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Kathy Slattengren/
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Articles by Kathy Slattengren

Browse published articles attributed to Kathy Slattengren, with full-archive search.

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By Kathy SlattengrenRecently published1 topic

Four Things That Matter Most in Parenting

What four things matter the most in parenting? Could they be the same as the four things that matter most in life? It is likely they could be the same since our relationships with our children are some of the most significant ones we have in our lives. The Four Things That Matter Most In his book, The Four Things That Matter Most: A Book About Living, Ira Byock proclaims these are the four most important things to say to those you love: Please forgive me. I forgive you. Thank you. I love you.

Primary topic: Parenting

3,388 views2.8/5 (6)

By Kathy SlattengrenRecently published1 topic

The Challenges of Motivating Children

How can we motivate our children to work harder in school, in a sport or in practicing an instrument? Will the promise of a reward for practicing the piano help our child practice more? Or will the threat of punishment be more effective? When we try to motivate our children to work harder, we can often end up feeling frustrated by the results. Understanding Internal Motivation Ideas about motivation are changing as new research teases out some of the key elements.

Primary topic: Parenting

1,401 views3/5 (4)

By Kathy SlattengrenRecently published1 topic

Back to School, Back to Bullying?

We certainly hope that back to school does not mean back to bullying! Unfortunately being bullied at school is the reality for too many children. According to the National Crime Prevention Council, "Bullying has become a tidal wave of epic proportions." Everyone's Role

Primary topic: Parenting

1,571 views2/5 (5)

By Kathy SlattengrenRecently published1 topic

3 Keys to Developing Children's Empathy

Children are not born with empathy. They are born with the capacity to have empathy but it only develops under certain conditions. Parents play a critical role in developing their children's empathy.

Primary topic: Parenting

1,976 views2/5 (3)

By Kathy SlattengrenRecently published1 topic

Limiting Screen Time for Your Kids

Do you feel your kids are spending too much time watching TV, playing video games and being on the computer? Do ever find it challenging to get them to turn off the TV or computer and go outside to play? If so, join the crowd! How much time are kids really spending with media? The Kaiser Family Foundation released a report in January 2010 showing the average amount of time kids 8 - 18 are spending with media. These are the numbers for a typical day: - TV (4 hours, 29 minutes) - Music/audio (2 hours, 31 minutes)

Primary topic: Parenting

1,656 views2/5 (4)

By Kathy SlattengrenRecently published1 topic

Getting Off To School – Making It Calm Instead Of Chaotic

Do you ever find yourself rushing around in the morning desperately trying to get your kids off to school? Feeling rushed and hassled first thing in the morning is not a good way to start a day! Unfortunately many parents and children report this is exactly how they feel in the mornings. How can we change our behavior so that mornings feel calm instead of chaotic?

Primary topic: Parenting

1,503 views3/5 (2)

By Kathy SlattengrenRecently published1 topic

What's the Tone of Your Home?

Parents play a lead role in setting the overall tone in their families. Parents whose overall tone tends to be negative often have homes filled with stress and tension. While parents who take a more positive approach create calmer, happier homes. A Home Filled with Tension One mom told me about all the stress in her home. One of her three sons was doing very poorly in school. She and her husband were constantly nagging Joe to do his homework although it didn't seem to help much.

Primary topic: Parenting

1,322 views3/5 (1)

By Kathy SlattengrenRecently published1 topic

What's Wrong with Just Wanting Our Kids to Be Happy?

A practical article connected into the broader SelfGrowth topic graph.

Primary topic: Parenting

1,283 views3/5 (1)

By Kathy SlattengrenRecently published1 topic

Great Parenting Stands the Test of Time

Some parenting ideas come and go like fads. Others stick around for decades. The ideas that last are those that work well in the long run to help parents with the challenging job of raising children. The common foundation for many current parenting ideas is Alfred Adler's (1870-1937) philosophy of treating each other with mutual respect. Parent education pioneers like Rudolf Dreikurs, Jane Nelsen and Adele Faber extended the Adlerian ideas into practical parenting tools.

