Parenting Squad

Top 4 Ways to Save Money With Kids at Tax Time

Lela Davidson — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 14:53:42 +0000

Kids cost plenty. Fortunately, they make pretty good tax deductions as well. Making sure you make the most of tax benefits available from birth through college graduation can dramatically decrease the amount it takes to raise your children. Here are four of my favorite ways to make the tax code work for me. The trick with all these is planning. Take advantage of what you can for 2009, and make plans for 2010 now, while you still can.

1. Get a Job

Sometimes it seems that it’s more expensive for both parents to work than for one to stay home and take care of the kids. And in many situations, it is. However, the Childcare Tax Credit eases the burden of childcare costs, especially if you work only part time. The Childcare Tax Credit is exactly that — a credit. This makes it incredibly valuable as it directly reduces your tax bill. This credit is calculated based on childcare expenses for children up to age 13 (older if they are physically or mentally incapable of caring for themselves), that amounts to 20-35 percent of qualifying expenses depending on your Adjusted Gross Income. Maximum qualifying expenses are $3,000 for one qualifying dependent and $6,000 for two or more.

2. Save For College (or just buy school uniforms)

The tax code definitely favors saving for your child’s college education. A couple of good tools are Coverdell Education Savings Accounts (ESAs) and Qualified Tuition Programs (529 Plans). Earnings or gains in both of these type of investments grow tax-free. Withdrawals also are tax-free when they are used to pay for qualified educational expenses. Qualified expenses for ESA withdrawals include tuition, fees, books, supplies and equipment. Got kids still in K-12? ESAs aren’t just for college. They can be used for K-12 as well. You can even use the money for uniforms, extended day programs, and room and board. Maximum contributions to ESAs are $2,000 per year.

Like ESAs, 529 Plans grow tax-deferred and the withdrawals are not taxed if used for qualified expenses. These plans are state-sponsored programs and annual contribution limits are set by the sponsoring state or educational institution. They typically have much higher contribution limits than ESAs and all or a portion of large contributions may be deductible from federal, state, and gift taxes.

3. Buy Savings Bonds

It may sound old-fashioned, but buying savings bonds is still a great way to finance higher education. Interest on proceeds of qualified savings bonds (specifically, Series I bonds or qualified Series EE bonds issued after 1989) is still tax free when it is used to pay education expenses for joint filers with less than $104,900 in Adjusted Gross Income. If you make between $104,900-$134,900, the interest will be only partially taxed. The limits for single filers are $69,950-$84,950.

4. Give Away Kids' Stuff

All the toys, clothes, and educational aids you’ve bought over the years are worth a lot more on your tax return than they are cluttering up your home. Use one of the many software programs (like Turbo Tax’s It’s Deductible) to calculate the “thrift store value” of your trash in order to turn them into tax treasure. The key here is to keep track of what is in all those big trash bags you drop off at the the local collection site or church rummage sale. You will be surprised at how fast those onesies and Tonka toys add up to a fat deductible.

Raising kids is expensive. Minimizing your tax bill eases the pain. In addition to the above tips, seeing a professional tax advisor can go a long way toward making the IRS code work to your benefit.

Permalink | Comments | Lela Davidson's blog | Channel: Finances

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Hand Washing: A Great First Defense

Deeanna Franklin Campbell — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 14:47:47 +0000

By Deeanna Frankli...

By the time most of us made it to kindergarten we learned to wash our hands — after using the toilet, making mud patties, or petting the dog, etc. It was a seemingly useless chore as a kid, but proper hand washing is actually the foundation of good hygiene.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 80% of infections may be transmitted by hands. Proper hand washing is a simple and effective way to prevent infection and avoid getting sick. Throughout the day we collect germs on our hands from contact with other people, animals, and contaminated surfaces and foods. We blow our noses, cough, sneeze, and use the toilet. We also rub our eyes, and touch our mouths and noses. The common cold, pneumonia, and other respiratory infections, as well as several gastrointestinal diseases are spread through hand-to-hand contact.

The CDC has made a simple but thorough video on proper hand washing technique. It's three minutes well spent.

Hand washing 101 courtesy of the CDC:

Wet your hands with clean running water and apply soap [regular soap is fine; antibacterial soaps are not any more effective at killing germs]. Warm water is preferable.
Rub hands together to make a lather and scrub all surfaces — between your fingers and under your nails.
Continue rubbing hands for 20 seconds.
Rinse hands well under running water.
Dry your hands using a paper towel or air dryer. If possible, use a paper towel to turn off the faucet [this is a smart move when in a public restroom], and use the same towel to open the door to exit, and then toss it away. [Most of us use cloth towels in our homes and these are fine, as long as you remember to change them often.]

