We tend to throw around the phrase “fine motor skills” a lot without really thinking about what it means. What are fine motor skills? How are they best developed? To start, let’s define fine motor skills as commonly used in educational circles: Fine motor skills are coordinated small muscle movements in the hands, wrists, and [...]
Many children today have trouble adjusting to the pressures of schooling. Causes are varied: they can be external, like the loss of a loved one or an acrimonious divorce. Other causes are internal, as in the case of behavioral issues or learning disabilities. With many children, there is no obvious cause – just an anger [...]
Parents and teachers in today’s world seem to be diligently seeking ways to teach kids discipline and self-control. A quick look at any bookstore will turn up hundreds of books about discipline, child-rearing, and behavioral issues. A form of discipline that has been around for decades is that of “logical consequences”. One pioneer in this [...]
The recent publication and Oprah coverage of Jessica Seinfeld’s cookbook Deceptively Delicious has stirred up a kettle of buzz in the kitchen and across the web as curious parents test recipes, seeing if this cookbook’s methods really work with their kids. The basic premise of the book is that by adding pureed veggies to popular [...]
It’s a quiet afternoon, and I have been looking through a Michael Olaf Company catalog with a sense of thankfulness that this business has dedicated 25 years to giving us such fine choices of real tools and implements for our children. From cutlery and cleaning equipment, to basins and buckets, the offerings are simply beautiful. [...]
We hear so much about the importance of talking and singing to babies – and how it aids in their brain development – but not as much is said about talking to children three years and up, even into the teenage years. Older children actually need as much direct adult communication as babies do, but [...]
Across the United States, we are feeling that nip in the air, watching skies darken, watching trees take on glorious hues. It’s a time of old things and new things. Many of us have had a delightfully mild autumn so far – giving us plenty of time to plant some bulbs for next spring. While [...]
If you’ve read Part 1 and Part 2 of this series, you’ll know that television can be very good or very bad, depending on the content, but that we as parents and teachers do have quite a bit of control over what our children see. However, there are times when children end up seeing inappropriate [...]
As I mentioned in the first post of this series, television today seems like a “must” for most households. Since it is ever present, we become habituated to it – we don’t notice the commercials, the violence, the sexuality, and the manipulation. It’s important to take a step back and be honest about the possible [...]
Television has always been an option – never a life requirement, but you wouldn’t know this from the following statistics: * The average child spends nearly 4 hours per day watching TV* If there is a TV in the child’s bedroom, add another 1.5 hours to that total Numbers like these appear to put the [...]
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