Category Archives: ACA Blog

A curious mind is an active mind, a healthy mind, a vibrant mind. All children are born curious, for they spend their days observing and exploring the world around them. Babies want to know how things work, smell, taste, and feel. Toddlers expand their reach as they become mobile, and older children expand their knowledge […]

Children are little bundles of irrepressible energy. Racing, twirling, chattering and climbing, they burn their way through the day and, in the best circumstances, fall exhausted into bed at night. Yet even the most worn-out parents may pause if their child suddenly seems listless, lies around the house all day, or appears to have generally […]

The digital revolution has introduced new tools for parents, not the least of which is the ability to calm a fussy child for a few moments by slipping him your Android phone. Fortunately, it’s a guilt-free crutch, especially if your phone is filled with mobile reading apps that will build phonetic and word identification skills, […]

Introduced to the market in April of 2010, iPads swiftly became the latest must-have hand-held computer gadget. Now more than 45% of U.S. adults own an iPad or one of its competitor tablets. Many of those iPads find their way into little hands, where gleeful children, toddlers, and yes, even infants learn to tap, swipe, […]

Parenthood is full of challenges both big and small. The first days or weeks of preschool, kindergarten, middle school, and high school are high on the stress list for both you and your child. But when the moment of transition has passed yet anxiety and discontent continue, there are few words more distressing for a […]

There’s an old saying that a parent is only as happy as her most unhappy child. When your child is anxious about school, you can’t help but be worried and anxious yourself. There are no real scientific studies on how common school anxiety is among kids, but many educators and researchers believe that it is […]

Like all parents in the new millennium, you’re concerned about how much time your kids are spending in front of a screen each day. But when you’re waiting in a check-out line with a screaming toddler or driving to grandma’s house while a preschooler kicks the back of your seat in boredom, nothing beats a […]

Though the thought matters, your child’s teacher already has a cabinet full of “World’s Best Teacher” mugs, ceramic polished apples, and Christmas ornaments hand-made by her students. These end-of-year and holiday appreciate gifts are warmly received, but soon find their way to a box or a drawer with similar items from past classrooms. How much […]

The symptoms begin after the last beach day. Your child complains of stomachaches, nausea, or headaches. She wakes up several times a night, sometimes with nightmares, and acts cranky during the day. She may be clinging and nervous, frequently seeking reassurance and asking a lot of questions about clothing choices and the day-to-day changes to […]

Curiosity is one of humankind’s innate abilities, the force that urges us to learn more about the world in which we live. Every child is born with an ample dose, which manifests the very first time an infant tracks an object with his eyes. Curiosity is the engine that drives a student to learn letters, […]