Secret to Raising Smart Kids

Carol S. Dweck has written an article titled "The Secret to Raising Smart Kids" on the Scientific American Web site. I think the article makes some good points. Here is an excerpt from the article:

"Our society worships talent, and many people assume that possessing superior intelligence or ability—along with confidence in that ability—is a recipe for success. In fact, however, more than 30 years of scientific investigation suggests that an overemphasis on intellect or talent leaves people vulnerable to failure, fearful of challenges and unwilling to remedy their shortcomings.

The result plays out in children like Jonathan, who coast through the early grades under the dangerous notion that no-effort academic achievement defines them as smart or gifted. Such children hold an implicit belief that intelligence is innate and fixed, making striving to learn seem far less important than being (or looking) smart. This belief also makes them see challenges, mistakes and even the need to exert effort as threats to their ego rather than as opportunities to improve. And it causes them to lose confidence and motivation when the work is no longer easy for them.

Praising children’s innate abilities, as Jonathan’s parents did, reinforces this mind-set, which can also prevent young athletes or people in the workforce and even marriages from living up to their potential. On the other hand, our studies show that teaching people to have a “growth mind-set,” which encourages a focus on effort rather than on intelligence or talent, helps make them into high achievers in school and in life."

Simple Toys

One of the games I developed that allows children (3-5 year olds) to practice basic educational skills

At the beginning of 2007, I began developing educational activities with original toys for preschoolers. I thought that educators, parents, and the general public needed to think more about manufacturing toys in the US than having toys developed and shipped in from China. Since my initial venture in developing educational toys, additional support has arrived toward not only manufacturing more toys in the US but also a renewed focus on using simple toys, Follow the link to an article (Simple Retro Toys May Be Better for Children) concerning the value of using simple toys for children.

Do Infants Prefer People Who Play Nice?

Check out an article in New Scientist titled "Babies Can Spot the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (with a YouTube link) concerning a study that might shed light on very young children being able to determine "nice" people from "bad" people. If this information is not conclusive, at least it is cute. Make sure you check out the YouTube link.

More on Puzzled

The mystery of the tile puzzles being removed from the shelves at Wal Mart has been solved. I discovered today that the puzzles have reappeared on the shelves. If the manager was correct when he informed me that the product was being tested, I can now assume that the puzzles are safe for children--perhaps. This news is timely since an article in Science Daily Digest titled Even Very Low Levels of Lead Causes Brain Damage in Children, profiling a Cornell study, suggests that the established acceptable lead level in products may be too high, and children might be in danger. The danger might manifest in lower IQ scores and other problems.

Update to Product Recall

Just discovered a new Web site--found in Northwest Florida Daily News (11-18-07)--with product recall information. I made a blog entry earlier (Still Puzzled), which highlights a situation I have with a possible recalled toy at Wal Mart and the entry provides product recall site as well.

The product recall Web site I just discovered is managed by the people who publish Consumer Reports magazine. Notinmycart.org

Hope for Kindergarteners With Behaviorial Problems

Findings from two studies may be significant in child development circles. Benedict Carey writing for the New York Times (November 13, 2007) highlighted two studies that may cause rethinking in the child development research community. The first study, which is receiving much air time--even mentioned on ABC Evening News on November 13, involves young children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Carey reported that the National Institute of Mental Health performed a study using brain scans on children with ADHD. One finding from the study was that the children with ADHD showed a delay in brain development and not a brain defect. Moreover, this brain developmental delay is outgrown in many children. The questions remains as to how to deal with children with ADHD prior to their brain maturing.

The second study involves children displaying other bad behaviors in kindergarten. It has been a common belief that children who exhibit poor behavior in kindergarten will not do as well academically as their peer in elementary school. However, Carey indicated that "an international team of researchers analyzed measures of social and intellectual development from over 16,000 children and found that disruptive or antisocial behaviors in kindergarten did not correlate with academic results at the end of elementary school. " I've heard folklore from older teachers who indicate that children we now label children early as trouble makers and doomed to academic failure when such children only lack social skills and given time will be fine. This study makes me think that perhaps those teachers are correct.

Babies Driving Robots

Science Daily has an interesting article concerning two researchers, James C. (Cole) Galloway and Sunil Agrawal at the University of Delaware, who have provided kid-size robots to babies and make mobility available to disabled children who have been unable to fully explore the world on their own. Also, the robots allow the children to interact with other children and develop social skills.

