Preschool

Here’s what Dr. Ann Corwin, The Parenting Doctor™, recommends about parenting your Pre-Schooler.

The pre-school years (traditionally described as 3-5 year olds) is when kids get better at language skills, understanding social emotional feelings and their brains are now functioning with reason and logic! Parenting this age becomes a challenge. Children now have the ability to interact on a more sophisticated level.

Kids want to practice their new ability, they take a thought, word and feeling from one situation and try it out in another. They ‘can’ now say, “You’re a poo-poo head”, and feel the response they get from the parent. Kids are able to learn that this is one way my parent has a reaction to me, even if that reaction is a frown or raised voice that is better than no connection with my parent at all!

WHAT WOULD DR. ANN SAY?
Kids learn these new found ‘words’ are a form of communication that potentially gets their parents to move closer to them! With this realization comes the repetition of these words or phrases over and over again if the parent does in fact “move closer” to their child by talking back to your child while making eye contact!

Simply remember to turn around facing away from your child and don’t make eye contact when your kids respond this way. But, most importantly when your child does communication with you using words or phrases that are appropriate, get down to their level and make eye contact and say,
“Keep talking, I love those kind words or what did you say again?”

Teach Your Kids How to Deal With Bullies

As parents and children across the country begin preparing for ‘Back to School,” kids are feeling nervous about which of their friends (if any) they will be paired up with in their new classrooms and how much homework they’ll face, while parents worry about the safety of their children and if they will become the [...]

Should Kids Run Around Naked?

It’s summer, so there is the temptation to just let your kids run through the sprinklers in the buff or, if they are young enough, just hang out at the beach or the pool without a diaper. But is it okay for your kids to be seen in public naked? And if you do let [...]

Today’s Interview with Dr. Ann on WLW AM 700 Radio in Cincinnati: Yelling at Other People’s Kids!

I’d like to summarize some important points that surfaced during my interview this afternoon regarding disciplining other people’s children. First and foremost, remember any time you say anything to another parent about their kid’s misbehavior, those are fighting words. Even if parents know their kids are doing something wrong: if another parent says it, that [...]

Tips to Surviving Summer

Summer vacation… kids cannot wait and parents look forward to less structure and fun. But by the middle of July, the dreams of carefree summer fun seem to fade. Why? 
 
Kids love to predict: they want to know what’s coming next so they can manage their behavior. Even though it sounds great to just relax, [...]

Want To Know Why You’re In a Bad Mood? Watch T.V.

Ever get up “on the wrong side of the bed” and don’t know why?
At one time or another just about everybody experiences not knowing why they feel the way they do.  Kids get even more confused than parents do about their feelings.  All kids behaviors are in response to some sort of feeling and most [...]

School’s Out…Now What Do We Do With The Kids?

As adults we all look forward to those ‘lazy days of summer’, but with the kids out of school it can be stressful, instead of relaxing.  Questions like, how many activities should be planned for kids, how much T.V./computer is too much, where do we go on vacation and can I even go to the [...]

In Praise of Fathers

Fathers should be appreciated all year… not just on one day! While Father’s Day is a tremendous idea, we all need to affirm Dads for their significance every day of the year.
I come from a long line of fantastic fathering men. My grandfathers were both grand fathering me from birth to their deaths. My Dad, [...]

Why Do Kids Behave Differently When Mom is Around?

Dear Dr. Corwin:
I am the father of a two-year-old boy. When I am with him alone, he is a good toddler. He gives me no problems and doesn’t whine or throw tantrums. But when he is with my wife alone, or my wife and I are together with him, he is whiney and has tantrums [...]

You Know I Love You Anyway

In celebration of Mother’s Day, I’d like to share a special poem with you that was given to me by a mom that I had been working with earlier this year. She was a new mommy having trouble adjusting to being a stay-at-home-mom after the birth of her second child. She came seeking guidelines in [...]

Guilty Parents: You Are So Not Alone!

Guilty Parents: You Are So Not Alone!
In a brilliant attempt to advertise the new ABC TV comedy show “In the Motherhood” this week, Oprah had moms from all over the country share their fears, faux pas and just plain funny stories about struggling to be a good mom.
 
Oprah’s interview with moms revealed that basically [...]