Category Archives: ACA Blog

Trying to get your toddler, preschooler, or even early grade-school child to brush her teeth can sometimes seem as difficult as forcing a cat to eat a vitamin. You’re already dealing with potty training, tantrums, whining, teaching them to tie shoes, button buttons and put their toys away, so sometimes it’s easier to choose your […]

If you’re like most parents of young children, your schedule is jam-packed from the moment you wake up until the moment you fall into bed. Between work, taking care of the home, and taking care of the children, you may feel overwhelmed. Sometimes it’s just easier to finish the tasks that you normally expect your […]

Every new mother braces herself for the sleepless, glazed-eyed days taking care of a newborn, but what happens when your toddler continues to wake up several times a night or your preschooler simply refuses to go to bed? How many years can you get away with arriving at work feeling and looking like a zombie? […]

Man cannot live on bread alone, but many a toddler, it seems, lives on chicken nuggets, sliced hot dogs, and macaroni and cheese (as long as it comes from the blue box.) As a parent of a picky eater, you face thrice-daily battles as well as constant worry-guilt that your child isn’t getting the nutrients […]

Parenthood can sometimes feel like an emotional battlefield, especially when you find yourself toe-to-toe with two-and-a-half-feet of antagonistic toddler. With your determination weakened by the constant sound of NO NO NO, it’s tempting to give in just this one time for a moment of peace. But that path teaches your toddler that his unruly behavior […]

When your baby is hanging on to you for dear life, your toddler is wrapped around your leg like an anaconda, or you find yourself closing the bathroom door on a hysterical preschooler for a moment of necessary privacy, it may be hard to believe that your children’s behaviors are normal. But separation anxiety is […]

In this era of high-stakes testing and rigorous classroom rubrics, it may seem to many parents that in the effort to meet short-term goals, some educational efforts focus on academics and neglect the greater purpose of primary school education: To prepare children for a lifetime of learning. Here are five ways the Montessori Method is […]

Your graduating kindergartener probably takes pride in the fact that he’ll be joining the Big Kid’s school soon. Maybe he even looks forward to the new teacher and classroom. After all, despite the advent of more rigorous academic expectations, up until now his school experience has involved reading circles, collaborative play, holiday celebrations, and low-stress, […]

As a parent, you probably braced yourself for the terrible twos, but did anyone warn you about the dreadful threes, furious fours, and fitful fives? During these years, you may find yourself at a neighborhood birthday party while your child throws a sprawl-on-the-floor tantrum. You may find yourself shopping to the atonal music of a […]

It’s likely that your memories of kindergarten consist of learning letters, numbers, colors, and how to sit quietly on a rug during story time. But with the advent of more rigorous academic standards, including the Common Core State Standards Initiative, the modern kindergarten curriculum now reflects the fact that academic testing begins as early as […]