Growing up, I was unsure of what made parents postpone kindergarten. I never quite understood why some of my friends were much older than me, why certain kids went to pre-school while others did not, or the complexities behind a child explaining that their parents “just kept them home” for another year. Having finished school and working with various families, I now see the reasons why parents would opt to postpone kindergarten and tack on another year of pre-school or pre-kindergarten. (Read more…)

There are always those studies released that say that we should all eat organic and local, and even more studies that show that putting your kids on a special diet will help them with this disorder and that disease. A few years ago it was stressed that parents of autistic children put their kids on a reduced-gluten, soy based diet. Needless to say, specialized diets are expensive, especially when there is just one kid in the house who may benefit from the decision. While browsing through StrollerDerby this morning, I came across an article that discusses pesticides and ADHD, which struck me much more than usual.

(Read more…)

We all agree that getting children to read is an important part of their intellectual development. But what if your kid would rather gouge his eyes out than pick up that copy of “Great Expectations” you got him at the library last week?

After completing a three year analysis on what’s being called the “summer slide” of reading skills among school children, researchers at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, have happened upon a significant factor is keeping kids interested in books; let them choose their own reading material.

In a study where 852 first and second graders were allowed to choose from over 600 free books, most participants  did not choose books related to their course materials or age range. In fact, Tara Parker-Pope of the New York Times reports, one of the most popular books was a biography on Britney Spears.  Not exactly Charles Dickens. But when researchers compared reading test results from these children to a control group who did not receive books, they found that the experimental group had significantly better test scores (especially among the poorest children). It would seem then that a book on Brit is better than no book at all.

So rather than picking up every book on your child’s “suggested summer reading list”, it might be worthwhile to let your child choose a book that speaks to his or her interest (even if it is a comic book about a flatulent superhero). Anything that makes reading seem more like fun and less like a chore may contribute to better reading habits and vocabulary later in life.

With that in mind, we at Speakaboos are launching our Summer Reading Program — watch any 10 of our storybook videos, submit an entry form listing what you watched, and we’ll send you an Arthur Celebrity Audiobook CD! Happy reading!

I’ll never forget the day my mother started working two jobs because my parents split up. She was devastated. After not having to work at all when we were super young, the drastic change made all of us nervous. When I found this article on the Washington Post, I was ecstatic. No longer do working moms have to feel like they are doing a terrible job of raising their children, just because they have to work. Columbia University’s recent study contradicts one done in 2002, which showed that mothers who returned to work quickly after childbirth hampered their child’s development. Now, it seems that going back to work early on may actually prove to be quite positive for mothers and their children.

One thing that struck me in the article is this: “[working mothers] displayed greater “maternal sensitivity,” or responsiveness toward their children, than stay-at-home mothers.” That’s incredible, since it’s always the same argument among stay-at-home parents: not being there means your child doesn’t get enough love or attention. Granted, there’s always the issue of finding quality childcare, but at least now mothers can feel less guilty about rushing off to work and know that their child’s development will not be obstructed in any way by their career decisions.

Cheers, working moms!

The other day I was browsing through a few posts on the NYTimes Motherlode blog and came accross a ridiculous story about a 67-year-old woman who sued Qantas airlines for losing her hearing, claiming it was a result of a screaming child and airline crew negligence. The woman experienced hearing loss and wore hearing aids prior to boarding the flight. They reached a settlement but it is “sealed.” This case sounds almost as fishy as the one where that woman sued McDonald’s for burning herself on their hot coffee… (Read more…)

A while back, I wrote a post about social media and how it influences teen relationships and friendships. I argued hopefully somewhat effectively and coherently that social media websites such as Facebook and MySpace are actually beneficial to teen development and that they help foster deeper and more intricate relationships. But at what point is privacy invasion necessary to protect your children from websites that could potentially endanger them? In a world where people create websites that provide instructions for developing a bomb, it’s really difficult to argue against parental involvement.

Though I argued once before that parents should stay out of their child’s social media presence and allow them to freely use these sites, I feel I cannot make the same argument for the entire Internet. At a certain point, the birds and the bees of Internet safety are unavoidable. It is up to parents, not teachers or school administrators, to sit down with their children and explain how to safely use the Internet.  Fortunately, modern parents don’t have as much of an excuse as my parents did ten years ago when I started using America Online to chat with my friends or go into chat rooms.  Since neither of my parents worked in offices, they had limited interaction with computers and therefore, couldn’t make heads or tails of what I was doing. Dial-up connection probably protected me best. Today’s parents are familiar with the web and use it themselves, and many most likely have Facebook accounts either for networking or socializing. Though the youth will always have a better understanding of technology, there’s still plenty they will choose to ignore simply because they’re young. Even at 21, I know the feeling of invincibility is a curse inflicted, maybe even wasted, upon the youth.

