Tal's Story: The Mifne Method for Treating Autism

By Danny Tayar, M.D. and Barbara Schipper B.A.S.W., M. Phil

Tal was almost three years old when his parents were given an explanation for his strange behavior. They were told that his inability to speak, his strange behaviors, inappropriate use of toys, lack of imagination, and total disregard for the world around him was due to a childhood disorder called autism. Searching for answers, they discovered the Mifne Center.
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Mind-body Connection Builds Your Child's Esteem

By Caron Goode

Suppose your six-year-old son Eric has just broken his brother's toy fire truck. You react with anger, shouting, "Eric, why can't you behave? You're always breaking things."

Yes, all parents yell at their children from time to time...and what's said usually comes from an emotional reaction rather than conscious thought.

Watch out! What you say leads to permanent beliefs in their minds.

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Book Review - Children Who Choose to Be Good

Review By Anna Stewart

It's hard to be against kind parenting. Or to not want kids who choose to be good. Parents who listen to this audio book, Children Who Choose to Be Good, from Drive2Learn, have the opportunity to choose how they want to parent. Author Kellie Sisson Snider offers a parenting technique that does not contain punishment and results in kids who learn to choose to be good, not as a reward or bribe, but because it feels good to be good.

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Parenting Power: A Competent Parent

By Brenda Nixon

[Editor's note: With this issue we welcome a new column and a new columnist, Brenda Nixon. Brenda Nixon’s mission is to build stronger families through parent education and affirmation. She is a speaker, writer, and author of Parenting Power in the Early Years, available at Amazon or on her website www.parentpwr.com.]

Want to be a good parent? Most do. Nobody's ever called my office asking how to fail at the job. Rather, I get calls appealing for advice, answers, or assurance. Being a competent parent is one of the goals of most I know. But, how do we get proficient at a job we've never done? A Swahili proverb advises, "He who sharpens the ax before beginning to cut wood does not waste time."

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Inspired Grandparenting: Swimming With My Clothes On!

By Elaine K. Williams

Last Fall I took two of my granddaughters camping for a weekend. When the weather turned warm and water beckoned, we through caution to the wind and jumped in. Read on.

 

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Mother Arts: Natural Expressions

By Anna Stewart

Five-year-old Jasper doesn't look up at the people watching him as he studies the mandrill's colorful face and picks the right colored pencil. He takes his time sketching the long red nose of the unusual monkey. He shuffles through his fanny pack to find the blue pencil he wants and finishes the face with yellow. He's ready to move on to the orangutans now whom he has sketched before. With only inches of glass separating them, he shows the finished portrait to the great ape who grins at him much to the audiences delight. Read on...

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Music Training for Young Children Without Formal Lessons

By Patty Meringer

Parents face myriad decisions and pressures in raising their children, and music choices are no exception. Many parents want some music education for their children before they are school age but would prefer not to enter their children in a formal music program, such as those discussed in last month's column. ... Whatever a parent's motivation for wanting to begin music education at home, it can be done easily, with virtually no financial burden, and it can build a bond between parent and child that lasts a lifetime. Read on...