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If your tween can explicitly communicate what they are feeling, there is less chance of misunderstandings. Tweens grapple with a lot of big feelings.  It can be confusing for us to witness – one minute our child might be giggling and enjoying themselves and the next they might be furiously storming off to their room …

How to manage  your tween’s time online through the relationship you build with them. By Amanda Craig, PhD, LMFT, Author of Who Are You and What Have You Done with My Kid: Connect with Your Tween While They Are Still Listening Is there a place on earth free of screens? Maybe, but not that most …

When you introduce ideas and values about online behaviors to your tween in a way that is natural and integrated into your daily routine, you are planting the seeds for them to contemplate and to potentially explore with you in future conversations. When you sow seeds to grow a plant, there is so much that …

It can be challenging to teach our tweens how to interact online safely, responsibly, and without constant oversight. Part of the reason for this is that there is no roadmap for teaching these skills.  This is where TDSU comes in. We believe that just pointing out to your child that there are specific expectations, skills …

How do you break things down into understandable, manageable, and developmentally appropriate steps when seeking to help your tween learn a new skill?  We’ve already talked about why it is important to scaffold learning, meaning meeting your child where they are developmentally and breaking learning down into understandable and manageable steps as you teach them …

What do you do if your child posts, texts, or engages with something Disturbing, Disparaging, or Dangerous?  At TDSU, we call these 3Ds – It’s Bigger Than Me, which means these posts or texts are serious enough that an adult needs to get involved. Here are five steps you can take when your child has …

There are many different online platforms and different things are appropriate in each of them.   We all know a religious service might not be the best time to start chatting about a favorite video game.  And bathroom humor might not fly at Thanksgiving dinner with extended family.   Get your tween thinking about what things …

It isn’t unusual for tweens to push the boundaries and ask for more privileges, even if they aren’t quite ready.   Think about the sixth grader who argues they should be able to play hours of video games when they get home from school or the tween who wants unlimited access to their devices. By …