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Reading to your children: small investment, big rewards

Reading to your children: small investment, big rewards
By Tamara Lubic, Online Editor
August 20, 2013 — We have all heard the term “formative years,” but it is easy to overlook or underestimate just how much is being formed and shaped early in a young child’s life. The White House, as support for the President’s early-learning agenda, notes that “Research has shown that the early years in a child’s life—when the human brain is forming—represent a critically important window of opportunity to develop a child’s full potential and shape key academic, social, and cognitive skills that determine a child’s success in school and in life.”
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Whip up sweet laughs and healthy fun, with a splash of learning mixed in

Whip up sweet laughs and healthy fun, with a splash of learning mixed in
By Tamara Lubic, Online Editor
August 14, 2013 — Want to bake a couple dozen root beer floats? Yep, you read that right. Try this easy, yummy-sounding recipe for Root Beer Float cupcakes, provided by Erika, a New Hampshire-based mother of four, who produces the Musings From a Stay at Home Mom blog. She states she made a few changes to a recipe she came across that brought back memories of a childhood fizzy favorite. Her blog contains a recipe section with a wide assortment of tasties.
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Cursive: irrelevant, obsolete, or super smart?

Cursive: irrelevant, obsolete, or super smart?
By Tamara Lubic, Online Editor
August 7, 2013 — Cursive writing, also sometimes called script or in the U.K., joined-up writing, is at the heart of heated debate. The Common Core Standards, adopted by 45 states, focus on testable, measurable skills and leave it up to individual states to decide about including cursive in the curriculum. In 2011, Indiana became one of the first states to eliminate cursive from the curriculum; however, early this year a bill approved by the Indiana state Senate would require schools to teach it.
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Screen time for toddlers and preschoolers: context is (almost) everything

Screen time for toddlers and preschoolers: context is (almost) everything
By Tamara Lubic, Online Editor
July 31, 2013 — We take in seemingly contradictory messages about young children and their use of technology. How much is too much? How much prepares them for their futures? YouTube is full of clips of toddlers using e-devices with confidence. Yet researchers speak of “screen time,” with no consensus on what’s good, bad, or merely inevitable. One thing is undeniable: most children today learn the language and vocabulary of technology, as early and naturally as they learn to use words.
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Working memory, attention to detail, prominent in child prodigies

Working memory, attention to detail, prominent in child prodigies
By Tamara Lubic, Online Editor
July 24, 2013 — What separates excellent from average? Is it IQ? Genetics? Skill-specific, natural giftedness? Practice? A personality trait? Of course, no one variable provides a complete answer. However, one recent study suggests that above-average doses of common skills may play a role in stellar achievement.
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