WSJ Video: Remedies for Getting Rid of Head Lice
Thank you to Capability:Mom for sending me this video from The Wall Street Journal on Remedies for Getting Rid of Head Lice. I have my own take on lice after two stints and I have posted on it here.

Thank you to Capability:Mom for sending me this video from The Wall Street Journal on Remedies for Getting Rid of Head Lice. I have my own take on lice after two stints and I have posted on it here.

A transition to a new grade or school, not matter how small, is difficult for children. It’s helpful to visit the new school as often as possible. Play with kids that will be at the same school if you can. And read, read, read to your child books about starting school. The familiarity of routines and activities of the new school will take a lot of the anxiety away. So, while my youngest has been visiting his elementary school for 5 years so far, we’ll take it one step at a time and read these books over and over to ensure a smooth landing in September. And a few playdates with new friends is also on the books!

I found this great article from a mom on Twitter. I am getting my 5-year-old ready for kindergarten and I thought this is a great list of fun activities to work into the summer plans. The activities cover: fine motor, scissors, sensory, mid-line crossing, and developing handwriting skills. This article is by Loubina Buxamusa, an Occupational Therapist and Ann Mahoney, an Early Childhood Specialist.

How to detect and remove lice and nits. Two effective methods for killing lice: Robi Comb (an electronic zapper comb) and the Olive Oil Treatment. Pragmatic Mom does not recommend lice shampoo because it’s not 100% effective due to lice resistence, and has harmful chemicals.

These books are from a Mom Blogger friend at CoffeeShopBloggers whose daughter is a sports fanatic and these were her favorite baseball books. These books are all appropriate for grades 3-5th. The “…and Me” novels, also known as, the Baseball Card Adventures are fun because the child in the story travels back in time to meet a baseball legend. I suspect that any little leaguer who might not love to read otherwise will enjoy these books!

If you don’t live in Newton, MA, use my list. It’s a great list. It also comes with great resources of websites to keep you learning, reading and having fun. Please see Capability Mom’s post on that! I have to hightail it to the library the next town over to get books for my kids!

This list was compiled by kids and interesting because it’s not so different from the Teacher’s Choice list also compiled by the National Education Association. Great minds think alike! This list was tabulated from an online survey that the National Education Association ran from November 1, 1999 through February 1, 2000.

I found this great summary by Autumn Rain Creations who summarized the 10 things by Ellen Notbohm called Ten Things Every Child with Autism Wishes You Knew and I just shortened it. But do go to her blog if you want more details. Or check out the book at the library.

Here is a list of one hundred books selected by the National Education Association in 1999 as great reading for children and young people. To help make these books more useful, we have added book and author links to any TeachersFirst resources and lesson ideas.

