As a parent today, I am constantly overwhelmed by the onslaught of products that advertise their value in making our children smarter, so much that it seems as if a parent is simply being irresponsible by not making the purchases. As easy as it can be to fall prey to the marketing strategies that play on our parental insecurities that are growing each day, I often have to remind myself of the basics. As a preschool teacher for ten years, and a parent for the past nine, I am was pleased to receive a copy of The Smarter Preschooler: Unlocking Your Child's Intellectual Potential from the authors, Renee and Mike Mosiman, which is quite helpful in that reminding process. While the title could potentially lead you to believe that the inside pages will be selling you product after product, ...
Category Archives: Parenting
Mommy, Draw Stars on My Tummy
As a mom to three children ranging in age from toddlerhood to (gasp) almost tween, I have read poems, sung nursery rhymes and tickled along to fingerplays for years and years, to various audiences. I love adding books to our personal collection that contribute to our repertoire of games, rhymes and songs for quiet moments and snuggling times. With her new book, Mommy, Draw Stars on My Tummy, Martine Groeneveld has created a unique hybrid children's picture book/parent resource guide. With a subtitle of "Rhymes, Songs and Touch-Play Activities to Stay Connected," parents know exactly what they're getting when they pick up this book. With some simple illustrations in the background, the bulk of this book is in the text. There are sections with rhymes, games, songs and stories to share with your little ones, and alongside each ...
For the Children’s Sake
For the Children's Sake was written by the daughter of Francis Schaeffer, Susan Schaeffer Macaulay. Macaulay, being a fan of the Charlotte Mason school of education, uses this book to define and defend Mason's teaching philosophies. Not knowing very much about Charlotte Mason before reading this book (although hearing quite a lot!) I was curious to know what all the "fuss" was about. Crossway was kind enough to re-release this title and so I figured I would take the opportunity to learn more about Ms. Mason. The core, foundational argument for Mason's teaching was to recognize that children were people too. I wrote recently that one of the things I loved about the show Reading Rainbow is that host LeVar Burton never talks down to his audience but talks to them ...
Touched by a Vampire
Last year when my daughter Amanda was in fifth grade --fifth grade-- she insisted that all of her friends were reading the Twilight novels, and she wanted to read them. When I'm in doubt about whether or not a certain book's content is appropriate for her, I often just read it myself so that I can decide. I have not read the Twilight Series, but I have talked to people who have. I have just discovered a fantastic new resource dealing specifically with this hugely popular series for both teens and adults (and apparently every tween at my daughter's school, except her). Whether or not you've read the book, if you have a teen daughter, the topic has likely come up. Please visit my column at 5 ...
13 Is the New 18
When I started reading 13 Is the New 18: And Other Things My Children Taught Me--While I Was Having a Nervous Breakdown Being Their Mother by Beth Harpaz, I thought it was clever and perhaps a little bit corny. But then I was talking to some friends at church who have three tween and teen boys and Axe body spray came up in conversation. I laughed out loud thinking of the chapter that Harpaz had devoted to the noxious spray, and I realized that she had really nailed the experience of raising teen boys. This is the kind of book that I generally read a bit of and then put aside, and read a bit more when I want to read something light to distract me. However, I read this book straight through within a couple of ...
Boy-sterous Living
I am a mom of four sons. Yes, four. Yes, sons. As such, I am well acquainted with the “loud and rowdy life” Jean Blackmer celebrates in her book Boy-sterous Living: Celebrating Your Loud and Rowdy Life with Sons. Loud and rowdy—I so live there. In Boy-sterous Living Jean shares her own experiences as the mom of sons, experiences that are often hilarious and sometimes poignant. From the challenges of communicating with young offspring of the opposite gender to their puzzling pursuit of adventure (with safety as an afterthought, if that), moms of sons of all ages will find encouragement in Jean’s honest appraisal of life on the blue side. Parenting sons is no easy task and sometimes, like when your son shaves his eyebrows (one of those funny experiences Jean shares in the book), you just have to laugh. Our children, boys or girls or ...
First Things First
Growing up with an older brother, I was forced to watch (and even play) football. He taught me a lot about the game, and now it’s my favorite sport. I’m a die-hard Pittsburgh Steelers fan, but last year’s Super Bowl put me in a dilemma. I admire Arizona’s quarterback, Kurt Warner, and I wanted to see him do well. The Steelers were victorious, but Warner is still a winner. Warner has been very open about his Christianity. He displays great character in a world where professional athletes are in the news for their antics just as often (if not more) than they are for their accomplishments. He’s a man among men. First Things First: The Rules of Being a Warner was born out of a newspaper article where the Warner children (all 7 of them) revealed some of the family rules: (1) Everyone ...
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Jennifer Donovan
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