ML Interest Tag: socio-economic

What’s the Right Age to Have a Kid? New Study May Have Answers

by Erica Loop

New research, published in the journal Child Development, may have found a connection between parental age and child behavior.

The study, which included nearly 33,000 Dutch children between 10 and 12-years-old, explored the impact the parents’ ages had on how children externalize (outward behavior) and internalize problems (anxiety, depression and other mental health issues). So what did the researchers find?

photo: Singkham via Pexels

While the results aren’t overwhelming, older parents in the group tended to report less externalized behavioral problems. But it’s important to note, according to the study, “In teacher‐reports, this relation was largely explained by parental socio‐economic status.” This could indicate older parents have children who are in some way better equipped to handle problems/better behaved. But it could also mean older parents feel their children are better behaved than younger ones.

When it comes to internalized behavior, the researchers found no association with parental age. Study author and post-doctoral researcher at Utrecht University in the Netherlands, Marielle Zondervan-Zwijnenburg, told WebMD, “Older parents-to-be may be reassured that their age is not necessarily a negative factor with respect to behavioral problems in their child.”

Zondervan-Zwijnenburg added, “We believe that older parents are more often able to create favorable environments for their children. Older parents may be more sensitive to the child’s needs and provide more structure.”

Does this mean older is where it’s at when it comes to parenting? Not necessarily. While the study does show some association between older parents and externalized behavior, it certainly doesn’t count out the positive impact parents of any age can have on their kiddos!

—Erica Loop

 

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Parents, These Are the Building Blocks of Reading & Writing Success

By Amy Jo Dowd

photo: Rene Asmussen via Pexels

Learning to read and write is fundamental to every child’s success in school and in life, regardless of their background, socio-economic status or opportunities. For many families across all walks of life, activities and discussions that center around literacy don’t typically begin until children are getting ready to enter school or are perceived to be at an age when they are “old enough” to learn to read. This view overlooks the critical importance of emergent literacy, or the skills children develop in the earliest years that set them on a positive path toward literacy.

Emergent literacy encompasses the knowledge, skills and attitudes that a child develops in relation to reading and writing throughout the early childhood period, starting at birth and well before the onset of conventional reading and writing instruction (usually at school entry). Emergent literacy includes speaking and listening, understanding that print can carry meaning and how books work, learning the alphabet and an awareness of sounds in spoken language.

In addition, emergent literacy experiences like talking and singing, being read to and scribbling or seeing how writing is used in daily life to make lists, tally scores, etc. provide the lifelong foundation upon which children will engage in future reading and writing. Early experiences with books and reading that are fun, exciting and enjoyable for a child set the stage for continuing to feel that way about reading throughout their life.

image: Courtesy of Save the Children

Emergent literacy provides the foundation and positive path toward a child’s future success with reading. Here are four things to keep in mind for helping your children gain these critical skills early in life:

Start Talking: Oral Language Matters

The early experiences of babies and toddlers with language have a considerable impact on their future reading development. The sheer quantity of parental talk is highly associated with vocabulary size in the early years. Differences in vocabulary can be seen as early as 18 months of age. The gap between children from chattier homes and their peers from homes with fewer conversations only widens as children grow.

Start Reading: The Earlier, the Better

Exposure to print and books in the early years is critical for a child’s reading success. If reading begins as early as possible, long before children enter kindergarten, children are far more likely to become skilled readers. Early interactions with books and print not only support future reading skills but also frame lifelong attitudes towards reading and writing. If these interactions are positive, fun and enjoyable (like taking part in a read-aloud or listening to a caregiver tell a good night story), children are much more likely to develop strong interest in and motivation for reading as well as a positive attitude towards books in general.

Preschools & Early Learning Programs Can Make a Difference

Some children come to school better prepared and with more advanced literacy skills than their peers because they have attended an early learning program. Research has shown that students who attend quality early learning programs tend to thrive and grow academically, while children with fewer opportunities tend to fall behind. Oral language, phonological awareness, alphabet knowledge and print awareness are all strong predictors of how quickly and how well children will read once they are exposed to formal reading instruction in Grades 1, 2 or 3.

Caregivers Matter

Most children around the world spend considerable time in their early years with their caregivers and relatives at home rather than in preschools or childcare arrangements. Children living in households where an adult can read, particularly the mother, enter school better prepared, perform better on reading assessments, tend to attain more years of education and have a higher level of school achievement overall.

The bottom line is that everyday activities that engage children with language and letters help develop emergent literacy skills and can help level the reading and writing playing fields for any child in any household. And, while this isn’t a magic solution to developing a lifelong love of reading in your child, fostering emergent literacy skills during the early childhood period can prevent future reading difficulties and reduce disparities.

Dr. Amy Jo Dowd is the Senior Director for Education Research at Save the Children. A graduate of Stanford (MA) and Harvard’s (MEd, EdD) Graduate Schools of Education, she passionately works to ensure all children learn essential literacy, numeracy and socio-emotional skills in early childhood and early grades.

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The Important Reason Why Kids Need Trees & Green Spaces, According to Science

by Shahrzad Warkentin

From escaping the screens to getting some exercise, the benefits of spending time playing outside are pretty obvious, but new research on why kids need green spaces shows that spending time outdoors can have a lifelong impact on kids as they grow up.

