The Playground, or the art of Grant Snider

Pacing

From All Creatures great and small ;D

Ai os Pequenitos! ;)

How to get a seal to hug you ;)

The 10 best illustrated children’s books, from The Observer

The Lost Thing

Shaun Tan (2000)

At the end of this book, the narrator says: “I still think about that lost thing from time to time.” And so will Tan’s readers. The lost thing is strange: tomato red with grey tentacles. It is inert, friendly and nameless. Tan’s haunting story is about what it means to be lost and found – dropped off in a place of unclaimed objects. The Lost Thing is surreal and metaphysical. It makes you look – and think – twice. A modern Australian triumph – but much more forlorn than The Magic Pudding

Check them all

Ilustração para Publicidade - 2

Healthy for Everyone - Colgate

Ilustração para Publicidade - 1

Keep little Explorers High and Dry - Huggies

I mustache you a question... but I'll shave it for later.

From I Love Charts ;-{)

Momento precioso - cavalo marinho a dar à luz

Fotografia de Lazaro Ruda, Estados Unidos, momentos depois de o hipocampo dar à luz o primogénito - Melhor Fotografia subaquática de 2010 ;)

How Handwriting Trains the Brain

Ask preschooler Zane Pike to write his name or the alphabet, then watch this 4-year-old's stubborn side kick in. He spurns practice at school and tosses aside workbooks at home. But Angie Pike, Zane's mom, persists, believing that handwriting is a building block to learning.

She's right. Using advanced tools such as magnetic resonance imaging, researchers are finding that writing by hand is more than just a way to communicate. The practice helps with learning letters and shapes, can improve idea composition and expression, and may aid fine motor-skill development. 

It's not just children who benefit. Adults studying new symbols, such as Chinese characters, might enhance recognition by writing the characters by hand, researchers say. Some physicians say handwriting could be a good cognitive exercise for baby boomers working to keep their minds sharp as they age.

Studies suggest there's real value in learning and maintaining this ancient skill, even as we increasingly communicate electronically via keyboards big and small. Indeed, technology often gets blamed for handwriting's demise. But in an interesting twist, new software for touch-screen devices, such as the iPad, is starting to reinvigorate the practice.

Most schools still include conventional handwriting instruction in their primary-grade curriculum, but today that amounts to just over an hour a week, according to Zaner-Bloser Inc., one of the nation's largest handwriting-curriculum publishers. Even at institutions that make it a strong priority, such as the private Brearley School in New York City, "some parents say, 'I can't believe you are wasting a minute on this,'" says Linda Boldt, the school's head of learning skills.

Recent research illustrates how writing by hand engages the brain in learning. During one study at Indiana University published this year, researchers invited children to man a "spaceship," actually an MRI machine using a specialized scan called "functional" MRI that spots neural activity in the brain. The kids were shown letters before and after receiving different letter-learning instruction. In children who had practiced printing by hand, the neural activity was far more enhanced and "adult-like" than in those who had simply looked at letters.

"It seems there is something really important about manually manipulating and drawing out two-dimensional things we see all the time," says Karin Harman James, assistant professor of psychology and neuroscience at Indiana University who led the study.

Adults may benefit similarly when learning a new graphically different language, such as Mandarin, or symbol systems for mathematics, music and chemistry, Dr. James says. For instance, in a 2008 study in the Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, adults were asked to distinguish between new characters and a mirror image of them after producing the characters using pen-and-paper writing and a computer keyboard. The result: For those writing by hand, there was stronger and longer-lasting recognition of the characters' proper orientation, suggesting that the specific movements memorized when learning how to write aided the visual identification of graphic shapes. 

Other research highlights the hand's unique relationship with the brain when it comes to composing thoughts and ideas. Virginia Berninger, a professor of educational psychology at the University of Washington, says handwriting differs from typing because it requires executing sequential strokes to form a letter, whereas keyboarding involves selecting a whole letter by touching a key.

