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Posts From: October 2009
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Dear Annie,{ 0 comments }
Your salad spinner might just become your child’s favorite art supply. Watch how to turn your spinner, some tempera paint, and a few sheets of paper into a fantastically fun lesson in mixing colors.
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This tip and other excellent toilet teaching advice.
When it comes to potty training, the bottom line (no pun intended) is that the process is full of triumphs and challenges. For every successful flush, you can expect an accident or two. And with so many tips, techniques, and promises (“Diaper free in less than a day!”), it can be a struggle for Mom and Dad to navigate the toilet teaching terrain. Which is why I recently interviewed Beth Grosshans, Ph.D., child psychologist and the author of Beyond Time-Out: From Chaos to Calm, to see what she believes are the most important steps on the way to reaching this child development milestone. She offered the following helpful advice:
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Learning to read is a thrilling achievement, but not every kid blossoms into a bibliophile. Boys are often reluctant readers, and I’m often asked by their parents to suggest books that are especially appealing to guys. In general, boys gravitate toward male themes, especially stories that feature a hero or historical character whose exploits were "really true." Humor (especially the kind that makes Mom cringe) is always a hit with boys — even some adult boys I know — and, of course, books that cater to a particular sport or hobby or music genre can do the trick. Below are some of my favorites, along with titles that my friends at the Scholastic Book Fairs tell me are especially popular. Even if your son is reading on his own, make a point of reading together or reading to him; Nick and I spent a wonderful August reading Phillip Pullman’s "His Dark Materials" series. We still talk about those wonderful books.
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It’s rare for a memoir to read like a thriller but Alice Eve Cohen’s new book, What I Thought I Knew, does just that. Continue reading
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Research shows when your toddler’s vocabulary will take off.
The average toddler says a handful of words by his first birthday, and continues adding a few on a daily basis. Neuroscientists have figured out that once your little one has mastered roughly 50 words, a language explosion will begin and he’ll regularly surprise you with new adorably pronounced (or mispronounced) words.{ 1 comment }
