News, Advice, and Tips for Parenting Teenagers

Videos designed to make babies smarter don't work, according to research from the University of California in Riverside.

• Dr. Rebekah Richert and her colleagues divided 96 babies ages 12 to 24 months into two groups. One group watched "Baby Einstein" videos five times every two weeks for six weeks, and the other group did not.
  
• The babies that viewed the videos did not learn more words than the non-viewing ones unless their parents interacted with him, according to their report, which was published in the Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine.
  
• This new result backs up previous research from Harvard Medical School that found television viewing before age 2 years old does not increase a child's language and motor skills.

The Disney company, which makes Baby Einstein videos, issued a rebate after complaints to the Federal Trade Commission that the product did not live up to its claims.

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Watching television is not educational for children under 3 years old, according to a study in the journal Pediatrics.

Marie Schmidt and her colleagues at Children's Hospital Boston studied 900 children at birth, six months, and then at 3 years old. Parents filled out questionnaires about the children's television watching at those intervals. After factoring out maternal age, income, education, marital status, breastfeeding, and siblings, Schmidt concluded that television watching did not improve vocabulary or visual motor abilities in children under 3.

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Is it possible for children to read too much? One parent worries that the answer might be "yes," so she sought advice from a specialist in child development.

"There's no doubt that being an avid reader will help your daughter be successful in school. Does she seem to comprehend what she's reading? You might consider reading a book that she's reading and discuss it with her. You can also ask a librarian if there might be a book club or discussion group for kids her age."

The specialist also suggested limiting where and when the child can read - for example, not at the dinner table, and not late at night. As long as the child has healthy friendships and does well in school, her appetite for reading will only benefit her as she grows up. Source: The Seattle Times

Labels: education, school, reading

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A report released by one of the world's oldest and largest international development agencies says that the failure to adequately educate girls costs developing nations more than $92 billion every year.

According to Plan, a child-centered community rights group, data provided by the World Bank and the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) indicates that the cost of failing to educate girls almost equals the developed world's $103 billion annual overseas development aid budget.

The group's report, Paying the Price: The economic cost of failing to educate girls, says that "those who oppose girls' education are doing great damage not only to the girls and their families but also to wider communities and economies." The report's "Reflecting on the numbers" section includes the following observations:

• Countries in South and West Asia and sub-Saharan Africa have the worst record on educating girls to secondary level. India alone misses out on potential economic growth worth about $33 billion per annum. Other major losers include Turkey ($20 billion) and Russia ($9.8 billion).



• Nine countries in sub-Saharan Africa have a gap of 10 percentage points or more between the proportion of girls educated to secondary level and the proportion of boys. Yet, despite this poor record, the region's total lost annual growth ($5.3 billion) is limited by the small size of its economies.



• By contrast, just two countries in South and Central America fail to educate girls to the same standard as boys. Indeed, many have more girls in secondary education than boys.

The report did include some good news for advocates of girls' education, noting that net primary enrollment rates for girls across the globe increased from 78 percent in 1990 to 85 percent in 2005, and that secondary enrollment for girls had improved from 47 percent to 57 percent over the same 15 years.

Labels: education, girls, economics

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High school students do not understand how to handle basic money issues, such as calculating APRs or investing for the highest returns. Fewer than half of high school students who took a financial literacy test from the JumpStart Coalition on Financial Literacy passed it. This was the lowest result in six years of testing.

Bernard Bernanke, chairman of the Federal Reserve, commented on the results, saying "the financial preparedness of our nation's youth is essential to their well-being and of vital important to our economic future."

College prep boarding schools might be better equipped to teach teens about money and finances, which will only make them better prepared for the future. Find a college prep boarding school at BoardingSchoolsInfo.com.

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Teens that learn in classrooms where students cooperate and share information score higher on tests than those in classes based on individual competition.

Researchers at the University of Minnesota analyzed data from 148 studies involving 17,000 people aged 12 to 15. Those in classes that supported students working together on projects and test preparation achieved higher scores in problem-solving, critical thinking, and reasoning compared to those who studied alone or in classes based on competitions and "winning."

"When teachers set up their classrooms in a cooperative way," said Dr. Cary Roseth, "both social and academic goals are met simultaneously. Students can interact, which is naturally what they want to do at this age."

This study appears in Psychological Bulletin.

Boarding schools can often cater to different learning styles and offer more attention to students. Find the best boarding school for your child at BoardingSchoolsInfo.com.

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"The nation's newest report card" says that most middle and high school students score at or above the basic level in writing. Scores did not change in any significant way from the last time American students took the national writing test in 2002. About a third of the eighth-graders and a fourth of the twelfth-graders scored at the "proficient" or above-average levels.

Eighth-graders went from 85% to 88% passing, but twelfth-graders improved more: from 74% to 84%. Some educators suggested that the reason for that increase might be that the newer college board examination (SAT) now has a writing component.

Girls scored higher than boys.

Labels: education, school, studying

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Most girls lose interest in science around fifth grade. However, a new program developed at the University of Missouri may be changing all of that.

"The Magic of Chemistry" began almost 10 years ago with a group of 35 Girl Scouts taking part in workshops like "The Case of the Unsigned Letter," "Fun with Polymers," and the "Chemistry of Colors." Since then, almost 2,500 elementary school girls have participated in these female-friendly math and science classes designed by chemistry professor Sheryl Tucker, who is also associate dean of the graduate school at University of Missouri.

Tucker and her aides found that more than 80 percent of girls who participated in the Magic of Chemistry said they wanted to learn more about science and related careers.