Primary topic: Parenting

1,400 views1.7/5 (3)

By Kathy SlattengrenRecently published1 topic

Children Dangerously Breaking Rules

We establish rules to help keep our kids safe. We'd all like to believe our children would make the right choice when presented with a situation like whether or not to answer the door to a stranger. But what would they really do? What would your kids do? Recently NBC's Dateline tested a few kids in tough situations in a program called "The Perils of Parenting". Although it wasn't a scientific test, they demonstrated how easy it is to get kids to break rules.

Primary topic: Parenting

1,396 views1.7/5 (3)

By Kathy SlattengrenRecently published1 topic

Family Gatherings: Fun for Everyone?

When families gather together for a celebration, each participant brings their own history, behavior and expectations. When these different expectations and behaviors clash, the celebrations are often far from the peaceful, loving gatherings depicted in TV holiday commercials! However, when common problems can be anticipated and planned for ahead of time, there is a greater likelihood of a joyful celebration rather than a stressful experience.

Primary topic: Parenting

1,503 views2/5 (1)

By Kathy SlattengrenRecently published1 topic

How Much Media Is Too Much?

When parents discuss how much media they allow their children, the answers vary wildly. Some parents have very strict time restrictions on their children's media viewing while others give their children more control over the time they spend on media. n How do you know when your child is ...

Primary topic: Parenting

1,458 views2/5 (1)

By Kathy SlattengrenRecently published1 topic

What New Life Skills Will Your Kids Learn This Summer?

We have until our children are about 18 years old to teach them all the basic skills they'll need to live on their own. Although it sounds like a lot of time, it goes by amazingly fast. Summertime can provide a little more free time for teaching our kids something new. Children often enjoy ...

Primary topic: Parenting

1,451 views2/5 (1)

By Kathy SlattengrenRecently published1 topic

What Does Death Teach Our Children?

Death is one of those lessons we hope our children will not have to experience early in life. However, given death is an inescapable fact of life, we know our children will eventually need to deal with it. When and how we discuss death with our children will depend on their ages and the ...

Primary topic: Parenting

1,096 views2/5 (1)

By Kathy SlattengrenRecently publishedTopic pending

Children Searching for Sex and Porn - Yikes!

Norton Family Online recently released the most searched for terms by children in 2009. Across all three age groups (7 and under, 8 - 12, 13 - 18) sex or porn was in the #4 spot for most search for terms. Yikes! This data was gathered from the 14.5 million searches done by people using their service to monitor and block certain web content. It highlights a significant issue and there is plenty of other collaborating evidence showing children are finding porn online.

Primary topic: Recently published

Recently published

2,407 views

By Kathy SlattengrenRecently published1 topic

Yelling at Kids in Anger

A practical article connected into the broader SelfGrowth topic graph.

Primary topic: Parenting

1,856 views

By Kathy SlattengrenRecently published1 topic

Helping Kids Control Negative Thoughts

Who will criticize your children the most as they grow up? They will! It is their own negative self-talk that they will hear most often. Everyone’s mind produces a steady stream of thoughts. When these thoughts turn negative, fear, doubt and frustration quickly sets in. Stopping negative thoughts isn’t easy and it starts with actually noticing those thoughts. What are your kids saying to themselves?

Primary topic: Parenting

1,609 views

By Kathy SlattengrenRecently published1 topic

Kids Swearing

When children swear, it certainly catches our attention! How should we respond when this happens? There are a number of ways to handle it depending on the situation. Trying Out Swearing Young children often try swearing at some point. One day our daughter was coming home from preschool when she dropped something while getting out of the car and exclaimed "F#@$!" My husband calmly asked her if she knew what that word meant.

Primary topic: Parenting

1,490 views

By Kathy SlattengrenRecently published1 topic

Beware of Boomerang Words

Do your children's words ever take you by surprise because they sound remarkably like something you've said? These "boomerang words" can be a good thing or not such a good thing. When we hear our children repeat our words, it's a strong reminder of just how much they are picking up from us. We also get a new appreciation for how those words feel to the person receiving them! Where have I heard that before? One mom told me that she was in her 6-year-old daughter's bedroom when she accidentally knocked a toy off her dresser.

