Dear Parent,

Why do parents want children? In developing societies, parents often want children to have someone to take care of them in old age. In modern societies, this is not the case anymore. On the contrary, men and women both give priority to their career and, only after that, they decide to raise one or (perhaps) two children, and provide them with all that is necessary for their future success and well being. That’s the good news.

The problem is that it’s a daunting task to run together two great careers plus a balanced and happy family.

At birth, less than one fifth of the human brain is wired. This means that more than four fifths are wired after that, essentially during the first three years. During this so critical period, parents have to nurture the nature, to provide their children with all the social and intellectual skills they need. What a responsibility!

The parents’ influence on their children has a major importance for the rest of their lives. As Joseph LeDoux put it, “A few extra connections here, a little more or a little less neurotransmitter there, and animals begin to act differently.” (Sue Gerhardt, Why Love Matters). Children being the most sophisticated animals in our complex world, they need more than ever the best education – from day one.

In the selection below, you can read many interesting articles underlining this idea. And, again, there are more articles repeating that less TV and more books is a very wise principle in children education.

Best regards and good parenting!

John Debonneville
Co-founder and Editor
Edukey Ltd

Early Reading / Parenting

Push Reading Books Beyond the Bedtime Story

3 September, 2007

Jennifer Dobbs, an assistant professor of developmental studies in Purdue’s Department of Child Development and Family Studies, says that when it comes to reading, the technique may be just as important as the time spent together.more

Television / Child Behavior Management

Real Life Boring for TV Children

5 September, 2007

Children who watch too much television could be overstimulating their brains, think real life is boring in comparison, and be missing out on activities such as reading and sport which promote and encourage concentration. A ground-breaking new study from Otago University has found that children who watch too much television are more likely to have difficulty paying attention when they are teenagers.more

Brain Development / Child Behavior Management

Lack of Love Could Impair a Baby’s Development

13 September, 2007

Lederman is presiding judge of Miami-Dade juvenile court and she’s pioneering territory that could help change, possibly reverse, the course of how the nation treats abandoned and abused children and perhaps how they ultimately treat you. “We now know from the explosion of research of brain development that the early years are absolutely crucial.”more

Brain Development - Genetics

All in the Genes?

18 September, 2007

Heredity versus environment, nature versus nurture: the argument over what best explains intelligence has been going strong for more than a century. It’s been a nasty fight, with each side questioning the other’s bona fides, and it’s not just an academic squabble. What’s at stake isn’t simply the definition of good science but the meaning of the just society.
more

Co-Sleeping / Parenting

Sleeping with Baby

20 September, 2007

To illustrate the life-or-death importance of mother-infant contact, McKenna frequently quotes anthropologist Sarah Blaffer Hrdy and psychologist Donald Winnicott, who said, respectively, “For species such as primates, the mother is the environment,” and “There is no such thing as a baby, there is a baby and someone.”
more

Early Learning / Early Teaching

In a ‘Perfect World,’ Learning Must Come Before Everything Else

23 September, 2007

In a perfect world, said McKenna, “health would not be Canada’s number-one priority - it would be education, not because health isn’t our most pressing national issue; it clearly is. more

Brain & Mind Development / Neuroscience

Exercises a No-Brainer

28 September, 2007

One of the world’s foremost neuroscientists has attacked educationists who use “tall tales” about how the brain works to influence teaching. Sergio Della Salla, Professor of Human Cognitive Neuroscience at Edinburgh University, told delegates at the Scottish Learning Festival that teachers should be far more sceptical about the “hype of brain research”.
more

Child Self-Confidence / School & Teaching

Teachers Don’t Accept Self-Esteem Blame

29 September, 2007

“Say no to self-esteem pushers” that blamed educators for a lack of self-esteem in their students. No way! It is time that parents accept responsibility for what they do - and do not do - with and for their children.more

Television / Child Behavior Management

Kids Behaving Badly after Just Two Hours’ TV

30 September, 2007

The researchers who carried out the study said the evidence against sustained television viewing was now so strong that parents should ration viewing for younger children. They also warned that having televisions in bedrooms posed particular risks. more