"There was a critical national need to start a program targeting young girls with the purpose of igniting and retaining their interest in science at an age where national studies indicate they begin to lose this curiosity," said Dr. Tucker.

Bromley Brook School is a private girls boarding school with a strong program in math and science. Learn more at www.bromleybrook.com.

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Last week's announcement from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that one in four American teens has a sexually transmitted disease has ignited more fury in the debate on sex education in public schools. Now, a new study from the University of Washington (UW) reveals that students who receive comprehensive sex education that includes information on condoms and birth control are half as likely to become teen parents as those who participate in abstinence-only programs.

UW analyzed the education of 1,719 heterosexual teens ages 15 to 19 and found that 67% had comprehensive sex education, 24% had abstinence-only, and 9% had no sex education. The ones in the comprehensive program were 50% less likely to report pregnancy than those in abstinence-only group.

"We're building more and more evidence that abstinence-only education isn't having much effect," said Pamela Kohler, the lead author of the study.

Congress has spent more than $1.5 billion over the past decade on Title V Abstinence Education, and yet American teens have higher rates of pregnancy, abortion, and STDs than those in other developed countries.

Labels: education, sex, pregnancy

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Many of today's teenagers do not know basic dates and fundamentals of history and literature, according to a survey from the American Enterprise Institute.
Among the 1,500 17-year-olds in the survey, only 43 percent knew the Civil War occurred between 1850 and 1900. A quarter of the students could identify Adolf Hitler, and less than 20 percent knew which countries America fought in World War II. Only about half knew the theme of George Orwell's book, 1984, or that Senator Joseph McCarthy's scandal was about communism.

"The question of how much our 17-year-olds know is particularly pressing, given broader social trends. After all, these students are less than a year away from reaching legal adulthood, making them eligible to vote and serve in the nation's armed forces," said Frederick Hess, director of education policy studies for the American Enterprise Institute and the author of the report.

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Some parents are of the opinion that self-discovery is the best way for a teenager to choose a career path. Others worry that, in this highly competitive market, 'self-discovery' is too ambiguous and unstructured to provide the skills necessary to compete, so they offered other suggestions.

"Several parents said career testing had worked well for their kids, either at college counseling centers or other sources. Testing by the nonprofit Johnson O'Conner Research Foundation (www.jocrf.org), an assessment firm with 11 offices nationwide, was recommended by several readers."

One mother in Oklahoma suggests that her teens consider three "overlapping circles"; the things they love to do, the activities in which they're talented, and activities others will pay them to perform. Read more at CareerJournal.com.

Think military boarding schools will straighten out your troubled teen and get them on the right path? Learn about their ineffectiveness and about other alternatives at 4-Military-School-Alternatives.com.

Labels: education, careers, testing

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The competition seems to get tougher and tougher. Even in her freshman year of college, your child might begin vying for post-graduate internships and jobs. But as Sue Shellenbarger from The Wall Street Journal has watched this scenario unfold in her own household, she's less concerned about the level of competition and more concerned with the ultimate career paths her kids are choosing.

"Although I'm glad my son, 16, and my daughter, 19, are thinking about jobs, their deliberations hold none of the curiosity or sense of exploration that I recall feeling at their age. Instead, they seem rushed and grim."

Most young people feel a high level of "career anxiety", according to college counselors. This anxiety causes them to choose a career path - any path - very early and set about pursuing it without much thought to what they actually enjoy or might find satisfying. Ask leading questions when your teen begins talking about work and a career. Help him discover not only his natural talents, but the ways he enjoys using those talents. Be one of the few voices in your kid's life that's telling her it's ok to choose a career she actually loves. Read more at OCRegister.com.

The best boarding schools will offer your teenager a peak at different career choices by offering a variety of classes. Find a boarding school for your teen at BoardingSchoolsInfo.com.

Labels: education, stress, careers

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Canadian researchers found that parents who do not finish high school are more likely to have children who have problems learning to read and write.

Professor Linda Phillips, director of the Canadian Center for Research on Literacy, said the results were so definitive that her researchers could predict how well children would do on early childhood screening tests just based on their parents' educational levels.

This study is included in a book entitled "Family Literacy Matters," published by Temeron Books Inc.

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Teens from Des Moines, Iowa spent part of Tuesday at the Capitol telling legislators that including medical and scientific information in sex education classes would help reduce and prevent teen pregnancy and disease. Many of the teens agreed that more sex education is needed.

"'You can't do a two-day thing on sex and be like, "OK, you know enough." You can't say, "Here's pamphlets and video, let's call it a day,"' said [Venessa] McDole, who is a peer counselor with R3..."

The Iowa Senate and House both have bills on the table that would require science-based, age-appropriate sex education. A subcommittee with discuss the bills today. Read more at DesMoinesRegister.com.

Labels: education, sex, teenagers

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As school districts around the country face tighter and tighter budgets, a lot of creative programs are getting cut. Music, art and theater just aren’t considered priorities. But the creativity a child uses during the spring play can also help him during his math final. And teaching creativity now rests solely on the shoulders of many parents.

“A new down-loadable booklet ‘Encourage Creativity in Children’ (AnswerGirls $1) tells why creativity is such a useful tool for both children and adults, and it describes in detail how to promote creative thinking in children of all ages. This booklet is available only at www.AnswerGirls.com.” [Source: i-Newswire]

The booklet contains eight lessons, each designed to help kids and their parents discover their creative streak. A child who learns to be creative may not appear on Broadway, or have her name attached to a best-selling novel, but she’ll be a better problem-solver and critical thinker – two traits that are helpful in nearly every aspect of our lives.
 

Labels: education, parental influence, development

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