Most kids don’t want to deal with helicopter parents who hover over them and control what they do. Once the early teen years arrive, they generally want their space and privacy. Blogger Nancy Gibbs for Time online writes, “Most of us were probably less than immaculately honest as teenagers; it’s practically encoded into adolescence that you savor your secrets, dress in disguise, carve out some space for experiments and accidents and all the combustible lab work of becoming who you are.” Secrecy is a part of growing up. The best way to protect your child from harm is just to illustrate the risks involved. In the end, not unlike your own experience, mistakes will only serve as a reminder that parents might actually know what they’re talking about… and you can always say, “I told you so!”

To check out the Time Mag blog click here.

NEW YORK, NY July 19, 2010— Just in time for summer reading, Speakaboos introduces a new way for kids and parents to enjoy the site’s free online catalog of classics, such as “Mary had a Little Lamb” and Jack and the Beanstalk. The digital publisher of celebrity-narrated fairy tales, fables, nursery rhymes, and folk tales has launched a channel on Kideos the premier destination for kids to safely watch videos online. Each video storybook and music video is animated, narrated, and subtitled so children can easily read and sing along with their favorite celebrities such as Kelly Ripa, Kevin Bacon and Nick Cannon.

“At Speakaboos, we believe that kids should be exploring the web safely, using it as a means to help their education.  We are delighted to share our videos with the Kideos audience,” says Noelle Milholt, associate publisher for Speakaboos. “We hope they enjoy discovering new songs and stories while revisiting their favorites.” (Read more…)

In her 1989 book Family Size and Achievement, Judith Blake calls the only child peculiar, “over privileged, asocial, royally autonomous…self-centered, aloof and overly intellectual.”  The article I read today in Time Magazine (“One and Done” by Lauren Sandler) spends most of its time trying to refute these classifications of only children (or “singletons” as the article insisted on calling them – a distinction I found unnervingly too trendy).  Sandler cites psychological surveys, financial statistics, case studies, Europe, and her own “singleton” child as evidence to disprove the “ Only Child Myth.” “Onlies” do better in school, are more likely to seek higher education, they have more confidence, better relationships with their parents  and are at least as well adjusted as their peers who have siblings. Having one child allows parents to experience the joys of child rearing without the haggardness that comes with having multiple children. And for low-income families, “onlies” are far more cost efficient than multiple children – a recession proof baby, what’s not to want?

But for all Sandler’s talk about financial efficiency and parental bliss, she never discusses how the “singletons” actually feel about their familial situation. In fact, Sandler seems to have carefully chosen to interview only parents with very young children, perhaps to avoid giving her audience a child’s perspective on growing up without siblings.

I was raised as an only child (I make the distinction from of saying “I am an only child” because I did have a half-brother, but our sixteen year age gap prevented us from ever growing up together like siblings). I do have a close relationship with my parents. And while my circumstances may have enabled a richer intellectual upbringing (I always did very well academically and was able to graduate from college a year and half early), I’m not sure it was an ideal situation. For the most part I was a very awkward, very lonely little girl. All I wanted was a younger sister – which I begged my parents for every Christmas, but though my parents wanted other children, they’d had me late in life and having more wasn’t a medical option (this was a few years before infertility treatments became popular). Though I now have a healthy and fulfilling social life, I can’t help but wonder whether I would have been more comfortable with myself if I’d had a sibling to pal around with.

To date I’ve never met an only child whose parents chose to stop at one; they’re always a product of circumstance, usually divorce or infertility. For the most part we’re well-adjusted human beings living among the masses, though there are always going to bet the few who are self-centered, aloof, and asocial. Similarly, I’ve never met an only child who didn’t at one point in time long for a sibling. Ours’ is a position of acceptance, not privilege, though it does enable a certain early maturity (while I can’t say my grades had anything to do with my status as an only child, I can say that ability to productively use “alone time” is probably an effect of my upbringing).  Sandler makes some interesting arguments in favor of having one child, but having gone through it myself I don’t think I could do it another child. Intellectual growth and alone time aside, when/if I have children, I want just that – children, not child.

Article Link:  http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,2002382,00.html

There’s an article I read the other day in New York Magazine that I find highly disturbing yet exceptionally poignant called, “I Love My Children; I Hate My Life.” The article discusses the reasons behind modern parent woes and misery, as well as offering a few statistics for “happiness” levels across the board. It’s a sad and tragic truth that many modern parents are not as excited about parenthood as they could and should be. However, all that said, today’s anxieties are not groundless, though they certainly shouldn’t be used for any sort of victim card. (Read more…)

Parents seek advice from everyone (even if we don’t always want to hear it). Sometimes that advice comes from family, sometimes from friends, and mostly it comes from our kids. But even cartoon characters can give us advice. Even the most evil and despicable ones at that.
In the new movie, Despicable Me, Steve Carell plays the world’s worst villain but maybe one of the best dads. And despite being “evil”, Gru shows us exactly what we need to do as parents. He cooks the kids breakfast, the most important meal of the day. He reads to them, which has been proven to increase kids vocabularies and help them speak earlier. He goes to their ballet classes and actively partakes in their lives. Most important, though, is that Gru puts the kids before his own needs. Maybe being a super villain is his day job but being a dad is his life. The movie hits theatres on Friday, and I think it’s a great family movie.
To learn more of Gru’s excellent parenting advice, click here.