Over the years, there have been a lot of times when my one of my children has suddenly seemed like a totally different child. My previously angelic toddler suddenly was aggressive and obstinate, my baby who had slept well at night was suddenly an unhappy night owl, or my normally calm preschooler just seemed miserable…
Category: the big stuff
New Meta-Analysis of Hundreds of Studies: Nature Boosts Children’s Learning in Eight Ways
A large metastudy of hundreds of scientific studies has found what most parents and teachers already know — nature has a powerfully positive impact on children’s learning and on their emotional health. “Report after report – from independent observers as well as participants themselves – indicate shifts in perseverance, problem solving, critical thinking, leadership, teamwork,…
Happy Birthday, Hannah
Those who have been reading Magical Childhood for a long time may remember back when I used to send out newsletters back before the blog, full of ramblings and fun ideas and silly ways to make the day magical. Those who have been around a really long time may remember when we lost our incredible…
Is It a Bad Thing to Want to Give Our Kids a Magical Childhood?
Last week, a blog post went viral about why parents should stop trying to give their kids a magical childhood. One of my friends shared it on her Facebook wall and yesterday a speaker at a sustainability conference even recommended it, saying that parents today spend too much time “on those things like Pinterest” and…
A Little Update
Thank you for all your kind words about Victoria. It’s meant a lot to our family. I thought I’d post a little update on how she’s doing but I’m not sure I ever posted much information to begin with so here’s a super short recap: Victoria had surgery on May 2nd to remove a lump…
A Smallish Break
Some of you may know that our daughter Victoria was back in the hospital this week. She had a couple of very scary days with a lot of pain and another surgery, but she’s back home again now. We are in limbo with her cancer diagnosis (the latest news is now cautiously optimistic), but her…
The C Word
Ten years ago, my little girl was a four year-old happily splashing in puddles. Victoria was my joyful model for the picture on the What should a 4 year-old know? article that brought a lot of people here over the years. Two weeks ago, Victoria was having surgery to remove a cyst on her jawline…
The Never-Ending Parent
You may have noticed that Monday came and went without a list of ways to make the day magical this week. It’s been one of those weeks. You’re on your own! 😉 But in the meantime, I came across this tidbit that I wrote in the Magical Childhood newsletter years ago. It was written half…
More Research Shows Preschoolers Learn Best Through Play and Exploration (and a Few Fun Links)
As if we needed more studies to show that preschoolers don’t need formal education, two new studies have shown that little ones are better at learning and solving problems when they are not instructed about it first. In Slate’s Why Preschool Shouldn’t Be Like School, researcher Alison Gopnik cites the studies and how they surprised…
Big Brother, Little Brother
Of all wild beasts, the most difficult to manage. – Plato , on Boys My son Jack has a black eye this week, courtesy of his little brother. I’d like to say that Alex didn’t mean to do it, but he did. Alex (3) was mad and threw his new remote control truck at Jack…