ML Interest Tag: interest

We Went Screen-Free for a Week & This Is What I Learned

By Nina Meehan

Screens have become a much bigger part of our lives since the start of COVID-times, and I’m pretty sure we aren’t the only family with that story. So, before the school year started, we made a family decision. It was time to detox. We discussed our options and decided unanimously that we needed a full stop—one week with no screens (with one exception: baking shows, but only if the whole family was watching).  

Here is what I noticed in this week-long, screen-free time:

1. Creativity Thrived
My two youngest have very active imaginations, and my oldest really likes building and making things. So, we prepared for the week by making space for imagination play. What if they couldn’t think of anything to do? They could always go outside and play imagination games. And my oldest used some of his Bar Mitzvah money to buy a remote control car kit that he could build.  As the week progressed, we created art projects and new games as well.

2. We Talked More
I really enjoy chatting with my gang. They have really interesting thoughts on lots of different topics. What we noticed in our week with no electronics is that they were willing to “practice the art of conversation” at dinner with a lot more patience than if they had the option of returning to their video games.  

3. The Age Divide Diminished
I looked into the living room early on and saw that the 13-year-old, 10-year-old and 5-year-old were all actively engaged in some wrestling game where the two little ones were trying to get their big brother to roll off the carpet. Everyone was laughing and having fun! This happened throughout the week. In contrast, when they are in Screen Land, it is hard for them to find anything that all three can agree on to watch or do together because they are all interested in different kinds of content.  

4. They Were More Present
We spent a lot of time noticing things during the week. Seeing beautiful vistas on walks, really recognizing the flavors in foods, noticing how the people around us were feeling. I asked my gang about this, and they all recognized that they were more present and not thinking about “what comes next” nearly as much.  

5. More Physical Activity
My kids are pretty good in terms of moving their bodies; they all have sports they enjoy and are very happy to go on hikes or bike rides. But, if given the option to sit and stare at a screen for hours on end, they will do just that! I was thrilled that, for screen-free week, they were constantly moving! We were lucky enough to have access to a pool, so they spent hours jumping in and out of the water, but even when they were not in the pool, they were flipping over couches, running around the kitchen island, jumping up and down in the driveway. They were in constant motion…until about 2 p.m. each day, when my 5-year-old crashed and took a spontaneous nap in the middle of the living room.

6. There Was More Space for Silly
Perhaps the most fun of all was that there was just more time and space for silliness. One of the joys of raising kids is being able to share in the silly that comes so naturally to them. But, when they have screens as an option, the silly just diminishes. They are spending more time in their own little bubble, and, let’s face it, silly is more fun when you share it. There were dumb dad jokes from my husband, wacky faces, tickle fests and even a few homemade riddles. All together, it made for more laughter and a lot of smiles.  

Now that school is back in our lives, we will go back to the “no electronics during the week” rule that existed pre-COVID, but I’m excited to continue the conversation with my kids about weekends. They noticed the changes too. I think we are in a strong position to find a better balance.  

Every family is different, so this might not be right for yours, but I think it was an interesting experiment. So many of us are struggling with the shift back to “normal,” even though things still aren’t normal. I hope you are finding interesting experiments with your children too!

Nina Meehan is CEO and Founder Bay Area Children's Theatre and the host of the Creative Parenting Podcast. An internationally recognized expert in youth development through the arts, Nina nurtures innovation by fostering creative thinking. She is mom to Toby (13), Robby (10) and Meadow (5).  

   

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Battling with Your Kids? Try This Secret Weapon

By Devin Tomiak

Photo: Devin Tomiak

The battle began in the yard with small chunks of hardened mud—”mud rocks” as coined by my boys. They were running around pelting each other. What’s fun without a little danger? Sure, it was just small bits of mud they threw, but the bits were growing by the second, radioactively, soon-to-be baseball-sized. You know the game? In our house, we call it “Until Someone Gets Hurt.”

