Parenting With Teacher Nancy

The warmth of physical touch, and responding to your children is essential for healthy development.  This is sometimes referred to as attachment.  This need for attachment stretches beyond the first year, and can be compensated later, children don't get it early.  There is always hope!  The First Year:  A Baby's Brain Needs Love to Develop EXTRA Children can still develop these bonds of love and attachment, even in their adolescence.  Here is a moving story on NPR's This American life about the benefits of loving your chldren.  This recording is well worth the time. This American Life:  Unconditional Love  (Recording) .  (Transcript) BOOK DISCUSSION  This semester's book is  No Drama Discispline, but Daniel Siegel and Tina Payne Bryson .    Please pick up a copy (the  library  has  many copies of the book in E nglish  and  Spanish , ebook and audio, and can easily be found in your loc...

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 check it out again.  Your child is growing, so s/he could be at a different stage now compared to when you last looked. 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 any suggestions 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, h...

Raising children to become happy adults does not mean that parents must create constant happiness situations for them at all times.  Teaching them contentment, hard-work, and gratitude is more important.  And in order to teach them these things, you must spend time with them, and allow them to struggle.  It's never easy to watch our child struggle, but it's actually what will help them to be a more successful, and happier adult.  Hopefully, understanding this will take some pressure off of being the "perfect parent" at all times. Don't Make Your Children the Exception to Every Rule Your Child Is Not a Genius, Get Over It Raising Successful Children EXTRAS Something to consider (written by a mom in my class)... Understanding the concept of invisible work, is important for employees, employers, partners and both men and women to grasp. How Invisible Work & Sacrifices Affect Working Moms CLASS ANNOUNCEMENTS The end of the semester is here.  We will...

This is a season of "buy, buy, buy" in our culture, which often translates to "Gimme, gimme, gimme" from our children.  Research shows that  kids  (and  adults ) who focus on materialism can be anxious and depressed.  Parents can help change this attitude and bring in more happiness in the family by modeling and focusing on more important values this season. 6 Ways to Squash Kids' Materialism This Holiday How about creating a seasonal PLAY ritual? Family Play Plans by Seasons (I love the idea of the Winter Forts!) When you do buy toys, here's a helpful guide for you and those buying gifts for your child. Infant and Toddler Play and Toy Guide Guia TRUCE de Juegos y Juguetes CLASS ANNOUNCEMENTS The last day of the semester is December 20 (two more classes left!).  There will be holiday potlucks on December 17, 19 and 20! EXTRAS What timing-- an new paper from the American Academy of Pediatrics...  How to Old School Toys are Better For T...

Rituals are practices that have meaning, are symbolic of your family values, and help form your child's identity.  There is growing research that show that kids who grow up in homes that practice family rituals tend to be  emotionally stable  and more resilient to stress and trauma because it gives children a deeper sense of identity, belonging, security and connectedness.  Rituals can grow love. This time of the year is a wonderful time to begin and practice your family rituals. Why Do Families Need Rituals? The Importance of a Family Ritual Consider This: What family rituals do you want to incorporate into your life with your children?  Any from your family growing up?  Any new rituals you would like to begin? EXTRAS 60+ Ideas for Family Rituals/Traditions Here's an interesting quick read from NYT that came out just recently -- Family Birthday Rituals, Distinctly Ours For parents in the afternoon class-- Here's a follow up to the Language...

Parents today think early academics and direct instruction get children ready for school, which is not what research is showing. In fact ... I f you are reading this article, your kid probably doesn't need preschool.    Slate.com calls it the  The Early Education Racket .   But, many parents don't have a choice because of work, or parents need a break from their children.  So when you start considering preschools consider this: kids in academic preschools do not have advantages over those in play based preschools, in fact, it shows the opposite.  Kids who went to play based preschools tend to like school more, are less stressed about school, are more creative, and perform better academically and socially. The most important qualities is needed in a preschool is that 1) you feel comfortable with the space, staff and the program 2)the preschool is child centered, and 3) the program is play based.  Free PLAY is what kids should be doing at preschoo...

This era of parenting deals with technology in a way that it has not before.  Technology and screens are everywhere.  Here are a couple articles published last week by New York Times to consider. A Dark Consensus About Screens And Kids Begin To Emerge In Silicon Valley The Digital Gap Between Poor and Rich Kids Is Not What We Expected BOOK DISCUSSION This semester's book is  Alison Gopnik's, The Gardener and the Carpenter .    We will discuss the final chapter,  Chapter 9: The Value of Children  in our next class discussion (Week of November 12). CLASS ANNOUNCEMENT No classes this Monday, November 12-- Veteran's Day Holiday and November 21-23, Thanksgiving Holiday. The last day of the semester is Thursday, December 20.