Last week we discussed some positive ways to discipline junior high and high school adolescents and students that attempted to understand their stage of development and show them dignity, respect, and trust with responsibility as a means of preventing major disciplinary disruptions from occurring in the first place. But what do we do when we [...]

Recently I was speaking at a MOPS group and a Mentor Mom spoke before me on the importance of kids needing time to simply be kids. As a talented and passionate piano teacher, she shared with us a little secret about her selection process for accepting potential piano students: she has the kids fill out [...]

This post originally appeared in my monthly newsletter, which you can sign up for here on www.jodycapehart.com Since losing my eyesight four months ago, the journey has been rich with lessons. As I shared last month, it brings new light to the verse, “We walk by faith and not by sight” (2 Cor. 5:17). Spiritual [...]

Part One focused on the problems that can arise from over-stimulating your child’s environment in an effort to maximize brain development during their early years. The desire to increase your child’s intelligence is understandable. But it must be done so with proper understanding of what scientists are telling us about the early brain, rather than [...]

For centuries, even the most brilliant minds mistakenly believed that children were little more than empty vessels that we needed to keep alive until we could begin to pour knowledge into their unformed minds. Since then we have made tremendous leaps and bounds in unlocking the unparalleled power and activity of children’s rapidly growing brains [...]

If you ever visit Grace Academy during lunchtime, you will find the students sitting at round tables with linen table cloths and flowers, listening to classical music, using good manners, and being relatively quiet. Of course they’re allowed to talk, but I want them to be able to hear the music, and so we use our soft ‘inside’ [...]

In all my years as a parent, an educator, and children’s minister, I’ve never experienced, witnessed, or heard of a child who, after scraping a knee, being bullied by their older sibling, or being scared at night, cried out, “I want my Legos!!!” Nope. Hasn’t happened and probably never will. Unless, of course, Legos are [...]

In Part One I addressed Mr. Zicherman’s claim that video games make kids smarter. I argued that the only brain benefits of playing video games are related to areas concerned with problem-solving and multi-tasking. Therefore the bold claim that kids are “smarter” from playing video games should not be made without pointing out the many limitations [...]

The subject of video games and kids always evokes strong opinions within me, so recently when I saw a TED Talk called “How Games Make Kids Smarter,” I knew I had to watch the video. My original intention when I clicked on the link was to debunk the basic premise that video games make kids smarter. However, [...]

My family often teases me because I believe there are certain behaviors parents – and adults in general – should expect of their children. For example, I have this crazy notion that children should use inside voices in public places such as restaurants. (And I’ve been known to cast a glance or two in the [...]