A Piercing Milestone


Photo-A-Day #2873

Today Eva got her ears pierced. She had been asking us for months to get them done and we made her a deal. We are pretty sure that she is responsible enough to care for her ears. We also wanted her to earn part of the money herself so we set up a chore chart. Eva will do small chores that are age appropriate and because of that she will earn a small stipend each week. That money goes into three envelopes, Save, Share and Spend. She had been given half of her half of the money and she would spend the next few weeks earning her portion of the cost of getting her ears pierced. She did really well earning her portion of the money. Continue reading A Piercing Milestone

Tips to Encourage and Foster Empathy in Children

I was sent this information to post on behalf of Start Empathy.

Six Things Parents Can Do To Start Empathy in Children

Empathy is a crucial skill for leading a successful and happy life. Empathy provides a strong foundation for listening, communications, collaboration and problem-solving – critical skills in a rapidly changing world. Empathy is also an antidote for narcissistic and destructive behaviors such as bullying and physical violence.

What can you as a parent do to develop empathy in your children? A lot, actually. Human beings are wired for empathy, but like any other skill, empathy needs to be nurtured and practiced. The process begins at home from early childhood and continues throughout the teen years. Parents aren’t the only teachers of empathy, but as your children’s first and most consistent caregivers, you play an extremely important role in their character development

Start Empathy, a collaboration of social entrepreneurs, educators and parents – is working to make empathy as essential as reading and math in education. Below are some of their tips on ways parents can start developing empathy in children: Continue reading Tips to Encourage and Foster Empathy in Children