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Susan* bought her 6-year-old son John an iPad when he was in first grade. “I thought, ‘Why not let him get a jump on things?’ ” she told me during a therapy session. John’s school had begun using the devices with younger and younger grades — and his technology teacher had raved about their educational benefits — so Susan wanted to do what was best for her sandy-haired boy who loved reading and playing baseball.
With students’ performances no longer weighted against their peers, educators TODAY interviewed said the changes to the Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE) would relieve some of the stress in the pressure-cooker education system here.
Easy & Economical way of boosting your child's brain development:
Send the children to their rooms. Have a flashlight nearby. And lean in close. This is a scary story. It’s about a monster. Once upon a time my husband had to work 28 days of nights...
The little pocket on your jeans. The little hole in your pen cap. They're not just there for show.
Kids are genius imitators. And you may need to watch closely what they are learning from Internet.
Every parent has lost their temper with his or her child. In fact, researchers say there are signs parental yelling is on the rise. Sue Shellenbarger has the latest research on how to avoid blowing up, and mother of two Leigh Fransen shares her story.
I know you think I wear yoga pants and athletic T-shirts because I spend my days doing pilates while my kids practice Mozart on their harmonicas. But, I’m here to tell you, I wear them because they’re stretchy...
I took this picture because initially I thought it was funny. I was going to send it to my husband to show what our mischievous little three-year-old was up to. However, The moment she told me what she was doing I broke down. She was practicing for a lockdown drill at her preschool and what you should do if you are stuck in a bathroom. At that moment all innocense of what I thought my three-year-old possessed was gone.
Optical illusions can be super fun. They not only reveal a great deal about how the brain works – they can also reveal a great deal about one’s personality.
We decided to create our own DIY Treasure Chest for Toddlers using a baby wipes container and baby food lids to kick off our first activity. And I just happened to have some gold spray paint leftover from our Solomon’s Temple blocks to make our makeshift “treasure chest” and gold coins a little more authentic-looking.
“Oh my god!” the mother squealed. “Baby, are you OK? Did that hurt? What hurts, baby? What hurts?” The little girl commenced sobbing as what I deemed a nice save turned into a tragedy warranting a call to 911.
As spellers from across the country and around the globe gather to take part in the annual Scripps National Spelling Bee, let’s try to settle a basic question: Where does the bee in “spelling bee” come from?
Stuck for ideas this summer? Music is a natural part of everyday life for toddlers. I watch my little ones dance around to any and everything around them each and every day. Even if we don’t have any music playing. They’ll make up their own songs. They’ll sing to their toys.
We all know that children are naturally inquisitive. We also know their inquiry sometimes manifests itself in annoying ways or at inopportune times, “Are we there yet?” or “Is that lady having a baby?” being among the most common examples.
Our culture inundates us with examples of parents losing their cool with inquiring youngsters, from Al Bundy to Homer Simpson. In malls and grocery stores across the country, mothers and fathers are telling their little ones to stop asking, be quiet, or shut up.
Although my husband and I are on equal financial footing right now, my work as a freelancer doesn’t exactly offer long-term stability or the very important benefit of health insurance for our family. But with a bachelor’s in nursing and over six years of experience working as a hospital nurse behind me, I know that should push come to shove, I could go back...
When facing an excruciating battle, say an ongoing fight against leukemia, having a best friend to lean on for support can be just as important as all the doctors and medicine.
Breathing the fresh air, being unplugged and disconnected, experiencing the peacefulness of the outdoors ... it’s pretty fantastic. When kids go outside and play in nature, there are real benefits to both physical health and emotional well-being. The only problem is, kids are spending less time in nature and more time hooked up to their tablets, smartphones, and video games.
The only way we are going to change the world is to change it one man and one boy at a time.
At any given time you’ll find four or more parenting books on my Amazon wish list, a few by my nightstand, and an email box chock full of insightful parenting theories and approaches.
Granted, child development is my career, but I speak with plenty of parents in my practice who find themselves in similar circumstances. With information around every corner and our culture projecting constant messages (many times contradictory) regarding how we should raise our kids, feeling like a confident and intentional parent can seem out of reach many days.
For obvious reasons, praising your kids can lead to a whole lot of good for your little one’s wellbeing. It boosts her confidence and self-esteem while keeping her motivated to do her best. It also shows your tot that you are aware of her struggles and triumphs.
Even for parents, it feels good for you to praise your progeny because they represent the best of you.
Tips to prevent common summer diseases among kids:
1. Ensure that your child drinks liquids from time to time so that he doesn’t get dehydrated. Fresh fruit juices are preferable to colas and other packaged drinks. It would help if he carried a few of his favorite beverages with him.
2. You and your child should maintain the highest level of hygiene and cleanliness at home and wherever else you might go.
3. Put him on a diet of rich in fibers, water-based fruits like water melon, minerals and vegetables.
4. Do not give him cut veggies and fruits or street food that may be spicy, cooked a long time ago, spicy and oily.
5. Dress your child in loose and lightweight cottons. Ensure that he wears a cap when he’s outdoors and uses sunscreen on the exposed parts of his body.
