A fun and practical guide to keeping kids engaged and off your phone. Face it. Your kids don’t want you around ALL the time! As much as you’d like to build that go-cart or that amazing tree house for them, you also need a little time for yourself! Sure, we’d all like to hand our kids the phone when things get tough, but down deep we know that screen time will not build world leaders. So how does a parent like you keep those little rug rats entertained and engaged in a meaningful way while you get your own stuff done? Well, this book is a good start! With these simple tricks, you will turn their boredom into fun, teachable, and productive (sometimes) moments in this irreverent yet practical guide. From photo bombing magazines in the dentist’s office to sock matching speed trials to making bread, this book provides spontaneous activities that kids can do with or without you, leaving time for you to do parent stuff like making dinner, reading the paper, or enjoying a glass of wine.
Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book. Sample Book Insights: #1 When it comes to snow days or rainy weekends, parents are typically frustrated. However, children are excited about the opportunity to miss school, and soon they want to move around. #2 Rules are important in any activity, and treasure hunting is no different. Make sure that the treasure is hidden well, but not too well. The losers will pressure the winners into hiding their rewards again for another round, so make sure you have enough supplies to last the kids a couple of hours. #3 It's important to explain to your kids that this is a one-time shot game. You're only hiding X amount of dollars, and if the winner doesn't want to throw their winnings back into play, it's over. #4 Having a junk drawer is a common feature of American households. It’s a place where we store all our pens, paper clips, and forgotten game pieces. Having a junk drawer is a part of what is considered to be key characteristics of the great American household.
A charming, meticulously researched, and illuminating look at how technology infiltrates every aspect of raising children today, filled with helpful advice parents can use to best navigate the digital landscape, and ultimately learn to trust their own judgment. There’s an app or device for nearly every aspect of parenting today: monitoring your baby; entertaining or educating your toddler; connecting with other new parents for tips, tricks, and community—virtually every aspect of daily life. But it isn’t a parenting paradise; the truth is much more complicated. The mother of two young daughters, journalist Sophie Brickman wondered what living in a tech-saturated world was doing to her and her children. She turned to experts, academics, doctors, and innovators for advice and insight. Baby, Unplugged brings together Brickman’s in-depth research with her own candid (sometimes hilarious) personal experience to help parents sort through the wide and often confusing tech offerings available today and to sort out what’s helpful and what’s not. Filled with relatable and entertaining stories as well as practical takeaways, Baby, Unplugged is destined to become a touchstone for parents today, giving them the permission to forge their own path through the morass of technological options, to restore their faith in themselves, and to help them raise good, social, and engaged people in the modern world.
Confident Parents, Confident Kids lays out an approach for helping parents—and the kids they love—hone their emotional intelligence so that they can make wise choices, connect and communicate well with others (even when patience is thin), and become socially conscious and confident human beings. How do we raise a happy, confident kid? And how can we be confident that our parenting is preparing our child for success? Our confidence develops from understanding and having a mastery over our emotions (aka emotional intelligence)—and helping our children do the same. Like learning to play a musical instrument, we can fine-tune our ability to skillfully react to those crazy, wonderful, big feelings that naturally arise from our child’s constant growth and changes, moving from chaos to harmony. We want our children to trust that they can conquer any challenge with hard work and persistence; that they can love boundlessly; that they will find their unique sense of purpose; and they will act wisely in a complex world. This book shows you how. With author and educator Jennifer Miller as your supportive guide, you'll learn: the lies we’ve been told about emotions, how they shape our choices, and how we can reshape our parenting decisions in better alignment with our deepest values. how to identify the temperaments your child was born with so you can support those tendencies rather than fight them. how to align your biggest hopes and dreams for your kids with specific skills that can be practiced, along with new research to support those powerful connections. about each age and stage your child goes through and the range of learning opportunities available. how to identify and manage those big emotions (that only the parenting process can bring out in us!) and how to model emotional intelligence for your children. how to deal with the emotions and influences of your choir—the many outside individuals and communities who directly impact your child’s life, including school, the digital world, extended family, neighbors, and friends. Raising confident, centered, happy kids—while feeling the same way about yourself—is possible with Confident Parents, Confident Kids.
Reading is a revolutionary act, an act of engagement in a culture that wants us to disengage. In The Lost Art of Reading, David L. Ulin asks a number of timely questions - why is literature important? What does it offer, especially now? Blending commentary with memoir, Ulin addresses the importance of the simple act of reading in an increasingly digital culture. Reading a book, flipping through hard pages, or shuffling them on screen - it doesn't matter. The key is the act of reading, and it's seriousness and depth. Ulin emphasizes the importance of reflection and pause allowed by stopping to read a book, and the accompanying focus required to let the mind run free in a world that is not one's own. Are we willing to risk our collective interest in contemplation, nuanced thinking, and empathy? Far from preaching to the choir, The Lost Art of Reading is a call to arms, or rather, to pages.
