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Category Archives: Parenting

The World Is Upside Down

Parenting, Play, Social-Emotional DevelopmentBy Leave a comment

Rusty Keeler, author of Adventures in Risky Play, is the guest author of this blog post. I love this new book and invited him to submit an excerpt from it. Here it is! ____________________ There is a Zen saying “the world is upside down.” It means the way we look at the world is actually the…

What Are Today’s Children Learning from Their Childhood?

ParentingBy 3 Comments

A few things inspired this blog post. One was a real estate episode on HGTV during which yet another mother declared she had to have an open concept — because otherwise she wouldn’t be able to see her children at all times and know what they were doing. The second was a conversation with Rusty…

Should We Be Worried About Learning Loss in Early Childhood?

Cognitive Development, Parenting, PlayBy 10 Comments

“Instructional time” has long been a phrase that sets my teeth on edge, used as it is to keep children in seats and to eliminate recess from their day. But recently another phrase has me clenching my teeth. That phrase is “learning loss,” which seems to be on everybody’s lips lately. Last week I even…

Screens and Worksheets Aren’t the Solution for Preschoolers’ Learning

Cognitive Development, Moving & Learning, Parenting, PlayBy Leave a comment

There is so much talk these days about how much school kids are missing. About how much “learning” is being lost. And I can’t help but wonder when school became the end-all and be-all for children. Especially for young children – who, until recently in history, were never part of the schooling scene anyway and…

Bored Children? Be Grateful for It!

Cognitive Development, Parenting, Play, Social-Emotional DevelopmentBy Leave a comment

Boredom is something today’s children have rarely experienced – because they’ve never had the chance to get bored. Today’s children have had their lives filled with “schooling” and endless activities, all due to the mistaken notion that if they don’t excel in early childhood, they will never reach their potential. That their “resumés” will look…

A Lesson Learned from Physical Therapy and How It Applies to Coddling Kids

Child Development, ParentingBy Leave a comment

A funny thing happened on my way to stronger knees. I had just barely begun physical therapy to work the muscles around them when I realized that I’d been coddling myself for years. Because my aching joints and muscles had caused so much discomfort, I had, with just a few exceptions, become too sedentary. It…

When “Balance” Takes Precedence Over Children’s Needs

Children's Health, ParentingBy Leave a comment

Recently I had a short debate on Twitter with Dr. Jennifer Ashton, known to many as the chief medical correspondent for Good Morning America. Typically, I don’t engage in debates because I’m not quick-witted enough to respond with snappy comebacks! But what she did on GMA that morning upset me, and I couldn’t let it…

Helicopter Parenting Affects Early Childhood Education for All Children

ParentingBy 4 Comments

When I was a child, helicopter parenting would have been looked on with both suspicion and derision. My mother and father’s parenting style (if such a thing existed at the time) is often referred to as “benign neglect.” It sounds horrible and…well, neglectful. But it’s just the way it was back then, and it worked…

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