She says pictures of the brain have illustrated that sequential finger movements activated massive regions involved in thinking, language and working memory—the system for temporarily storing and managing information.

And one recent study of hers demonstrated that in grades two, four and six, children wrote more words, faster, and expressed more ideas when writing essays by hand versus with a keyboard. 

Even in the digital age, people remain enthralled by handwriting for myriad reasons—the intimacy implied by a loved one's script, or what the slant and shape of letters might reveal about personality. During actress Lindsay Lohan's probation violation court appearance this summer, a swarm of handwriting experts proffered analysis of her blocky courtroom scribbling. "Projecting a false image" and "crossing boundaries," concluded two on celebrity news and entertainment site hollywoodlife.com. Beyond identifying personality traits through handwriting, called graphology, some doctors treating neurological disorders say handwriting can be an early diagnostic tool. 

"Some patients bring in journals from the years, and you can see dramatic change from when they were 55 and doing fine and now at 70," says P. Murali Doraiswamy, a neuroscientist at Duke University. "As more people lose writing skills and migrate to the computer, retraining people in handwriting skills could be a useful cognitive exercise."

In high schools, where laptops are increasingly used, handwriting still matters. In the essay section of SAT college-entrance exams, scorers unable to read a student's writing can assign that portion an "illegible" score of 0. 

Even legible handwriting that's messy can have its own ramifications, says Steve Graham, professor of education at Vanderbilt University. He cites several studies indicating that good handwriting can take a generic classroom test score from the 50th percentile to the 84th percentile, while bad penmanship could tank it to the 16th. "There is a reader effect that is insidious," Dr. Graham says. "People judge the quality of your ideas based on your handwriting."

Handwriting-curriculum creators say they're seeing renewed interest among parents looking to hone older children's skills—or even their own penmanship. Nan Barchowsky, who developed the Barchowsky Fluent Handwriting method to ease transition from print-script to joined cursive letters, says she's sold more than 1,500 copies of "Fix It … Write" in the past year.

Some high-tech allies also are giving the practice an unexpected boost through hand-held gadgets like smartphones and tablets. Dan Feather, a graphic designer and computer consultant in Nashville, Tenn., says he's "never adapted well to the keypads on little devices." Instead, he uses a $3.99 application called "WritePad" on his iPhone. It accepts handwriting input with a finger or stylus, then converts it to text for email, documents or Twitter updates.

And apps are helping Zane Pike—the 4-year-old who refused to practice his letters. The Cabot, Ark., boy won't put down his mom's iPhone, where she's downloaded a $1.99 app called "abc PocketPhonics." The program instructs Zane to draw letters with his finger or a stylus; correct movements earn him cheering pencils.

"He thinks it's a game," says Angie Pike.

Similarly, kindergartners at Harford Day School in Bel Air, Md., are taught to write on paper but recently also began tracing letter shapes on the screen of an iPad using a handwriting app.

"Children will be using technology unlike I did, and it's important for teachers to be familiar with it," says Kay Crocker, the school's lead kindergarten teacher. Regardless of the input method, she says, "You still need to be able to write, and someone needs to be able to read it."

From The WSJ

Multiple Intelligences - eight, no less ;)

 

According to Howard Gardner, a child has not just one chance to be gifted, but eight! That's because, according to Gardner, there exist eight separable "intelligences"-verbal-linguistic (facility with words and languages), logical-mathematical (facility with logic, abstractions, reasoning, and numbers), spatial (facility with visualizing and mentally manipulating objects), musical (facility with rhythm, music, and hearing), bodily-kinesthetic (facility physical movement), interpersonal (facility interacting with other people), intrapersonal (facility with introspective and self-reflective thought), and naturalist (facility relating to nature) [5]. He is currently considering adding existential intelligence to the lineup (still not clear what that one is all about). He has excluded spiritual and moral intelligences as possibilities [6]. However, breakdancers rejoice! Under Gardner's framework, bodily/kinesthetic ability is considered a form of intelligence.

