We live in an amazing time in history, but sometimes fail to take advantage. We can speak face to face, through video, across the world, for free. This assumes you have a computer with a web camera and fast enough internet, but many of us have the tools and fail to act. 

Make today the day you break through that invisible wall, sign up for a service like Skype, and talk with a relative. 

Our youngest likes this so much he often will choose it when he has free time. This is a great way to encourage reading as he can read a book long distance to his aunt (for example). Making connections, building relationships, extending language skills ... what a great way to learn!

Many of our homes are so comfortable, with so much ‘easy’ entertainment available, we have trouble putting our finger on why we are ‘low energy’ or ‘feeling a little down’. Then we go outside and we feel fresh air! We feel sun! We look at cloud formations! We people watch! Our bodies move!

Also, please note that children who are not very young actually can go outside by themselves. This is a great opportunity for them to feel a little freedom (and that is part of the joy of the experience).

Outside time can open up a whole new world of learning that can be incredibly powerful for children.

Thanks to Playworks for bringing this to our world (others may have gotten the idea from another source). Playworks recognized that for some reason, when they told children on the yard to solve arguments through rock, paper, scissors, they perceived that as fair, shrugged their shoulders, and jumped right in.

We’ve tried it at home and it works (we tend to use ‘two out of three’). One of the things we love most about this is that instead of going straight to parents to resolve arguments, our kids will often sort things out on their own with this method. They may complain about losing, but abide by the results. ;)

Your children are paying very close attention to you (even though it may not seem like it). 

We have been well trained in our society to praise “big thing” like tests, grades, sports team success, concerts, etc., but we often forget to provide acknowledgement that every day brings its little victories and happy moments: the time when your child took the bus both to school and home for the first time, or joined the kickball game for the first time, or after many tries was able to say a tongue twister.

Celebration here could mean everything from verbal acknowledgement, to a high five, to “bragging” to a grandparent, to anything else in your toolbox. It does not need to be a ‘party’ or a physical reward. Your child needs to see that you are paying attention, that you see that it was a big deal, and that you care. This encourages more risk taking, and it is especially important to celebrate the efforts and, yes, the failures too - not just the successes.

Start goal setting at home. It can be both eye opening and empowering for children to set their own goals - and almost anything can be turned into a goal! For example, the number of push-ups you can do, how long you can read silently, how long it takes to do the dishes, etc.

Try something straightforward to start and see how your child responds. Don’t forget to talk it through when the results come in. Some children like to be optimistic and may predict they can do 15 push ups when they can only do 3. This is a great opportunity to talk about short and long term goals. In this situation you could work with your child to set a goal of 5 push ups by the end of the week and 15 push ups by the end of a few weeks or a month. Can you imagine how powerful it feels for a child to realize that they can fail to achieve something immediately, but when they work at it they can do it?

Goal setting is a wonderful family activity. It is important for children to understand that parents have goals too - and that adults take risks and fail too. Don’t be afraid to be a little vulnerable, to try and not succeed at something. If you set a goal that you care about and are willing to work at, and then your child sees that you work on it and achieve it, that is a very powerful lesson.

See how your child responds to goal setting. It may be just the thing to spark them to better effort, higher achievement (in whatever), and a feeling of self-empowerment. If it is, then be sure to nurture it with additional goal setting activities. We have invisible goals in our minds all of the time. This tip can help make the goal setting process more transparent and more ‘controllable’ - increasing understanding, motivation, and life satisfaction for your child.