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TV Viewing and the Infant Brain

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends that infants watch no television at all. Still, many parents allow or even encourage their infants to view educational videos and television shows. But does that viewing cause and harm? Do infants who watch television actually do better in life? A recent study at Harvard Medical School had some surprising finds. More than 870 babies were enrolled in the study, dubbed Project Viva. Mothers of the babies reported to researches on how much television their babies were watching at the ages of six months, one year and two years. As mentioned earlier, the … Continue reading →

Big Brain Academy

I can just imagine the reaction from my boys if I pulled out workbooks or anything school related this time of year. And yet they are thrilled with one of our new Wii games. Big Brain Academy, Wii Degree is all about exercising your brain and training it to work faster. The “Academy” tests your thinking skills in five categories, Visualize, Analyze, Memorize, Identify, and Compute. Each of the categories have three games. The graphics are cute and playful, and the games are short. Maybe that is partly why the games don’t feel like work. Some of the games even … Continue reading →

Celebrity Body Guards—Which Is More Effective Brains Or Brawn?

Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt were in the news again this week—well, at least their bodyguards were. According to news reprots, Brangelina’s guards allegedly scuffled with photographers in India twice in the past week, which raised the question by security experts about whether “thuggish bodyguards who rely on football-player physiques and tough-guy attitudes” might cause more problems than they solve. “The only time physical involvement becomes necessary is when we or the client is in fear for their lives,” said Aaron Cohen of IMS Security in Los Angeles, which provides protection for celebrities and their homes. “That’s the only time … Continue reading →

Parents Celebrate Ouch-Free Bandage

They can send a man to the moon, but they can’t design a bandage that doesn’t cause pain when it’s removed? Parents the world over know the torment that’s triggered when their child’s bloody bandage needs to be replaced. When my daughter was a toddler, she would scream like a peacock on fire when I would come within 10 yards of her bandaged knee. Now, the wails don’t start until I’m four yards away. Baby steps. At 8 years old, the kid is still deathly afraid of any discomfort she may have to endure during the bandage-changing process. The crying, … Continue reading →

In Memoriam 2011 – Part 3

After the slight interruption by the implosion of Sinead O’Connor’s 17 day marriage, I now return you to those we lost in 2011. May 2011 I think I can safely say that not everyone mourned when terrorist Osama Bin Laden was killed during a U.S. attack on May 1st in his compound outside Islamabad, Pakistan. Bin Laden, who was on the FBI’s Top Ten Most Wanted List, was 54 years old. “Our Gang” lost another member when Jackie Cooper, the first child actor to receive an Academy Award nomination, died on May 4. The actor made the transition from child … Continue reading →

Twelve Year Old Boy From Georgia is Heading For College

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The classes at colleges and universities are designed to be challenging for the students who take them. Usually, students are at least eighteen years old when they start attending college, after having graduated from high school. So, it’s really impressive to hear that a twelve year old boy, who has autism, will be attending college in the Fall. Alex Beach lives in Georgia. His mother. Melinda Beach, says that he has a “genius IQ”, which I would believe, considering that Alex is fluently trilingual. He speaks both Japanese and Latin, in addition to his native language of English. He has … Continue reading →

Video Based Instruction Ideas

My 13 year old has decided that if the curriculum is not video based she does not want to be bothered with it. Over the years I guess I have spoiled her with internet based animation type curriculum like that at Time4learning, and Brainpop cartoons, and math programs like Khan Academy, but her decision to forgo all other forms of curriculum to just watch videos caught me off guard. It’s not that she doesn’t like to read. She reads at least 100 pages a day and carries a book with her where ever she goes. When we were enjoying California … Continue reading →

Want to Know How to Decrease Stress?

Want to know how to ease stress in your life and that of your spouse? Scientists have come up with the answer – to kiss stress goodbye, literally. Displays of affection ease stress levels. That’s the conclusion that scientists have come to, after conducting a week long study with a number of mostly married couples. The act of kissing, ‘unleashes chemicals that ease stress hormones in both sexes.’ Scientists dicovered that the couples that engaged in more physical contact, ranging from holding hands to sexual intercourse, had lower levels of cortisol, in their saliva. Cortisol is often referred to as … Continue reading →

Elizabeth Taylor Near Death?

“Close,” according to news reporters. “Far from it,” according to the Oscar-winning actress’ rep. Who to believe? Elizabeth Taylor is probably somewhere in the middle if you sort through the myriad of reports that came out earlier today regarding the 76-year-old move star’s health. The actress was reportedly hospitalized for an undisclosed reason today but was expected to return home soon. “Ms. Taylor is fine,” her publicist announced late today. “Her hospital visit was precautionary. She will be returning home shortly. At present, she is surrounded by family, friends and fabulous jewels.” In the meantime, several news outlets have been … Continue reading →

The Wii – a Lot More Than Just Games

During one of the Christmas specials we taped this year we saw a commercial for Shrek the Halls. Being Shrek fans, my family was disappointed when we found out we had missed it. My husband suggested that maybe someone had put the show up on YouTube and that we could watch it on the computer. We talked about how cool it was that you could watch missed TV shows online. My oldest son had an even better idea. He turned on the Wii and went to the Wii internet channel. A few minutes later he found Shrek the Halls divided … Continue reading →