The Internet can be a scary, dangerous place especially for children. This book shows parents how to help digital kids navigate this environment. Sexting, cyberbullying, revenge porn, online predators…all of these potential threats can tempt parents to snatch the smartphone or tablet out of their children’s hands. While avoidance might eliminate the dangers, that approach also means your child misses out on technology’s many benefits and opportunities. In Raising Humans in a Digital World, digital literacy educator Diana Graber shows how children must learn to handle the digital space through: developing social-emotional skills balancing virtual and real life building safe and healthy relationships avoiding cyberbullies and online predators protecting personal information identifying and avoiding fake news and questionable content becoming positive role models and leaders Raising Humans in a Digital World is packed with at-home discussion topics and enjoyable activities that any busy family can slip into their daily routine. Full of practical tips grounded in academic research and hands-on experience, today’s parents finally have what they’ve been waiting for—a guide to raising digital kids who will become the positive and successful leaders our world desperately needs.
Kids deserve a better digital future. Help them create it. When it comes to raising children in a digital world, every parent feels underprepared and overwhelmed. We worry that our children will become addicted to online games, be victims of cyberbullying, or get lost down the rabbit hole of social media. We warn them about all the things they shouldn't do online, but we don't do nearly enough to teach them the skills of digital well-being. It's time to start a new conversation. In Digital for Good, EdTech expert Richard Culatta argues that technology can be a powerful tool for learning, solving humanity's toughest problems, and bringing us closer together. He offers a refreshingly positive framework for preparing kids to be successful in a digital world—one that encourages them to use technology proactively and productively—by outlining five qualities every young person should develop in order to become a thriving, contributing digital citizen: Be balanced: understand when and how much tech use is healthy Stay informed: discern between true and false information Be inclusive: treat others with respect and kindness online Be engaged: use tech to strengthen family relationships and community connections Stay alert: exercise caution and create safe digital spaces for others This practical guide will help parents and children discover the path to becoming effective digital citizens, all while making our online world a better place.
Screenwise offers a realistic and optimistic perspective on how to thoughtfully guide kids in the digital age. Many parents feel that their kids are addicted, detached, or distracted because of their digital devices. Media expert Devorah Heitner, however, believes that technology offers huge potential to our children-if parents help them. Using the foundation of their own values and experiences, parents and educators can learn about the digital world to help set kids up for a lifetime of success in a world fueled by technology. Screenwise is a guide to understanding more about what it is like for children to grow up with technology, and to recognizing the special challenges-and advantages-that contemporary kids and teens experience thanks to this level of connection. In it, Heitner presents practical parenting "hacks": quick ideas that you can implement today that will help you understand and relate to your digital native. The book will empower parents to recognize that the wisdom that they have gained throughout their lives is a relevant and urgently needed supplement to their kid's digital savvy, and help them develop skills for managing the new challenges of parenting. Based on real-life stories from other parents and Heitner's wealth of knowledge on the subject, Screenwise teaches parents what they need to know in order to raise responsible digital citizens.
Young children live with awe and wonder as their daily companions. But as they grow, worries often crowd out wonder. Knowing this, how can parents strengthen their kids' love for the world so it sticks around for the long haul? Thankfully, parents have at their fingertips a miracle vaccine--one that can boost their kids' immunity to the world's distractions. Well-chosen stories connect us with others, even those on the other side of the globe. Build your kids' lives on a story-solid foundation and you'll give them armor to shield themselves from the world’s cynicism. You'll give them confidence to persevere in the face of life's conflicts. You'll give them a reservoir of compassion that spills over into a lifetime of love in action. Give Your Child the World features inspiring stories, practical suggestions, and carefully curated reading lists of the best children's literature for each area of the globe. Reading lists are organized by region, country, and age range (ages 4-12). Each listing includes a brief description of the book, its themes, and any content of which parents should be aware. Parents can introduce their children to the world from the comfort of home by simply opening a book together. Give Your Child the World is poised to become a bestselling family reading treasury that promotes literacy, develops a global perspective, and strengthens family bonds while increasing faith and compassion.