This list (slightly paraphrased) is from Dr. Prakash Dheeriya, a professor of finance, who is the author of the Finance for Kidz series that teaches kids about money management, personal finance and planning for the future.
This is from FunKidsLive. It looked like a great book series for reluctant boy readers. NERDS (which stands for National Espionage, Rescue and Defense Society) is a new book series by Michael Buckley.
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Combining the excitement of international espionage and the awkwardness of primary school, NERDS, is a terrific new series from best-selling author Michael Buckley.
The series features five unpopular students who run a spy network from inside their school. And, with the help of cutting-edge science, these characters are pretty unique! There is the paste-eater who can stick to walls, the asthmatic who can blow up like a puffer fish and loads more characters that you will absolutely love!
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NERDS: National Espionage, Rescue and Defense Society
Working as a team, these geeky yet special students become the latest members of an elite organization whose origins are shrouded in mystery and have included such members as Benjamin Franklin, Harriet Tubman and Bill Gates.
The latest incarnation of NERDS must battle an array of James Bond–style villains, each with an evil plan more diabolical than the last.
This September, NERDS is back with the second book, NERDS: M is for Mama’s Boy, in the series with more sinister villains, crazier schemes and the nerdiest group of superheroes around!
In this second outing for the junior school super spies, Duncan Dewey, codename “Gluestick”, leads the adventures. This time the group must fight a very unlikely villain – he still lives with his Mum. In other words, it’s the NERDS against a nerd!
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Click on image of book to view at Amazon.
Is our education system failing boys? The Harvard School of Education’s take on this raging debate. Putting the “Boy Crisis” in Context: Finding solutions to boys’ reading problems may require looking beyond gender By MICHAEL SADOWSKI.
Click here for link.
The TakeAways for Me:
Some key paragraphs:
“Moreover, the state tests showed gaps between different racial and ethnic groups that were much wider than those by gender. The same state-level CEP reports that show gaps ranging from one to 16 percentage points between boys and girls reveal gaps in the 20-, 30-, even 40-point range between white and Asian American students on the one hand and African American, Latino, and Native American students on the other, says Naomi Chudowsky, coauthor of the CEP report: “Just to put this in perspective, a 10-point gap is still pretty significant, but we’re seeing much wider gaps between racial and ethnic groups.”
In addition, disparities in gender may play out differently in wealthy, middle-class, and lower-income communities. Kenneth Hilton studied the relationship between community wealth and boy-girl reading gaps while executive director of research and evaluation for the Rush-Henrietta (N.Y.) Central School District. Hilton, now superintendent of the Sullivan West Central (N.Y.) School District, found that on fourth-grade state reading tests, girls in both wealthy and middle-income or working-class school districts in New York State scored eight to nine percentage points higher in reading than boys. However, when these same cohorts of students reached eighth grade, the gap grew to 17 percentage points in the middle- and working-class districts, but stayed at nine points for the wealthiest districts.”
Most researchers agree that on average, boys develop the skills associated with reading and writing 12 to 24 months later than girls. Attending to the possible difficulties some boys (and girls) may have with reading early on is crucial, Snow says, to avoid what psychologist Keith Stanovich has called the “Matthew Effect,” in which strong readers move further and further ahead, while early deficits accumulate and lead to greater and greater difficulties later on.
Advocates for more “boy-friendly” education have been arguing for some time that schools should include more reading materials that boys tend to like, such as action-oriented stories and graphic novels, in an effort to motivate boys to read. William Pollack, author of the book Real Boys and clinical professor of psychology at Harvard Medical School, says action-oriented stories were removed from school curricula several decades ago in well-intended initiatives to remove violence from children’s reading. “Most of the books that were written for elementary school-aged children yoked action with violence,” Pollack says. “But in removing violence, we removed action.”
Nontraditional materials such as comic books and sports-themed materials can provide an important “hook” to get boys more involved in reading, Pollack says, and serve as a helpful bridge to more advanced types of reading later on. Snow, whose research focuses on language and literacy development, suggests that helping boys build this bridge is crucial for their learning trajectories, since the ability to read and interact with high-level materials is central to just about every subject children encounter in the upper grades and beyond.
Name of Product: Magnetic maze boards
Units: About 18,500
Manufacturer: Lakeshore Learning Materials, of Carson, Calif.
Hazard: The magnetic maze board’s plastic wand can separate and expose a magnet that can be a choking hazard to children. Also, if a child has more than one of these toys and the magnets detach and are swallowed, the magnets can attract each other and cause intestinal perforations or blockages, which can be fatal.
Incidents/Injuries: Lakeshore has received ten reports of wands separating and magnets detaching. No injuries have been reported.
Description: This recall involves wooden magnetic maze boards. The wooden boards have a clear plastic sheet that covers small wooden or plastic pieces located inside a maze. A plastic wand containing a magnet in its tip is attached to the board by a cord. The wand is used to move items inside the maze. The top of the board reads: “Who’s Hiding in the Garden?,” “Who’s Hiding in the Ocean?,” “Magnetic Counting Maze,” “Magnetic Alphabet Board” or “My Community Magnetic Board.”
Sold by: Lakeshore Learning Materials stores nationwide, its catalogs and online at www.lakeshorelearning.com from January 2009 through May 2010 singly or in sets for between $30 and $40.
Manufactured in: China
Remedy: Consumers should immediately take this toy away from children and contact Lakeshore to receive a free replacement product.
Consumer Contact: For additional information, contact Lakeshore Learning Materials at (800) 428-4414 between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. PT Monday through Friday, or visit the company’s website at www.lakeshorelearning.com
At the conclusion of the Top 100 YA Novels poll for this year, I would like to share some information gathered from your votes.
This sensitive post is from The Children’s Book Writer. She has a great blog and I’m always finding interesting posts on a variety of topics. I was talking to Capability:Mom the other day who has a friend whose two children both have had cancer. One child’s cancer is in remission but the other child’s cancer is the bad kind. The thought of a child dying brings overwhelming emotion to any parent. But for those who have actually experience the unbearable loss of a child, Randy Gilbert, the guest author of her post, suggests two helpful ideas:
And when the family is ready to move forward, he gives these ideas:
Do something special to honor your lost child. Make it a monthly or yearly project. Get the other members of your family together and coordinate it. It can be anything that makes you feel closer to your child: scholarships, memory gardens, scrapbooks, gift baskets to your child’s friends. There are a number of things parents can do to keep their child’s memory alive.
You need to move forward. Find ways for you and your family to adjust to the loss.
Dr. Proactive, Randy Gilbert enjoys producing the “Inside Parenting Success” show hosted by Jodie Lynn. She presents her insightful interview with Frank and Cathy James (TheJourneyIsMore.com) based upon the techniques from their book. You can hear the entire inspirational interview for free by going to: http://www.insidesuccessradio.com/Guests/Cathy-James
For the entire post, please click here.
Are you thinking what I’m thinking, “Who knew that there were so many obscure children’s book awards?!” I know, huh? But, if you are the type of person who likes to bypass the duds, then these book awards help to weed out the bad and the mediocre. This might be a good list for holiday presents for nieces, nephews, cousins and grandkids … not that well known so that it will already be in the family library but a quality book that the parents will appreciate.
The Booktrust Early Years award shortlist was announced late last week. For full details, check out the Booktrust site. Which book gets your vote?
The Best Book for babies under one-year-old
Goodnight Buster by Rod Campbell

