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• When Your Child is Left Behind

  What is it about a child who is left out?  Their palpable loneliness and disappointment when other kids exclude them from play for reasons of age, disability, or difference, is so painful to watch. As a parent, one of the challenges is of course to decide when to intervene and solve and when to hang back and let your child sort it out for him or herself.  And of course there comes the day when you can't be there -- when your child faces school bullies, or cliques, or worse, all alone. Read More... Posted Sep 04 2007, 04:35 PM by Rachael Brownell (Redsy) with | with 5 comment(s) Filed under: school, no child left behind, kindergarten, kindergarteners, sad kids

• Helping Kids (and You) Handle Immunizations

  Helping your kids through their immunizations is a testing ground for the level of fantasy versus reality you'll sprinkle into their life training.  Will you warn them that it will "hurt"? Or will you claim it will only "pinch"? Will you decry the pain that will eventually subside, or will you tell them to look away?  According to some experts, the best manner for a parent to affect is a matter-of-fact- this-will-be-over-soon seriousness.   Am I the only one who requires Valium and seven helpers to get me through the door? I can't stand the kiddies and their shots.  Especially not the little newies with the pink little feet and the bewildered pained expressions. OY! I'm routinely late with my kids' immunizations (don't worry, they're not in public school), mostly because I have no stomach for the whole business.  Last time, when they were four, I reported that they could expect it to "hurt like hell" at which point they both started crying torrents and I was ordered from the room by more responsible adults. You? Any better tips on helping your kids through? Posted Jun 26 2007, 01:34 PM by Rachael Brownell (Redsy) with | with 8 comment(s) Filed under: parenting, kids, preschool, immunizations, shots, kindergarteners, reality

• Even a Five-Year-Old Can Do Math, Loser

  A recent study found that five-year-olds are able to perform simple addition and subtraction when they are given visual problems, like pictures of candies. The children scored well above chance, even though they hadn't had any formal math training. This leads experts to believe children are naturally able to work with numbers. And since I'm completely inept at it, I'm not sure what that says about me. The problems weren't just "two plus two" either: the numbers ranged from five to 98. The researchers hope to use the results of the study to find ways to better teach children formal math. You mean, like showing them real world applications for math problems? If you gave me some pictures of candy to work with, I'd probably be much more attentive than I was trying to figure out which train is gonna arrive at the station first, like they did in the old word problems we used to have to do. The study was conducted at Harvard. You'll probably see my even-fingered child there in twelve years.   Posted Jun 02 2007, 08:38 AM by Kelly Mills with | with no comments Filed under: research study, kindergarteners, children and education, math