A Grateful Heart Can Start On Your Face
The psychological hypothesis of facial feedback proposes that facial movements do in fact influence one’s emotional state.… read more
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Get In The Flow: How Video Gaming Can Help Your Kid Access The Brain’s Higher Power
According to just-published research in the Journal of Communication, “flow” refers to the neurological phenomenon of being deeply engaged in a challenging activity such that distractions are barely disturbing and focus is maintained without frustration. Flow happens when task difficulty and personal skill intersect.… read more
What’s For Dinner, Mom? Improved Mental Health Is Top Of The Menu!
A new study conducted in the UK evaluated the difference a vegetable can make for almost 9000 middle-school and elementary-school children. Not surprisingly, the kids with higher intake of fruits and vegetables fared much better on mental well-being scores than those who at little or no fruits and vegetables on a daily basis.… read more
Now You See It, Now You Don’t: Visual Processing Delays and Dyslexia
According to a study published in the Journal of Neuroscience, children diagnosed with dyslexia were slower to respond to the visual stimuli presented in the research experiment.… read more
ADHD Awareness Month: What You Need To Know About Pandemic Restrictions and Your ADHD Teen
According to recent research, pandemic restrictions created significant risk factors for teens with ADHD of depression and school drop-out.… read more
High School Sports, Head Impact Rates, and Gender Differences
Soccer, Basketball, Lacrosse, Field Hockey…when kids are young it’s all just fun and games but by high school those same sports can become quite serious and even dangerous. Even without the diagnosis of concussion, kids who receive repeated head impact can suffer from cognitive impairment and other forms of neurological damage.… read more
Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder: The Invisible Disability
September 9th is Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) Awareness Day and this little-known condition affects a larger portion of the population than most of us realize.… read more
Take Breaks To Remember More
Hunter trudged into the living room and dropped the heavy chemistry book on the floor with frustration. “Mom, you remember that test I took a few weeks ago? When I stayed up late studying for hours, and then got the best score in the class? Well the quarterly exam is in two days but I… read more
Self-efficacy Trick That Works Every Time
According to the American Psychological Association (APA), “self-efficacy refers to an individual’s belief in his or her capacity to execute behaviors necessary to produce specific performance attainments (Bandura, 1997).” For example, a student with strong self-efficacy will believe they can complete the requirements for a challenging research paper while a student with poor self-efficacy will… read more
Little Known Secret to Improve Math Grades: Work on Reading Skills
Math has never been my strong suit, and so I’ve never put much pressure on my kids to excel in that subject. But when my youngest started struggling with even the most basic math concepts I got worried. It was heartbreaking to watch her frustration with simple word equations: “Joe has 2 cookies and Sam… read more
Number 1 Way To Ensure A Better School Year
School is back in session and media is full of tips and tricks to help you and your kids off to a good start. There are apps and podcasts and coaching galore; all valuable tools worthy of checking out. But we are all looking for that one thing…the secret sauce to helping this year go… read more
Need To Remember? Pen & Paper Works Better Than Your Device!
With school right around the corner, it feels like there’s a new appointment to schedule every few days: sports physical for my high schooler, immunization updates for my little girl, back-to-school night, meet-the-coaches, dental appointments…who can keep up? Smartphones might seem like the best way to stay organized, but new research shows that the good… read more