“I know they’re just small mud rocks,” I shouted as the boys whipped by. “But did you know that if you drop a penny from the top of the Empire State Building and it lands on someone’s head, it will kill them? Small, hard things can be dangerous.”

“Really?” they each stopped mid-throw and responded in unison. At the time, I didn’t know if the penny thing was true or a myth, but it worked. The white flags flapped in the wind. Mud war: CEASED.

According to an article in the University of California’s Greater Good magazine, “Research has shown curiosity to be associated with higher levels of positive emotions, lower levels of anxiety, more satisfaction with life, and greater psychological well-being.”

But what about the benefit of disarming children in a ferocious mud fight? Or in any fight I dare ask?

“Wow” moments are naturally followed by a pause. Often this pause is exactly what our kids need to reorient from an argument or dysregulation. Sharing something interesting is also a way of giving to your child, whereas asking them to “take deep breaths,” another effective calming mechanism, is a request and could be interpreted as a burden. You’ve probably heard from your kiddo, “I don’t wanna take deep breaths!” But have you ever heard, “Don’t teach me anything I find exciting and interesting!”?

Finally, learning together connects people in “micro moments of love” says Barbara Fredrickson in the Harvard Business Review’s article, “We Learn More When We Learn Together.” She goes on to say that this type of high-quality connection creates appreciation and openness to others, and even can make us feel more alive in the moment.

The science backs it up. According to the article, “What Happens To Your Brain When You Learn Something New” on Oprah.com, “Novel experiences give you a rush of the reward chemical dopamine.” On top of it, learning something cool or interesting often evokes awe. Oxytocin is released when we experience awe, and with it a rush of warm, fuzzy feelings. These chemical jolts of positivity might explain why even when children are at their most unruly, if you sling some captivating knowledge at them, they likely won’t be able to resist stopping, listening and learning. Children are curious little creatures after all.

The Patented Formula for the Knowledge Attack

Kids boycotting broccoli? Kids arguing over which movie to watch on movie night? Kids refusing to do a chore? Ensnare them in the information booby trap.

Start with science. Putting something in scientific terms is like shooting your kid with a tranquilizer gun. Did you know, child, research shows that doing chores can make you live longer? (It’s true—researchers have discovered that people enjoy the same health benefits whether they go to the gym, walk to work or do household chores, and performing 30 minutes of any kind of physical activity five days a week could slash your risk of death from any cause by 28 percent.)

For those unschooled in science, just tell your kid anything they don’t already know. History is always compelling. People used to HANG towels to dry on a clothesline using something called ‘clothespins’!  Alternatively, there’s the “Fun Fact” route. 96% of kids complain about chores, but they still do them. You can find anything on Google. And let me stress that it doesn’t even matter if your facts are false, as was the case with my penny falling from the Empire State Building story. (My son later looked it up and the penny can’t gather enough velocity to do any real harm.) You can always correct any falsehood afterward when your children aren’t breaking your eardrums or skating on the edge of doom.

And if all else fails, hurl some unfamiliar vocabulary at them. Even that can stop them in their whiney tracks. Chores improve your self-reliance. Don’t know what ‘self-reliance’ is, child? Well, let me tell you while you fold the dang towels.

Lastly, I will have you know that the information snare works even when your kids aren’t fighting you or themselves. Sharing some interesting information with your kid is the perfect segue into bigger, deeper conversations. Hooking children with some good, juicy fun facts, history, and science is actually the basis for The Biggies Conversation Cards, which delve into meaningful topics in a fun way.

Curiosity is your child’s Achilles heel. Try out “The Knowledge Attack” on your own brood today. And watch your kids crumble under your informative wiles.

This post originally appeared on The Biggies Conversation Cards Blog.
feature image: Allen Taylor via Unsplash

After losing a brother to suicide, Devin Tomiak was driven to understand youth resiliency. Her personal mission to strengthen her relationship with her children, develop their emotional intelligence, and improve the communication skills of her whole family led her to create The Biggies Conversation Cards for elementary-aged kids.

