If you really want to learn something, stop cracking those books as much and take more tests. That’s the upshot of new research published in the journal Science. In it they had students read a chunk of text and then take a test which required them to recall what they read. A week later, they showed a 50% higher retention rate on the information from the passage than students using other techniques. So if you’re paying for your kids to get tutored, make sure they’re having your child do a healthy mix of practice tests and not just studying. [More]
parenting
Government Bans Drop-Side Rail Cribs
By 12.15.10
In order to prevent kids from dying, the government has issued a ban on selling or making traditional drop-side cribs. If the gate or slate on the side of the crib gets loose, a baby can fall in there and get trapped, eventually hanging themselves to death. [More]
FBI Warns Video Camera Barbie Could Be Used For Kiddie Porn
By 12.8.10
The FBI is downplaying a leaked internal memo that reminded field agents that “Barbie Video Girl”, which has a video camera embedded in her necklace, could be used by pervs to produce child pornography. [More]
New Line Of Prepaid Debit Cards Target Teens With Cartoon Designs
By 12.3.10
Just days after the Kardashian Kard got cut, a new line of “Myplash” prepaid debit cards targeting teen consumers is here, bedecked with cutesy cartoon characters and Twilight stars. [More]
Foreclosures Are Hurting The Children
By 11.22.10
Children are an overlooked victim in the mortgage meltdown. Experts are growing concerned about the negative social, emotional and academic impact foreclosure turmoil is having on kids. Everything from forced relocation, moving to a new school, seeing your parents at each other’s throats over money, to coming home and finding all your belongs in the trash takes its toll, and there isn’t currently a public policy response to address the issues. [More]
What Do You Do When An Employee Grabs Your Kid?
By 11.12.10
Darren says a woman working at Kohl’s grabbed his rowdy 2-year-old, making him cry. He’s angry and wants to take action but isn’t sure what to do. [More]
Children Can Now Stay On Parent's Health Care Policies Until Age 26, And 3 Other Health Care Reforms That Just Kicked In
By 9.27.10
Several of the provisions of the health care bill’s provisions went into effect on September 23rd, one of the most popular of them being the fact that kids can now stay on their parent’s health care policies until age 26, but there also three other important ones too! [More]
Mompetitors Make It Hard To Have Mom Friends
By 9.27.10
This is a great video that makes fun of “Mompetitors,” those crazy moms who are as addicted to their kids as they are to one-upping other moms about what superior moms they are. What makes it even better is that it was made by a stay at-home-mom. [More]
Prego's Fake Lesson Plans To "Test" Thickest Sauce
By 9.20.10
Here’s a page from the history books of consumerism history: Back in the early 90’s, Prego gave out 12,000 free posters to classrooms across America containing a “lesson plan” for a “scientific” experiment in which they would test whether Prego or Ragu Old World Style was thicker. The poster came with a free slotted spoon and a coupon for a 30 oz jar of Prego. In the September 95 issue of Harper’s Magazine, David Shenk lampooned this blatant insertion of commercial messages into the classroom under the guise of learning about the scientific method: [More]
5 Horrors Parents Most Worry About Vs 5 Most Likely To Occur
By 9.9.10
According to a new survey, the top 5 calamities parents fret over happening to their kids are, in order from most fretting to least: kidnapping, school snipers, terrorists, dangerous strangers, and drugs. What they really should be concerned over are the top 5 way children actually get hurt and/or killed: car accidents, homicide by someone the kid knows, abuse, suicide, and drowning. [More]
Restaurant Bans Screaming Kids, Business Booms
By 9.8.10
The female owner of a North Carolina restaurant has put up a new sign on its front door saying, “Screaming children will not be tolerated.” [More]
CPSC Says No Link Found Between Dry Max Diapers And Diaper Rash
By 9.3.10
Back in May a lotta parents were venting online about newly formulated Pampers Dry Max Diapers giving their kids bad diaper rash. The CPSC got almost 4,700 incident reports and investigated, but so far has not found any specific link that says the diapers are causing adverse reactions any different from normal diaper rash. [More]
Can A Pirate Ship Game Teach Kids About Money?
By 8.23.10
Parsons design and technology thesis students came up with a pirate ship board game that has the twin goals of teaching personal finance to kids and not sucking. [More]
Chinese Milk Accused Of Sprouting Boobs On Babies
By 8.14.10
They say that girls are developing earlier and earlier these days, but this is just disgusting. Chinese authorities are investigating reports that three Chinese infant girls prematurely developed breasts after consuming hormone-tainted powdered milk made by Chinese manufacturer Synutra. [More]
Kids Could Be Getting Salmonella From Pet Food
By 8.9.10
No, it’s not what you’re thinking, parents are not feeding their kids pet food. Instead, a new study finding a link between salmonella contaminated pet food and children posits that the kids might be touching affected animals or their pet food dishes, and then putting their hands in their mouths. [More]
Should AC Caps Be Redesigned So Teens Stop Huffing The Refrigerant And Dying?
By 8.5.10
“My husband came home and saw someone hunched over by the AC unit. He basically said, ‘What are you doing?’ and when he did that and touched my son, he fell over. And when he fell over, he made this strange sound like the air was coming out of his lungs,” said a woman who is now the president of UPROAR, United Parents to Restrict Open Access to Refrigerant. [More]
Why Even Stay-At-Home Parents Need A Part-Time Job
By 8.5.10
The question of whether a parent should stay at home full time or work is a delicate one, and depends on the resources and needs of each individual family. Tracy at personal finance blog MoneyNing makes a solid financial case for having the stay-at-home parent work outside of the home at least part-time. [More]
Send Junk Email To Chipotle, Feed Children
By 6.25.10
Here’s an interesting promotion: for every 100,000 junk emails sent to nojunk@chipotlejunk.com, Chipotle will donate $10,000 to The Lunch Box, which will help feed school kids with healthy junk-free recipes for lunch, instead of the usual prison cheese and high fructose corn syrup. [More]
