Facts of Life--the early years
597430
I have to say that watching the 1st season was a little painful--I'm not sure what happened with the casting but a couple of the actresses really couldn't act at all.  It was kind of like watching the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders when they were on The Love Boat--cute but that's about it. The writing had a lot to be desired of, too, but got a little better as the season progressed.  Thank goodness the choices on who moved on to the 2nd and beyond seasons was correct with Blair, Tootie, Natalie and later, Jo. Definitely easier to watch!  Love the nostalgia of the 80's--can't wait for the next season to come out!
1475215
More and more, we read and hear about the claims made by some scientists who espouse that our behaviors are fully mature at birth. But as clearly discussed in this highly engaging and well-written book, these claims simply aren't true. The author gives many fine examples of the science that disputes these assertions, but I'll discuss just one.

Nativists (people like Steven Pinker who think that animals do not develop "instincts" but are born with them) believe that newborn infants can imitate. For example: a baby sticks out his tongue after an adult does the same thing. The fact is, babies do this a lot, but not because they are born with the ability to imitate. Rather, the author explains, it has been proven that babies stick out their tongues for a much simpler reason: before a baby is developmentally able to reach for things with his hands, he explores the world with his tongue.

Expositions such as this one fill this very insightful book. Replete with the inquiries and discoveries that have helped to illuminate the origins of development, this book is wonderful for readers who love to learn and get to the bottom of mysteries. Highly recommended!
2823102
My 5-year-old daughter enjoyed reading this book, and learned some new things about kangaroos. For a book this size, it covers a fairly broad range of kangaroo topics, and the photographs illustrate the information well.

It was a good thing that she read it out loud instead of reading it to herself, or I might not have noticed that it contains a significant factual error. The book claims that baby kangaroos, and the babies of all marsupials, are born in their mothers' pouches. Since I was right there, we were able to discuss this inaccuracy right away and view a video clip showing the actual process by which baby kangaroos get to their mothers' pouches.
3398252
I read this 1981 book the first time in 1985 and it answered some unusual 1982 memories of a patient of mine that were puzzling. Babies DO remember prenatal experiences and ARE affected by repeated prenatal experiences emanating from the continual environmental experience of their mother. "The Secret Life" supports the early work of Dr. Lester Sontag, Founding Director of the Fels Institute for the Study of Human Development at Antioch College, in the 1930s and 1940s. It also is a seductive title that caught the attention of researchers and educators around the world who may have thought (like me) that they were the only ones who had discovered these unusual experiences. It was eventually published in 27 or 28 different languages. Dr. Verny must have received letters from around the world (no internet), contacted these persons, and invited them to Toronto for the First (biennial) International Congress on Prenatal and Perinatal Psychology in 1983. The organization is now called the Association for Prenatal and Perinatal Psychology and Health (APPPAH), of which I have been a member since 1985. AND, I am reading  "The Secret Life" again.
I. Lynn Rinehart, PhD
4093821
Several studies from Europe have over time shown that children growing up in poverty have long lasting effects on their physical and mental health, medical service utilization and criminal behavior. Poverty is even today in developed countries like United States and Israel (about 25% of children living in poverty) a major public health problem of a magnitude that is markedly different than Scandinavian countries (3%). The official poverty rate for children (the proportion of those poor) in the United States declined sharply between 1960-69, had an upward trend between 1969-93 with a steady figure around 20%, since 1981. In 1996, the federal government counted 20.5% of the children poor, 18.3% of those 6-17 years of age and 22.7% of all those under six years of age. In 1996, 16.3% of all White children were living in poverty, 39.9% of all Black children and 40.3% of all Hispanic children. This book is the first in a series of three books on &#8220;Voices of the Poor&#8221; with information gathered from the views, experiences and aspirations of over 60,000 poor women and men from 60 countries. This first bring the cry from 40,000 poor persons in 50 countries. It is devided in seven chapters: Listening, definitions, state institutions, civil society institutions, gender relations in the household, social fragmentation and the conclusion with ways forward. The work has been undertaken under the auspices of the World Bank. In the pages of this book you will find testimony to the poor people of this world, their hunger and pain, but also strength and resilience, which will point the way forward. We can see the need for further research into the effects of poverty on child development, investigate resiliency, adaptive behaviors and find ways to make policy relevant research...
2666166
This is a nice non-fiction book about dogs for primary children. There are some great photographs illustrating the facts being shared. If a young child tries to read this book alone, they may need some assistance with some of the large words, but overall it is a simple book with some interesting facts. Many young children prefer non-ficion books so this helps to fill that need. I even learned some facts when I read this to my grandson. He enjoyed listening to it and was able to answer the comprehension questions along the way. A nice way to start teaching about research and how to find information about things you are interested in. A great book for a public, school or class library. The publisher generously provided me with a copy of this book via Netgalley.
3883893
It's wonderful to read a story about the complexities that children have to deal with as their parents age.  We have so much information about raising children, but not enough about dealing with our parents as they age.  Thank you for sharing your story.
2200822
I really liked this book.  I am the first among my friends to have a child and have little experience with children (until now of course)!  I found this book easy to read and liked that the beginning was set up to show what to expect around certain months.  If you are a very experienced parent this might be a little too much information, but it was very good for me
1333559
It is very well written, and so helpful to starting to understand life! I recommend this book to everyone who would like to learn!
672096
I had this book as a child and I recently bought a copy of it for my own child.  It explains the entire process of how babies are made as well as the anatomy of males and females. Some of it can be uncomfortable to read aloud (and, of course, my daughter asks me to read it as a bedtime story to her all the time).  My parents didn't read it to us but just gave us a copy of it to look at on our own when we were old enough to read.

Overall, it does a good job of explaining everything and I think my daughter knows how babies are made because of this book.
1585091
I started reading this to my son about 4 months before the baby came. It really helped him to understand what was going to happen, and to this day (baby is now 6 mos old), he still quotes from the book. A wonderful little book, right at his level (he is now 3 yo).
1470162
As a teacher my opinion is this book incorporates many of the early childhood musts like numbers, sounds, and visual cues all within the context of a wonderful story.  There are lots of elements to the book that cater to early childhood development and make for a great read for children and adults alike.  In this educator's opinion it's a great book for early childhood cognitive development.
4772002
A well told true story of what his real world was like growing up. An inside look from someone who got ahead in life where most children from his world did not. Well written and thought provoking. A good read.
1046226
Good basic knowledge that is broken down perfectly. This book goes through the different stages of life from the beginning too the childhood stage.
785662
The author was able to reach the goal to educate those parents on how they will be able to take good care of their newborn baby until s/he is 6 months old specially for those parent's first time babies. All the do's and dont's are very detailed inside specially on how you will be able to adjust and what to do every time the baby will have it's tantrums and how their sleeping time changes every month.
4341734
This is a great book about nurturing your child's development in mind, body, and even (to an extent but of course not completely) spirit. I only give it a 4 because I am the sort of reader who needs scientific facts and statistics with plenty of clearly plotted out source points to really get fully bought into something. This book does not have that. It makes (clearly well informed) sweeping generalizations at times that leave me questioning "but how did Maria Montessori arrive at this conclusion (beyond anecdotes on her observations), what was her sample size and demographic, what would she suggest for 'later starters' - such as myself as my first son is already 17 months". That said, this is still an amazing book full of sound, practical, and applicable advice for parenting your 0-3 year old. I may purchase another Montessori book with more detail on the science, or similar, to have as a companion reference.
4621822
This is a factual read that provides a lot of information for kids who are about to enter preschool.