Happy Snappy (Mr Croc) by Jo Lodge

Hop a Little, Jump a Little by Annie Kubler

I Love My Mummy by Giles Andreae

That’s Not My Tiger by Fiona Watt

Who’s in the Garden? by Phillis Gershator
The Best Picture Book for children up to five-years-old
Ernest by Catherine Rayner

The Fox in the Dark by Alison Green
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Jeremiah Jellyfish Flies High by John Fardell

The Night Iceberg by Helen Stephens

One Smart Fish by Chris Wormell

Sing a Song of Bottoms by Jeanne Willis

Best Emerging Illustrator for children up to five-years-old
Birdsong by Ellie Sandall

Dogs Don’t Do Ballet by Anna Kemp

Jeremiah Jellyfish Flies High by John Fardell

The Talent Show by Jo Hodgkinson
To take a closer look at any book through Amazon, please click on the image of the book.
From NewsDX Blog. Click here for full post. Author Joan Celebi originally founded SpecialNeedsParentCoach.com in her capacity as a certified life coach for parents of children with special needs. Her goal is to give you the practical strategies you need for successfully navigating life as a parent of a child with special needs and helps you create a manageable, balanced, and joyful life, for both you and your family. Visit Joan at http://www.specialneedsparentcoach.com.
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I’ve seen it time and again: the more you practice these 7 Habits, the more productive and efficient you become, the more you’re able to handle whatever comes your way, and the more things fall into place in your life. Many of these habits are about taking excellent care of yourself, so you can continue to take excellent care of your children and family.
It’s well known that when parents lead low-stress, balanced lives, children do better socially, emotionally, and academically. Try some of these 7 Habits, starting today – you’ll be amazed at what a huge difference they’ll make – for you, your children, and your family.
1. They make rest a priority.
Highly effective special needs parents are in bed by 10 pm or even earlier most nights, even if it means leaving something unfinished. Parents whose children have irregular sleep patterns take naps whenever possible to make up for the late nights and pre-dawn awakenings.
2. They make time for eating well.
Highly effective special needs parents don’t skip meals – and they eat delicious, nutritious food. They get the whole family involved in weekly or monthly meal planning. They also tend to stay hydrated by sipping water throughout the day.
3. They find support.
Highly effective special needs parents get help with even the smallest things, as often as they can, from anyone and anywhere they can: family, friends, neighbors, agencies, organizations, and their community. They hire help when necessary, and find creative solutions for bartering help with family and friends. They belong to support groups for their children’s special needs and disabilities, and they’re in close contact with other special needs families in their area.
4. They guard their time carefully.
Highly effective special needs parents know they have to be careful about how many activities they sign up for, and the activities they do choose to participate in are only those that are nearest and dearest to their hearts. They save most of their free time for whatever truly matters to them most.
5. They schedule social time on the calendar.
Highly effective special needs parents regularly go out with friends, and also with their spouse or partner. They take the time and effort to train sitters, relatives, or friends on how to care for their children, so their social time can be as fun and worry-free as possible. They take advantage of respite services in their area when they need a break. They schedule social time weeks or months in advance, and then do whatever’s necessary to make it happen.
6. They nurture their own needs and interests.
Highly effective special needs parents reserve time for exercise – walking, biking, hiking, stretching, exercise videos, even gym workouts. Many exercise with friends. They engage in creative pursuits and hobbies that can be fit into small moments here and there throughout the week. And they make time for intellectual activities too, like reading or taking a class for personal growth and enrichment.
7. They intentionally practice stress-reducing techniques.
While all of the above habits are excellent for reducing stress, highly effective special needs parents take stress reduction a step further by practicing deep breathing, meditation, or anything that helps them build up their inner reserves and cultivate inner calm. Highly effective special needs parents also reserve time each day to put aside the therapy goals and the discipline issues, and relax with their children, enjoying them just the way they are.

I’m impressed that Jennifer Aniston knows about the RobiComb, an electronic lice comb that zaps lice dead. My Mom Friend that runs a preschool told me about it and it’s great to have in your arsenal against lice. For more on How To: Detect and Get Rid of Lice, please click here. For the Wall Street Journal video on lice, please click here.
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From Boston.com. For the full article, please click here.
“Aniston’s costar in “The Switch” is Jason Bateman, and at one point in the movie, Bateman’s character is shown choosing LiceGuard SAFE Lice Egg Remover Shampoo to treat his child. That’s good news for ARR Health Technologies, the Needham company that owns the LiceGuard Brands. (Bateman and Aniston are shown above in a publicity photo for the movie.)
LiceGuard has a nontoxic line of lice treatment products, including the RobiComb electronic lice comb, a company press release noted.
“Jennifer Aniston is very aware of current children’s health issues and expressed her desire to feature a healthy and safe lice treatment product for this particular segment of the film to the production staff,” the ARR Health Technologies release said.”