Teaching Sign Language to Toddlers
The proven benefits of teaching your baby sign language. Hint: It isn't about boosting IQ, but enhancing Emotional IQ, bonding, communication, language, and reducing frustrations and how to communicate with your little one. Last year I was asked by WE TV Channel to help with a "make-over" for two-year old sextuplets on their show Raising Sextuplets. The six little ones were all active and all nonverbal. And because they couldn't verbalize their frustrations they had become six little chompers...
14 Dangerous Ways Teens Get High
Potentially lethal trends teens are doing that every parent and educator must know Apologies to my readers.. this note is only intended to a certain author who is abusing copyright laws. To that author and publisher: please honor the copyright of this article and my others-if used, please quote the source. Plagiarism is not appreciated. Some things never change: teens have always been risk takers, thrill seekers and want to fit in. But oh the “creative” ways adolescents try to get high these...
The Dangers of Over-Sexualized Images On Young Girls
How to counter "Too Much, Too Soon, Too Sleazy" ads aimed at our daughters and raise healthier girls from the inside out Thongs undies for toddlers. Push-up bras for eight-year olds. Sneakers to “tone” legs for preschoolers. Marketers keep pushing that "too sexy, too soon" envelope on our young daughters, and we are seeing impact on our daughters' self-esteem and body images. Keep in mind that it isn’t just one advertisement or one commercial that affects a young girl’s self-concept, but the...
Plugged-in Kids Losing Quality Family Time and Empathy
The unique challenges and the solutions for parenting today's digital kids REALITY CHECK: Reports reveal new concerns about today's "plugged-in" kids and how technology may rob them of face-to-face interaction, jeopardize empathy, social skills and communication development as well as crucial family time. Let’s face it, technology is transforming our kids’ lives. Digital media is no longer a luxury but a mainstream in our children's lives.But the key question is what affect will all that...
The Choking Game
Dangerous games kids play and the signs that every parent must know REALITY CHECK: Do you know what playing Space Monkey is or the Fainting Game? Have you heard your kids talk about the Pass Out Game or Black Out? If you don’t, you should. Chances are your kid does. It's a risky activity many kids and teens are doing these days and it has deadly consequences. "The Choking Game" is not new, in fact, it's been around for decades. But the game continues to be played by kids and teens and with...
Empowering Kids to Be Active Bystanders Through Books
Research shows that when student bystanders intervene correctly, bullying can be cut more than half the time and within 10 seconds. - Pepler Bullying is cold-blooded, intentional cruelty,and will flourish if tolerated. Forty-nine states have now passed anti-bullying policies and so-called bullying prevention programs are cranking off the presses in record numbers. Beware: Farrington's analysis of over 600 bullying "programs" found only about one fourth are effective in reducing peer abuse....
“Cyberbullying and Bullying Are Not the Same” Say Kids
New research findings and 3 important takeaways for bully prevention New research on bullying is published so quickly it's hard to stay current with recent findings. But at the same time we're already seeing an epidemic of so-called "bullying prevention programs" flooding the market. Latest reports [Farrington and Ttofi] reveal that - at best -only about one fourth of those "bully prevention" programs are effective in reducing bullying behaviors and attitudes in our schools. That doesn't imply...
A School Compassion Club
How a high school student is making a difference about bullying Last month I worked in Germany on United States Army and Air Force Garrisons. My role was to inservice staff, parents, child advocates, and educators in bullying prevention strategies. I also had the opportunity to visit many schools and interview dozens of wonderful kids. Joseph Griffith is one student who impressed me for the work he is doing in making a difference about bullying. Joe is a high school senior at Wiesbaden High...
Protecting Your Internet Identity: Are You Naked Online?
Meet Theresa Payton: CEO, former Chief Information Officer at the White House, media personality, and author of the must-read, "Protecting Your Internet Identity" Theresa Payton is founder and CEO of Fortalice, LLC, a Charlotte, NC based technology consulting firm. She manages a team of cybercrime fighters who vigilantly watch over governments, businesses and consumers. Her goal is to protect us all from internet predators. Theresa was the first woman to hold the position of Chief Information...
Teaching Kids Stranger Safety
Parenting tips I offered as the expert on the NBC Dateline special: "My Kid Would Never..." series "Stranger Safety Tips" Listen…can you hear it? It’s the familiar jingle of the ice cream truck coming down the street carrying every kid’s favorite candy and ice cream flavors. Now suppose your child is with his pals, that truck pulls up and a young, friendly driver steps out. “Hi kids!, he says. “Want an ice cream? I bet I have your favorite. Come look!,” he says. Then he slides open the window...
Dateline’s “My Kid Would Never Do” That Series: A Must Watch!