Video games can instil amazing qualities in children – curiosity, resilience, patience and problem-solving to name a few – but with the World Health Organisation naming gaming disorder as a clinically diagnosable condition, parents and carers can worry about what video games are doing to their children. Andy Robertson has dealt with all of the above, not just over years of covering this topic fo newspapers, radio and television but as a father of three. In this guide, he offers parents and carers practical advice and insights – combining his own experiences with the latest research and guidance from psychologists, industry experts, schools and children's charities – alongside a treasure trove of 'gaming recipes' to test out in your family. Worrying about video game screen time, violence, expense and addiction is an understandable response to scary newspaper headlines. But with first-hand understanding of the video games your children love to play, you can anchor them as a healthy part of family life. Supported by the www.taminggaming.com Family Video Game Database, Taming Gaming leads you into doing this so that video games can stop being a point of argument, worry and stress and start providing fulfilling, connecting and ambitious experiences together as a family.
Some kids refuse to read, others won't stop &– not even at the dinner table! Either way, many parents question the best way to support their child's literacy journey. When can you start reading to your child? How do you find that special book to inspire a reluctant reader? What can you do to keep your tween reading into their adolescent years? Award-winning teacher librarian Megan Daley, the passionate voice behind the Children's Books Daily blog, has the answers to all these questions and more. She unpacks her twenty years of experience into this personable and accessible guide, enhanced with up-to-date research and firsthand accounts from well-known Australian children's authors. It also contains practical tips, such as suggested reading lists and instructions on how to run book-themed activities.Raising Readers is a must-have resource for parents and educators to help the children in their lives fall in love with books.
In Raising Human Beings, the renowned child psychologist and New York Times bestselling author of Lost at School and The Explosive Child explains how to cultivate a better parent-child relationship while also nurturing empathy, honesty, resilience, and independence. Parents have an important task: figure out who their child is—his or her skills, preferences, beliefs, values, personality traits, goals, and direction—get comfortable with it, and then help him or her pursue and live a life that is congruent with it. But parents also want to have influence. They want their kid to be independent, but not if he or she is going to make bad choices. They don’t want to be harsh and rigid, but nor do they want a noncompliant, disrespectful kid. They want to avoid being too pushy and overbearing, but not if an unmotivated, apathetic kid is what they have to show for it. They want to have a good relationship with their kids, but not if that means being a pushover. They don’t want to scream, but they do want to be heard. Good parenting is about striking the balance between a child’s characteristics and a parent’s desire to have influence. Now Dr. Ross Greene offers a detailed and practical guide for raising kids in a way that enhances relationships, improves communication, and helps kids learn how to resolve disagreements without conflict. Through his well-known model of solving problems collaboratively, parents can forgo time-out and sticker charts, stop badgering, berating, threatening, and punishing, allow their kids to feel heard and validated, and have influence. From homework to hygiene, curfews, to screen time, Raising Human Beings arms parents with the tools they need to raise kids in ways that are non-punitive and non-adversarial and that brings out the best in both parent and child.
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.