WICS Model

Robert J. Sternberg views giftedness as the synthesis of wisdom, intelligence (based on his theory of successful intelligence), and creativity [7, 8]. Sternberg argues that in life, people need creative skills and attitudes to produce new and original ideas; analytical skills and attitudes to evaluate the quality of these ideas; practical skills and attitudes to execute ideas and to persuade others of their value, and wisdom-related skills and attitudes in order to ensure that one's ideas help to foster a common good, rather than only the good of oneself and those closely associated with oneself. According to Dr. Sternberg, the child without the synthesis of these abilities does not deserve the label gifted.

So, is every child gifted?

As you can see, whether a child is considered by a particular school as gifted depends on which model of giftedness that that school adopts. Of course, there will be some "special" (I already admitted it, your child is special!) children who just don't possess at the moment any abilities that are at least in the top 20% relative to other children their age, and are simultaneously valued by the school system (forget about society- some abilities are valued by society, but schools just don't have the funding to pay much attention to them). So not every student at any given point in time will be eligible to receive the label "gifted". It stinks (I know!), but that's life for you.

This certainly doesn't mean though that as a parent you shouldn't keep exposing your child to varied experiences, make note of his or her particular interests, and encourage him or her to pursue them. That child just may develop a talent. This is why it's important that schools screen for gifted students repeatedly over the course of the education cycle.

It also certainly doesn't mean that you, as a parent, can't provide additional resources to the child if you can afford it (which, unfortunately, many parents can't). Just don't count on your school system to help out much.

At the end of the day, my suggestion for parents is this: if your child seems to have a particular gift that you think is valued in society, and you want your school to nurture it above and beyond the normal track at school, then research your schools very carefully and find one that values your child's gift and adopts the model of giftedness that best fits your child's ability. For some, just the IQ based model might work. For others, your child may be bursting with a slightly above average IQ, but a high level of creativity and task commitment. So find a school that likes Renzulli's model. Or better yet, go to your school administration and petition to change the system. Some schools, and even school psychologists who are indoctrinated in the IQ model of giftedness, might simply not be familiar with alternative methods of identifying children with extraordinary talent. You are now better informed that there is more than one conceptualization of giftedness.

In other words, if your child can yodel better than Justin Timberlake, then there may in fact be a place for him after all-consider sending him off to a school for the performing arts where he'll fit in quite nicely.

Psychology Today

It's a girl!!!

Woo Hoo!!!

It’s a girl!!!

We haven’t decided on a name yet, but we’ll be using the same simple criteria we used for Daniel:
- Both of us in agreement
- A name that works in Portuguese and English
- No names from Mainstream media. Examples include: Movies (Lois Lane, Scarlett O'Hara); TV Shows (Elaine Benes, Lorelai Victoria Gilmore), songs, (Roxanne, Maggie May) bands (Alice Cooper, Björk) or books (Tess of the d'Urbervilles, Jude the Obscure).

So far we have:
Lilian
Lauren
Lori
Sylvie
Sara


Suggestions more than welcome!!!

The Wonderful World of Disney

Thanx to I Love Charts!

Let Children Learn

Thanx to Papel de Lustro ;)


things to learn from Matt Edgar on Vimeo.

Os Flintstones num Google Doodle

Happy Anniversary ;)

Ora isto interessa-nos / Now you've got our attention ;)

Planeta Tangerina + Tate Publishing = delirante, delicioso, a devorar já ;)

The Normal Newborn and Why Breastmilk is Not Just Food

What is a normal, term human infant supposed to do?

First of all, a human baby is supposed to be born vaginally.  Yes, I know that doesn't always happen, but we're just going to talk ideal, normal for now.  We are supposed to be born vaginally because we need good bacteria.  Human babies are sterile, without bacteria, at birth.  It's no accident that we are born near the anus, an area that has lots of bacteria, most of which are good and necessary for normal gut health and development of the immune system.  And the bacteria that are there are mom's bacteria, bacteria that she can provide antibodies against if the bacteria there aren't nice.

