Kids Taught Happiness in Britain

I came across this recent item from a London paper and was so taken by it, it got me to thinking about happiness, which my young children give out like candy. At Wellington College just west of London (one of Britain's top schools), the head mistress announced that they'd been focusing too much on academics and missing something far more important, so they introduced classes on happiness to combat depression caused by materialism and celebrity obsession. Pupils ages 14 - 16 will be given one lesson a week, learning skills such as how to manage relationships, physical and mental health, negative emotions and how to achieve one's ambitions. A psychologist will oversee the pilot teaching program.

"Celebrity, money and possessions are too often the touchstones for teenagers and yet these are not where happiness lie" said the head mistress. "Our children need to know that as societies become richer, they don't become happier -- a fact regularly shown by social science research."

It's so important that we teach our children of happiness within instead of 'buying' into the world of materialism which divides us into the haves and have nots. What a fantastic gift to turn out young men and women who are happy and secure! Now there's a useful overhaul of the education system...

Cruising for names

As I approach the birth of my second child, a boy, due June 5th, I find myself playing the name game all the time. Considering that my pregnancy has been really awful and I always feel sick, I have come up with some REALLY good ones like Osama, Saddam and Adolf. OBVIOUSLY, I would never name my kid any of these names and really do want to find a unique, fun name but after hearing what some celebrities are naming their kids, Bob, John and any other plain and normal name is sounding PRETTY good right about now. I would never name my kid Moses unless, by some miracle, when my water broke it parted and out he came....
Here is a snippet of news from CNN that aired over the weekend that I found particularly funny....

"Suri, the name chosen by Hollywood couple Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes for their newborn daughter, is raising more than its share of interest in Israel.
It means "get out of here" in the local language, Hebrew.
News of the naming puzzled even those Israelis who thought they had seen it all after pop diva Madonna turned the ancient Jewish mystical tradition Kabbalah into a faith for the famous.
"I really don't know what they were thinking when they chose this name. It's a term that denotes expulsion, like 'Get out of here'," said Gideon Goldenberg, a linguistics professor at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. "It's pretty blunt."
Yaron London, a cultural commentator for Israel's Channel 10 television, had this rhetorical question for Suri's proud parents: "Why didn't you just go back to your ancestors' language, and call the kid 'Scram Cruise'?"
And there are plenty of alternative meanings for Suri.
It's also a Nubian tribe, the word for "rose" in Persian, "sun" in Sanskrit and a term for a form of Alpaca's wool."

So maybe because I am the throw up queen I should name my kid Qow- Hebrew for vomit.....Uh...NO.

Lulu's Book Pick 4/24/06

Sam’s First Word Book
Written and Illustrated by Yves Got

Reading Level: Baby-Preschool

From elephant to stroller, computer to overalls, more than one hundred colorful images illustrate baby's world. Young children will delight in recognizing the familiar objects and favorite animals in this chunky padded covered book that's perfect for lap sharing and building vocabulary! Each page features a simple picture and corresponding word or phrase. Got has included a few “tough” words such as “onesie” and some kiddlings may get frustrated but most of the words are great..("baby," "Mom," and "Dad").
The bold, cartoonlike illustrations are outlined in thick black lines and set against brightly colored backgrounds. With just one picture per page, it's very easy for children to focus and learn while you two read together. Don’t be alarmed by the vast number of pages this book has (over 100)….it goes by quickly and most kids can probably get through it.

Available from Amazon for $9.97!

Sesame Beginnings- Bad?

The folks over at Sesame Workshop have developed Sesame Beginnings, a new infant brand that teaches parents interactive techniques and fun activities that encourage early learning in a way both they and their child will enjoy.

Featuring favorite Sesame Street characters such as Elmo, Big Bird, and Cookie as babies, the line of infant products will inform and inspire parents while entertaining and delighting their little ones. Sesame Beginnings encourages parents to use shared moments with their children to stimulate infants’ cognitive, physical, social, and emotional development.

The new line of videos is set for release today has outraged some child-development experts who feel no form of TV or video is suitable for kids under 2. BUT my question is- WHY NOW? What about Baby Einstein? What about Teletubbies? What about Fisher Price’s line of videos? What makes Sesame Beginnings so much more controversial? The American Academy of Pediatrics is afraid that the videos will promote more television watching for the 0-2 year olds of America and that it is designed to get them into the characters early so that they can sell more products. I don’t doubt that basic capitalism is the intent here but come on…The market for infants is already huge and personally I would rather see them watching Sesame Street then some of the other stuff out there. I grew up with Sesame Street and- miraculously- I am ok.
Sesame Beginnings is designed to promote interaction between the parent and child, which most other videos don’t do. I mean how interactive can you get with Dragon Tales? My daughter has learned a lot from her Baby Einstein videos and from Teletubbies. I think there is some wonderful programming out there and it is our responsibility as parents to carefully screen what it is they watch and how age appropriate it is. I think one should never use the TV as a baby sitter. (Though I am guilty of doing this from time to time) The American Association of Pediatrics should be promoting this. AND promote the importance of doing activities other then watching TV. It is important for the kids to get outside, to engage in play etc…rather then zone out in front of the boob tube.
Fact: a study by the Kaiser Family Foundation found that 68 percent of all babies under 2 years old watch screen media on any given day.
Considering that most of us don’t have the power to change that-Wouldn’t it be better for them to benefit from it?

Lulu's book pick of the week- 4/3/2006

Finding Fairyland
Written by: Beth Engelman Berner
Illustrated by: Jenna Riggs

Considered a picture riddle book, Fairyland is a world of magical little things. Lush illustrations hide the answers to questions and clues. Turn the wheel for more clues and use your fairy magic to find all of the special wonders inside!
Amazon lists this book as appropriate for ages 4-6 but Lulu (31 months) has been enjoying this book for a good while now. For kids who love interactive books this is a great one to add to the library. Each highly illustrated page is a feast of colors and playful images. This book is really interactive and has a picture riddle wheel that turns giving clues to find things on the page. My daughter loves to turn the wheels and find each thing. Some of the clues given by the wheel are over her head but she likes it nonetheless. Each page offers endless things to find and can entertain a child for at LEAST 10 minutes-which in kid time is an eternity! We love this book!
Hardcover book with picture riddle wheels in every spread.
10 pages