As a mother, Lisa Guernsey wondered about the influence of television on her two young daughters. As a reporter, she resolved to find out. What she first encountered was tired advice, sensationalized research claims, and a rather draconian mandate from the American Academy of Pediatrics: no TV at all before the age of two. But like many parents, she wanted straight answers and realistic advice, so she kept digging: she visited infant-perception labs and child development centers around the country. She interviewed scores of parents, psychologists, cognitive scientists, and media researchers, as well as programming executives at Noggin, Disney, Nickelodeon, Sesame Workshop, and PBS. Much of what she found flies in the face of conventional wisdom and led her to conclude that new parents will be best served by focusing on &"the three C’s”: content, context, and the individual child. Advocating a new approach to television and DVDs, Guernsey focuses on infants to five-year-olds and goes beyond the headlines to explore what exactly is &"educational"; about educational media. She examines how play and language development are affected by background and foreground television and how to choose videos that are age-appropriate. She explains how to avoid the hype of “brain stimulation"; and focus instead on social relationships and the building blocks of language and literacy. Along the way, Guernsey highlights independent research on shows ranging from Dora the Explorer to Dragon Tales, and distills some surprising new findings in the field of child development. IInto the Minds of Babes
Children learn boundaries and safety when using screens, and fun things to do when screens are off. As important as screens are in our lives, we all need to unplug, especially children. This reassuring picture book offers children and families a starting point for limiting screen time and making the most of the time you have with your screens and without. While screens can be helpful and fun, they are not intended for use all the time. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends consistent limits on screen time for children, and adults should take steps to ensure online safety for kids. With straightforward suggestions, children will learn valuable information about online safety, setting healthy screen-time boundaries, and the importance of screen-free time. With her trademark mix of empathy and encouragement, author Elizabeth Verdick offers appealing and healthy alternatives to using screens, as well as ways to stay safe and happy when online. Illustrator Marieka Heinlen’s active and vibrant illustrations of young children interacting with their caregivers and families bring the activities and suggestions for screen-free fun to life. A section for adults at the end of the book includes information on the effects of too much screen time and suggestions for establishing screen-time boundaries. Best Behavior® Series Simple words and lively full-color illustrations guide children to choose positive behaviors. Select titles are available in two versions: a durable board book for ages 1–4 and an expanded paperback for ages 4–7. Bilingual board book and paperback editions of select titles also are available. Kids, parents, and teachers love these award-winning books. All include helpful tips for teachers, caregivers, and parents.
A judgment-free guide for parents who want to better understand and balance family screentime in the digital age. Author Emily Cherkin—aka The Screentime Consultant—has written a compelling and necessary book about parenting in the modern digital age. Unlike any previous generation, children’s excessive screen use today at home and at school impacts mental health and family relationships. Parents have concerns about the amount of time children spend on devices and want to do better. They’re just not sure what to do or where to start. In The Screentime Solution, Emily teaches parents to become “tech-intentional”: using screen-based technologies to enhance, nurture, and align with family values while avoiding, delaying, or limiting screentime that interferes with healthy mental, physical, cognitive, and emotional development. With humor, empathy, and experience, Emily invites parents to • become tech-intentional, without feeling judged, shamed, or blamed; • implement her research-supported, developmentally appropriate tools to find screentime balance; and • build a movement around tech-intentionality (this is good for everyone— children and adults alike). The Screentime Solution will remain useful even as technology changes because being tech-intentional is an approach that can—and should—remain a constant.
ARE YOU DROWNING IN SCREEN TIME? Between Zoom meetings, online classes, social media, gaming, and binge-watching TV series, humans now spend most of their free time submerged in screen life—and that’s taking a toll on real life. The good news: there is a way back. Bestselling author David Murrow’s new book is a rescue plan for parents, adults, teachers, and ministers who want to help others (or themselves) achieve screen-life/real-life balance. Built around five simple parables, Drowning in Screen Time shows you: • What screens are doing to your family and relationships • Why screen content is so addictive • How to find freedom and confidence in real life Drowning in Screen Time is full of positive, practical ideas that can help you keep your digital head above water.
Rather than going cold turkey or fighting against the finely calibrated, billion-dollar barrage of demands for our attention that ping up on our phones, it is time for a more measured approach. If we can understand how our phones are affecting every area of our lives, from our concentration spans to our body image, then we can start to make small, individual shifts that ensure technology is working for us, not the other way around. Forget aiming for inbox zero and screen-free days: instead, learn to reassess your relationship with your phone on your own terms, spotting what works for you and what doesn't. Your phone? Your rules.
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
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • In this mesmerizing novel, Ethan Canin, the author of America America and The Palace Thief, explores the nature of genius, rivalry, ambition, and love among multiple generations of a gifted family. Milo Andret is born with an unusual mind. A lonely child growing up in the woods of northern Michigan in the 1950s, he gives little thought to his own talent. But with his acceptance at U.C. Berkeley he realizes the extent, and the risks, of his singular gifts. California in the seventies is a seduction, opening Milo’s eyes to the allure of both ambition and indulgence. The research he begins there will make him a legend; the woman he meets there—and the rival he meets alongside her—will haunt him for the rest of his life. For Milo’s brilliance is entwined with a dark need that soon grows to threaten his work, his family, even his existence. Spanning seven decades as it moves from California to Princeton to the Midwest to New York, A Doubter’s Almanac tells the story of a family as it explores the way ambition lives alongside destructiveness, obsession alongside torment, love alongside grief. It is a story of how the flame of genius both lights and scorches every generation it touches. Graced by stunning prose and brilliant storytelling, A Doubter’s Almanac is a surprising, suspenseful, and deeply moving novel, a major work by a writer who has been hailed as “the most mature and accomplished novelist of his generation.” Praise for A Doubter’s Almanac “551 pages of bliss . . . devastating and wonderful . . . dazzling . . . You come away from the book wanting to reevaluate your choices and your relationships. It’s a rare book that can do that, and it’s a rare joy to discover such a book.”—Esquire “[Canin] is at the top of his form, fluent, immersive, confident. You might not know where he’s taking you, but the characters are so vivid, Hans’s voice rendered so precisely, that it’s impossible not to trust in the story. . . . The delicate networks of emotion and connection that make up a family are illuminated, as if by magic, via his prose.”—Slate “Alternately explosive and deeply interior.”—New York (“Eight Books You Need to Read”) “A blazingly intelligent novel.”—Los Angeles Times “[A] beautifully written novel.”—The New York Times Book Review (Editors’ Choice)
A guide to using play routines to build and accelerate a child's communication skills. Includes instructions and examples, language stimulation tips, techniques, and strategies, charts to monitor progress, ways to incorporate speech development activities into daily routines, etc.
