School Age
Age 5-9 years
How did this happen? Your preschooler has somehow become a full-fledged elementary school student. It's easier in some ways -- they have so much more self control. They're more cooperative and affectionate.
But this is where things get complicated. You're just living your life, trying to hold a busy household together and get dinner on the table, while your child is shaping into the person he or she will become.
It may seem like you just finished toilet-training, but the tween years are right around the corner. Take advantage of these sweet, reasonable, elementary years while you still have so much influence on your child to build a close relationship, and help your child develop emotional intelligence and terrific self-management habits.
Start Here:
Game Plan for Parenting Your Elementary Schooler
It can be a relief for busy parents that school-age kids are more and more focused on the peer group. But on the other hand, if you spend the day apart, it's easy for your worlds to become increasingly disconnected. You may not be able to see it yet, but your influence is already starting to wane, as your child begins to shape his or her behavior outside the home based on the norms of schoolmates or neighborhood kids.
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Peaceful Parenting Examples Age 7 - 11
Read More"Dr. Laura, I love your examples with three year olds. I wish I had known about you when my kids were that age. So what about older kids? Who should know better by now, but maybe weren't parented so perfectly so far...?!" -Annie
Twelve Tips to Help Your Child Adjust to School
So she’s off to school every morning now, like a big kid. But instead of the exuberance you expected, you find many days -- especially Monday -- starting with tears, or maybe a tummy-ache. She isn't faking. Anxiety affects the body, and can result in an actual upset stomach, especially in children. But don’t worry, it’s not unusual for kids to need a little extra help adjusting to the start of school. Here are 12 tips that will help.
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Preparing Your Child for the New School Year
Here in the United States, the last weeks of summer are upon us, and the new school year is already starting for some children. Whether you can’t wait till your kids are back in school or dread the more regimented days ahead, there’s one thing you can count on: Back to School is always a big transition.
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Preparing Your Child for Kindergarten
It seems crazy that parents should even have to think about getting kids ready for kindergarten, academically speaking. Of course you'll want to prepare your child emotionally. (Here's an article on that.) But academically? Isn't that what kindergarten is for, to get kids ready for first grade?
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"I read your Toddler tips yesterday and tried each suggestion, and LO! My daughter has not been fighting me! Like some kind of magic it just works!"
Karina
Dr. Laura is a parent whisperer! - Liz McIntosh
Liz McIntosh
Dr. Laura's parenting advice completely changed my relationship with my daughter, improved her self-esteem, and transformed our lives. Providing my daughter with acknowledgement of her feelings and point of view reduced her oppositional behaviors and emotional meltdowns to nearly none. - Jodie Tokatlian
Dr. Laura, you have created miracles, large and small, in so many lives and our children thank you.
Folks, she's brilliant. It's wonderful to have parenting experts who don't see the child as the enemy in a locked combat, for one thing. I recommend it.
"I'd really recommend Laura Markham's Aha! parenting books and website for brilliantly practical ways to parent with kindness instead of punishment." - Makchoon
Makchoon
I have seen amazing improvement in my *very* angry 17 year-old son after acknowledging that there was a reason he was so angry and acting out. We have had several heartfelt conversations and I have seen a real change in how he treats his younger brother, and how he treats me.
I know that I am a better parent thanks to Dr. Laura's inspirational words and suggestions.
I love AhaParenting because there is always a "pick yourself up and try again" to it. - Chantal Harrison
Chantal Harrison
It's like these emails were meant for me. - Caroline Henry
"Just wanted to say how much I appreciate receiving your regular emails. They've improved my parenting (and me as a person!) and made my children's lives better. Thank you!" - Andrei
Andrei
My daughter reacts so much better when I empathize and stay patient. And now I get to model that behavior instead of letting my frustration get the better of me.
Thank YOU so much for your encouraging weekly newsletters and your Facebook posts. Since I began following your approach, I have noticed a difference in the compassion I show to myself, and how much more that helps me connect with my kids. We are all feeling a lot more overall peace!
Thank you for your weekly emails and your books. They're a life line for me when I really need support during a rough patch. - Lisa Fernandez
Lisa Fernandez
Today I say thank you, tears streaming from my face, so proud of my little boy and all he will become. Thank you. - Jennifer B.
Jennifer B
Yes. It works. And the more rest I get, the more patience I have. It makes a difference.
Dear Dr. Laura Markham! I am a mother of 2 boys - 16 and 7 years old. I am extremely grateful for all the emotional and relational education that you provide us and also for your incredible loving energy to support our evolution as parents, as human beings. I took your course 3 years ago. Although the challenges of the parent-child relationship change almost every year, your parenting principles are equally valuable and effective. It's hard to reprogram the emotional-behavioral pattern learned in my own childhood... so I find it very helpful to go back to your teachings to regain trust and patience as a parent every time new challenges trigger my anxiety. To have more clarity, to reset my energy. Thank you!!
Janina-Madalina Dobrescu
Your philosophies are the only tools we've come across which offer practical advice grounded in clearly laid out lay terminology. Our family life day-to-day is nothing short of a miracle, thanks to you! - Dana Questad
Dana Questad
