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Halloween is one of the most exciting days of a child’s year. It’s hard to beat a huge pile of candy, but for most young children the real attraction is an opportunity to dress up in a costume. Preschool and elementary kids love to pretend to be someone else because it empowers them to challenge the boundaries of childhood and express themselves in a way that is not ususally possible in everyday life. Very often, children choose costumes that represent a current and trendy ‘hero’—usually a character they admire from a movie or TV show. They hope that by dressing up they will feel the strength, leadership, and inspirational traits that they admire in this fictional character. Read all ►

Help your children become writers. Immerse them in print and provide them with many opportunities to write. It’s just a matter of getting started and developing a fun family writing routine. Begin by creating a writing space at home with your kids. Stock it with a variety of materials such as journals, notebooks and paper in all shapes and sizes. Make sure there are plenty of pencils, pens, colored pencils, crayons and markers so your children have a variety of writing and drawing tools to choose from. Read all ►

Mine has become a soccer family. I have spent more Saturday afternoons than I could count watching our three kids play games in pouring rain, muggy heat, biting cold, and occasionally, perfectly gorgeous weather. I’m happy to say that the more years they’ve stuck with it, the better our kids have gotten, so that by high school, the games have become downright exciting. Like many parents today, we encouraged our kids in sports with the goal of strengthening their bodies and developing their physical skills like speed and agility. Of course, we also hoped the sports would be fun, allow them to bond with their teammates and teach them how to win and lose with equal amounts of grace. Read all ►

Back to School time is always exciting. Opportunities to reconnect with old friends and make new ones abound. Early mornings, busy schedules and homework nightly mark the return of the academic year. Some children are excited to get back to the classroom while others are somewhat tentative. Creating simple daily routines make for smooth transitions. Help your children breeze back into their school routine with these simple tips. Read all ►

Overscheduling a child with activities can happen by accident without you even realizing it. Suddenly your child’s life is so busy that there is no time left to play or relax. It starts with nightly homework, a karate class twice a week, a guitar lesson, religious education and soccer practice once a week with a game on Saturday. Read all ►