Birthday Party Basics: 5 Building Blocks for a Successful At-Home Bash
Many parents face their children’s birthdays with a mixture of joy and dread: joy at being able to celebrate with their child and dread over how they’re going to go about that celebration and how much it will cost. The
Modern Morality: Raising Children of Character in a Changing World
It’s a question that Seattle-area parents Molly and Justin Sousley found themselves grappling with when their first-grader Jillian suddenly started cheating and fibbing during family game nights. “Right away, we realized that we needed to have some big conversations about
Unschooling and Child-Led Learning
Child-Led Learning Blazes Alternative Education Trails Imagine not dealing with rigid school bells and the inevitable ups and downs that happen inside a traditional school learning environment. What if your child's curriculum were all about curiosity-driven exercises with a focus on
I’m only 10! Is it Really Safe (or Legal) to Leave Me Home Alone?
Mom, I get it. You have to work. Money is tight. I understand things got hard after dad left, but it scares me to stay home alone after school. Jimmy feels the same way. His mom and dad both work
Teen Workplace Safety
Nearly 25 years ago, as a 10-year-old boy, I started my first job. I worked as paper boy after school delivering The Columbian around my neighborhood. Not only did I deliver the newspaper, but I collected payments. I went to the doors of my customers and collected
Washington State Ranks Among Bottom 10 for After School Programs
Washington has made progress since 2009, but still lags behind the rest of the nation on after school participation, according to a new household survey commissioned by the Afterschool Alliance. The 2014 edition of America After 3PM found that demand
Washington Early Support for Infants and Toddlers (ESIT) Video
Washington Early Support for Infants and Toddlers (ESIT) provides crucial early intervention to support brain development of children from birth to 3 years. Read Vivian Mattila Walikainen's entire article on birth to 3 screenings in the October 2014 issue, and
Parenting with MS
According to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, approximately 2.3 million people worldwide are affected by MS. The disease has proven difficult to track, which has likely caused this number to be significantly lower than the actual number of cases. In
Editor’s Pick: “The Drama Years” by Haley Kilpatrick (Free Press, 2012)
Drama. It occupies the lives of most tween and teen girls in today's highly competitive landscape, at a time in their lives when everything seems to be constantly changing: from their own biology to technology to fashion to relationships. Parents
Babies and Young Children at High Risk of Poverty
On Tuesday, the U.S. Census Bureau released its annual collection of data on poverty, income, health insurance coverage for 2013. As in past years, the numbers confirm the disturbing trend that young children continue to be the age group most