Then the baby is born and is supposed to go to mom.  Right to her chest.  The chest, right in between the breasts is the natural habitat of the newborn baby. (Fun fact:  our cardiac output, how much blood we circulate in a given minute, is distributed to places that are important.  Lots goes to the kidney every minute, like 10% or so, and 20% goes to your brain.  In a new mom, 23% goes to her chest- more than her brain.  The body thinks that place is important!)

That chest area gives heat.  The baby has been using mom's body for temperature regulation for ages.  Why would they stop?  With all that blood flow, it's going to be warm.  The baby can use mom to get warm.  When I was in my residency, we would put a cold baby "under the warmer" which meant a heater thingy next to mom.  Now, as I have matured, if a baby is "under the warmer," the kid is under mom.  I wouldn't like that.  I like the kids on top of mom, snuggled.

Now we have a brand new baby on the warmer.  That child is not hungry.  Bringing a hungry baby into the world is a bad plan.  And really, if they were hungry, can you please explain to me why my kids sucked the life force out of me in those last few weeks of pregnancy?  They better have been getting food, or well, that would have been annoying and painful for nothing.

Every species has instinctual behaviors that allow the little ones to grow up to be big ones and keep the species going.  Our kids are born into the world needing protection.  Protection from disease and from predators.  Yes, predators.  Our kids don't know they've been born into a loving family in the 21st century- for all they know it's the 2nd century and they are in a cave surrounded by tigers.  Our instinctive behaviors as baby humans need to help us stay protected.  Babies get both disease protection and tiger protection from being on mom's chest.  Presumably, we gave the baby some good bacteria when they arrived through the birth canal.  That's the first step in disease protection.  The next step is getting colostrum.

A newborn baby on mom's chest will pick their head up, lick their hands, maybe nuzzle mom, lick their hands and start to slide towards the breast.  The kids have a preference for contrasts between light and dark, and for circles over other shapes.  Think about that...there's a dark circle not too far away.

Mom's sweat smells like amniotic fluid, and that smell is on the child's hands (because there's been no bath yet!) and the baby uses that taste on their hand to follow mom's smell.  The secretions coming from the glands on the areola (that dark circle) smell familiar too and help the baby get to the breast to get the colostrum which is going to feed the good bacteria and keep them protected from infection.  The kids can attach by themselves.  Watch for yourself!  And if you just need colostrum to feed bacteria and not yourself, well, there doesn't have to be much.  And there isn't because the kids aren't hungry and because Breastmilk is not food! 

We're talking normal babies.  Breastfeeding is normal.  It's what babies are hardwired to do.  2009 or 209, the kids would all do the same thing: try to find the breast.  Breastfeeding isn't special sauce, a leg up or a magic potion.  It's not "best. "  It's normal.  Just normal. Designed for the needs of a vulnerable human infant.  And nothing else designed to replace it is normal.

Colostrum also activates things in the baby's gut that then goes on to make the thymus grow.  The thymus is part of the immune system.  Growing your thymus is important.  Breastmilk= big thymus, good immune system.  Colostrum also has a bunch of something called Secretory Immunoglobulin A (SIgA).  SIgA is made in the first few days of life and is infection protection specifically from mom.  Cells in mom's gut watch what's coming through and if there's an infectious cell, a special cell in mom's gut called a plasma cell heads to the breast and helps the breast make SIgA in the milk to protect the baby.  If mom and baby are together, like on mom's chest, then the baby is protected from what the two of them may be exposed to. Babies should be with mom.