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These Are the Top Destinations for Fall Travel, According to Latest Airbnb Report

by Sarah Shebek

If Airbnb’s record night of 4 million guests is any indication, the travel industry is bouncing back. Now the vacation rental company has dropped the top travel trends of Labor Day weekend and the fall. From long weekend stays to fall getaways, read on for all the details!

When the company compared seasonal data from 2019 with this year, weekend trips with families were up 70%. For the upcoming holiday weekend, which officially signals the end of summer in the U.S., many of the trips booked are seven nights or longer. Some of the top destinations for Labor Day:

  • Anchorage, AK
  • Kansas City, MO
  • Philadelphia, PA
  • Mexico City, Mexico
  • Kenai Peninsula, AK
  • East Bay, CA
  • Seattle, WA
  • San Juan, Puerto Rico
  • Santa Fe, NM
  • Greensboro, NC

Of course, Labor Day doesn’t mean that travel is over for the year. Travelers continue to be quite interested in fall trips, with a particular interest in mid-sized cities and larger cities that show off the season’s beauty. The list of top spots for the fall getaways:

  • New York, NY
  • Chicago, IL
  • Boston, MA
  • Washington, DC
  • Cincinnati, OH
  • Charlotte, NC
  • Minneapolis, MN
  • Southern Maine
  • Berkshires, MA
  • Denver, CO
  • Newport, RI

Safe travel continues to be the top priority , which is why Airbnb made more than 100 upgrades across its entire service, including an emphasis on flexible searches. Wherever you’re headed this fall, stay healthy and enjoy making memories with your family!

––Sarah Shebek

Featured image courtesy of Adam Planas

 

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5 Ways Homeschool Is Better than Zoom-School

By Jen Lumanlan

There’s a kind of amnesia that happens after giving birth—as the weeks pass, somehow the memories of the agony (and the tearing!) become muted, and we look back on it as something we can know was difficult without actually being able to remember how it almost literally ripped us apart.

Many parents are in a similar situation with distance learning right now. They can look back at last year and think “yup, that was hard…” without remembering how it almost literally ripped us apart as well.

Parents in Las Vegas are worried that Zoom-school is just around the corner, and for children in several counties in Georgia it’s already here, prompted by a sudden increase in COVID cases among students.

Are we going to do another semester of Zoom-school? Or maybe even another year (if infection rates remain high for the unvaccinated even after the vaccine is available for children)?

Can we make it through another semester (or year?!) of Zoom-school?

If you’re considering homeschooling instead, it’s really important to know that just because Zoom-school is at home, you’re not actually ‘homeschooling.’ 

Here are the top 5 ways that real homeschooling is more interesting, fun, and way less stressful than Zoom-school:

1. Your child doesn’t have to be on Zoom all day! While it might seem like you need Zoom-school to keep them occupied, if you have to continually bribe (or threaten) your child to do it, this is probably creating a good deal of angst for both you and your child.  When you take Zoom out of the equation you don’t have to coerce them into participating in learning any more, which frees up a lot of time and energy for more fun things…

2. In most locations, you can pretty much do whatever you want for homeschool. New York State has some of the most restrictive rules, requiring you to submit a notice of intent to homeschool, an annual plan for the year, compliance with instructional hours requirements, file quarterly reports with the school district, and test your child each year (or submit a narrative evaluation by a certified teacher).  

Several states (Oklahoma, Illinois, Indiana, and others) don’t even require that you let the district know you’ll homeschool; other places fall in between.

3. You can support your child’s social and emotional growth. Schools do nominally foster “Social and Emotional Learning” (SEL), but most often this is done with a purpose of making the child more compliant with the teacher’s need for a quiet classroom. At home, you can help them understand what’s happening in their bodies when they feel dysregulated, how they can calm themselves if they want to—and when it’s appropriate to be angry (e.g. when they witness injustice), how to express that.

