The Innovative Dad
A psychologist’s blog about raising and educating children through the lens innovation.
What Exactly Is Special Education?
What images come to mind when you hear the phrase "special education"? There are a lot of common misconceptions. Some people believe that kids who are in special education will be labeled. Others think that they have to learn separately from other kids. While some may...
Dealing with Children’s Fears – Part 2
Getting a fear to go away can be difficult even for an adult. Yet, we often assume that for our children that it is easy to no longer be scared of something because we view their fears as being irrational. Working to eliminate a fear takes time and patience, mostly on...
Help, I’m Traveling with Kids!: Tips and Tricks for Surviving
Generally, sometime after (or maybe during) the first trip with young children, most parents long nostalgically for their days of traveling alone or as a couple. It’s not that they’ve suddenly grown to hate being a parent. It’s just that traveling with kids takes an...
Dealing with Children’s Fears – Part 1
It can be frustrating when your child has a fear of something that just doesn't make sense to you. Yet, we need to realize that, for our kids, the world can be a big and scary place. Fears can develop in places where we wouldn't expect them and making them go away can...
New Page on Site: Guided Imagery Resources
Guided imagery is a mindfulness technique that uses mental images to help a child or adolescent relax or support them through dealing with a problem. Research shows that guided imagery can help the body and mind relax. It assists in managing symptoms of anxiety and...
Asking the Right Question
It can be rough having those difficult conversations with our kids. We often start with the assumption that they will open up right away with us about all they know about complicated topics like sex, divorce, or drugs. But our approach, particularly how we ask the...
Parenting Strategies to Kid Habits: Choosing Books for Toddlers
Choosing books for kids can be difficult, but it's vitality important to their future reading skills to be exposed to lots of books. Your toddler might not know his letters from his numbers, however, they can still benefit from living in a literature-rich environment....
The Availability Heuristic: Parenting through Danger, Real and Imagined
Cognitive biases like the availability heuristic can impact each decision we make, including how we parent our children through danger, real and imagined.
Summer Choices
There is never a bad time during the year to help your children develop their independence and learn some self-management skills. In fact, the summer might be the best time of year because it lacks so much of the structure that the rest of the year provides. And...