When she was a preschooler, my daughter Erin spent most of her day in motion. From the time her feet hit the floor until the moment her eyes closed she was dancing. Her days were spent organizing costumes, creating props and planning shows, all for the sole purpose of dance. Our house was filled not … Read more about Helping Kids Find Their Learning Styles: Learn By Doing
Memorizing “Mary Had a Little Lamb” may not make the cut as preeminent advice in most parenting columns, but it turns out there are more than just sentimental reasons to weave “Itsy Bitsy Spider” into your child’s web of experiences. Recent cognitive neuroscience findings support the use of nursery rhymes to enhance young minds, according to Betsy … Read more about Can Nursery Rhymes Make Baby Smarter?
If someone told you that you hold the key to unlocking your baby’s academic potential, improving the probability that she will stay in school, increasing her lifespan, nurturing her emotional development and self esteem, and stimulating her imagination, wouldn’t you respond by asking, “How?” How can these goals be accomplished? The object that enables you … Read more about The ABCs of Reading to Baby: Reading Aloud
Bunny My Honey How Bunny loves his mommy in this adorable book! And Mommy adores her little one. But one day Bunny runs too far on his own and gets lost in the deep woods. A sweet, reassuring book by the illustrator of Guess How Much I Love You. Baby Faces Full of crisp, color photographs, Baby Faces captures … Read more about 14 Great Classic Books Must-Have for Every Child’s Library
The Basics Just as all people must learn to crawl before they can walk, children must attain certain milestones before they can become part of the world of words. Parents can do much to help unlock the magical realm of reading. When your baby is even just days old, there are steps you an take … Read more about Tips for Developing Pre-Reading Skills in Young Children
Healthy foods that kids will actually eat! Oscar Dip As “guacamole,” author Barnes’ son wasn’t interested in this dip. But once she called it “Oscar Dip” after the green lovable monster from Sesame Street, he was hooked. The lime juice and cilantro give this salsa a sweet instead of spicy flavor. Increase the onion for those … Read more about Mmm, Organic! 3 Smart Toddler Snacks
Zachary and Margo went on their first dates before they were six weeks old; one-year-old Mike started walking and dating at about the same time; and Chance and Campbell (my twin boys) didn’t date until they were almost two. Play dates may be all the rage (you didn’t think these kids were really dating, did you?), but … Read more about The Dating Game: Is Your Child Ready for Play Dates?
Communication Skills Between the magic of a child’s first words—received by a parent’s enraptured attention—and the time when the child grows, real communication sometimes gets lost. It is not uncommon for frustrated parents to feel like their toddler or preschool has selective hearing and isn’t listening to a word they say. What happened between that moment of … Read more about Baby Language Development: Ways to get your baby talking
Step by Step The first year of parenting can seem like a marathon of body and mind. Your arms become toned without stepping into a gym. Changing diapers, coordinating naps, and sitting down for feedings can gulp up an entire day. Each month launches new developments, with all their joys and uncertainties. Some days it … Read more about Enjoying Your Baby, from Day One to Year One
The ultimate transformation of a fertilized blob into the very person reading this–you–is an amazing process. Of course, one structure, the brain, makes us what we are on the food chain. The superior brain of Homo sapiens has allowed us to dominate and run the world. (Whether our brains are superior enough to do that … Read more about Anatomy of a Fetus: The Brain