Posted by rosanne on May 9, 2010 in
Developmental Milestones,
Educational Where did three months go? Apparently, a one year old is more of a handful — who knew? More mobile (she started walking three days after her birthday, waiting until her party for maximum audience and impact), more insistent, more aware. I’ve been planning posts on language acquisition, how we’re faring with elimination communication (we recently bought a training seat for the toilet, which seems to strike some people as insane with a 15 month old), why Cry It Out is evil (and why the recent Australian study on it was flawed) and more… but I simply haven’t had the time to do the research (I recently got a promotion at work). They are coming, I promise! In the meantime, I want to share my amazement at the little things. Read more…
Posted by rosanne on Oct 15, 2009 in
Challenges,
Educational Every single day, someone mistakes my daughter for a boy. Why? In part, because “boy” is the default category. In part, because she isn’t dressed in pink, doesn’t have pierced ears and is not sporting one of those lacy bands around her forehead (ugh). It happened again this week, at the pool, because she was wearing a lime green swimsuit that (shock, horror) only covered her bottom. All the other girls were in pink, either one-pieces or two-piece bikinis (for 8-month-old babies!!). It’s just part of a bigger story about gender, stereotypes, Caster Semenya and why she matters, girls’ toys and boys’ toys, and why it’s a big, big mess waiting to happen. Read more…
Tags: clothing, gender, gender difference, lise eliot, nurtureshock, respecting the child, sex differences, stay-at-home-dad, working mother
Posted by paula on Jul 21, 2009 in
Educational I have five golden rules for baby talk. You know, that incessant discussion we have with our infants that feels a lot like talking to yourself? There’s a lot of research to suggest that what you say and how you say it has a significant effect on baby’s later performance in school, for example. So, before you say “goo goo gaga” one more time, let me explain a little more. Read more…
Tags: baby, infant, language, respecting the child
Posted by rosanne on Jun 14, 2009 in
Developmental Milestones,
Educational Following on neatly from the last post on language acquisition and screen time, I encountered Richard Nisbett talking on To the Best of Our Knowledge about his book on intelligence (listen to the podcast). Does social class impact on the development of intelligence? Can we as parents do anything about that? And does it matter any way? Read more…
Tags: class, education, language, malcolm gladwell, psychology, richard nisbett