Identifying important outcomes for children from birth to age 5, August 4, 2008

Congress asked the National Research Council for guidance on how to identify important outcomes for children from birth to age 5 and how best to assess them in preschools, child care, and other early childhood programs. Read more

Literacy Begins at Home, May 15, 2008

In addition, with children 13-18 months old in welfare families, almost 80% of the feedback to the child was negative, in working-class families about 50% was negative, and in professional families more than 80% of feedback to the child was affirmative. Read more

Get with the Program, Kids’ TV, April 20, 2008

Turn it off! Limit it! Do everything you can to keep your children's consumption of television to the bare minimum! We parents hear this message all year long, and as Turnoff Week gets going tomorrow, the drums will be beating especially loudly.Read more

Mom wins fight for autism insurance, April 2, 2008

Ryan Unumb just turned 7 years old. He has about 100 words in his vocabulary, even if they are difficult to understand. He's potty trained. He loves playing with water. Read more

HBO's "Autism: The Musical" is a life-affirming must-see, March 24, 2008

The format is as old as show business: Hey, kids, let's put on a show. Watch behind-the-scenes drama and the tedium and hard work of rehearsals as a theatrical production takes shape.Read more

Playing, talking, reading stimulates baby's brain, Feb. 20, 2008

An infant's brain is primed for action. It is more active than an adult brain, and it uses more energy. Exposing children to certain stimuli will encourage them. Read more

New Thoughts on Language Acquisition: Toddlers as Data Miners, Feb. 4, 2008

Researchers are finding that toddlers' brains can effortlessly do what the most powerful computers with the most sophisticated software cannot, learn language simply by hearing it used. Read more

Five Ways to Help Kids Love Books, Jan. 1, 2008

Mary Brigid Barrett, children's author and illustrator, teacher, and founder of the National Children's Book and Literacy Alliance, shares her favorite ways to cultivate bookworms.Read more

Orphaned Children Show Higher Intelligence in foster care than institutions, Dec. 28, 2007

The journal Science confirms that institutionalized orphans placed into foster care have much better intellectual development than those who remain in institutions. Read more

Tutors for Toddlers: The Way of the Future?, Nov. 21, 2007

Parents are hoping that if their kids learn to read before first grade, it will ultimately help them get into college and get good jobs.Read more

Developing fundamental skills by pre-K has advantages, Nov. 11, 2007

Research shows when kids enter kindergarten with a good grasp of fundamental math and reading concepts, they do far better in school in the long run.Read more

Diet of dialogue boosts baby’s language skills, Nov. 5, 2007

California parents notice that talk is critical, and has revealed a stronger, enhanced bond with their baby. And it’s all in the name of brain development. Read more

Too Much TV Watching?, Nov. 5, 2007

Forty-one percent of children had a television in their room at age 5 ½, a recent survey found. Heavy television watching children tended to demonstrate reduced cooperation, lower self-confidence, and less emotional reactivity. Read more

Autism on Tape: Using Technology to Help Autism, Nov. 1, 2007

Computer scientists have devised two tools to help people interact with autistic children. Videotaping interactions allows teachers or parents to replay situations and evaluate the cause of particularly good or bad behavior.Read more

Staying home with baby: Agree or disagree?, Oct. 20, 2007

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 5.6 million mothers stay home to care for their families in 2005, about 1.2 million more than a decade ago. Controversial or well worth it: A mother’s story. Read more

The Power of Birth Order, Oct. 17, 2007

A TIME Magazine article states that birth order significantly – and statistically - determines certain traits in first-borns and latter-borns, including IQ, height and weight, and career path. Read more

New study finds baby DVDs and Videos may hinder infant language development, Aug. 7, 2007

Rather than helping babies, the over-use of such productions actually may slow down infants eight to 16 months of age when it comes to acquiring vocabulary, according to a new study by researchers at the University of Washington and Seattle Children’s Hospital Research Institute. Read more

Baby Einstein: not so smart after all, Aug. 6, 2007

In a University of Washington study, researches found that babies who watched videos such as “Baby Einstein” scored 10% lower on language skills than infants who had not watched the videos. Read more

Turn off the tube to teach your child new words, July 2, 2007

New research suggests exposure to language via television is insufficient for teaching language to very young children. Read more

Research finds firstborns gain higher I.Q., June 22, 2007

A new study settles a half-century debate about the relationship between I.Q. and birth order. Read more

Babies need time, books and love, not genius gear, April 23, 2007

Despite the $20 billion dollar a year market that supports companies like Brainy Baby, Baby Einstein and Baby Genius, researchers say the best gift to give a child is your time. Read more

Ambitious parent spend on educational toys, Nov. 24, 2006

The worldwide market for “edutainment” toys was $1.7 billion dollars in 2005. The numbers could increase to $5.5 billion by the year 2010, according to a Herald Tribune article. Read more

Researchers look into the link between TV and Autism, Oct. 22, 2006

Scientists investigating the dramatic increase in the number of autistic children have said the rise coincided with the use of cable television and videos. Read more

Psychologists Test Effects of Household Noise on Children's Verbal Development, Sept. 1, 2005

Can the noise level inside your house actually make it harder for your baby to learn to talk? Includes video. Read more

Studies link television and ADD in children, April 5, 2004

Research shows TV exposure in children 1 to 3 is associated with attention problems at age 7. Read more

Active bodies make healthy children, Jan. 1,  2004

Movement is an essential means of communication and is on of the earliest ways in which children express their thoughts and feelings. Read more

Fostering an over-achiever is not the way to go, Jan. 1, 2003

Formal instruction which pushes infants and toddlers to achieve adult models of literacy (i.e., the actual reading and writing of words) is not developmentally appropriate. Children can learn from you that books are fun, which is a more important ingredient in learning to read. Read more

Turn off the TV and talk, Jan. 1, 2001

Children are more encouraged to communicate when they have “live” talk in their environment, as opposed to TV or radio talk. Read more

IQ depends on environment, not education or monetary wealth, Sept. 1, 1999

Present studies do show that the heritability of IQ varies across social class level. However, the provision of better family environments could raise IQ’s, and should decrease the IQ gap between socioeconomic groups. Read more

Reading with your child promotes later academic successes, Sept. 1, 1991

Reading with your child is more significant that targeting any specific content or skill, research shows. Read more