And schools might seem like they provide a place where children from different backgrounds can mix but in reality, most children self-segregate by factors like age and race. But homeschooled children make connections with people based on shared interests like gardening (which connects my daughter to our retired neighbors as well as the Black and Indigenous managers of the local community garden) to form genuine friendships.

4. You can follow your child’s interests. We all learn most effectively when we follow our interests. I remember the first time I used the internet—I was looking for bus schedules and an hour later I was deep into the history of breadmaking. Links are amazing! 

In school, the curriculum is set by bureaucrats who have no connection to your child’s district, school, or life. Because of this, curriculum-based learning can never be truly responsive to our child’s interests—which is why we have to bribe them using grades, behavior management charts, and the threat of losing recess. Nobody wants to learn things that have no connection to what’s going on in their daily lives.

You can use a curriculum for homeschool but if you do, you’ll bring all the most difficult parts of school into your home, and you’ll lose time and energy for the stuff that’s really fun—like following the links from today’s interest to tomorrow’s fascination.

5. Your child will maintain their intrinsic love of learning. Young children have an intrinsic desire to learn—it’s how they achieve milestones like rolling over, walking, and talking. Research has shown that most children lose this love of learning in the first couple of years of school—instead of asking questions about how the world works, suddenly the only things they want to know are whether they have to do something, and how to do a task the teacher has asked them to do. 

When you aren’t coercing your child into spending hours each day doing something they don’t enjoy, they’re more likely to keep seeing learning as enjoyable. They’ll be driven to keep doing it for the sheer fun of it.

If you think that homeschooling might be right for your family but you’re still not sure (or you just want to hear more about the hard parts and not only the fun parts!), The Confident Homeschooler Short Course was designed for you. It has all the (research-based) information you need to make the right decision about homeschooling for your family, plus bonus interviews with experts (like a math tutor and the person who wrote the book on how to choose a curriculum, in case you do decide you want one) and with families who are homeschooling who want to help you avoid the same mistakes they made.  

And here’s a bonus tip: the decision to homeschool is never forever. You can change your mind and put your child back in school whenever you like if it doesn’t work out!

RELATED:
I Was Homeschooled as a Child. This Is What I Think about It Now
Homeschooling Resources for Parents

Jen Lumanlan fills the gaps in her parenting intuition through research, via a Master’s in Psychology (Child Development) and another in Education.  Her podcast, Your Parenting Mojo, provides rigorous yet accessible information on parenting and child development to help parents tame the overwhelm and raise resilient, thriving children.

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Easy Play Projects That Get Kids to Play All Day

By Meghan Fitzgerald

Photo: Meghan Fitzgerald via Tinkergarten

Play is important for all kids, especially when it’s child-led, meaning, the actions, discoveries and inventions feel like a child’s own.

There’s even a whole range of types of play, including free, independent play where kids make up the rules and play guided by adults. 

The good news? We don’t have to entertain our children all the time. The quality of the time we spend as play partners matters far more than the quantity.

Often, getting kids to play independently is easier said than done. Enter: Play projects.

A play project revolves around a real-world theme: During the summer 2021 at Tinkergarten, for example, we transformed our homes and outdoor classrooms into “campsites” as part of our camping play project. Leaders helped families work together to add objects, adapt the setting and invent new ways to play in response to our “camping” theme.

This concept of project play is not new. “The Project Approach” is an established way of teaching in which teachers guide students through in-depth studies of real-world topics. Children’s museums also offer immersive experiences that invite pretend play around themes like the supermarket or the hospital. 

It is easy to set up play projects in your own space. To get started, think of play projects in two phases: Setting up the environment and negotiating the play.

Phase 1: Setting Up the Project

The play environment is both the physical setting along with the objects, materials, themes and ideas. You don’t need to create a museum-level experience. In fact, kids learn much more when you start simple and co-create the experience bit by bit, over time.

During a previous summer’s Tinkergarten theme, kids immersed themselves in all things outer space for our Space Camp week. Outer space is captivating for kids and adults alike, making it a perfect play project to stoke the imagination and get kids hooked on science. 

