Is your kid addicted to video games such as Fortnight or Minecraft?

Understanding the value of video games to children may ease conflict between children and parents seeking more balance in their daily lives. Child psychologists offer the following tips to parents:

First, it’s important to note that action video games cultivate spatial skills needed in advanced mathematics and engineering. Parents should not demonize mes altogether because they offer proven benefits to brain development.

Second, games like Fortnight provide a social experience as friends team up and communicate by headsets to banter and coordinate strategy. Again, parents should lighten up somewhat on games because their kids are often engaged in a group activity requiring communication and fostering relationships.

Third, instead of opposing the games, parents should simply set limits and promote their involvement in other important activities such as completing homework, playing outside, and participating in family life.

Spivak Law Firm handles all areas of family law with a special focus on child custody. To schedule a consultation, call us at (412) 344-4900 or toll free at (800) 545-9390.

It has long been known that reading and playing with young children helps them with early literacy skills and promotes bonding between parent and child.

But it also helps curb problem behaviors in children like aggression, hyperactivity, and difficulty with attention, according to a new study published in the journal Pediatrics.

Spivak Law Firm handles all areas of family law with a special focus on child custody. In most cases, we help parents negotiate custody agreements. We also have significant experience with high-conflict cases that involve extensive litigation and custody trials.

To speak with an experienced child custody lawyer, call Spivak Law Firm at (412) 344-4900 or toll free at (800) 545-9390.

If you’re a parent addicted to opiates or other illegal drugs, you are at risk of losing custody of your children.

At Spivak Law Firm, we have significant experience helping parents with drug and alcohol addictions retain custodial rights over their children.

We have helped many parents reunite with their children by obtaining court orders providing them shared or even primary physical custody.

Some of our clients tell their hopeful stories here.

We help parents connect with important resources. We work with our clients to develop long-term strategies to achieve their goals.

Spivak Law Firm provides strong, compassionate, cost-effective representation in all child-custody matters. To speak with an experienced child-custody attorney, call us at (412) 344-4900 or toll free at (800) 545-9390.

For kids as young as two- or three-years-old, lying is actually a sign of intelligence.

New research shows that toddlers who lie have the following traits compared to other toddlers:

• Higher verbal I.Q.s, by as much as 10 points;
• Better faculties for enabling them to control impulses and remain focused on a task;
• Heightened ability to see the world through other people’s eyes and other indicators of cognitive development; and
• More well-adjusted and socially adept.

Spivak Law Firm handles all areas of family law, including: divorce, child custody, child support, Children Youth and Families (CYF) and Protection From Abuse (PFA). To speak with an experienced family-law attorney, call Spivak Law Firm at (412) 344-4900 or toll free at (800) 545-9390.

Should you let your child play football or hockey?

As medical research continues to link sports-related concussions to long-term brain damage, families increasingly disagree about whether it is worth the risks.

A current child-custody dispute in Upper St. Clair has gotten national attention, as the father of a 17-year-old boy has asked a family-court judge to block him from playing football.

The boy, whose brother plays football for Case Western University in Cleveland, has suffered at least three concussions. His mother supports his decision to play.

Spivak Law Firm handles all matters involving child custody. We provide strong, compassionate, cost-effective representation in all family-law matters.

To schedule a free consultation, call Spivak Law Firm at (412) 344-4900 or toll free at (800) 545-9390.

Over the last few years, there has been growing support for making shared parenting the presumption in child custody cases.

Here are three major reasons why shared parenting is great for families:

• Shared parenting is best for kids. Study after study shows that children are better off when they have access to both parents after divorce or separation.
• Shared parenting minimizes conflict. When the court puts each parent on equal footing, there is less room for disagreements and they are more likely to form a healthy co-parenting relationship.
• Shared parenting sends the right message about fatherhood. When a judge grants a mother more parenting time without justification, it sends a harmful message to the kids about the father.

Spivak Law Firm handles all areas of family law, including: divorce, child custody, child support, and PFA hearings. To speak with an experienced family law attorney, call Spivak Law Firm at (412) 344-4900 or toll free at (800) 545-9390.

In making child-custody decisions, judges take a variety of factors into account, including the needs of the child and any history of abuse and domestic violence.

Extensive research finds that children who experience caregiver separation are more likely to develop heart disease, weakened immune system or other long-term health problems.

Parents should work with an experienced child-custody attorney to ensure that judges have all the information they need to make the best possible decision for the child.

Spivak Law Firm offers strong, compassionate representation in child-custody matters while aiming to protect children in the process. To schedule an appointment with an experienced family-law attorney, call us at (412)-344-4900.

Receiving a phone call from a teacher regarding your child’s performance in school can be stressful. It is important to discuss the issue with your ex-spouse in the best interest of your child.

Talk to one another regarding the issue, and work together as a team. Consider coordinating your schedules in order to meet with the teacher at the same time. This way you can develop a common plan to address your child’s needs.

To speak with an experienced child custody attorney, call Spivak Law Firm at (412) 344-4900 or toll free at (800) 545-9390.

Child custody mediation provides an opportunity for you and the other parent to discuss what is best for your child without attorneys present. It is a time reserved for working out an ideal schedule for both the parents and the child.

Here are four don’ts for mediating a custody dispute:

• Don’t neglect the needs of your child;
• Don’t assume one parenting plan works for all children;
• Don’t go to mediation without a plan; and
• Don’t denigrate the other parent.

To speak with an experienced child custody attorney, contact Spivak Law Firm at (412) 344-4900 or toll free at (800) 545-9390.