We talk to Dr. John Heath, author of When Bright Kids Can’t Learn to discover the research into training the brain to learn better and how it can help your child succeed in school and overcome small and large learning problems like forgetfulness or dyslexia.
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As a parent, it is often a challenge to know if a movie, website, book, song, or app is appropriate for our children at their specific age. And how do we talk to them about things like Facebook? We discuss what we find useful to help us choose for our children. One resource we discuss is Common Sense Media. Others include Squeaky Clean Reads and Good Reads if you have friends you trust who have posted books in their list.
You can also check our list of summer reads for Boys Only! http://www.themompodcast.com/2010/06/27/summer-reading-fun/
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Boys sometimes have a harder time getting interested in books. One way to solve that is to start a book club for boys only. Laura Blum, mother of 4 and reading advocate, discusses how she turned her reluctant readers into great readers and how you can too!
Check out her site and some great ideas at http://bookclub4boysinfo.blogspot.com/2008/12/start-book-club-for-your-boy.html
UPDATE: Nancy’s son and his friends met for the first Boys Only Book Club and about 50% of the kids showed up, but they had fun and Barnes and Noble was very accommodating to help them choose books. They chose Alcatraz Versus the Evil Librarians. They will be meeting every 3 weeks over the summer to get them interested in reading. They also joined the Barnes and Noble reading plan, the Borders reading plan and a local library reading plan that all give freebies to kids who read.
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Looking for summer reading ideas to keep the kids reading? We share ideas and lists of books.
Check out these lists of books for kids in every age and group: http://childrensbooks.about.com/od/forparents/tp/summer_reading.htm
Check out the local library reading program
Check out bookstore reading programs like Barnes and Noble and Borders book programs.
Here are some of our kids’ favorite books:
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