6. Keep him indoors during the hottest parts of the day, i.e. 10am to 2pm.
7. Keep him out of crowded areas and away from the direct glare of the sun.
Pull-up diapers can help with potty training and nighttime training, but knowing when to start and stop using them is key.
Break out that giant collection of toy cars and stick a piece of tape marked with a letter on top of each one. Then have your kid line them up in alphabetical order and sing the ABC song while pointing to the car with the correct letter.
From Jan 1 to May 21 there have been a total of 50 reported measles cases, about three times more than the 17 cases in 2015 during the same period, MOH says.
Those itchy, red eyes may be a common childhood ailment.
How can you keep your kids safer without being their full-time watcher?
Research has found that the closer a child is to their father, the less likely they are to have behavioral problems in the future, Independent reports.
After examining data from parents of 10,440 children, the researchers found that fathers who were emotionally involved with their child and who felt confident in their role as a parent had kids who were 28% less likely to suffer behavioral problems.
The researchers concluded that the psychological and emotional aspects of fatherhood are more powerful in influencing child behavior—not the amount of time fathers help in childcare or domestic tasks.
There is a common belief that Asians are naturally gifted at maths.
Asian countries like Singapore and Japan lead the ranks in first and second position on maths performance in the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) tables – an international survey that ranks education systems worldwide – while Australia sits around 12th.
A great way to get kids to make good choices on their is to Make a Kindness Jar! With 9 & 10 year old siblings, a fair amount of bickering and unkindness occurs in our household. Having tried (and failed) a variety of different ideas, we came across an idea last year that helped them keep kindness top of mind. Inspired by this Good Deed Jar, we took the idea of a Kindness Jar and made it our own.
In the course of his research, leadership expert and author of best-selling psychology books Dr. Tim Elmore has discovered several major mistakes which parents often make when raising their children, which can reduce their self-confidence from an early age and limit their chances of becoming successful in their careers and personal lives.
To help you avoid making the committing the same errors, we’ve reproduced them below. Take a look.
Like many other American parents, I had an obsession: academic success for my child. Only, I was going about it completely wrong. Yes, my daughter would later go on to test above average with her academic skills, but she was missing important life skills. Skills that should have been in place and nurtured during the preschool years....
Their photo series “Pucker,” is what happens when life gave these kids lemons.
When it comes to mommy wars, I tend to be pretty neutral. I feel confident in the choices I make in the raising of my daughter, while also understanding that all kids, homes and parents are different.
Can we talk for a minute about parents who ignore their kids when they are being disruptive?
A few years ago, when our child was still waking up at night (he was two at the time), I went into our Doctor’s office with this complaint… “My 2 year old is still waking up at night .” Her advice changed our nights!
Who here is a parent to a toddler who has not given a smartphone to her child to keep him occupied? If that question were asked in a room full of parents, we'd be surprised if a lot of hands went up.
If you're this talented 2-year-old named Emerson, you just do it with a bit more style. Turns out her dad, Andrew, a cheerleading instructor, knows a few things about perfect cheer posture. The 2014 clip gained significant attention after an Instagram post, by the man's cousin, actress Brooklyn Decker.
Daughter: What's love daddy?
Dad: You are.
Watermelon season is back in full swing! When you go to the store to get your family their favorite summertime fruit, don’t struggle to figure out which melons are ripe. It can be difficult to tell with watermelon’s hard exterior, but there are tricks that instantly let you know if the watermelon is ready to eat. Watch the video below and learn these three tricks for yourself!
Lyla Cohen, a 2-year-old from Darien, Connecticut, sleeps through the night, eats almost everything, and always wears a big smile. But there’s one thing that drives her parents nuts: Lyla wants to be naked all the time. “She fights like crazy whenever I try to put her clothes on,” says her mom, Shannon. “Then she strips down as the day goes on.”
Leaving the baby stage is bittersweet. Gone are the newborn snuggles, the new baby smell, the squishy baby cheeks, the itsy bitsy outfits and the adorable milestones. But as you leave this precious stage behind, you also enter a new one – and boy, it is a doozy!
A sibling relationship is one of the most vital of all relationships we will have in this life. A best friend to grow up with, fight with, and fight for. Most days it feels like the “fight with” overshadows the fight for.
Seriously, why are they even posing better than me?
One of the best documentary series that will thrill people of all gender and ages. It consists of total 11 episodes, each featuring a specific biosphere of our planet Earth. Narrated by David Attenborough, BBC put their best resources into making this stellar work. Watch one episode, you will come out amazed.
Mosquitoes. They’re an incredibly rude bunch. They don’t even offer to take you to dinner before biting, draining your blood and exposing you to all sorts of nasty diseases. Speaking of blood, did you know that mosquitoes actually have a preferred type?
Adorable video shows the 4-month-old, who has impaired vision due to a rare condition called oculocutaneous albinism, having glasses placed over his eyes. His response to the first sight of his mom is just heart-melting.
Since my wife is a teacher, I have spent countless hours listening to teachers tell their stories. This has caused me to recognize some things I would like to share with my fellow parents.