How to encourage literacy with your children

Encouraging literacy is very important. And, new studies have shown that you can never start too early. Literacy is a key foundational block to being successful as an adult and gives children confidence as they enter school. Here are the top five steps. For more information, see the full article on Gideon Learning Blog.

1. Read aloud to your child.

2. Attend age-appropriate storytimes with your child.

3. Have books in the house.

4. Encourage reading by being a reader.

5. Encourage conversation with your children even before they can speak.

Spanking may lower a child's IQ

A report was presented in San Diego on September 25th by a sociologist that suggests children who are spanked or physically punished have lower IQs. Murray Strauss along with his colleague from the Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation looked at 1,510 children — 806 kids ages 2 to 4, and 704 ages 5 to 9 over a period of 4 years. They "found that roughly three-quarters had endured some kind of corporal punishment in the previous two weeks, according to interviews with the mothers. Researchers measured the children's IQ initially, then again four years later. Those kids who hadn't been spanked in the initial survey period scored significantly better on intelligence and achievement tests than those who had been hit. " The connection between physical punishment and brain development is explained as fear and stress from the hitting which inhibits focus and learning. They even tracked countries that accept corporal punishment and the lower levels of IQs in those countries. Most of us know that hitting doesn't solve the problem or teach our children the lessons we want to teach them. But, now there is strong evidence to suggest we are truly doing our children a disservice by hitting them when they need discipline. For more information on this study, visit the time.com link to the article covering this story. There are also other sites who are covering these findings so you can simply google it.

Family Car Stickers

We have all seen them around and I have even contemplated getting them -the cute little family car stickers that are on the back window of many vans, station wagons, SUVs and even some sedans. Everyone is proud of their family and this is one more way to show that. But, you need to be careful when you disclose information about your family too. Not to make you paranoid, but you need to remember that there are bad people out there ready to take advantage of any information you give them about your family. No names should ever be used on these stickers and even showing the age appropriate relationships in the family can put you at some risk. If someone saw you and your children coming out of the car, they would know how many children in the family, if there are pets, sometime what sports are played. Someone trying to make contact could use this info to try to act familiar with your family and especially your kids. It takes one moment of your son or daughter running back to the car with friends to wait for you while you finish talking to the coach or teacher for someone to approach and use this info. And, if you have a school bumper sticker also, that will help them even more. Again, be proud of your family, but be safe and remember how this information can be used.

Another blog with this same information which quotes a news update from Fox News:

http://simplesahm.com/2008/10/warning-vinyl-car-stickers-may-be-a-safety-hazard-for-families/

Ongoing Parenting...

Just when you thought you had gotten through to your child or children on the rules and consequences of breaking them, they seem to challenge you again. It is always a surprise, especially when they get older and are supposed to understand the concept of cause and effect. But, the stages of development are many and beyond my relatively limited parenting expertise. But, as they say, parenting is a life-long role. It never stops. So, what do we do? We talk to friends with children and learn about their experiences and what they have tried. We read books (I am a big fan of books and have a wide collection of these!), we watch tv shows (sometimes helpful, sometimes not - Everytime I watch Super Nanny I think I have the most well-behaved children ever!) and we attend classes. I am including a few of these below, but it is only a partial list as we know. Good luck and never stop learning about how you can be the best parent ever!

Books:

Have a New Kid by Friday by Dr. Kevin Leman - http://www.booksreadall.com/books-Have-a-New-Kid-by-Friday-How-to-Change-Your-Child-s-Attitude-Behavior-Character-in-5-Days.html

I Break for Meltdowns by Michelle Nicholasen - http://www.amazon.com/Brake-Meltdowns-Exasperating-Behavior-5-year-old/dp/0738211672/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1233503690&sr=1-1

Setting Limits with your Strong-willed Child by Dr. Robert MacKenzie - http://www.amazon.com/Setting-Limits-Your-Strong-Willed-Child/dp/0761521364/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1233503651&sr=8-1

These books (and more on the subject) are available at Amazon.com.

Classes:

Parenting for Peace is a class taught in the East Bay which is supposed to be very effective. They have workshops, seminars and individual counseling. http://www.peaceparenting.org/

Putting Kids First online classes - http://puttingkidsfirst.org/parentingclassinformation.html

Positive Parenting in Ojai has a newsletter and book store that could prove helpful. http://puttingkidsfirst.org/parentingclassinformation.html

Life Matters - a good site for online classes, videos and other resources. Worth perusing. http://www.lifematters.com/parentn.asp

Online Articles:

Kidsource.com has quite a few articles to check out - http://www.kidsource.com/kidsource/pages/parenting.general.html

Q-tips No Longer Recommended

I think all of us have grown up with Q-tips being used in our ears as kids to clean out the ear wax. However, these days it is definitely not recommended by the medical community and can lead to health concerns such as poor hearing and in rare cases, a punctured ear drum. I know that our pediatrician said "nothing larger than an elbow" should be put in the ear. I have to admit I do use a tissue on my fingertip on the outer part of the ear. However, I have never used Q-tips as there is really no control over how far we can push them in and I just don't want to do any damage. There are also over the counter kits to help with ear wax if there is a lot of build up or your doctor can remove it safely in his/her office. Here is an article from web MD to help provide you with some additional info. But, feel free to do your own research. That is always the best proof! http://blogs.webmd.com/all-ears/2006/01/earwax-good.html

