To survive and thrive we must be able to protect ourselves, our families, and the society in which we live. The human instinct to repel attacks—whether physical or psychological—has led us to develop complex systems of justice and defense. Children will also look for ways...
In one of my previous posts I talked about how in every crisis there is opportunity and how the Coronavirus is no exception. Now might be a good time to take inventory of how you and your children are using all this extra time at...
This month’s blog was inspired by an (unsolicited) e-mail I received from one of our longtime leaders, Pat Lonergan, Teen Parenting Instructor at Nature Coast Technical High School in Florida. She wrote and I wrote back: Hi Doctor Popkin, I became an Active Parenting Trainer of Trainers...
Most children do not like rules any more than they like most green vegetables. Fortunately, by the time they become adults they have usually developed a taste for both. We come to understand the value of good rules and the importance of learning to play...
Letters. We get letters. "Recently some of my old classmates were chatting about the Free the Horses program that we went through when we were little," wrote Keith from Michigan. "I was thinking it would be fun to have a get-together with some of these old...
If you know Active Parenting, you know the value we put on building courage in our children through the process of encouragement. “Putting it in writing” is such a powerful force in our society that a written letter of encouragement will often carry more weight...
I know that this sounds like a stretch, but kids, especially young kids, are pretty naïve. They have yet to discover that math and science are terrible things invented just to make children and teens feel inferior! OK, this statement is meant to be humorous,...
Okay, so you are an Active Parent who wants to make sure that your child experiences childhood in all its glory and still survives to thrive later as an adult. You also buy in to the AP philosophy that “problems are for solving.” The problem...
A message from Doc Pop We have all asked our kids, “What did you do in school today?” only to be told that age-old lie, “Nothing.” Of course, what they really mean is either “Nothing significant to me” or “Nothing that I want to talk to you...
A message from Doc Pop Welcome to fall! Just because we are innovators doesn’t mean that we don’t follow a good trend when we see one. Case in point: our fall catalog. It’s slimmer than our catalogs of the past—so much so that printers have nicknamed it...