Here’s how to kick off an outer space play project at home: 

  • Gather up a few household objects
  • Head outdoors
  • Look up at the sky and wonder aloud, “What do you think it would be like to go to outer space? Do you think we could use these materials to pretend that we are going on a trip to the moon/another planet? Wonder together how you would get there. What would you see and do when you arrived?”
  • If kids hear this invitation and run with it, let the play roll and join in alongside, following their lead. If kids lull or shift interest, all is not lost—if the project is “sticky” they’ll come back to it.

Phase 2: Negotiating the Play

Once a project takes hold, collaborate with kids to play and develop the environment over time.

Educators in the Project Approach think of this as “negotiating the curriculum.” It’s like a game of catch. We toss out a new material, idea or question. Then, we let kids decide how they want to respond. As we play, we can volley back and forth, always following their lead. This give-and-take approach gives us a supportive way to enrich play but also keeps kids in charge and helps us and our kids develop responsive relationships.

What does negotiating the play look like?

Here’s how the back-and-forth could work for outer space project play:

  • Wonder & Make: Talk to kids about what else you could make for your trip to outer space. Then, work together to use open-ended objects (nature objects, recyclables, cloth, etc.) to create new props. Cardboard boxes can become rocketships. Nature objects and small objects can become buttons and dials on their space vehicle. Rocks and mud can be arranged to create a landing spot on the moon. 
  • Read and learn about space: Visit the library and wonder if there are books about outer space to read. One of our favorites is My Rainy Day Rocketship by Markette Sheppard. The Mars Perseverance Rover Interactive site has photos and video taken on Mars and from the 2020 mission. 
  • Discover the night sky: Take kids on a nighttime walk to behold the moon and stars. If a nighttime walk interferes with your child’s bedtime, look at constellations on apps like SkyView, Star Tracker & Star Walk. 
  • Plant open-ended material: Place a few simple objects, like a magnifying glass, paintbrush or bucket into the play area and see what kids do with it—maybe they become tools for excavating and collecting space rocks and other interesting specimens. 

As the project persists, kids will iterate and invent with and without you. When young kids repeat play within the same theme, important neural connections are strengthened. 

No matter how you begin, remember, it should start simple and grow naturally. The process of wondering, inventing, pretending drives the learning. Sharing in this process together connects us to our kids and helps kids learn how to create their own play projects, making their independent play forever more rich and engaging.

For Your First Project:

  1. Pick a Project: What do your kids find most exciting or interesting? Dinosaurs? Art? Cats? Superheroes? Or try out one of the themes below.
  2. Set it up: What environment would inspire play that revolves around that theme? Is there a home or other space in which this play could unfold? How could you mark off a corner of the yard, park or room that could be that space? What first few things do you need to get started?
  3. Add a few props: What ordinary objects could become props in the play? Sticks, dirt, etc.? Having objects ready can help you to wonder with kids about what you’d need to play.
  4. Wonder: Talk together about what you could wear, build or make. 
  5. Play: Start to become the characters or people at the center of your project. So much pretending (and empathy) can come from this. Unicorns have horns, need to eat, have a safe place to sleep.
  6. Read and get more ideas: Read a book about unicorns, and you have gobs of material to bring into your project.
  7. Let it roll: Keep the project up and running, even if your child’s interest ebbs and flows. Then, when it’s clear they’ve moved on, try a new project.

Sample play project topics: Cooking, cats or dogs, bird’s nest, forest, Imaginary creatures, pirate ship, treasure hunt, restaurant, farming, construction and art studio.

RELATED STORIES:
The Simple Truth to Happy & Healthy Kids
Here’s How to Get Your Kids to Play on Their Own (for Long Stretches!)
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This post originally appeared on tinkergarten.com.

After 18 years as an educator, curriculum developer and school leader, Meghan has her dream gig—an entrepreneur/educator/mom who helps families everywhere, including hers, learn outside. Today, Meghan serves as co-founder and Chief Learning Officer of Tinkergarten, the national leader in outdoor play-based learning. 