I love hand sanitizers. I carry them in my purse, in the car, and definitely in the diaper bag. They are cheap and come in a variety of sizes. Skip the alcohol-free variety, and look for hand sanitizers with at least 60% alcohol. After applying about 1/2 teaspoon into your palm, make sure to rub your hand together well. Keep rubbing until your skin surface feels dry. Remember hand sanitizers are effective, but typically don't clean as well as soap and running water on hands caked with dirt.

To get children to wash their hands properly, demonstrate the proper technique and ask them to sing or hum the "ABC" song or "Happy Birthday" to determine how long they should keep scrubbing. Also, if possible give them their own soap and soap dish — let them pick it out. My oldest son is fascinated by translucent bars of soap that smell like fruit, and now it’s his job to choose the hand soaps for our household. Many liquid soap containers are designed with cartoon characters, and dispense soap as brightly colored foam.

Handy Spa Treatment

All of this hand washing may leave your hands a little dry and chapped if not adequately moisturized. There's no need for your skin to take a beating. Keep your favorite moisturizing lotion or cream next to the sink, and some travel-size hand cream in your purse or desk drawer — at the very least, slather a thick lotion or cream on your hands at bedtime. Then put on a pair of cotton gloves and really let the moisture soak in.

Also, once per week or so try the following moisturizing mask: mix ½ cup of sugar with 2 tbsp of olive oil. Rub into your hands well, particularly the skin on the back of your hands, then rinse off in warm water, and dry your hands. Voila! Super soft.

Permalink | Comments | Deeanna Franklin Campbell's blog | Channel: Health

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Tips For Gardening With Young Children

Rhonda Franz — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 14:51:22 +0000

By Rhonda Franz

It’s time to start readying home gardens for spring and summer planting, and that means parents with green thumbs have to figure out how to manage with little ones in tow. Gardening is a great activity for the family, and an ideal learning opportunity for children, but it can be a special challenge when working with the short attention spans and the infinite needs of babies, toddlers, and preschoolers.

Before digging in the dirt, make sure you — and your children — are ready for the great outdoors!

1. Give children their own tools. Provide them with toy spades and little gloves, or if appropriate, let them use the real thing. Just make sure they have some of the same tools you are using.

2. …And their own pile of dirt. A small pile of dirt, rocks, perhaps some wads of grass in a bucket, a few sticks. They’ll love “working” with their hands in the same stuff you are. Dress them in old clothes and don’t sweat the mess they’re making of themselves.

3. Let them help pull out weeds and old plants. This time of year is the perfect time for young children to help with gardening. When you’re not yet planting, there’s no risk of damaging newly planted flowers or vegetables. Let them get in, get dirty, and help yank out the dead stuff.

4. Move the pack ‘n play outside. These foldable play pens are one of the greatest inventions for parents of toddlers. Children under the age of two might need a bit of corralling if you don’t have a fenced-in yard. Some brands sell attachable canopy tops if you’re concerned about too much sun, so check to see if the company who made your pack n’ play has one available for purchase.

5. Watch the forecast — and plan ahead. Take a lesson from farmers and avid gardeners, who are loyal watchers of the Weather Channel or their local forecast. If the weather permits, set out garden tools, outdoor toys, and whatever else you need the night before in order to make the most of the time you have the next day.

6. Work as much as you can in small batches of time. Sometimes, it’s difficult to start a job when you’re unsure of how much can get done with young children afoot. You can clear a few square feet can in just a little bit of time. Start now: Keep an eye on the weather, and take advantage of every available good-weather day. Your garden will be ready before you know it!

7. Use spring fever to your advantage. This is the time of year when nature starts teasing us for warmer weather. Chances are, children who have been cooped up in hibernation for the winter will love being outside with you.

8. Cleanliness is not next to godliness: gardening is! Your children aren’t going to have much fun if you worry about the mess. If need be, ditch dirty clothes and shoes in the garage or entryway before steering everyone straight for the bath.

More helpful resources:

Gardening With Small Children

Before You Buy Kid-Sized Gardening Tools

Permalink | Comments | Rhonda Franz's blog | Channel: Chores, Home Life, Learning Tools, Home School, Pre School

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Save a Tooth

Deeanna Franklin Campbell — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 14:45:39 +0000

By Deeanna Frankli...

