In Part 4 of our five-part series on kindergarten readiness, we walk through how to observe your child at home using the same four developmental areas used in a major 13-year study by the San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD).
If your child is showing delays in self-regulation, social communication, or motor skills, and these delays are ongoing despite support, an extra year can offer valuable time to build these skills.
The truth is: readiness is about much more than academics—and a powerful 13-year study from San Francisco shows that this well-rounded set of early childhood skills has a lasting impact.
If you’re asking, “Is my child ready for kindergarten?” — that’s one of the most important questions you can ask as a parent. And it turns out, the answer could significantly shape your child’s academic future.
While occasional bad dreams are normal, frequent nightmares may be a sign of stress, anxiety, or underlying concerns.
Research consistently shows that children who grow up feeling genuinely seen and encouraged—rather than pushed to “perform” at all costs—are more likely to pursue goals that make them happy and resilient in the long run.
Being a great mom doesn’t mean being an emotional sponge; it means being a guide, a comfort, and sometimes, the person who simply listens and says, “I’m here.”
The research by Mari & Keizer (2021), Hill et al. (2011), and Khanam & Nghiem (2016) underscores that job loss affects children in long-lasting ways. But in the U.S., these effects are amplified due to weaker safety nets.
This article explores research on parental job loss and illustrates how parents are not powerless in these situations. Parents can take proactive steps to help children overcome challenges related to job loss by focusing on structure, learning, and emotional stability at home.
Emotional resilience isn’t about shielding kids from challenges; life is full of challenges and events big or small that can set the stage for unpleasant emotions.
Positive parenting is a research-backed approach that emphasizes nurturing, guidance, and structure rather than punishment and control. It is not permissive parenting, which lacks boundaries, nor is it authoritarian parenting, which relies on strict discipline.
Families where parents openly discussed their child’s origins earlier experienced less stress and better mental health outcomes.
As parents, we all want to give our children the best start in life, and one critical way we can do this is by supporting their language development.