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Think Saving for College is Complicated? It Doesn’t Have to Be

By Michelle Brownstein

Photo: iStock 

The shift in mindset for new parents is palpable at the beginning—planning for their future can often become your central focus. The sudden feeling of urgency to tackle financial planning to support your children amid sleepless nights can be overwhelming. Add it to the never-ending list of tasks that comes with kids! It can be paralyzing—especially after the year we had in 2020, which taught many of us that our financial futures can be uncertain. Life insurance, retirement, college savings, rainy day funds, emergency medical…the list of investments that seem immediate and necessary are dizzying.

It can be difficult to know how to prioritize all of these things, and I often get asked by new parents how to juggle all of the financial decisions facing their families. I’m asked all the time: “Is it possible to save for retirement and college for my kids?” With careful financial planning, it’s possible to achieve multiple goals, including retirement and funding college.

When it comes to prioritizing these goals, I tell parents that it’s important to put on your own oxygen mask first—in other words, make sure you’re maxing out your retirement accounts first before putting money aside for college education. Being financially independent and giving yourself the best chance for a secure future is one of the best gifts you can give your kids, and it models great money management. And remember, you can take out loans for college if you really need them, but you can’t take out a loan for your own retirement. When it comes to college planning, the interest rates for federal student loans—the types of loans your children might take out if they need to—are usually less than what you can make by putting your money in retirement investments.

Once you’ve maxed out your own retirement accounts, the next question is often: What’s the best way to start saving for my child’s college education expenses?

Here are 4 tips for saving for college while also keeping your other financial priorities, like retirement, on track:

1. Clearly Define Your Retirement & College Savings Goals
One of the first steps to coming up with a good plan to fund both your own future and your kid’s future is clearly defining your goals. After all, how do you know how much you can put toward your child’s future if you don’t know how much you need for your own? It’s important to understand what kind of retirement you want, and how much you’ll need to support the lifest‌yle you want. Pick a date, track your budget, know your cash flow, and remember to always look at your finances in a “big picture” way. Then you can back out into how much you’d like to contribute to future education expenses and establish some realistic savings goals.

2. The Early Bird Catches the Worm
If your own financial situation is on track (you’re maxing out your retirement accounts, you’ve eliminated any high-interest debt, and you have a healthy emergency fund), the earlier you can start socking away some funds for your child’s education, the better. Saving early will allow more time for potential growth on your investments. This can be as little or as much as you want—don’t let the amount hold you back. It might not be easy to start putting money away initially because you may be balancing higher up-front costs as new parents, such as new medical needs, financing a family-friendly vehicle, and paying for daycare costs. However, the earlier you start, the more time your savings will have to grow before paying that first tuition bill.

3. Know Your Options
While college savings plans abound, keeping savings and investment strategies simple with a low point of entry often works best as a place to start. This is why 529 plans are so popular — Most plans offer valuable tax benefits and can be an attractive option for more “hands-off” investors (assuming an aged-based option is available). But there are tradeoffs to be aware of—sometimes these plans can come with high fees and often you’ll have minimal control over the investment strategy. But they can be a great option for many families, especially since they can now be used to cover primary and secondary school expenses in many cases. Other options include custodial accounts such as UTMA/UGMA accounts, and IRAs (Roth and Traditional). What’s best for your family will depend on your personal situation and goals, so make sure you do your research before choosing.

4. Consider a Financial Advisor
There’s a lot to think about when it comes to saving for your family’s future. There’s also a lot of conflicting information out there on the internet and it can make taking on these complex financial planning decisions seem quite difficult. Many people choose to work with a financial advisor to help them navigate these decisions and reduce some of the stress involved in doing everything themselves. If this is a route you choose to go, look for an advisor who is a fiduciary—which means that they are legally bound to always act in your best interest. Also, try to avoid any advisor or firm operating on commission—you don’t want to be sold on investment products or plans that aren’t right for you.

