Parents’ Guide – internet safety

Parent’s Guide
NetAlert has prepared an Internet safety guide as a resource to help you create your own Internet safety strategy for your family.
Whether you are simply investigating the issues or need some practical advice on how you can help your children, this guide is for you.

Book – All new square foot gardening

All New Square Foot Gardening (Paperback)

by Mel Bartholomew

…anyone, anywhere can enjoy a Square Foot garden. Children, adults with limited mobility, even complete novices can achieve spectacular results. I’ve rarely seen a more reader-friendly book! It comes complete with layout pages, very consise planting guides, even planting time tables for your area and the amount of time you can store your seeds! If you have never gardened before or started a garden that eventually left you frustrated, then this is the book for you! I just think that you should check your area for agricultural grade vermiculite before you buy the book. But once that little snafu is over, you are going to be amazed at how brilliant and easy this book makes successful gardening. I highly recommend this method for busy people and parents like myself. It is wonderfully easy to maintain, makes loads of produce, and looks very attractive. Two green thumbs way, way up.

More reviews from Amazon where the book is selling for $13.59

Feeding Your Picky Eater

I sometimes wonder how some children manage to get enough energy to keep them going and going and going. If your youngster is one of the many who pick and choose the foods they like most, he or she may often get on food jags, eating the same foods for all meals or even refusing food altogether. In my house this week, my 3-year-old is refusing to eat anything but peaches and bread! But I’m not too worried about this new phase; experts suggest it’s normal and may not last too long. In fact, in most cases like this, children are getting all the nutrients they need despite their limited intake.

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Latest booklists from Pivotal Kids

The 2009 Indies Choice Book Awards

St Patrick’s Day

Children’s Choice Book Awards 2009

Step-by-Step/Sequencing picture books

The Newbery Medal 2009

Comfortably Numb. Desensitizing Effects of Violent Media on Helping Others

ABSTRACT—Two studies tested the hypothesis that exposure to violent media reduces aid offered to people in pain. In Study 1, participants played a violent or nonviolent video game for 20 min. After game play, while completing a lengthy questionnaire, they heard a loud fight, in which one person was injured, outside the lab. Participants who played violent games took longer to help the injured victim, rated the fight as less serious, and were less likely to ‘‘hear’’ the fight in comparison to participants who played nonviolent games. In Study 2, violent- and nonviolent- movie attendees witnessed a young woman with an injured ankle struggle to pick up her crutches outside the theater either before or after the movie. Participants who had just watched a violent movie took longer to help than participants in the other three conditions. The findings from both studies suggest that violent media make people numb to the pain and suffering of others.

read the whole report …

Video – Growing up online

“a must watch for all teachers, parents and anyone involved with students or children going online. The video was released last week in the US on the PBS network as part of the Frontline program. Growing Up Online explores a large number of issues about students growing up online and the challenges that everyone face from parents to teachers and most importantly students.

Book – The Fussy eaters’ Recipe Book

The Fussy eaters’ Recipe Book

by Annabel Karmel

Since the Complete Baby & Toddler Meal Planner was published in 1991, Annabel Karmel’s essential guide to feeding babies and young children has become established as a classic.

Now completely up to date with ten new dishes, it also includes general advice on how best to cope with fussy-eating behaviours and improve mealtimes, Karmel’s The Fussy Eaters’ Recipe Book is more than just a recipe book – it will be the answer to many parents’ prayers!

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Money Management for Kids

Imagine the U.S. without a constitution or a corporation without a business plan: that’s your family without a financial policy that reflects your values about money and possessions. If you want your kids to grow up with a healthy respect for money and know how to manage it, your home must be the classroom, and you’re the lead teacher.

If that sounds scary, don’t worry. Good resources abound to help you. And, really, just five basic principles will give your kids a good foundation for thinking about money. Plus, there are natural opportunities to teach simple economic lessons in the course of daily life.

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Study: Kids want their folks involved in gaming

A survey carried out as part of Microsoft’s “Play Smart, Play Safe” campaign shows 60% of kids surveyed wish their folks would become more involved in their gaming. Of all of the children polled, 47% admitted their parents “never” involve themselves with gaming, which is just plain shocking, but not as surprising as the 47% of parents who admitted they sometimes allow their child to play a game rated for a higher age set.

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Grandparenting and Adolescent Adjustment in Two-Parent Biological, Lone-Parent, and Step-Families

Spending time with a grandparent is linked with better social skills and fewer behavior problems among adolescents, especially those living in single-parent or stepfamily households, according to a new study.  http://adjix.com/e955