Whole Child Development
I took my two month-old in for his shots today and I nearly cried. OK, I know that’s not surprising news for anyone. I don’t know anyone who looks forward to taking their babies in for shots. At least I didn’t think I did. That changed last weekend, and that’s the real reason I almost cried today.
Here’s another blast from the past as I get back into the groove with my new little guy.
A friend recently asked if I could give a list of the things I keep on hand for creative art activities. In addition to the standard crayons, markers, and white paper here are a few of my favorite multitasking art supplies:
Anyone who has worked in education knows that to be most effective, you need learning activities that can be differentiated to meet a variety of levels and objectives. That’s part of what makes play-based learning so effective — it’s naturally adapted to the needs and objectives of individual learners. I’m always excited when an activity can be tweaked to meet each learners needs, and we happened to have a perfect example pop up at our house recently. (Pardon the cluttered table. Just keepin’ it real, folks!)
In a fascinating TED Talk, What Do Babies Think?, child development psychologist Alison Gopnik points out an interesting fact about brain development: It’s for the birds.
I’m sharing some favorites from the archives as I spend some extra time with my family and our new addition!
Flashcards are a common catch-phrase for developmentally inappropriate teaching methods. Even I use the term that way. But like many teaching approaches, it is important to separate the objective, the content, and the method. You might be surprised to find that flashcards may not always be as evil as you thought. [Read more…]
My boys have been looking forward to the Fourth of July since…well, the last Fourth of July! They love the excitement of the fireworks displays, and I love any summer day we can spend together! If you’re looking for some fun and simple ways to make your celebration memorable, here are a few ideas! (Read more about The Power of the Memorable Scene .) [Read more…]
You’ve probably noticed that I show up at a few other writing venues in addition to here at Not Just Cute. One of those is over at The Organized Parent. With the arrival of our sweet little boy, the folks over at The Organized Parent were kind enough to send over one of their great diaper bags. They have a wonderful collection of bags spanning the whole spectrum of diaper bag styles, but this one from Diaper Dudes was the perfect bag for us.
I’m sharing some of my favorite posts from the archives while I spend some extra time with my family.
Blanketing children with praise, seems like a natural step toward building independent, confident kids. But praise may actually produce results in our children that are opposite our intentions, according to an article in New York Magazine (How Not To Talk to Your Kids).
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