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Helping your child read at home
The irst set of school closings, stay-athome orders and the like due to COVID-19 all came down the pipeline very quickly, without a lot of time to prepare or igure out what the next steps should be.

Support for new moms
During my irst pregnancy, I took all my prenatal vitamins, I avoided caffeine and sushi like the plague and I never missed a doctor’s appointment. I followed all of the rules and thought I was going to be the perfect mother, but then my daughter was born.

Giving birth during a pandemic
Birth is normally a happy time of ecstatic anticipation for many women and their families, but this can be a scary prospect in the age of a global pandemic. Though we in central Illinois have been fortunate with social distancing and less population density to escape the full ravages of COVID-19 (i.

Teens live in a different time zone
But sleep is crucial to adolescents’ wellbeing. School-age kids between ages 6 and 13 need nine to 11 hours of sleep per night, according to the National Sleep Foundation. Teens from ages 14 to 17 need eight to 10 hours. Yet, studies ind only a small percentage of teens are getting the necessary sleep.

Around the world at home
Two weeks ago, I could tell my family was feeling the strain of being sheltered in place. My husband had checked all the items off his honey-do list and started finding new projects to keep busy (this never ends well).

Simple books with happy endings
Frustrated, excited, nervous, sad, jealous, embarrassed – sometimes we forget that kids deal with many of the same feelings as adults. Teaching them emotional awareness is important and can be complicated. “Reading fiction is a great way to develop empathy and social skills,” says Melissa Morrissey.