Money
Learning the value of money and how to make it last should start young. In fact, financial literacy can begin with babies.
Resources
Money as You Grow (President's Advisory Council on Financial Capability)
How to Raise Financially Savvy Kids (Forbes)
How to Raise Financially Savvy Kids (Forbes)
Temper, Temper
Taking a moment to refocus and relax is good for you. It's also good for your children. We all lose our temper sometimes. However, there are things we can do to make sure that our frustration isn't directed at our children.
Resources
Thanksgiving
Take time to give thanks. The holidays can be full of stress. But with a little planning and teamwork, Thanksgiving can be a wonderful time for all ages to reflect on that’s good in our lives.
Resources
No Laughing Matter
Will your little one grow up to be the next Joan Rivers or Steve Martin? Maybe not. But even so, the ability to chuckle, giggle, and laugh helps to reduce stress, build connections and encourage creative thinking. Listen now to identify some milestones that indicate a healthy sense of humor is developing on track.
Resources
Encouraging Your Child's Sense of Humor (Kids Health from Nemours)
The Joke's In You (American Psychological Association)
The Joke's In You (American Psychological Association)
Stop Bullying
Bullying can start in the early years—even before school. Young children might call names, act out physically, or intimate others. Listen to learn tips aimed at helping parents and caregivers prevent bullying early and to keep it from escalating.
Resources
Quantity Vs Quality
For more than two decades, experts have recognized the importance of early exposure to a language-rich environment. By age three, children from low-income families hear far fewer words than their more affluent peers—nearly 30 million fewer words. This disparity puts poorer children at a huge disadvantage when starting school. But now a Temple University study suggests that exposing low-income children to more language isn't enough to overcome this difference. The researchers report that the quality of communication among children, parents and other caregivers is of more importance that just the number of words.
Resources
Quality of Words, Not Quantity, is Crucial to Language Skills, Study Finds (The New York Times)
The Thirty Million Word Gap (Rice University)
Bridging the Vocabulary Gap (NAEYC)
The Thirty Million Word Gap (Rice University)
Bridging the Vocabulary Gap (NAEYC)
Attachment
What does it take for parents to build a secure attachment with their child? Find out this week as we welcome Dr. Marti Erickson as guest host of The First Five Years. Retired from the University of Minnesota and now co-host of the weekly parenting show Mom Enough, Dr. Erickson specializes in linking research, practice and policy in the areas of parent-child attachment, child abuse prevention and children's mental health.
Resources
Be A Champion
If you could change the lives of millions of children and families for the better, in a matter of just minutes, would you do it?
Resources
Music
New research from Northwestern University will be music to your ears. They found that after two years of musical training, the brain function of at-risk youth improved significantly. What's more, this research could hold the key to reducing the achievement gap. Listen now to learn more.
Resources
Community Music Programs Enhance Brain Function in At-Risk Children (Northwestern University)
Music Resources (NAEYC)
This is Your Brain on Music (NPR)
Music Resources (NAEYC)
This is Your Brain on Music (NPR)
Traumatic Experiences
Just under half of the children in the United States have lived through at least one traumatic experience. These experiences have lasting effects on health, social and economic outcomes in adulthood. But there is hope. Listen to find out how you can help.
Resources
Survey Results (Child Health Data)
Nearly 35 million U.S. children have experienced one or more types of childhood trauma (ACEs Too High News)
Injury Prevention and Control: Division of Violence Prevention (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
Nearly 35 million U.S. children have experienced one or more types of childhood trauma (ACEs Too High News)
Injury Prevention and Control: Division of Violence Prevention (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)