The Answer Sheet: Early Childhood


Posted at 06:30 AM ET, 06/10/2010

Do we need preschool graduation ceremonies?
By Valerie Strauss
Spend a little time watching videos of pre-kindergarten and kindergarten students at graduation ceremonies, or, to save time, just take my word for it, but it's time to call a halt to these events.

By Valerie Strauss  |  06:30 AM ET, 06/10/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Early Childhood | Tags:  caps and gowns for kids, graduation caps for children, graduation ceremonies, kindergarten graduation, pre-k graduation ceremonies, preschool graduation

Posted at 09:31 AM ET, 04/14/2010

Study says spanking can lead to aggressive behavior
By Valerie Strauss
A new study finds that children spanked frequently at the age of 3 are more likely to become aggressive when they are 5. It is the latest in a long line of research studies extending back decades showing that corporal punishment should be considered as a significant risk factor that increases the probability of psychological disorders in children as they grow older.

By Valerie Strauss  |  09:31 AM ET, 04/14/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Early Childhood, Early Childhood | Tags:  Tulane study and spanking, aggressive behavior and spanking, corporal punishment, spanking, spanking causing aggression in kids, study and spanking

Posted at 09:30 AM ET, 04/04/2010

Obama’s ed reform ignores high-quality Pre-K
By Valerie Strauss
The director of Pre-K Now says that President Obama's blueprint for education reform ignores the most rigorously evaluated and effective education reform of the last half-century: high-quality pre-kindergarten.

By Valerie Strauss  |  09:30 AM ET, 04/04/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Early Childhood, Early Childhood | Tags:  No Child Left Behind, early childhood, pre-kindergarten

Posted at 12:15 PM ET, 12/14/2009

Willingham: Does chaos at home lower a kid's IQ?
By Valerie Strauss
By Daniel Willingham Have you ever been to a friend’s house which seems, for want of a better word, a little chaotic? For some reason, it seems like it’s always noisy, people are always coming and going, and there seems to be no routine or predictability. If it’s extreme, you might even think, “Gee, how can people live like this?” Social scientists have studied such households, and they use a technical term to describe them: “chaotic.” More seriously, it turns out that chaos might not be good for kids. A recent study examined 302 families, and concluded that chaos in the home contributes to lower IQ and to child conduct problems (i.e., kids who are aggressive, or who get into trouble with the law).

By Valerie Strauss  |  12:15 PM ET, 12/14/2009 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Early Childhood, Early Childhood, Early Childhood | Tags:  Daniel Willingham

Posted at 06:30 AM ET, 12/01/2009

‘The Book Whisperer’ reveals how to get kids to read
By Valerie Strauss
Meet Donalyn Miller, a sixth-grade language arts teacher in Texas and author of "The Book Whisperer." Here she tells us exactly how to get kids who would never voluntarily pick up a book learn to love to read. And she explains what a 14-year-old boy told her about reading "Twilight," and why she told, "No nobler reason for reading a book has ever existed."=

By Valerie Strauss  |  06:30 AM ET, 12/01/2009 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Early Childhood, Early Childhood | Tags:  literacy, reluctant readers

Posted at 01:05 PM ET, 11/23/2009

New study: 'Alarming' TV watching by preschoolers in daycare
By Valerie Strauss
Ground control--we have a problem. The first study in more than 20 years to examine screen time in child care settings has found that many really young kids are watching twice as much television as was previously estimated. And really young kids aren’t supposed to be watching ANY television.

By Valerie Strauss  |  01:05 PM ET, 11/23/2009 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Early Childhood | Tags:  early childhood, television watching

Posted at 10:29 PM ET, 11/06/2009

Sesame Street is turning 40--and still NOT for the very young
By Valerie Strauss
“Mommy, who is that talking to Elmo?” “That’s Sarah Jessica Parker, honey, you know, from Sex and the... Oh, right. You are 3. You don’t care who she is.” That’s what I thought when I read that “Sesame Street” is next Tuesday celebrating its 40th--yes, 40th--anniversary.

By Valerie Strauss  |  10:29 PM ET, 11/06/2009 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Early Childhood | Tags:  Sesame Street, early childhood development

Posted at 06:30 AM ET, 11/05/2009

Guernsey: If bedtime is book time, let's make morning time for math
By Valerie Strauss
By Lisa Guernsey< Bedtime = book time. Parents know that equation by heart, or at least they’re supposed to. The drill goes like this: Just before the goodnight kiss, we snuggle up with our young kids, open a book, and read with them. Okay, so maybe at first we have to beg them to just settle down. And maybe the baby is more prone to eat the pages than look at them. But still, we try. We’re the ones responsible for these little human beings. It’s part of our job. Mathematics, on the other hand, that’s not on the must-do list. Reading may be part of the raising-kids routine. Math – not so much. But maybe it should be.

By Valerie Strauss  |  06:30 AM ET, 11/05/2009 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Early Childhood, Early Childhood, Early Childhood | Tags:  early childhood, math

Posted at 06:30 AM ET, 11/02/2009

Tutors for 3-year-olds and more preschool nuttiness
By Valerie Strauss
It is well known that many preschool parents have become super anxious trying to give their kids a leg up on kindergarten, but I didn't realize just how nutty things have become until I talked to several dozen preschool program directors.

By Valerie Strauss  |  06:30 AM ET, 11/02/2009 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Early Childhood, Early Childhood, Early Childhood | Tags:  child development, early childhood education, preschool