In short, it’s definitely possible to save for your child’s future without sacrificing your own, and it doesn’t necessarily have to be complicated. If you start early, prioritize your own financial security first, and choose the right method of saving for your situation, you’re well on your way to the future you envision.

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Michelle Brownstein
Tinybeans Voices Contributor

Michelle is a Certified Financial Planner® with a  range of Investment Management experience. She manages the Private Client Group at Personal Capital as the lead for high net worth investment clients. When she’s home, Michelle spends her time running- both for exercise and to chase after her very active toddler, Connor.

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5 Children’s Books That Illustrate the Importance of Friendship

By Jon Hoefer

I reflect fondly on the nights reading bedtime stories with my two boys. I loved watching them scurry and giggle in their pajamas as I asked them to go pick out two or three of their favorite books from their bookshelf. Looking back, the stories that I loved reading the most were the ones which initiated a conversation that ultimately lasted longer than reading the book itself.

With that in mind, here are five children’s books (some old, some new), that touch on the importance of friendship and love and can easily spark an interesting discussion between a parent and child:

1. The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein: 
This Shel Silverstein classic focuses on the relationship that develops between a tall tree and a young boy. With simple words and black-line illustrations, Silverstein quickly draws the reader in as a believer of this unconventional friendship. It’s a warm and wonderful story, yet it is quite sad on some levels. The tree is so giving and loves the boy unconditionally. The boy takes what he is able to from this generous tree throughout his entire life. But who is happiest at the end: the individual who gives or the one that takes? It’s truly open to interpretation, which makes for a nice conversation. Parents and kids can talk about the importance of giving, equally weighted friendships, and the benefits of showing appreciation.

2. Love You Forever by Robert Munsch:
Our copy of Love You Forever is probably the most tattered of all our children’s books. Maybe it’s the colorful illustrations or the repetitive rhyming chorus, but it is a story that can be read over and over again. It is a confirmation of the heart-felt relationship parents have with their children and vice-versa. Life can be funny and each stage has a way of being awkward or self-serving, especially when we are kids. The text taps into how parents both “love” and “like” their kids, which in itself is a good conversation topic. The lump-in-the-throat moment is at the end of the book, when he rocks his mother, and then introduces the song to his infant daughter. After reading the book—plan on singing the song together, be prepared to talk about family dynamics, the concept of growing older, and how love (and like) endures the circle of life.

3. Avery’s Gift by Jonathan Hoefer: 
Waking up in a dream-like setting, and discovering that she has lost all of her colors, Avery goes on a quest to find them with a new friend, Dalton. Though the story of Avery’s Gift is inspired by a heavier topic, this modern fable can be used to discuss the importance of love and friendship. After reading the story, parents can discuss the feeling of being lost or “colorless.” The journey within the story not only shows the importance of being open to making new friends, it also demonstrates how being generous and kind can bring “colors” into another person’s life. This book contains many metaphors of love and loss, with the opportunity for dialog to run deeper if the parent so chooses.

4. The Sandwich Swap by Kelly DiPucchio:
Friendships are built on strong foundations, especially in grade school. Forming true friendships is a wonderful process, though sometimes challenging. Through our formative years, we are introduced to many people with different families, backgrounds, and cultures. As simple as showing the oddities of a hummus sandwich and a PB&J, The Sandwich Swap embraces the beauty of friendship by appreciating the differences we all possess, not just recognizing what we have in common. In today’s climate, it is nice to point out what makes us unique and how these individual qualities can be the building blocks for a solid and true friendship. Let this book spark a conversation with your children about what makes them unique and what interesting aspects of their culture or heritage would they want to share with a new friend? What food do you serve as a family that could be viewed as odd to another person?

