Parenting with Research, Insight, and Love
Parenting with confidence comes from knowledge. Parenting with grace comes from insight.
Play-Based Learning
Toddler Development
I’m a wife, mom of two boys and a child development writer. I may have a Ph.D, but I believe the value of child development research is not in telling us what is “right” or “wrong” with our parenting, but in helping us to see our children with a new lens.
If you are looking for strategies to support your child’s development using research combined with your own innate intuition, this is the place for you.
Latest Posts
What Research Says is the Best Stay-at-Home Mom Schedule for Kids {and moms too!}
Peek inside: Being a stay-at-home mom has its ups and downs. Learn how to establish a stay at home mom schedule for toddlers that works for you and your child. I sat at the bottom of the basement stairs crying. My husband ran out of his home office, wondering what was going on. He thought …
Difficult Baby? Research Shows Sensitive Parenting is Key
Sneak peek: Research is helping us see the temperamentally difficult baby in a more positive light. With this research in mind, parents can be encouraged about the future of their child. If you’re raising a baby who’s intense, hard to soothe, or reactive to every little change, the research is encouraging. Studies show that “difficult” …
When Do Babies Start Babbling? Stages of Babbling Explained
Sneak peek: When do babies start babbling? Learn when babbling begins, the different types of babbling, and how you can support language development. Baby babbling usually begins around 6 months, although there is considerable variation in when babies start. Babbling is an important step in language development because babies are learning to control their voices, …
How Parenting Affects Child Development (And Why It’s Not the Whole Story)
Sneak peek: Parenting affects child development. There’s no doubt about that. But research — and thirteen years of raising two boys — has taught me it’s a two-way street. Kids shape how we parent them just as much as we shape them. Parenting significantly affects a child’s cognitive, emotional, and social development, but it isn’t …
Perspective Taking and Theory of Mind: How Kids Learn Empathy
Sneak peek: The development of social skills and perspective taking or Theory of Mind in kids is one of those milestones that often gets overlooked. By understanding this hidden part of brain development, we have insight into a crucial part of the beginnings of empathy. As parents, I think one of our main goals is to help …
What Does Child Rearing Mean? A Modern Parenting Perspective
Sneak peek: What does child rearing really mean? Learn why it matters and the goals behind raising emotionally healthy children. W On the face of it, this may seem like a silly question—what does child-rearing mean to you? Another way of saying it is: What is your parenting philosophy? When you really think about the core of your …
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