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Julie Taylor

Julie Taylor started as a Pinwheel customer, and after realizing the positive effect the smartphone had on her child and others, she felt compelled to leave her corporate position at a Fortune 250 telecommunications company to support Pinwheel's growth. She now focuses on building and fostering communications strategies, media relations, and content creation.

Summer Break or Summer Slide?

Summer brings up such fond memories, but the transition can throw a lot of kids (and their parents!) for a loop. The abrupt switch from the hectic school year to summer break feels like cannonballing into a pool for the first time, and the quick change can cause issues.

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Summer Break: Kids Need Friends

It goes without saying that kids need to stay connected to their friends, and summertime is the perfect opportunity for kids to hone their social skills. During the school year, children sit with friends at lunch and run with the crowd at recess. But in the summer, those opportunities don't come naturally; it takes a bit of work to consider the when, where, and whom! By allowing our kids to take the reins on this, they're learning crucial social skills that will set the stage for their adult relationships.  

Through research, we know that “exposure to positive experiences, settings, and people, as well as opportunities to gain and refine life skills, supports young people in the acquisition and growth of [their] assets”. Let's try to break this down further.

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Summer Break: Connecting with Your Kids

Summer is just around the corner, and our kids are counting down how they'll spend three months free from homework, standardized tests, and hours in the classroom. While most parents don't have the same break as their kids, it's still a great opportunity to get to know your child and help them transition into the new season. 

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How Music Enhances Learning

Just whistle while your work. Or ask your smart speaker to crank up the tunes while you clean. Music not only gets adults in the right headspace to focus on a task, but kids as well. Next time your child is prepping for a big test, encourage them to turn on some background music to boost their brain function. Research shows that music can impact emotions and thought processes, which can help lower stress before a test and contribute to focus. 

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Finances on Pinwheel

It's a step better than a paper check, but cash is rare these days. A lot of people rely on cash apps, like Venmo and PayPal, to pay their babysitters and dog walkers. 

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Screen Time Shouldn't Make You Anxious

Research finds parenting with tech causes anxiety, but Pinwheel offers the solution.

Do you feel like screen time makes parenting harder?  If so, you’re not alone. A Pew Research study launched in 2020 found that the majority of parents think that parenting is harder today than it was two decades ago. And many parents say that technology is to blame. 

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How to: Bring Back Family Dinner

It's so hard to choose the dinner table over the content that Marvel is releasing! After a long days of school, work and extracurriculars, it's easier to turn to She-Hulk's plucky story than engage with each other over dinner. Well, research shows that the easy option isn't the best. Again.   

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Parent’s Rights in a Digital World

The concept of internet privacy contains enough nuances and jargon to make it difficult for even politicians, let alone the average consumer, to understand. With new legislation introduced, the most under-protected group—children—now face a better chance at maintaining their wellbeing while growing up in the digital age. 

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