Whether talking about his life or death, I struggle with giving this man more than his 15 minutes of fame. To be sure, in my opinion, he didn’t even deserve that much. Many people have strong feelings about last night’s events. Many will be discussing them today and for days to come. When doing so, Read More
child development
A Plan To Play
After sitting down with another parent who felt self-conscious and unsure of how to play with her child, I had a thought: Playing doesn’t come naturally to every grown up and that’s okay. Why not use the Dana’s Kids blog to give parents a “Plan to Play?” I want to be clear that feeling “unable” to play is a Read More
“Special Needs” Products for Everyone: Bubble Bear
Have a bubble lover in the house? Pustefix Bubble Bear is a great product for children of all ages and abilities. For babies, blow the bubbles so that they can track with their eyes and reach out with their hands. Toddlers love running to catch bubbles with different parts of their body. As toddlers become 2s and Read More
Effective Parenting Begins with Consistency
Read my new article about the importance of consistently setting limits and expectations for your child. http://www.bigcitymoms.com/EffectiveParenting.php
A Special Educators’ Bag of Tricks
One of the first things any child receiving special services will learn to say, whether by signing or speaking, is “open bag.” Special service providers (occupational, speech, feeding, and physical therapists, as well as special educators), come to work in homes and schools with a literal bag of tricks. We bring novel materials to excite Read More
Talking to Young Children About Death
Let me start by saying, I’ve had this post ready to publish for months. I’ve held on to it waiting for the “right” time to make it public. The bottom line, is that this is a sad, difficult, personal topic, and there is no “right”time. The way one explains death to a child is a very personal decision. Read More
Love Is In The Air
Happy Valentine’s Day! February 14th is a day when we think about love and our connections to others. If those thoughts don’t lead directly to our feelings about children and our families, I don’t know what would. Three months ago upon the birth of my nephew, my father told my brother (the new daddy), “all Read More
Teaching Children To Problem Solve
Learning to problem solve begins at a very young age, and is a lifelong skill that helps us as we make our way through the world. Infants learn to problem solve as they track a toy with their eyes and slowly begin to reach out to grasp it. Babies problem solve when they have a toy Read More
My Favorite Things: Discount School Supply
Parents, grandparents, educators, caregivers……get out your pad and pen, or bookmark this site, now! Discount School Supply is a find! This fantastic website has everything from games to art supplies, infant toys to bikes to products for children with special needs (many of which I use with typically developing children as well). The prices are right and Read More
Review: “No More Mrs. Nice Mom”
Please take a look at the article “No More Mrs. Nice Mom” in the NY Times. I’ve read the article and watched the news report and I’ll respond to them the way I do to so many others…what happened to the middle ground?! We have certainly had a trend in parenting where grown-ups want to Read More