Bring back playtime, all the time with these 150+ screen-free activities kids will love! Dive into a Bubbling Swamp World. Drum on an Outdoor Sound Wall. Explore the gooeyness of Glowing Slime. With the one-of-a-kind projects in 150+ Screen-Free Activities for Kids, your family will rediscover the spirit of imaginative play! These fun activities help develop your child's creativity and skills--all without a screen in sight. Featuring step-by-step instructions and beautiful photographs, each budget-friendly project will keep your child entertained, engaged, and learning all day long. Best of all, no one will complain about turning off the TV or computer with such entertaining activities as: –Natural Dye Fingerpaints –Taste-Safe, Gluten-Free Playdough –Erupting Volcano Dinosaur World –Fizzy Rainbow Slush –Taste-Safe Glow Water Complete with dozens of exercises for babies, toddlers, and school-aged children, 150+ Screen-Free Activities for Kids will help your family step away from your devices and step into endless afternoons of playtime fun!
PARENTING NEVER ENDS. From the founders of the #1 site for parents of teens and young adults comes an essential guide for building strong relationships with your teens and preparing them to successfully launch into adulthood The high school and college years: an extended roller coaster of academics, friends, first loves, first break-ups, driver’s ed, jobs, and everything in between. Kids are constantly changing and how we parent them must change, too. But how do we stay close as a family as our lives move apart? Enter the co-founders of Grown and Flown, Lisa Heffernan and Mary Dell Harrington. In the midst of guiding their own kids through this transition, they launched what has become the largest website and online community for parents of fifteen to twenty-five year olds. Now they’ve compiled new takeaways and fresh insights from all that they’ve learned into this handy, must-have guide. Grown and Flown is a one-stop resource for parenting teenagers, leading up to—and through—high school and those first years of independence. It covers everything from the monumental (how to let your kids go) to the mundane (how to shop for a dorm room). Organized by topic—such as academics, anxiety and mental health, college life—it features a combination of stories, advice from professionals, and practical sidebars. Consider this your parenting lifeline: an easy-to-use manual that offers support and perspective. Grown and Flown is required reading for anyone looking to raise an adult with whom you have an enduring, profound connection.
A modern parenting classic—a guide to a new and gentle way of understanding the care and nurture of infants, by the internationally renowned childcare expert, podcaster, and author of No Bad Kids “An absolute go-to for all parents, therapists, anyone who works with, is, or knows parents of young children.”—Wendy Denham, PhD A Resources for Infant Educarers (RIE) teacher and student of pioneering child specialist Magda Gerber, Janet Lansbury helps parents look at the world through the eyes of their infants and relate to them as whole people who have natural abilities to learn without being taught. Once we are able to view our children in this light, even the most common daily parenting experiences become stimulating opportunities to learn, discover, and connect with our child. A collection of the most-read articles from Janet’s popular and long-running blog, Elevating Child Care focuses on common infant issues, including: • Nourishing our babies’ healthy eating habits • Calming your clingy, fearful child • How to build your child’s focus and attention span • Developing routines that promote restful sleep Eschewing the quick-fix tips and tricks of popular parenting culture, Lansbury’s gentle, insightful guidance lays the foundation for a closer, more fulfilling parent-child relationship, and children who grow up to be authentic, confident, successful adults.
A New York Times Bestseller! “Before there was Gossip Girl, there was Sweet Valley High...Sweet Valley Confidential makes a compelling enough companion that we actually missed two subway stops because we were caught up in its frothy fun.” —Wall Street Journal Iconic and beloved identical twins Jessica and Elizabeth Wakefield are all grown up, and navigating the very complicated world of work, love and betrayal in Francine Pascal's long-awaited return to Sweet Valley. What terrible secret has torn Jessica and Elizabeth apart? Ten years after Sweet Valley High, the Wakefield twins have had a falling out of epic proportions. When Jessica commits a complete and utter betrayal, Elizabeth flees to New York to escape the pain. Jessica remains in California, dealing with the fallout of her heart-wrenching choices. But with Elizabeth as her enemy, Sweet Valley is no longer the idyllic town of their youth. Elizabeth soon decides the only way to heal her broken heart is to get revenge for Jessica's duplicity. Always the "good" twin, Elizabeth about to turn the tables... Francine Pascal finally unfolds the continuing story of Elizabeth and Jessica Wakefield—and the whole gang from Sweet Valley—that will delight and surprise the millions of fans of these beloved characters.
Raising Your Child in a Digital World investigates the most current research on new technology, busts a lot of myths, explores the educational benefits of time online and helps parents to successfully guide their children to balance 'screen time' with 'green time'. Dr Goodwin's message is that mixed messages and confusing information abound about the benefits and traps of new technology on kids. Her book outlines the ways in which technology can help children in their natural development in regards to physical, mental and social relating skills. Raising Your Child in a Digital World explores the obstacles and technology myths that confront modern parents. In doing so, Dr Goodwin provides concrete advice on how to develop healthy digital habits in your children and protect their emotional and mental health. The book is shaped around the seven essential building blocks for young children's development, namely, Attachment and Relationships, Language, Sleep, Play, Physical movement, Nutrition, and Executive function skills.