Ages & Stages

Whether it’s an unexpected day off from school, a meeting that runs late at work or a last minute invite to an event, at some point there will be a scenario when you consider leaving your child home alone. There’s a lot to think about before you take the first step into a new level of independence with your child.     ...

Incorporating sensory play with your child's activities can encourage him or her to use their senses. It allows children to discover and investigate the world around them by building nerve connections, which increases their ability to understand. It also can improve language development, social skills, critical thinking skills, and fine and gross motor skills. ...

These days, we’re obsessed with success — particularly big book smarts, AP classes, higher education, and a preoccupation with straight As. But piling on the homework and study time doesn’t always yield results. New research shows that physical activity has a positive effect on school performance. Learn more about the study, as well as what you can do to help set up your kids for success. ...

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While academics do play a large part of kindergarten readiness, there are other skills that are important for kids to master prior to the transition from preschool. Here are five focus areas besides academics that parents can use to help their preschool age children prepare for kindergarten. ...

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Social communication is important in developing effective interpersonal skills and is critical to various aspects of daily life. Important social skills in early childhood include emerging abilities to manage feelings and behaviors, recognize social cues from others and engage in positive interactions with peers. Learn more about the development of these skills in young children, including where to turn if there appear to be problems. ...

A December 2018 study in the American Academy of Pediatrics found a large percentage of developmentally normal, healthy babies do not reach the milestone of sleeping through the night by age six months or even one year. Researchers also examined whether infants who woke up at night were more likely to have problems with cognitive, language or motor development. ...

Learning and practicing how to correctly produce their “r” or “s” sound is certainly not what most tweens want to be doing. While they would prefer to be playing video games or riding their bike, using one of these recommended speech therapy apps can make at-home practice a little easier for tweens — and their parents. ...

As parents, sometimes we can feel overwhelmed by finding ways for our children to give back, especially when we have limited time and budget. Here’s a list of tangible and budget-friendly ideas to allow your kids the opportunity to give this season and beyond. ...