Parenting With Teacher Nancy

Research has shown that physical affection can lead to... "Higher self-esteem, improved academic performance, better parent-child communication, and fewer psychological and behavior problems."  And in the future, our adult children can become... "happier, more resilient, and less anxious."   Easy enough! How a Parent's Affection Shapes a Child's Happiness for Life This parental loving touch helps the brain to develop also. The First Year: A baby's brain needs love to develop. National Geographic Magazine   And this affection such as a well timed loving caress also promotes language development.  Responding to your child's babbling with a touch or caress is a way to "Serve and Return."  Po Bronson's and Ashley Merryman's book,  Nurture Shock , has an incredible chapter on Language Development called "Why Hannah Talks and Alyssa Doesn't".  This is not to be missed, see the hand out in class. BOOK DISCUSSION

Welcome to those that are new to the class, and welcome back to everyone else! You may be familiar with Ages and Stages of your child or seen this handout before, but take another look.  Your child is growing, so s/he could be at a different stage now compared to when you last saw this handout. Here are resources with a quick overview on your child's development, common issues and what you can do at this stage. Zero to Three Age Based Handouts (0-36 months) Three to Four Year Olds Four to Five Year Olds Consider This: Did anything surprise you about your child's development? Is there a suggestion on the list you want to try? QUIET OBSERVATION In class, we will be taking time to do Quiet Observation of our children.  Quietly watching our children in action is an ideal way to learn about child development.  The principals used in class are taken from  Magda Gerber's ideas of the RIE Approach .  Pick up the article in class that explains this. Also, here is one