Parenting School-Age Kids: A CHD Targeted Toolkit

Ages 5 - 12 Years

Parents are a child's first and most important teachers and therapists. This collection of resources highlights the many ways parents and other caregivers can promote healthy development in school-age kids with congenital heart defects (CHDs).

Two blond children with congenital heart defects (CHDs) kneel next to a low wooden table, playing chess.

Cognitive (thinking and understanding)

Parents can engage their children in many activities and conversations to promote their development of thinking, learning, and problem solving. This article explains how.

A child with a congenital heart defect (CHD) wearing a blue hoodie and a black fuzzy had joyfully jumps off a red clay path.

Motor and movement

During middle childhood, kids can continue to get better at using their hands and bodies. Parents and families can help them to reach their physical goals using these strategies.

Two girls with congenital heart defects (CHDs) sit on the pavement, talking and drawing with chalk.

Social

As children enter the more peer-based social world of middle childhood, parents and caregivers can use these strategies to support their social understanding and social skills.

A mom with brown hair and a white shirt sits on a bed, cuddling her young daughter who has a congenital heart defect (CHD), a gray shirt, and dark bangs.

Attachment

Regardless of their child's age, parents can always work to build a more secure parent-child attachment. Secure attachments help children to develop strong social and emotional skills.

A mom with curly blond hair lies on her stomach on a bed next to her daughter, who has a congenital heart defect (CHD), curly brown hair, and pink shirt.

Language

Children's language skills continue to develop throughout childhood, and parents can help children to learn more sophisticated skills with these strategies.

A mother and her daughter with a congenital heart defect (CHD) sit in a butterfly position on yoga mats, facing each other and smiling.

Emotions

Parents and caregivers can help kids with heart defects to develop emotional intelligence and emotional learning.

Sleep

Kids with heart defects sometimes have sleep schedules or sleep habits that do not work well within their families. Parents can use these strategies to make things better.

A little boy with a congenital heart defect (CHD) lies on his stomach on a white mattress, wearing headphones and typing on a laptop.

Learning in elementary school

While kids are in elementary school, parents can use these activities and strategies to help them learn at home.

A middle school boy with a congenital heart defect (CHD) has curly black hair, a white shirt, shorts, and sneakers and stands on a bike path.

Learning in middle school

These strategies and activities can help middle school students to make progress in their learning while they are at home.

A child with a congenital heart defect (CHD) wears a plaid jacket and a black hat and runs joyfully on a sidewalk in front of a cityscape.

ADHD

These videos explain how parents can understand and support their child with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.

A mom with a tan shirt and black braids holds her little girl, who has a congenital heart defect (CHD) and is wearing a cream colored shirt, in a field of grass.

Behavior

These strategies can help parents and other caregivers to feel confident in managing children's challenging behaviors in a way that promotes their mental health and sense of well-being.

Two women stand on a grassy hillside with their son, who has a congenital heart defect (CHD), and is squatting on the ground petting a dog.

Mental health

Children with congenital heart defects (CHDs) sometimes struggle with mental health challenges, but parents and other caregivers can always help them to feel better.