The Tooth Fairy has visited my family twice in less than a month. My 7-year-old is a big believer in any mythical figure that leaves him either money or toys. While the loss of my son's two front teeth were expected, sometimes the loss of a tooth can be highly unexpected. This is why it's good to have a game plan.

If a young child has a baby tooth knocked out, chipped or broken, the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry (AAPD) advises parents to:

Contact your child's pediatric dentist, or your family dentist immediately.
Rinse his or her mouth with warm water and apply cold compresses to reduce swelling. Getting a very young, and very upset child to rinse and spit may be difficult, but try your best. You may have to demo the ol' swish-'n'-rinse a few times first. Most kids like to spit, so this may work to distract them from the pain, too.
Spend time comforting your child rather than looking for the lost baby tooth - typically, baby teeth cannot be replanted.

If your older child loses an adult tooth, the stakes are higher, and the AAPD recommends the following:

Find the tooth. Rinse it carefully in cool water. Do not scrub the tooth or use soap on it. Scrubbing the tooth can wash away the natural periodontal ligaments sticking to it. These ligaments are the connective tissue that serve as the "glue" between the tooth and the bone, and are needed for the tooth to survive. Later, a dentist will irrigate the tooth and the socket and rinse away any dirt and grit.
Have your child rinse their mouth with warm water.
Replace the tooth in the socket and hold it there with clean gauze or a washcloth, or a clean finger. The blood-rich environment of the socket is the best place for it until you can get professional help.
If you cannot put the tooth back in the socket, place it in a clean container with milk, water or saliva, or keep a Sav-A-Tooth Emergency Tooth Preserving System or EMT Tooth Saver on hand for emergencies. These kits contain a special solution to keep the ligaments alive for 24 hours. One kit can store up to three teeth, and costs around $15. Find them at drugstores, dentist offices, or order one through www.save-a-tooth.com.
Take your child and the tooth to a dentist immediately.

For a simple toothache, parents should rinse their child's mouth with warm water, and apply a cold compress or ice wrapped in a cloth. Then call a dentist immediately for an appointment. Do not apply heat to the sore area.

The AAPD advises seeing a pediatric dentist after your child's first birthday, or by the time their first tooth appears. Pediatric dentists may be harder to find, but trust me, he or she is well worth it. Most family dentists won't see children below a certain age, while pediatric dentists only treat children, and specialize in treating infants and toddlers.

Permalink | Comments | Deeanna Franklin Campbell's blog | Channel: Health

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While the Cat's Away: What to Do When a Family Member Travels

Lain Ehmann — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 03:22:49 +0000

By Lain Ehmann

As I write this, my daughters and I are up way past our usual bedtime for a school night. We're munching peanut MnM's, watching “Ella Enchanted,” and snuggling on the couch. Conspicuously missing from the picture are our two males, as my husband and son are off on a guys' getaway. The school vacations didn't correspond this year, so my husband took my twelve-year-old to California, leaving us to hold down the fort.

Instead of feeling like they've been left out of the fun, the girls are enjoying their own mini-break. Sure, they still have to go to school, but we've scheduled in plenty of out-of-the-ordinary entertainment.

Whether your spouse is on the road for business, an older sibling is heading off for sleep-away camp, or an ever-present grandparent goes on an extended trip, even a temporary break-up in the family unit can make things scary for the little ones left behind. There are some simple ways to ease the transition, though. With these suggestions in place, it won't be long until your kids are begging you or your spouse to go away!

Make a plan. Especially for the younger set, disruptions to the normal schedule can cause anxiety. Create and share a new schedule so your little ones feel some control over the changes. Let them know how many days before the family will be back together again, and give them a way to count the days. Making Xs on a calendar, ripping a link off a paper chain, or counting popsicle sticks are all great ways to make an intangible like time more concrete.
Schedule in fun. Create a little bit of excitement for each day their loved ones will be gone. Simple things like extra playdates, having a “slumber party” in one bedroom, or eating breakfast for dinner, are all easy ideas to keep attention on the here-and-now and not on the missing family members. Other ideas my kids enjoy: A trip to the bookstore, dinner at McDonald's (a rare treat in our family!), an extra-long afternoon at the park.
Create ways to stay in touch. Regular phone calls and emails are easy must-dos. Add in some additional ways to connect – like video chats (free via Skype!) or recorded bedtime stories, or even snail mail for longer trips. My kids once received a postcard from each new place their grandparents went on a month-long trip. We would talk about each locale and find it on the map so we could trace their journey.
Make a record. Have each person write about or draw pictures of daily events, and store them in a special folder or journal for sharing when everyone's back together again. Older kids could even make a movie using the family's video camera or take photos to share. These project can become precious slice-of-life records.
Plan a reunion. Putting together details for a reunion celebration will give kids something to focus on. A “Welcome Home” dinner with a recounting of highlights from your time apart will give everyone a chance to reconnect.

