The Happy Student

We are obsessed with being busy. It's a status symbol. "Oh, I'm so busy" translates into I'm really important. But that's silly because being busy isn't good for you. It actually slows you down, makes you less efficient, and hurts your brain. That's definitely not what we want for our kids! Today's episode goes through 10 tips to help you and your children be less busy, have more free time, and promote brain health. A special thanks to Eric Barker of Barking Up the Wrong Tree and the Center for Brain Health.

Having trouble getting your slow moving, very distracted kid/teenager out the door on the way to school? Is it that he just isn't motivated to go to school or that he doesn't know that when he's sitting at the breakfast table with messy hair, no shoes, and an unpacked backpack that he isn't ready for school? Either way, in this episode, we've got a few tips to help get your child moving a little more quickly out the door in the morning.

Organization (our main back to school topic from last week) isn't the only thing we need to work on as we go back to school. Being on time and able to manage our time is also super helpful to ensuring our kids are ready to start learning. So this week we have a few tips on how you can help your child develop some time management techniques. For instance, teach them about TIME ROBBERS, get them an Octopus Watch from http://octopus.watch/, or teach them about the passage of time with an analog clock https://firebornfireside.org/2015/03/26/teaching-time-management-and-self-regulation/

Kids are already back in school - can you believe it? We can't. But we do have some tips to help your child feel prepared for and excited to start the first day of school.

When you are anxious, you lose IQ points. That's a problem at school (and the rest of life). Help your child learn to calm his anxiety with these 10 tips!

The Happy Student's second episode on fun, active, "edutaining" things to do this summer, including some ideas for art and engineering projects, a not-another-lemonade-stand idea, a pet for the summer, and ways to make sure you remember this summer using an engaging app!

Is it ever okay to say "Because I said so" to our kids? And why do I need to apologize to my kids when I mess up? That doesn't feel right. In this episode, featuring Dr. Frank Bartolomeo from the Southfield Center for Development, we answer these questions and dive into the different forms of parenting styles and how each of those different styles affect your kids.

Summer vacation is here and now parents are 100% in charge of kids - no more teachers to share the task of discipline. This week's episode focuses on how to communicate with kids this summer to keep everyone smiling. One major point of contention of parents and children everywhere: messy bedrooms. We dive into how to approach this argument (and others) without going crazy.