Kindergarten has changed significantly in the last two decades: children now spend more time being taught and tested on literacy and math skills than they do learning through play and exploration, exercising their bodies, and using their imaginations. Many kindergartens use highly prescriptive curricula geared to new state standards and linked to…

Research consistently shows links between eating breakfast and learning. Many resources, including the National School Breakfast Program, are available to help parents who cannot provide breakfast at home. The article offers suggestions to help parents make creative, child-pleasing breakfasts and become active in planning school breakfasts. (SM)

Discusses how parents can monitor their childrens' television viewing, offering tips to keep children entertained without television (e.g., move the television, set viewing rules, be aware of what children are watching, have other activities easily available, encourage reading and literacy, talk, invite friends over, promote hobbies, and share…

Children's eating habits and food attitudes develop early and last a lifetime. Nutrition is important in child development and ability to learn. In the prenatal years, nutrition is one of many factors affecting pregnancy outcome. In the preschool and school years, undernutrition causes stunting, lethargy, and other symptoms. (SM)

Reports on a national survey that measured elementary school teachers' attitudes on child health and its impact on school readiness and that asked for solutions. One conclusion is that health-care professionals, schools, and parents must work together to solve the child-health crisis. (SM)

Children with chronic ear infections experience a lag time in understanding speech, which inhibits classroom participation and the ability to make friends, and ultimately reduces self-esteem. Difficulty in hearing affects speech and vocabulary development, reading and writing proficiency, and academic performance, and could lead to placement in…

Language acquisition and other developmental processes in children do not occur haphazardly, but rather follow a sequence that is well-established, and though subject to a moderate variation in detail from child to child, surprisingly uniform. This book provides information to parents concerning their children's development levels and attainments…

This book defines a good education and offers parents a plan of action for ensuring that their children achieve it. Drawing from the goals that William Bennett enumerated as Secretary of Education, excerpts from Hirsch's Core Knowledge Sequence, and current research, this book sets forth curricula and specific objectives for children from…