If the goal of gentle parent is to build confident, happy kids from the inside out, then parents need to consider how they create a consistent, patient, and empathic structure for success from the outside in. This short post from Onmanorama.com offers a nice glimpse into that. That “outside in” role for the parent is really what we are getting out when we talk about our “5C’s of Success.” Clarity, Consistency, Collaboration, Consequence and a good Challenge aren’t really features. They’re the structure the app helps you create as a parent to give your kids a chance to own their behaviors just a little bit more. Read on and see what you think!
Category: Techniques
Okay, more for our little Gentle Parenting week: This one from positiveparenting.au goes a little deeper into how the roles of discipline and consequence differ between Gentle Parenting and Positive Parenting. And an insight from the Smiles & Frowns perspective… it’s just good to remember that “consequence” does not equal “punishment”. The app helps kids see the results of their behavior in simple, positive ways that they can start to really own. We hope it gives you a really natural bridge between the empathic approach of the GP and the behavior/response approach that’s built into PP.
Gentle Parenting vs. Positive Parenting — POSITIVE PARENTING
Parenting philosophies shape how we raise our children. One of these, gentle parenting, has recently been gaining attention. Initiated by Sarah Ockwell-Smith, this philosophy revolves around four fundamental elements: empathy for your child’s feelings, respect for your child as an individual, unders
www.positiveparenting.au
We’re gonna group the next few posts up around “gentle parenting,” which is sometimes hard to wrap your head around. At its core, as this nice overview from BrownHealth.org will tell you, it’s about building stronger bonds, self-awareness, and improved family dynamics. That’s very in tune with the goals of our Smiles & Frowns app, which we view as a communications tool as much as a behavior tracker. I’ll go in depth on some post about that soon, but for now… check out the gentle approach!
Wow, that sounds so fancy. But this post from The Well House can show you that it’s possible. AND that the best approaches focus on teaching, not punishing, and build a child’s internal motivation to make good choices.
Why are the early years of a child’s life so important? As children grow into early childhood, their worlds open up and their interactions with those around them completely shape their ways of thinking. So dig into this one from the CDC to learn a little bit more about setting your kids up for success early.
As we wrap up the first quarter of the year, we’re still finding good articles that are looking forward into 2026. This one from The Everymom REALLY shows how the pendulum is starting to swing back towards more intentional, more “analog” approaches to parenting. And even though Smiles & Frowns is an app, we’ve always intended it to be a tool that helps promote real-life communication and collaboration with your kids on the road to better behavior. So read on!
A little local perspective from Your News. It’s just another reminder that the game has changed in the age of devices and digital distractions. (And yes, we know we’re saying this as a behavior app on a device!) It’s a super quick read with a few nice little nuggets you might find helpful.
Like I’ve said, every one of this positive parenting articles can add a little more to your toolkit of techniques and strategies. This one from Penn State Extension has a nice little breakdown of how you might adjust your approach as your child moves through different ages and developmental stages. It’s worth a peek, for sure!
Hey, it’s Wednesday. Our brains are warmed up enough to handle a little psychological theory, right?! This one from A Health Place reveals the psych principles behind positive parenting to help show why it is an effective approach to explore. Click the link! You got this!
Gentle parenting is often misunderstood – and even a little hard to wrap your head around sometimes. Here’s a post from parenting.com that takes another run at explaining the approach. It includes ideas for embraces the pros and minimizing the potential cons that come along with gentle parenting.