And the tigers.  What about them?  Define "tiger" however you want.  But if you are baby with no skills in self-protection, staying with mom, having a grasp reflex, and a startle reflex that helps you grab onto your mom, especially if she's hairy, makes sense.  Babies know the difference between a bassinette and a human chest.   When infants are separated from their mothers, they have a "despair- withdrawal" response.  The despair part comes when they alone, separated.  The kids are vocally expressing their desire not to be tiger food.  When they are picked up, they stop crying.  They are protected, warm and safe.  If that despair cry is not answered, they withdraw.  They get cold, have massive amounts of stress hormones released, drop their heart rate and get quiet.  That's not a good baby.  That's one who, well, is beyond despair.  Normal babies want to be held, all the time.

And when do tigers hunt?  At night.  It makes no sense at all for our kids to sleep at night.  They may be eaten.  There's nothing really all that great about kids sleeping through the night.  They should wake up and find their body guard.  Daytime, well, not so many threats.  They sleep better during the day.  (Think about our response to our tigers-- sleep problems are a huge part of stress, depression, anxiety).

I go on and on about sleep on this site, so maybe I'll gloss over it here.  But everybody sleeps with their kids- whether they choose to or not and whether they admit to it or not.  It's silly of us as healthcare providers to say "don't sleep with your baby" because we all do it.  Sometimes accidentally.  Sometimes intentionally.  The kids are snuggly, it feels right and you are tired.  So, normal babies breastfeed, stay at the breast, want to be held and sleep better when they are with their parents.  Seems normal to me.  But there is a difference between a normal baby and one that isn't.  Safe sleep means that we are sober, in bed and not a couch or a recliner, breastfeeding, not smoking...being normal.  If the circumstances are not normal, then sleeping with the baby is not safe.

That chest -to -chest contact is also brain development.  Our kids had as many brain cells as they were ever going to have at 28 weeks of gestation.  It's a jungle of waiting -to-be- connected cells.  What we do as humans is create too much and then get rid of what we aren't using.  We have like 8 nipples, a tail and webbed hands in the womb.  If all goes well, we don't have those at birth.  Create too much- get rid of what you aren't using.  So, as you are snuggling, your child is hooking up happy brain cells and hopefully getting rid of the "eeeek" brain cells.  Breastfeeding, skin-to-skin, is brain wiring.  Not food.

Why go on and on about this?  Because more and more mothers are choosing to breastfeed.  But most women don't believe that the body that created that beautiful baby is capable of feeding that same child and we are supplementing more and more with infant formulas designed to be food.  Why don't we trust our bodies post-partum?  I don't know.  But I hear over and over that the formula is because "I am just not satisfying him."  Of course you are. Babies don't need to "eat" all the time- they need to be with you all the time- that's the ultimate satisfaction.

A baby at the breast is getting their immune system developed, activating their thymus, staying warm, feeling safe from predators, having normal sleep patterns and wiring their brain, and (oh by the way) getting some food in the process.  They are not "hungry" --they are obeying instinct.  The instinct that allows us to survive and make more of us.

Onda / Wave

Edição Portuguesa - GATAfunho

Suzy Lee's website

How to apply sunscreen

How much do I need?

At least six full teaspoons for an average adult. Anything less reduces protection.

How do you apply it?

Put it on 15 to 30 minutes before you go out in the sun, then 15 to 30 minutes afterwards – and every two hours after that. If you get sweaty or swim you need to reapply it even if it is water repellent. Don't rub it in too much – it should still look a bit white on your skin. Don't re-use last year's bottles – sunscreens can get damaged by heat and bacteria.
What SPF do I need?

Dermatologists recommend SPF 30. Children under six months should not be out in direct sun, but they need an SPF of 50. Sunscreen will also protect you from UV-A rays, which are also linked to skin cancer. Their protection is measured relative to the UVB protection given by a sunscreen and shown in stars – five gives 90% of the UVB protection.

Are clothes better protection?

Yes, if they are tightly woven and not light-coloured.

Dr. Luisa  Dillner's How To... guides from The Guardian

Draw your own Robots, Monsters, Superheroes!

From the wonderful mind of Jay Stephens ;)
Click to buy from Amazon