Forget Survival of the Fittest: It is Kindness That Counts

This is the headline for an interview with psychologist Dacher Keltner in Scientific American Mind (September 2009; www.ScientificAmerican.com/mind). 

Parent Support  (top)

Spanking Lowers IQ

October 13, 2009

The Best Brains Require Good Nutrition

Are our children getting the right kinds of food for maximum brain development and health? Most parents believe their children are getting adequate nutrition, but data shows otherwise. Peeking into a few lunch boxes gives some indications and insights into the issue.

Physical Well Being  (top)

Changes to car seat law designed to keep kids safer

Governor Jennifer M. Granholm signed http://www.michigan.gov/documents/msp/0287_284237_7.pdf”>Public Act 57 (HB 4450) making two changes to Michigan’s child passenger safety law. The new requirements, effective immediately, include a rear seating requirement and removal of the nursing mother exemption.

Newly released statistical reports provide data on the well-being of children in the United States

New reports are now available for two landmark efforts to collect and report data on the well-being of children in the United States. The "KIDS COUNT Data Book," produced by the Annie E. Casey Foundation, provides a profile of how children are doing in each state. The book reports on indicators of educational achievement, economic well-being, and health, among others. The book also ranks states on a composite indicator of child wellness, aggregating measures such as infant mortality rate, graduation rates, and children in poverty. According to this aggregate measure, New Hampshire ranks first and Mississippi ranks at the bottom. A new report issued by ChildStats.gov, "America's Children: Key National Indicators of Well-Being 2009," describes the population of children in the United States according to 40 indicators of well-being, with a special focus in this issue on children with special health care needs. The study found that 14 percent of children in the United States have a special health care need, defined as a health problem expected to last at least 12 months and which requires prescription medication, special therapies, or which limits his or her ability to do things most children can do.

Concerns about ADHD Drugs

Scientific American Mind (July 2009) recently raised several concerns about the rapidly expanding prescribing of drugs to treat ADHD in an article, "Do ADHD Drugs Take a Toll on the Brain?". 

Quality Education And Care  (top)

Free Preschool Programs

Shiawassee County has two different free preschool programs for children three and/or four years of age. In order for children to attend these programs the child and family must meet the eligibility requirements.

Initial Findings from the Kindergarten Opinion Survey

This survey of Michigan kindergarten teachers focuses on gathering valuable information about the school readiness of young children in Michigan based on the professional opinions of kindergarten teachers, with specific emphasis placed on the readiness of the 2008-2009 cohort of kindergarten students.

Your Baby is Smarter Than You Think

New studies, however, demonstrate that babies and very young children know, observe, explore, imagine and learn more than we would ever have thought possible. In some ways, they are smarter than adults.

The New Literacy

"We are in the midst of a literary revolution the likes of which we haven't seen since Greek civilization!"  This bold proclamation comes from Stanford professor Andrea Lunsford, and certainly flies in the face of conventional wisdom that modern technology is turning students into non-writers.   However, Lunsford analyzed nearly 15,000 examples of prose of college students — class assignments, formal essays, journal entries, e-mails, and blog posts — and shared these conclusions in Wired magazine (September 2009; wired.com)...

Rough and Tumble Play

September 21, 2009