8-Year-Old Parenting Tools

Eight-year-olds are becoming more independent and are often learning to manage emotions, friendships, and new responsibilities at school. These years can bring challenges, but with your guidance, they can learn essential skills to handle their feelings and build confidence. Children between the ages of five and ten are experiencing lots of changes as they grow, like learning new things in school,...

Trust is a necessary foundation for every healthy relationship. As a parent or someone in a parenting role, you play a vital role in your eight-year-old’s success. There are intentional ways to grow a healthy parent-child relationship and learn how to promote trust in your child. Lying represents an important milestone in your child’s thinking as they learn that others have different beliefs and p...

As a parent or someone in a parenting role, you play an essential role in your child’s success. There are intentional ways to grow a healthy parent-child relationship, and developing skills in reading is a great way to do it.  Reading is essential for your child’s success in school. Reading also plays a critical role in your child’s ●      social and emotional de...

As a parent or someone in a parenting role, you play an essential role in your child’s success. There are intentional ways to grow a healthy parent-child relationship, and helping your eight-year-old develop their collaboration, sharing, and healthy friendship skills is an excellent opportunity.   Children ages five to ten are in the process of learning about themselves, their strengths...

Elight-year-olds must follow directions to get along at home and succeed at school. Whether they are completing chores, following safety instructions, completing assignments, or showing their knowledge on tests, they will need to be able to follow directions. Though telling your child to do something may seem simple, a child listening and engaging in several steps in an instruction necessitates se...

As parents or those in a parenting role, you play an essential role in your child’s success. There are intentional ways to grow a healthy parent-child relationship, and helping your eight-year-old learn to deal with tantrums provides a perfect opportunity.     Children ages five to ten are in the process of learning about their strong feelings. They do not understand the full-b...

As a parent or someone in a parenting role, you play a vital role in your child’s success. There are intentional ways to grow a healthy parent-child relationship, and setting up a daily homework routine provides a perfect opportunity.  Five to ten-year-olds are in the process of establishing critical learning habits, including how they approach homework, that will extend throughout their scho...

As a parent or someone in a parenting role, your influence is vital in your child’s success. There are intentional ways to grow a healthy parent-child relationship while instilling confidence in your child to persist toward their goals and succeed in all areas of life. Everyone faces challenges, yet mistakes and failures are necessary for your eight-year-old’s learning and development. With your g...

Why Back Talk? Arguing in family life is typical and expected. “Back talk” can be defined as “argumentative replies.”^1 Children can respond in anger, hurt, frustration, hurtful tones, or with hurtful words. Back talk also represents a power imbalance children are trying to rectify. To regain some power, children lash out with hurtful words. Power, after all, is a basic human need. Building y...

Why Anger? Research confirms that when young children learn to manage their feelings, their executive functions are simultaneously strengthened.^1 They can better use self-control, problem-solve, and focus their attention. There are intentional ways to grow a healthy parent-child relationship. Growing your child’s skills to manage anger provides a perfect opportunity.   Tip:  T...

Why Transform Disrespect? Eight-year-olds seek independence and will naturally test limits and break rules. When they feel powerless and angry, they can lash out in ways that show disrespect for others. Though this is a normal part of their development and necessary for their learning, it can anger or worry a caring parent or someone in a parenting role. You can transform these moments into vital...

Why Examine Technology Use? Becoming intentional about your child’s daily technology use can influence how they develop a healthy relationship with technology and its role in their life. Looking for ways to experience and learn together about how to use devices wisely contributes to your child’s development.    Step 1: Get Input- Get Your Child Thinking by Getting Their Input Writing dow...

Why Listening? Your child’s success depends upon their ability to listen and understand what you and others are communicating. There are intentional ways to grow a healthy parent-child relationship while building essential listening skills in your child.   Tip:  These steps are done best when you and your child are not tired or in a rush.   Tip:  Intentional communication...

Why Chores? Chores allow your child to contribute to maintaining and caring for your family’s household. Daily chores allow your child to learn and practice valuable skills like timeliness, work ethic, and responsibility.  Tip: These steps are done best when you and your child are not tired or in a rush.    Tip: Intentional communication and a healthy parenting relationship support...

Why Repairing Harm? Eight-year-olds are working on understanding and applying rules in various situations. They are seeking independence and will naturally test limits and break rules. When they do, they require guidance on how to repair harm caused to a relationship or item. This is a normal part of their development and necessary for their learning. Research confirms that children are in the pro...

As a parent or those in a parenting role, you play an important part in helping your child develop empathy. Empathy is the way people effectively relate to one another. It’s the ability to perceive what other people are feeling, understand that information, and respond in a compassionate way. There are intentional ways to develop a healthy parent-child relationship while growing your chi...

Now is the right time to become more perceptive to the messages your child is receiving about cannabis, the impacts on your child, and how you can mold the messages you send going forward to encourage responsibility and healthy choices. Though children are typically not tempted by peer pressure to try cannabis until ages 15-19, they still receive messages and view modeling throughout their childho...

Eight-year-olds are working to comprehend what it means to act responsibly. They are: ●      working to understand the rules and apply them in different settings.  ●      working to gain their independence.  ●      taking more care of their bodies (eating right, exercising).  ●  &nbsp...

As a parent or someone in a parenting role, you play a crucial role in your child’s success. There are intentional ways to nurture a healthy parent-child relationship, and creating daily routines provide a timely opportunity.

Now is the right time to increase your awareness of the messages your child is receiving about alcohol, the impacts, and how you can shape the messages you send going forward to strengthen healthy decision-making. Children are not typically faced with peer pressure to drink alcohol until the ages of 11-14. Yet, they still receive messages and modeling throughout their childhood that will have a cl...

Children continually note differences in their world. Parents or those in a parenting role have an opportunity to support children as they make sense of differences among people by talking to them about what they notice.

Children ages 5-10 are seeking to understand rules and apply them in various situations. They are working to be more independent and will naturally test limits and break rules. This is a natural part of development and necessary for growth and learning. 

Children and adults alike feel stress. Stress is the physical or mental response to an external cause, such as being yelled at by an angry sibling or finding a school project difficult. Feelings of stress are built-in mechanisms for human survival and safety. These feelings are the body’s way of warning you when there is a threat and calling your focus to problems that need attention. A...

As a parent or those in a parenting role, you play a key role in your child’s success and development. Your support of your child growing healthy friendships is essential. Your child increases their sense of belonging through their relationships. Through their interactions with you, their teachers, and their peers, they come to better understand themselves. 

As a parent or those in a parenting role, you play an important role in your eight-year-old’s success. Supporting your child in learning to understand and deal with bullying behavior is important for their success in and out of school. One in five children experiences bullying, which can come in the form of repeated name-calling, insults, rumors, taunting, social exclusion, or physical harm.