Permalink | Comments | Lain Ehmann's blog | Channel: Relationships

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Guns at Starbucks: How do you explain that?

Lela Davidson — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 13:11:41 +0000

By Lela Davidson

No shirt, no shoes, no service, but you are more than welcome to wield your weapon at your local Starbucks, or wherever else you feel your personal safety is in danger as you sip a four dollar cup of coffee.

Gun proponents organized by OpenCarry.org are targeting the coffee giant to test its resolve on allowing guns in stores. In some "open carry" states, businesses may prohibit guns on their premises, but Starbucks, the largest chain targeted in OpenCarry.org’s campaign refuses to do battle.

John Bruce, a political science professor at the University of Mississippi is an expert in gun policy. He told the AP:

"Starbucks is a special target because it's from the hippie West Coast, and a lot of dedicated consumers who pay $4 for coffee have expectations that Starbucks would ban guns. And here they aren't."

In early January, gun enthusiasts in northern California began walking into Starbucks and other businesses to test the state laws that allow gun owners to carry weapons openly in public places. Sometimes it was just one or two people showing off their firearms; sometimes what could have been perceived as an organized militia walked into a store. If I were in that store with a child, you can bet I would have left immediately. And quite possibly never returned.

Other restaurants targeted are California Pizza Kitchen and Peet's Coffee & Tea.

OpenCarry.org is excited about the demonstrations, and applauds Starbucks decision in "deciding not to discriminate against lawful gun carriers."

"Starbucks is seen as a responsible corporation and they're seen as a very progressive corporation, and this policy is very much in keeping with that," said John Pierce, co-founder of OpenCarry.org "If you're going to support individual rights, you have to support them all. I applaud them, and I've gone out of my way personally to let every manager of every Starbucks I pass know that."

In Washington State, home to Starbucks headquarters, the debate is especially relevant. In December four uniformed police officers were shot and killed at a suburban Seattle coffeehouse.

Ralph Fascitelli of Washington Ceasefire, an advocacy group that seeks to reduce gun violence, said allowing guns in coffeehouses robs residents of "societal sanctuaries."

"People go to Starbucks for an escape, just so they can get peace," Fascitelli said. "But people walk in with open-carry guns and it destroys the tranquility."

All I want to know is how to explain to my child that the world is a safe and secure place, where he is free to explore and become, while someone in front of me is brandishing a lethal weapon. Because, why? The beans pose a threat?

Permalink | 6 comments | Lela Davidson's blog | Channel: Safety, Culture

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Book Review: How to Feed a Teenage Boy

Lain Ehmann — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 16:27:35 +0000

By Lain Ehmann

When my son turned 12, our weekly grocery bill skyrocketed. Suddenly, the normal quart-of-milk, one-box-of-cereal, one-loaf-of-bread quantities just weren't cutting it anymore. At first I wondered if we had a mouse issue. Then I realized, we had a pre-teen boy issue.

Being of the female persuasion, when I was growing up I never experienced first-hand this desire to consume everything in the room. After all, I'm sort of, well, curvy, so I've been watching my caloric intake since I hit puberty. But the boys? Well, they have it easy in the calorie-burning department.

As a mom, I wasn't sure how I was supposed to keep this all-consuming fire stoked. More fats? More vegetables? More carbs? It turns out, all of the above.

In How to Feed a Teenage Boy: Recipes and Strategies, (Celestial Arts, 2007) author Georgia Orcutt demystifies the care and feeding of those smelly, noisy beings that have suddenly taken up residence in your home. The book starts with a section on nutritional needs, broken down by nutritional element. In easy-to-understand language, Orcutt tells you what, why, and how much of each nutritional category. The next chapter talks about organizational strategies that will help busy parents can get good food in their kids' mouths, fast.

The final section includes a chapter on each food category: Breakfasts; sandwiches and mini-meals; soups, salads, and sides; main dishes; and desserts and drinks. The recipes are simple and easy to follow, and while there are no photos (a pet peeve of mine), they're not so complicated or unusual that you can't use your imagination to figure out what they're supposed to look like. We're particularly enjoying the Berry Smoothie with a variety of berries, apple juice, milk, yogurt, and banana.