The author of the acclaimed Proust and the Squid follows up with a lively, ambitious, and deeply informative book that considers the future of the reading brain and our capacity for critical thinking, empathy, and reflection as we become increasingly dependent on digital technologies. A decade ago, Maryanne Wolf’s Proust and the Squid revealed what we know about how the brain learns to read and how reading changes the way we think and feel. Since then, the ways we process written language have changed dramatically with many concerned about both their own changes and that of children. New research on the reading brain chronicles these changes in the brains of children and adults as they learn to read while immersed in a digitally dominated medium. Drawing deeply on this research, this book comprises a series of letters Wolf writes to us—her beloved readers—to describe her concerns and her hopes about what is happening to the reading brain as it unavoidably changes to adapt to digital mediums. Wolf raises difficult questions, including: Will children learn to incorporate the full range of "deep reading" processes that are at the core of the expert reading brain? Will the mix of a seemingly infinite set of distractions for children’s attention and their quick access to immediate, voluminous information alter their ability to think for themselves? With information at their fingertips, will the next generation learn to build their own storehouse of knowledge, which could impede the ability to make analogies and draw inferences from what they know? Will all these influences change the formation in children and the use in adults of "slower" cognitive processes like critical thinking, personal reflection, imagination, and empathy that comprise deep reading and that influence both how we think and how we live our lives? How can we preserve deep reading processes in future iterations of the reading brain? Concerns about attention span, critical reasoning, and over-reliance on technology are never just about children—Wolf herself has found that, though she is a reading expert, her ability to read deeply has been impacted as she has become increasingly dependent on screens. Wolf draws on neuroscience, literature, education, and philosophy and blends historical, literary, and scientific facts with down-to-earth examples and warm anecdotes to illuminate complex ideas that culminate in a proposal for a biliterate reading brain. Provocative and intriguing, Reader, Come Home is a roadmap that provides a cautionary but hopeful perspective on the impact of technology on our brains and our most essential intellectual capacities—and what this could mean for our future.
Today's children are being raised as 'digital natives' in a world dominated by popular culture and technology. TV shows, computers, video games, social networking sites, advertisements, and cell phones too often have an unnecessarily strong—and negative– influence on children. But pulling the plug just isn't an option in a world where being connected is essential for success. In Raising Generation Tech, noted parenting and new-media expert Dr. Jim Taylor explores how popular culture and technology shape children's lives. The essential message from Raising Generation Tech is that excessive or unguided exposure to popular culture and technology is not good for children. Rather than offering the usual 'end of days' scenario, Dr. Taylor offers a balanced and optimistic perspective that offers parents insights and practical information they need to ensure that popular culture and technology are tools that benefit their children rather than weapons that hurt them. Six Messages From Raising Generation Tech: Popular culture may be the powerful influence on children today and most of that influence is not healthy to children. Children are being exposed to technology earlier than ever without proper limits or guidance. Excessive exposure to popular culture and technology has been linked to many childhood problems including shorter attention spans, lower grades in school, increased sexual activity and drug use, and obesity. Too early and unguided immersion in popular culture and technology will actually hinder rather than better prepare children for life in the digital world. Key areas in which parents should focus their child-rearing attention include their children's self-identity, values, thinking, relationships, and physical and mental health. The goal for parents is not to disconnect their children, but rather to expose them to popular culture and technology when they are developmentally ready and then give them the perspectives, attitudes, and tools they need to thrive in this digital age. "Raising Generation Tech argues convincingly that children should be raised by their parents, not by popular culture or technology. Dr. Taylor tackles this difficult task with state-of-the-art psychological theory, the latest research, engaging anecdotes, and a healthy dose of sensitivity and humor. Raising Generation Tech is a must read for parents who want their children to thrive in this media-fueled world (which means all parents!). Larry Rosen, Ph.D., author of iDisorder: Understanding Our Obsession With Technology and Overcoming its Hold on Us "Raising Generation Tech will be an eye opener for parents! Rather than offering the usual 'end of the world' scenario, Dr. Jim Taylor offers a balanced perspective that gives parents the insights and practical information they need to ensure that popular culture and technology are tools that benefit their children rather than weapons that harm them." Michele Borba, Ed.D., TODAY show contributor and author of The Big Book of Parenting Solutions: 101 Answers to Your Everyday Challenges and Wildest Worries "The essential message of Raising Generation Tech is that excessive or unguided exposure to popular culture and technology is not good for children. In today's world, parents can't just sit back and play defense. Dr. Jim Taylor empowers parents to prepare their children for life in this digital age." Michelle LaRowe, Author of A Mom's Ultimate Book of Lists,Working Mom's 411 and the Nanny to the Rescue! parenting series