A new study conducted by researchers from Aarhus University found that the amount of green space around a child’s home had an impact on the risk of developing a mental disorder later in life. Kids that are surrounded by lesser amounts of green space while growing up have up to a 55 percent higher risk of developing a mental disorder as an adult.

So what does this mean? The more green space a kid grows up with, the better it is for their mental health as adults. The results were the same even when adjusting for other known risk factors, like socio-economic status and a family history of mental disorders.

photo: Gabby Orcutt via Unsplash

“With our dataset, we show that the risk of developing a mental disorder decreases incrementally the longer you have been surrounded by green space from birth and up to the age of 10. Green space throughout childhood is therefore extremely important,” said Kristine Engemann, lead author from the Department of Bioscience and the National Centre for Register-based Research at Aarhus University.

Using satellite data from 1985 to 2013, the researchers mapped green spaces around the homes of nearly one million Danish citizens and compared that information with the risk of developing one of 16 different mental disorders later in life.

Engemann continued, “There is increasing evidence that the natural environment plays a larger role for mental health than previously thought. Our study is important in giving us a better understanding of its importance across the broader population.”

—Shahrzad Warkentin

 

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Lice, Lice Baby: Where & How to Treat It NYC Without Totally Bugging Out

by alina adams

Lice. If you’ve ever had to deal with the little critters, the mere mention of them is enough to make you run for the hills. Unfortunately for parents, lice are just as likely to come home from summer camp as they are from school, which is why — at the tail end of one season and on the cusp of another — we thought it was time to review the NYC options for de-bugging. From at-home solutions to the big guns of services and salons, here’s how and where to de-louse.

photo: via Liceneders Facebook page

Not Too Cool for School

Lice are a big problem in NYC schools, no matter the type: public, private, charter, parochial. It’s why so many schools do regular checks during the year, especially after summer camp season, and winter and spring breaks, when families have been traveling.

Since 2010, the American Academy of Pediatrics has stated that the presence of nits in the hair is not a valid reason to keep a child out of school, and the Center for Disease Control followed suit. However, many NYC schools still insist on a “no nits” policy, which means that even if no live lice are discovered in your child’s hair, they cannot return to the classroom until every egg has been removed. (It’s wise to check in and see what your school’s policy is.)

Though by now most parents know that lice are not the result of bad hygiene — the critters prefer, in fact, clean hair — or exclusive to any particular socio-economic class or ethnic group, many still don’t know exactly how to treat this unfortunately all too common infestation.

photo: via Hair Faries Inc. Facebook page

Delightful De-licing: The Options

Getting rid of lice can be as “easy” as a trip to the local pharmacy, and most over the counter products will work on most heads. Yes, there are some particularly stubborn cases, but there is no reason to automatically assume yours is one of them. Lice shampoos that you buy at the drugstore — we’ve had success with NIX, for example — work the majority of the time, and usually require a single application, followed by a second dose around a week later. (There’s no way around repeatedly combing through your child’s hair and checking for nits and lice, however, or washing clothes and brushes at high temps. Here’s the full CDC recommendation rundown.)

Both the AAP and the CDC endorse the use of over-the-counter treatments, but these products are often full toxic chemicals (they are, after all, designed to kill lice) and some parents may prefer trying a more natural product. To meet the demand, a number of companies have launched their own, non-toxic lines of shampoos and treatments.

Kitchen Cabinet Method

If you’re interested in going super low-tech (and low price), try remedies using kitchen staples you probably already have in the house. Drench your child’s hair in olive oil, then wrap it in a plastic bag or shower cap for several hours. This will smother the living lice. You can also rinse your child’s hair with a vinegar and water solution. The acid will kill the nits, and unstick them from the hair shafts, making it easier to comb the corpses out later.

A LicEnders Salon photo: via LicEnders Facebook page

Leaving it To the Professionals

There are, of course, people who will come to your home to take care of the problem within hours. LicEnders promises all sorts of high-tech treatments, while Lice Free Noggins boasts a 100% guarantee, as do The Lice Doctors. Nit Picky claims to have the lowest in-home prices in the city, period.

If the salon experience is more your style, try the Hair Fairies in Midtown Manhattan, Hair Angel NY on Staten Island, Lice Busters in Brooklyn, NY Lice Out in Queens, or even DeLiceFul on Long Island.

The procedure of painstakingly going through your child’s hair, skinny strand by skinny strand with a fine-toothed comb to remove both the living lice and their eggs, can take several hours, and cost you several hundred dollars, at least. Some places charge for the time spent and the number of technicians working, while others just bill a flat rate. In-home service will cost more than a salon visit, especially if you ask for add-ons like screening other family members, sterilizing your entire home, and follow up re-checks.

(It’s not uncommon for schools to invite representatives from lice-removal services to come and do a complimentary exam on all the students. Then, if your child is discovered to have lice, the examiners will of course tell you that their service is the only truly effective way to get rid of the pests.)

 

 

photo: Cozy’s Cuts for Kids

An Ounce of Prevention

The idea of a product that can fend off a lice infestation before one can even start is pretty appealing to any parent that’s dealt with the scourge. NYC mainstay Cozy’s Cuts for Kids, has just launched a new line, Boo!, featuring an all-natural shampoo and spray it claims is clinically proven to keep lice away. (They’re not the only ones who offer such products.)

What did you do when lice visited your house? Share in the comments below!

— Alina Adams

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