Up to this point, I had not linked the idea that children learn much of their basic skills (emotional, physical, social, etc.,) during the first few years of of life with disabled children. However, this article has caused me to think more broadly concerning developing early education activities and designing activities where disabled children could participate.

FREE Early Learning Support Material

Follow the link to open-source early literacy material at Free-Reading.

Non-Maternal Childcare Produces Less Violent Children of Low-Education Mothers

I’m always suspicious of studies that attribute socioeconomic or education level in cause and effect relationships. Therefore, I'm wary of the study results presented in Science Digest concerning University of Montreal researchers who concluded that “non-maternal care services to children of mothers with low levels of education could substantially reduce their risk of chronic physical aggression” if services begins before the children reach nine months. Many readers may conclude that higher educated mothers produce children who aren't physically aggressive even the study “didn’t go there.” What about children involved in school shootings, mean girls groups, and even that many suicide bombers are from middle-class families, presumably with parents of higher education?

I support very young children receiving childcare services, particularly to help low-education working mothers. However, I don’t like the attempt to link low-education mothers with violent children no more than linking high-level educated mothers to less violent children.

The art piece is from my collection. I purchased it in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania in 1993.

The Giggling Robot and Toddlers

A researcher at the University of California at San Diego discovered that toddlers bonded with a giggling robot more than an inanimate robot of similar construction. Moreover, the toddlers displayed behavior toward the giggling robot one would expect toward a human. Read more details at New Scientist.

A Note on How Young Toddlers Thinking

Parents of young toddlers need to understand that young toddlers tend to learn objects as whole units instead as a series of parts. This distinction is important when teaching young children because as adults we often focus on parts and may expect young children to do the same. Researchers at Purdue University studied forty-eight 12- and 19-month-olds. Common objects as a cup with a lid, a shoe with laces, and wood cutouts were used with a focus on visual appeal to the children. The researches discovered that the children attended more often to entire objects more than parts. Read more about this research at: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/10/071017174331.htm.

Still Puzzled

I’ve been holding off writing about my personal experience with the recall of toys from China. Up front let me indicate that I’m a fan of Wal-Mart in spite of all its faults. However, I no longer can wait on a decision from Wal-Mart concerning whether an item I purchased is unsafe before writing this entry.

In September 2007 I started purchasing packs of “ABC Tiles” (Wal-Mart item #007565661410), which cost only 88 cents each. I thought this item was a bargain for parents to help young children learn the alphabet and numbers. The ABC Tiles also allowed children to receive a tactile experience while learning sequencing and colors—all for 88 cents.

I attempted to purchase enough sets of tiles to offer an activity for at least 25 children in a single setting. A few weeks ago, however, when I tried to purchase more tiles, the Wal-Mart computer instructed the cashier not to sell the item. Initially, I thought there was a glitch in the system, but when I couldn’t find the tiles stocked at other Wal-Marts in the area, I learned a toy manager that the product was being held for testing. The manager also indicated that the item would either be found safe and be returned to the shelves or be be found unsafe and a recall notice would be posted in the customer service section of the store. Several weeks passed and no notice was posted and no tiles were on the shelves. I then inquired about the item and learned that the products could be held for testing for months.

All of this makes me wonder about the procedures being used for questionable items at Wal-Mart and perhaps other stores. If the product is unsafe, how would customers who purchased the product long ago know to check about its safety? Are all customers suppose to check the recall board on each trip to the store? If so, how are customers to know this procedure? Should customers be alerted to isolate the item until testing is completed?

Another option to check recalls is on the Wal-Mart Web site where I've checked the link for recall information (http://www.walmartstores.com/GlobalWMStoresWeb/navigate.do?catg=51 )and was unable to locate the ABC Tiles. Also, at that link are other Web links to check for updates concerning recalled products. I'll keep checking on the ABC Tiles and provide an update in another post.

Parents are Reading More to Children...Sorta

The Christian Science Monitor on November 1, 2007 reported that more U.S. parents are reading to their children and allowing children to watch television less than 10 years ago. Read more at this link: http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/1102/p01s01-usgn.html?page=1

Also, note that the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) released a report titled “Read Across the Nation: A Chartbook on November 1, 2007, which details the reading patterns of children by state and against national averages. Florida (page 31 of the report) didn’t fare well in several areas. For example, the percentage of Florida children (0-5) being read to daily was 42.9 percent against the national average of 47.8 percent, ranking Florida at 46 of the 50 states. Read more of this report at: http://healthychild.ucla.edu/ROR/ROR_Chartbook_2007.pdf