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...
For this post, I want to share one of my favorite weeks from my book Doc Pop’s 52 weeks of Active Parenting with you. Be on the lookout for more Doc Pop’s 52 Weeks posts to come, and if you like what you read, consider...
“Why?” Because I’m your father/mother and I said so! If you recognize that this age-old parenting retort is a poor answer to a good question, then you are tapping into one of the most important ways that humans can use their intelligence: to understand the...
The increasing number of mass shootings, often labeled “hate crimes", is profoundly disturbing to most adults. The impact on children and teens is probably much greater. Whether the shooting occurs far away or closer to home, it’s a parent’s job to act as a filter...
by Michael Popkin Research from De Montfort University in the UK showed that parents who praised their children five times each day saw an improvement in the child’s behavior. A “Five Praises Campaign” was even launched to help parents learn to be mindful of the need...
by Michael Popkin On May 14, 2019, my wife, Melody, and I became grandparents of an 8½ pound baby boy. Our daughter, Megan, whom some of you may remember as the ten-year-old girl reciting the Ages and Stages poem in our earlier version of Active Parenting:...
Courage is such an important character trait in today's complex world of choices that it forms the very foundation upon which a child constructs her personality. Here is a poem I wrote a while back exploring the struggle between Courage and Fear. (Click to download...