While the whole book is full of excellent information, I especially appreciated the section on nutritional needs. It isn't fancy or trendy; it's just good, clear information on what the best options are for feeding your family. And I purposely say "family" because anyone can benefit from eating this kind of sensible, healthy diet.

The bottom line is, feeding a teenage boy isn't always easy, but it doesn't have to be confusing. And Orcutt's book helps clarify what you as a parent can do to give your child the best shot at a healthy, long life.

Permalink | 1 comment | Lain Ehmann's blog | Channel: Nutrition

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Chatroulette: One More Reason to Freak Out

Lela Davidson — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 14:01:02 +0000

By Lela Davidson

In terms of the internet and my kids, it’s been an eye-opening week. It started when my daughter’s picture popped up in my Google Buzz account. It was taken in the privacy of her friend’s bedroom at a slumber party. The friend’s mother didn’t know about it. While there wasn’t anything wrong with the picture itself, the idea of these two girls taking pictures of themselves behind a closed door and posting them online increased my blood pressure.

And that was before I learned about Chatroulette.

What is Chatroulette?

As if chatting online weren’t dangerous enough for kids, now they can get connected with random strangers from around the world immediately, with audio and video. Live Science reports:

As its name implies, Chatroulette involves randomly pairing a user with another person online for a real time video and audio chat. As you can imagine, this exposes both parties to a mixed bag of experiences that can range from a group of college kids in Boston looking for a virtual party to lone men seeking a voyeuristic experience.

I decided to log on — and I use this term loosely as there is no registration process. Once users click past a screen that states you must be 16 years old to use the site, they are immediately able to access random “chat pairings.”

It is these random connections that appeal to users. Chatroulette promises the excitement of the forbidden without the physical risk. Because users can click "Next" at any time to exit the chat and move on to the next partner, the assumption is that Chatroulette is safe. It’s not.

When I tried the site I didn’t connect my video or audio and did not interact in any way. I only observed. Many partners, whom I saw because they did have their video enabled, ended the sessions immediately. In a few minutes on the site I saw plenty of teenaged boys staring at their monitors, a couple of older men, one young girl, and a picture of a kitten with the caption “boobz pls”. Not so terrible. But, within five clicks of the “Next” button, I was treated to a man masturbating. Ten more clicks yielded a shot of a man exposing his erect penis. Not exactly the stuff of harmless chat.

What can a site like this — aimed at teenagers — possibly be good for?

Safety Features? Yeah, Right

The creator of Chatroulette, 17-year-old Andrey Ternovskiy from Russia, announced this week that safety features had been added to allow users to report inappropriate content.

Chatroulette's new feature is good in theory, but an automated solution may not be possible. Amanda Lenhart, director of the Pew Internet & American Life Project's research on teens, children and families told Live Science:

"I'm not sure we have automated recognition software that’s good enough to recognize objectionable content being streamed live as it happens."

Aaron Kenney, of InternetSafety.com, the company behind leading internet parental control software SafeEyes, says that automated software to identify inappropriate static images is not reliable, and there isn’t currently anything that works for streaming video.

"I don't think we're there yet in technology, and so the only capability is it's allowed or it's not allowed in its entirety."

Hope For the Best, Prepare Kids for the Worst

Sure, you can block the site from your computer, as was suggested by another Parenting Squad writer, and I agree with that. But you can’t be with your children all the time. At some point they will be alone with a laptop. Our goal as parents must be to educate them about what is out there, how the darker side of humanity plays out in unexpected (to them) ways online.

On the bright side, Chatroulette makes me feel a whole lot better about Google Buzz.

For more information about Chatroulette, read our post, "Chatroulette: Social Networking Fun or Predator Paradise?"

Permalink | 1 comment | Lela Davidson's blog | Channel: Safety, Culture

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Keeping Sane During Science Fair Season

Lain Ehmann — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 13:03:55 +0000

By Lain Ehmann

Science fair season is upon us. Across the country and around the world, tens of thousands of elementary- and middle-school-aged kids will plop, fizz, concoct, and create, in an attempt to wow their school's judges and win the admiration of fellow students and teachers alike.

And tens of thousands of parents will stay up late the night before the big event, helping put the finishing touches on the "child's" project.