5. The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams:
The Velveteen Rabbit is a classic tale of friendship, love, and becoming Real. The version illustrated by Don Daily is especially intricate and mesmerizing. There are so many life lessons that can be found inside this iconic story, but an interesting thing to point out is that the letter “R” is capitalized whenever the author uses the word ‘Real.’ The reason? According to the author, being Real is a very big deal, and worthy of its capitalization! The rabbit searched for friendship and love, and he found all of this with the boy who cherished him. This love created an abundance of self-worth in the rabbit, ultimately allowing him to become Real. Ask your young reader how the book made them feel? Does your child have a favorite stuffed animal? What would it be like if they loved it so much – it became Real? Do they ever feel like the velveteen rabbit? Use this book as an opportunity to tell your young reader how much you love them – it can make a real difference.

Children’s books are full of beautiful imagery and wonderful words. But, I find, some of the most intriguing words come from the minds of young readers sharing their thoughts about what was just read. Feel free to create your own prompts after reading your child’s favorite book and wait for their response. It might just be the best story you’ve heard all day.

RELATED:
5 Friends We All Need In Our Lives
Why You Need to Make Time for Friendships

Jonathan Hoefer is an author, illustrator, and art director that has been involved in the printing and publishing industry for over 20 years. His new book, Avery's Gift, is available now.

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Here’s What Grandparents Plan to Do After the Pandemic

by Karly Wood

The pandemic left everyone missing family and friends, and none more so than grandparents. New research from Motel 6 has some interesting data on what the older generation plans on doing once it’s safe to travel again.

The survey was conducted via SWNS Media Group online among 2,000 U.S. grandparents. It found that most grandparents haven’t seen their grandchildren in person for over seven and a half months, with 59% spending less time in general as a result of the pandemic. What else did the survey find?

photo: Motel 6

Once it’s safe to travel again, 56% of grandparents said their first trip will be to see their grandkids, with almost half of those already in the planning stages. Forty two percent also reported they’ve had a grandchild born since the start of the pandemic.

Despite the challenges of the last year, 59% of grandparents plan to spend more time with their grandchildren than ever before in the future.

As more and more Americans feel ready to travel again, we are thrilled to be able to take part in some of these much-needed family reunions,” said Rob Palleschi, CEO of G6 Hospitality. “We will continue to leave the light on for all guests, whether that be grandparents staying with Motel 6 on the way to visit family or as a way to socially distance and remain safe for upcoming family visits.”

––Karly Wood

Feature photo: iStock

 

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New Research Sheds Light on Bilingual Baby Talk

by Erica Loop

Is your baby bilingual? Whether they learn one language or two, new research shows babies prefer infant-direct speech (a.k.a. baby talk) over mature adult communications.

Research from UCLA’s Language Acquisition Lab and 16 other global speech labs looked at infants’ interest levels when they were exposed to two different languages. The study, published in the journal Advances in Methods and Practices in Psychological Science, took place across four continents and included 333 bilingual and 384 monolingual babies ages six to nine months and 12 to 15 months.

photo: Filipe Leme via Pexels

Megha Sundara, a UCLA linguistics professor and director of the Language Acquisition Lab said, “Crucially for parents, we found that development of learning and attention is similar in infants, whether they’re learning one or two languages.” Sundara added, “And, of course, learning a language earlier helps you learn it better, so bilingualism is a win-win.”

The researchers asked the parent participants to hold their babies as infant-direct speech (baby talk) or adult-directed speech was played from speakers coming from either the right or left direction. To assess interest, the researchers measured the length of time the infant looked toward the direction of the sound. As it turns out, both bilingual and monolingual babies prefer baby talk to parent-speech.

Victoria Mateu, a UCLA assistant professor of Spanish and Portuguese, said of the results, “The longer they looked, the stronger their preference.” Mateu continued, “Babies tend to pay more attention to the exaggerated sounds of infant-directed speech.”

If you’re wondering why both bilingual and monolingual infants might prefer baby talk, Mateu said, “Baby talk has a slower rate of speech across all languages, with more variable pitch, and it’s more animated and happy.”

—Erica Loop

 

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