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Teens must have ever increasing opportunities to practice reasoning and decision making: “In order to strengthen their decision-making skills, teens need environments that present neither too little nor too great a level of challenge--neither an overprotective environment that presents too few opportunities for learning from mistakes and coming up against problems nor an overwhelming environment that presents too few opportunities for trying out new coping strategies and experiencing successes.”

    This is the third in a series of articles in which parents of teens share their experiences. The series follows the outline of five basics of parenting adolescents presented in a recent study from the Harvard University Center for Health Communication: (1) love and connect, 2) monitor and observe, 3) guide and limit, 4) model and consult, and 5) provide and advocate. The study is available free online: "Raising Teens: A Synthesis of Research and a Foundation for Action," by A. Rae Simpson, Ph.D.,

This is the second in a series designed to share parents' experiences with raising teenagers. A study from the Harvard University Center for Health Communication - "Raising Teens: A Synthesis of Research and a Foundation for Action," by A. Rae Simpson, Ph.D., - outlined five basics of parenting teens, and in this article we’re addressing the second “basic ”-- monitor and observe.

Do you ever read parenting advice from experts and wonder how to actually put the recommendations to use in real life? Here is a collection of parents' narratives about their experience raising teens.

Less than 20 miles from Washington, DC, there are 6600 acres of protected lands on the Mason Neck peninsula along the Potomac River. This beautiful land, an important nesting site for bald eagles, herons, and many other animals, was almost lost to suburban sprawl.

A survey on affordability, report on the results and a resource list. 

We asked some of our staff and volunteers to share their ideas on gift-giving

An unexpected thing happened when I put my son on the school bus for the first time.