I'll be the parenting expert to a special Dateline series that starts this Sunday. Coming up on Dateline is a parenting series that I urge you to watch. The first of the series airs this Sunday night, April 15 at 7p/6 c on "Stranger Safety" reported by NBC's Natalie Morales. I'm the parenting expert for two parts of the series and was asked by Dateline to review the tapes and share crucial parenting tips on air. I'll also post those tips in this blog. TODAY.com and DATELINE.com will post as...
10 Sobering Stats on College Drinking Deaths
Deadly facts about teen drinking every parent and educator should know -- Why we must teach our kids how to drink responsibly. It is easy for educators and parents to become overdramatic when warning young students about the dangers of alcohol. Flooded with extensive media coverage of seemingly every college drinking death, their genuine concern can become panic. The truth is, most college students who drink do not binge, and suicide may even be a higher cause of death among this demographic....
Nurturing Empathy Must Be a Conscious Parenting Decision
Simple ways to cultivate our children's empathy all year round In today’s world of instant updates and on-demand media, we are often bombarded with horrific images and stories from around the globe of people hurting and in need. While our instincts as parents are to protect our child from those images, another option is to discuss these events that are beyond our control with our children. After all, most of us want our kids to be empathetic, kind and caring young men and women. (Oh, how I...
Surviving the Azamara Cruise Ship Fire: Why Character Counted
I usually don’t blog about “travel” and stick to parenting/education issues, but I had an experience this week that I feel compelled to share. It al started when my husband and I decided to finally get away from it all and take a relaxing cruise on the Azamara Quest- part of the Royal Caribbean Cruises (a Norwegian-American firm based in Miami). The cruise itinerary was amazing: Hong Kong to Indonesia to Singapore with interesting ports of call. So we put our airline miles together, flew to...
What An Anti-Bullying Policy Should Look Like
Anti-Bullying Policy Developed by the U.S. Army Garrisons in Europe and Department of Defense Dependents Schools - Europe (DoDDS-E) Signed Last March I visited four US Army and US Air Force Garrisons in Germany and it has been a thrill. I was invited by the Installation Management Command (IMCOM Europe) to train school, child and youth professionals as well as parents in bullying prevention. I trained dozens of parents, child and youth workers and educators in bullying prevention, conducted...
XO Laptop On Display At MoMA! #olpc
While in New York last week I was sure to get my hot ticket to the Museum of Modern Art. I had to see for myself the one exhibit that was priceless. No, I wasn't there to see the works of Picasso, Salvador Dali, Frida Kahlo or even Diego Rivera (which are all on the fifth floor). I headed instead straight to the third floor to see the real masterpiece: the XO computer. It is now on permanent display in MoMA. Imagine that! We always knew the XO computer was changing kids' lives. I've seen first...
Parenting Cyber-Kids: Knowing How to Monitor Their Online Activity
Tips I shared on the TODAY show to help parents monitor their kids online behavior to boost Internet safety and curb inappropriate online activity Kid Internet access is now everywhere--from laptops, to television screens, to cell phones and Ipods. In the past ten years, the amount of time our kids spend online daily has tripled and become a regular part of even our younger kids lives. Though there are clear benefits, the Internet also poses unique parenting challenges. How does a parent know...
One Laptop Per Child Project Changes Nicaraguan Children’s Lives
Did you know that over one billion children in the world never will receive an education—walk in a classroom door—learn their ABC’s or even basic counting and math skills--unless something drastic is done to improve their lives? We know that the best hope for improving children’s futures is education, but building classrooms, hiring teachers, or providing school supplies is unrealistic when basic human needs like clean water, nutrition, health care, and clothing are missing. But there is an...
Sexual Abuse: When Our Schools Don’t Protect our Children
In wake of recent scandals we educators need to tune in closer to ensure children's safety A guest post by Edward F. Dragan “In my kindergarten class this morning I saw Frank and Gail leaving the bathroom together. Should I be concerned that something is going on?” “I saw this fourth-grade kid run out of the boy’s room and down the hall. I didn’t see who he was and just then a little first-grader came out crying and pulling his pants up. Should I tell the principal?” “Barbara’s mother stopped...
Caring Starts At Home
Simple ways to help kids learn the power of giving and and grow into caring individuals It’s no secret that kids learn best by doing. But they’re also keen observers as well as little copycats. I constantly hear from parents that they want their kids to grow up to be caring and giving individuals. But it’s not enough to merely get the kids involved in giving back opportunities, it’s essential that you (as the parent) lead by example. In fact, one of the easiest ways to boost our children’s...
Does ‘Teaching to the Test’ Actually Encourage Cheating?
By Character Education Partnership "Teachers matter," said President Obama last week in his State of the Union address. "Instead of bashing them, or defending the status quo let's offer schools a deal. Give them the resources to keep good teachers on the job, and reward the best ones. In return, grant schools flexibility: To teach with creativity and passion; to stop teaching to the test; and to replace teachers who just aren't helping kids learn." WASHINGTON, Jan. 27, 2012...