Protecting Our Children against Sexual Abuse

No one wants to think about sexual abuse - a horrendous possibility. However, with a young soon to be 5 year old girl, unfortunately, this possibility has started to fill my thoughts. I would be torn apart if ever I put her in a situation to trust an adult who then not only took that trust away but violated her carefree disposition as all 5 year olds. I was thinking of researching a few sites when I saw an ad on CNN for this organization. This site seems very thorough - stats, local resources, articles and of course, prevention and programs. I found that the 7 STEPS TO PROTECTING OUR CHILDREN on this site: http://www.darkness2light.org/7steps/step1.asp is a great start as well as a good intro to the site. Other sites that I found: http://www.apa.org/releases/sexabuse/protect.html for the American Psychological Association and http://helpandhealing.org/PreventionProtectingKids.htm from the Rape Crisis Program in a county in OH, but the info is still relevant and important. It never hurts to be aware of the dangers of sexual molestation and abuse.

Common Sense Media Ratings

Ever unsure what the tv and movie ratings really mean? Sometimes a G-rated movie like Wall-e is not appropriate for 5-7 year olds while a PG-rated movie such as Bee Movie is ok for the 5-7 age group...and what do the ratings for TV programs really mean? It sometimes makes parenting difficult when you have to be educated on all the information your child sees and there is A LOT of information out there!

I found a site that includes movies (in theaters and on DVD), tv programs, games, music, web sites and books and uses the web site's staff, group of parent experts as well as kids for specific age groups. It is easy to navigate and understand. The basic rating premise is green for go, yellow for caution and red means stop. There are also age levels associated with the colors too as programs may be appropriate for 8+ but not 4 year olds. This site takes some of the guesswork out of the ratings and gives you more information before going to that movie or allowing to rent a DVD or buy a book. We as parents can't pre-read all our children's books or preview all their DVDs before they do. So, this site is very nice to reference when those opportunities arise! http://www.commonsensemedia.org/

How to Raise a Successful Child - According to the Experts

There was an interesting program on The Big Idea with Donnie Deutsch last week about successful children and how to raise them. There were a handful of panelists with somewhat differing ideas but some similarities too. Troy Dunn was one of the guests and he has written a book about it, not to mention living it with 7 children of his own. He think it is healthy to give them incentive to win early as this is how life is and otherwise you are shielding them from it. Kimberly Spinks Burleson was also on the show and talked about the influence her father had and how she influences her children to succeed. Dr. Koplewicz, a psychiatrist, has his own top 10 list of how to raise successful children including taking time with your kids, share your stuggles, let kids make mistakes. And, Donnie himself, seemingly based on the collective info from the panelists, has The Ultimate Playbook for Raising Your Kids for Success. Always interesting to hear what the "experts" say and then adapt it according to the very personal needs of your own children. Take a look and make your own assessment...http://www.cnbc.com/id/24856934 - another article to add to your parenting playbook!

Tip of the Month - Real Simple

This magazine is the best for busy moms! It has organization tips including worksheets and checklists to help you, great recipes, short cut tips, road trip tips, product reviews and articles on making time for yourself, family memories etc. If you have not taken a look at this magazine yet, check out the web site: http://www.realsimple.com/realsimple/homepage/flash/0,23022,,00.shtml

It is a gem especially for us busy moms!

Tip of the Month: Why Kids Lie

I found this interesting article from New York Magazine about kids and lying. Very eye-opening! It is always good to read what you can on all aspects of parenting and raising children. Take a look and see if you are doing what you should be to keep your kids honest!http://nymag.com/news/features/43893/

Family-related Articles & News

These family-related article links will provide you with interesting and relevant information for families. The information can include best places to live as a family, infertility issues, colic updates, unique art projects, how to balance your life as a "supermom", most family friendly companies etc.

I hope to have a nice running list of articles in the next few months but would also like it to be an opportunity for others to share what is important for them to read. Any topics you would like to read about, just let me know via a comment.

"Families Share Autistic Traits" - Nov 24, 2005 http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/4464434.stm

"Car Seats: Essential Information, Part I" - May 17, 2004
http://www.informedparent.com/articles/template.php?article=carseats1

"Car Seats: Essential Information, Part II" - June 21, 2004
http://www.informedparent.com/articles/template.php?article=carseats2

Working Mother Magazine's 100 Best Companies for the working mom
http://vebranch.rgisolutions.com/web?service=vpage/77

"Raising an Adventurous Eater" on parenting.com
http://www.parenting.com/parenting/child/article/0,19840,1181768,00.html?topic=12062&topic=l1365&cid=tout-tagcloud-cookingforkids

Top Ten Parenting Pitfalls from WebMD.com - December 31, 2006
http://www.webmd.com/content/Article/122/114592.htm