How Children Thrive: Prioritizing What Matters Most

Excerpted from HOW CHILDREN THRIVE: The Practical Science of Raising Independent, Resilient, and Happy Kids, by Mark Bertin, MD. Sounds True, May 2018. Reprinted with permission. The day ends and you pull into your driveway. You open the mailbox and, groaning, take out a two-inch pile of mail, 90 percent junk, but needing to be sorted. Riffling through it as…

Raising Resilient Children and Creating Thriving Families

As part of our “Garrison Talks at the JCC” event series at the Marlene Myerson JCC Manhattan, meditation teacher and author Sharon Salzberg recently spoke with Dr. Chris Willard, a psychologist and educational consultant, and Dr. Mark Bertin, a developmental pediatrician and mindfulness teacher, about how to cultivate resilience in our children.  Sharon Salzberg: Do you think it’s harder for kids these…

Reading, Resilience, Mindfulness and More

As part of our “Garrison Talks at the JCC” event series, Dr. Perri Klass, Dr. Mark Bertin, and Dr. Chris Willard discussed strategies for fostering happy, successful children. In the podcast below, they explore their professional experience with children as well as with both established and cutting-edge research, emphasizing practical approaches to real life. Key questions: What is executive function, and how does…

Kids and Screen Time

Kids and screen time cause considerable parental angst these days—and for good reason. Research shows children spend on average seven hours a day glued to computer, tablet, smart phone, or television screens. This reality has created such a stir that last month, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) updated its decade-old recommendation on childhood screen time. Far from a radical…