kids can learn is how to proofread their own work. It's more than just looking over it and seeing if you answered all the questions. It's a skill that requires us as parents to continually reinforce the benefits and needs...
Promoting Better Behavior with a Marble Jar
There are lots of strategies that you can use to encourage better behavior in kids. The challenge with most systems is sticking with them and consistency. Another problem is that once you've encouraged a specific behavior, now what? Try this strategy that uses marbles...
Expert Tips on the Power of Preschool
Preschool isn't just about circle time and making pretty pictures for your parents for the upcoming holiday. It offers plenty of benefits to help give children opportunities for growth, not just academically, but in all areas of development. Enrolling a child in...
Math All Around Us
Math seems to be an area that most parents are particularly challenged by. Changes in how math is taught coupled with our own negative experiences with math, make us reluctant to engage our kids with math in the same way that we do with reading. Yet, we can push past...
FAQ: Should My Child with ADHD Have an IEP or a 504 Plan?
Trying to figure out the best way to support your child with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) can be tricky. There are lots of choices to make, particularly as you think about to involve the school and what kind of formal plan would best help your...
Making Gratitude a Habit
We all want our kids to be thankful for things, but it can be a struggle to get them to show some gratitude even just occasionally. The challenge is modeling it for them and setting the stage to make gratitude a habit. https://youtu.be/GtYgHQ4yfL4
Resources for Talking to Kids about Cancer
Just days into the new year this past January, my wife was diagnosed with stage 3 breast cancer. I can remember vividly sitting in the car with her trying to figure out what was happening next in our lives. We were lucky. We had friends who were oncologists who were...
The Work Hour
Creating the right environment for studying can be challenging. Thinking about the studying environment is important, though. What steps can we take to set a better atmosphere for learning? Can we get others involved in it? What would a work hour look like?...