4 New Parenting Tips That Will Make Your Kids Awesome
renting tips are everywhere but most have zero legitimate research behind them. So what does science have to say? And how can you remember what's important so you actually use it? Remember to WACC your kids. No, I'm not saying to hit your kids. "WACC" is a good acronym to help you keep in mind 4 things that come up in the research again and again: Work on yourself Autonomy Communicate Community These four things can make a big difference in whether…
10 minutes
The 4 Most Common Relationship Problems — And How To Fix Them
lationship problems. Everybody has them. And sometimes you have them over and over and over. Most of the people giving advice don't know the research. So where are the real answers? I decided to call an expert: Dr. John Gottman. You might remember him as the researcher in Malcolm Gladwell's Blink who, after just a few minutes, could predict whether a couple would end up divorced. John is a professor emeritus at the University of Washington and co-founder of the Gottman Institute. He's published…
8 minutes
6 Things The Happiest Families All Have In Common
mily life is hectic. Most of us play it by ear and hope it works out well. Or maybe you haven’t started a family yet but when you do you want to do it right. Aren’t there some legit answers out there about what creates the happiest families? Yes, there are. To get the facts I called Bruce Feiler, author of the New York Times bestseller, The Secrets of Happy Families. When writing his book, Bruce knew there were answers already out…
8 minutes
How To Make Your Kids Smarter: 10 Steps Backed By Science
ve explored the science behind what makes kids happier, what type of parenting works best and what makes for joyful families. But what makes children -- from babies up through the teen years -- smarter? Here are 10 things science says can help: 1) Music Lessons Plain and simple: research show music lessons make kids smarter: Compared with children in the control groups, children in the music groups exhibited greater increases in full-scale IQ. The effect was relatively small, but…
8 minutes
How To Raise Happy Kids – 10 Steps Backed By Science
hen you ask parents what they want for their kids, what's usually the most common reply? They want their children to be happy. Via Raising Happiness: 10 Simple Steps for More Joyful Kids and Happier Parents: ...the well-being of children is more important to adults than just about anything else--health care,…
8 minutes
How To Be A Better Parent: 3 Counterintuitive Lessons From Science
cerpts from my interview with Po Bronson, New York Times bestselling author of NurtureShock: New Thinking About Children, about how to be a better parent. 1) Peer Pressure Can Be A Good Thing Myth: Peer pressure is always bad, just leading kids to drinking, drugs and vandalism. Fact: The same instinct that makes some kids so vulnerable to peer pressure also makes them better students, friends and, eventually, partners. Po Bronson: The same kids who were very vulnerable to peer pressure…
4 minutes
20 Simple Secrets Of Happy Families – All Backed By Science
bsp; Where You Live Matters Via 100 Simple Secrets of Happy Families: People who are highly satisfied with their neighborhood are 25 percent more likely to be highly satisfied with their family life. -Toth, Brown, and Xu 2002 Open Communication Is A Must Via 100 Simple Secrets of Happy Families: The less open the communication between adults and children, the more pessimistic the children are likely to be and the less likely the children are to feel secure in their family relationship.…
5 minutes
Good Parenting Skills: 7 Research-Backed Ways to Raise Kids Right
ve posted about the research behind happy families and solid marriages, but what does science say about good parenting skills? Po Bronson and Ashley Merryman do an excellent job of rounding up the latest research in their book, NurtureShock: New Thinking About Children. Here are my highlights: 1) Praise Kids For Effort, Not Smarts Praise kids for something they can easily control -- the amount of effort they put in. This teaches them to persist and that improvement is possible.…
7 minutes