Let's face it, the science fair is one more time for parents to prove their worth to the school administration and the teachers. If your kid shows up with a half-baked project, or worse yet, no project at all, it's not the kid who ultimately looks bad -- it's poor old Mom and Dad. So to keep your sanity and help your kid make a good showing at the same time, here are some tips for surviving science fair season:

Plan ahead. I know it's common sense, but this time of year seems to be full of projects (in one week, we had a Poseidon costume, a state report PowerPoint presentation, and the science fair -- can you say MOM INSANITY?). As soon as the science fair info comes home from school, sit down with your child and decide RIGHT THEN AND THERE a general topic for her project. Then put together a loose schedule for keeping things on track.
Read the Instructions. Apparently, there's a specific format that many schools adhere to for their science fair projects. Apparently, this mom didn't read all the information. Apparently, my daughter isn't speaking to me because her project wasn't "right." Apparently, that's my fault.
Let the child drive the project. No matter how much your inner helicopter parent wants your child to "succeed," this whole process is about learning -- and your kid might learn just as much (or even more) from taking a few missteps along the way. After all, what better demonstration of the scientific process than the ability to learn from mistakes?
Help with the process. Letting your kid be in charge doesn't mean you can't help. You can -- and should! But confine your assistance to an assistant's role (do you like that play on words? It took me hours). Ask questions, point things out, give your input when requested, but stay out of the driver's seat. I know, I know, it's tough.
Let the child drive the project. Did I say that already? My favorite experiments at the fair last week were the ones where the kids had clearly done most of the work. The display on "What Bubblegum Blows the Biggest Bubbles?" was awesome. The two little girls with the obviously kid-made poster on dyeing flowers were dying (haha!) to share their results with me.

Less impressive was the display on electromagnetic conduction (or something like that). The poster was commercial-quality, and the results were ready to be published in next month's Physics Today. But the poor kid had no idea what the whole thing was about and couldn't talk intelligently about the experiment, what he'd learned, or his results. Sad.
Keep a sense of humor. When the volcano doesn't erupt, or the poster falls over, or there are five other kids with the same project on popcorn that you were sure would be unique and memorable, there's only one thing to do: Laugh. When it comes to science, everything's a lesson, and the best lesson of all just might be to not get too attached to the outcome. If that doesn't work, check out some of these hilarious science projects from fairs past.

Permalink | Comments | Lain Ehmann's blog | Channel: Learning Tools

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My Kid’s Smarter Than Baby Einstein

Lela Davidson — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 12:21:43 +0000

By Lela Davidson

I am resisting the urge to begin this post with "Hahahahahahah! HA!" Okay, I didn’t try too hard. Indulge me my excitement because I have good news. You know all those fancy baby videos designed to increase your child’s intelligence, whose marketers would have you believe you’re a complete failure if you don’t “enrich” your child’s mind with annoying sounds and images on a daily basis? Turns out those videos (the ones I never bought) don’t do squat.

Hahahahahahah! HA!

Educational DVDs Do Not Help Babies Learn

Researchers at the University of California at Riverside set out to learn if educational baby DVDs really taught children anything. They studied Baby Wordsworth (part of the Baby Einstein series), which is supposed to teach 12-to-24-month-olds new “vocabulary.” The babies studied watched the video every day. At the end of six weeks there was no difference in language acquisition between children who were assigned to watch the DVD and a control group.

"We found that over the course of six weeks, the children watching the DVDs didn't learn any more words than children not watching," says psychologist Rebekah Richert.

Why Videos Don’t Work

Researchers suspect there are a couple of possible explanations for why the language acquisition videos do not really work. First of all, the videos may overstimulate the brain. During the critical window of early language development babies learn and retain sounds better if they come from a parent or caregiver engaging directly with them. The videos provide stimulating sounds, but in a “passive, one-way flow of information.” Researchers believe this may overstimulate the brain to the point of paralysis.

The other reason videos fall short is because they take up time that could be spent in one-on-one contact with the caregiver. However, results improved when parents watched the videos with their children and reinforced the concepts.

"What we are finding in our study is that the DVD itself is not a substitute for that kind of live social interaction," says Richert. "For children under the age of 2, social interaction is key to their ability to learning something like words."

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends against allowing children under age two from watching videos or television, but Richert says it’s not an all-or-nothing situation.

"Given that media is becoming a consistent aspect of children's environment, there are ways that parents can use these DVDs," she says. "They can use them to sometimes teach children, but they should be aware that without being involved themselves, children aren't likely to learn."

Realistically, why do parents use these videos? Is it to get a break from the constant demands of the baby? Or because they are so convinced that the video provides some intellectual advantage?

Either way, what are the chances they are watching together?

Permalink | 1 comment | Lela Davidson's blog | Channel: Learning Tools

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