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Advice to Parents on their Children’s Media
For several years now I have carried around a little pocketbook called “One Hundred and One Famous Poems with a Prose Supplement.” This book has prompted many a conversation as I read a poem or a short prose selection from the book. The Covid-19 scenario has put a major damper in the number of opportunities for me to bring out this book, as I along with many others have curtailed our social lives. Being that as it may, I decided to share the following from the book: In choosing books for children these rules, recently laid down by an author of books for boys, are worth the consideration of parents: “Read your children’s books yourself. Or better still, get your boy or girl to read them aloud to you. Ask yourself during the reading: Does this book lay stress on villainy, deception, or treachery? Are all the incidents wholesome, probable, and true to life? Does it show young people contemptuous toward their elders and successfully opposing them? Do the young characters in the book show respect for teachers and others in authority? Are these characters the kind of young people you wish your children to associate with? Does the book…
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Homeschooling in 2020
Parents have been “homeschooling” their children for the past five weeks, and it seems like they will continue to do so till the end of the school year. How many of these parents will decide to continue homeschooling next year.
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Dust in the Wind
Can you sleep with yourself at night? What have you done during the day that may give you pause at night? Have you given it your best shot during the time you have? Have you done what you think is the right thing to do? Did you help anyone today? Did you cheer someone up? Did you let someone know they’re not alone? Or, that there are other people who feel the same way they do? What have you done today that is worth remembering? Have you made something that is worth keeping around after you are gone? Whether it is artistic, or handy, or just thought –provoking, what have you done? If you haven’t done anything, why not? Don’t you think you should? What would you like to do? It doesn’t need to be mind-blowing does it? Couldn’t it just be something fun? Or just a small thing to entertain people? Will anyone remember you? If so, what for? What about your family? What memories will you leave for them? “And When I Die” by Laura Nyro… “And when I die, and when I’m gone, there’re be one child born in this world to carry on.”
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ADD and ADHD Children Benefit From Learning to Read Early
Many children with ADD/ADHD have language development skills that are weak. They also find it more difficult to communicate effectively to others what they want and become more easily frustrated because of that. When frustration sets in, they start daydreaming or acting out. It is difficult to recognize AD(H)D in infants. The reason for its development at all is uncertain. There are many factors suspected in playing a role in the disorder. Until we rule out the erroneous reasons, we cannot know how to prevent it. The best we can do at this point is ameliorate it. One of the ways of doing so is by increasing the child’s ability to communicate. Language learning is best done when a child is younger than 4 years of age. After 4 years of age, the myelin (material that insulates neurons) has finished much of its growth, making it more difficult to learn languages. The longer it takes to get a child started into reading, the harder it is for the child to learn to read. This is a major point of early learning centers (daycare/preschool). Any good daycare will not just allow the children to play with toys, but will have helpers…