Primary topic: Parenting

1,425 views

By Kathy SlattengrenRecently published1 topic

Avoiding power struggles with your children

It’s easy to get into power struggles with your children. However, once you learn what triggers power struggles, you can avoid them. Let’s look at how to do this using a couple of examples. In the first situation, five year old Jacob has asked his mom if he can have a cookie. ...

Primary topic: Parenting

1,412 views

By Kathy SlattengrenRecently published1 topic

Helping Our Children Shine

Did you ever gaze into your children’s eyes when they were babies wondering what they would be like when they grew up? Did you notice some of your children’s strong personality traits even when they were very young? One of our challenges is to see and appreciate our children’s unique combination of passions, capabilities, qualities and beliefs. This can be especially difficult when our expectations for our children do not match who they are.

Primary topic: Parenting

1,388 views

By Kathy SlattengrenRecently published1 topic

Critical Comments Flow Freely from Parents

Do you make more positive comments or negative comments to your children? If you're like most parents, you make a lot more negative comments than positive ones. In her book, <u>Building Moral Intelligence</u>, Dr. Michele Borba writes "studies reveal that the average parent makes 18 critical comments to his child for every one positive comment." Really? Could we really be making that many critical comments to our children?

Primary topic: Parenting

1,325 views

By Kathy SlattengrenRecently published1 topic

Avoiding Hearing "You're Not Listening!"

Listening is one of those skills that really doesn't seem like it's all that difficult. Why then do so many children report that their parents don't listen to them? Maybe it's because there are a lot of ways for parents to unintentionally stop conversations with their kids. For example, if ...

Primary topic: Parenting

1,180 views

By Kathy SlattengrenRecently published1 topic

Teens Trying To Become Pregnant

I was saddened to read that Gloucester High School in Massachusetts had a record number of 17 pregnant teens this year. Apparently this happened after a number of them, all 16 and younger, made a pact to get pregnant. According to the article some girls expressed that they felt their parents ...

Primary topic: Parenting

1,178 views

By Kathy SlattengrenRecently published1 topic

"Stop Crying!" and Other Commands That Don't Work

Moments of frustration can lead parents to issuing commands that really don't work. Any time we are ordering children to change their behavior we're not likely to succeed. Instead of producing the desired behavioral change, commands often lead to some type of resistance. For example, when ...

Primary topic: Parenting

1,161 views

By Kathy SlattengrenRecently published1 topic

Getting Dressed All By Myself, All In Due Time!

Young children take pride in doing things for themselves like getting dressed. However, sometimes their sense of urgency in completing a task doesn’t always match their parents’ sense of urgency. Parents quickly learn that encouraging their children to “hurry up” doesn’t work well. One mom ...

Primary topic: Parenting

1,097 views

By Kathy SlattengrenRecently published1 topic

Postponing the Most Important Things

As parents our days can easily be filled to overflowing with all the tasks that are required to keep our families running: making meals, doing dishes, driving kids to activities, washing clothes and working. These are certainly not the most important things in our lives but they can quickly ...

Primary topic: Parenting

1,040 views

By Kathy SlattengrenRecently published1 topic

Getting Dressed All by Myself, All in Due Time!

Young children take pride in doing things for themselves like getting dressed. However, sometimes their sense of urgency in completing a task doesn’t always match their parents’ sense of urgency. Parents quickly learn that encouraging their children to “hurry up” ...

Primary topic: Parenting

1,017 views

By Kathy SlattengrenRecently published1 topic

What’s Better A Threat Or A Promise?

One mom was exasperated with her preschool daughter after she pitched fit for 45 minutes upon learning that her little brother was going swimming while she was at preschool. When mom was completely fed up with the whining and crying, she threatened to let her daughter sit in her room all day ...

Primary topic: Parenting

959 views

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