June 23rd, 2011 by admin

Children and Mistakesby Alina Tugend,

Author of Better By Mistake: The Unexpected Benefits of Being Wrong

It’s crucial that we, as parents, allow our children to make mistakes and fail and figure out how to recover from them. We can’t rush in and fix every problem, whether it be forgotten homework, an awkward social encounter or not getting a part in the school play.

We know from research that building children’s self-esteem and self-worth is much less about praise and gold stars and trophies for everyone and much more about creating resilience. Children who know how to screw up and fail and try again.

“While we do not want our children to face ongoing failure, to attempt to overprotect them and rush in whenever we fear they might fail at a task robs them of an important lesson, namely that mistakes are experiences from which to learn,” writes Robert Brooks and Sam Goldstein in their book Nurturing Resilience in Our Children. “It also communicates another subtle or perhaps not-so-subtle message to a child: We don’t think you are strong enough to deal with obstacles and mistakes.” Read the rest of this entry »

September 17th, 2008 by admin

By Bruce J. Gevirtzman,
Author of An Intimate Understanding of America’s Teenagers: Shaking Hands With Aliens
As September approaches, almost every schoolteacher in America fills with excitement and trepidation. It is, after all, a new year. Like baseball in spring, anything seems possible for a teacher in the fall when it comes to a renewal of spirit: new students, new gimmicks, new courses–and hope does spring eternal. Most good teachers take a mental inventory of what needs to be done to become more successful in their classrooms; unfortunately, however, that usually means having to dwell temporarily on the downside of education. Read the rest of this entry »

July 5th, 2007 by admin

I am proud to announce that Jelly Mom™ monthly parenting humor column will be featured here at Super Parents Talk. Jelly Mom™ is a delightfully humorous column written by Lisa Barker, mother of five and author of “Just Because Your Kids Drive You Insane… Doesn’t Mean You Are A Bad Parent!” and is syndicated through Parent To Parent™.