Enjoy your holiday season!

Childhood fevers are one of the most common causes for emergency room and urgent care clinic visits every day. And understandably so. It can be frightening to think of our little one’s fever getting too high and what it might do.

According to a medical study published in the BMC Pediatrics:

Fever is generally considered harmful by physicians and is treated with antipyretics as it may lead to febrile seizures, stupor, dehydration, increased breathing, discomfort, and tachycardia [52].
(http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC194752/)

While these are valid concerns, we have to get rid of all the allopathic medical field’s fear-mongering techniques on this topic. They consistently warn of the dangers of febrile seizures and brain damage when the problems with treating a fever are much more prevalant.

According to an article from The New York Times:

Other studies have looked at attitudes among medical personnel, who can be just as worried about fever as parents … Some of the phobia ‘comes from doctors and nurses.’

The study above adds:

It is a common practice to treat even low-grade fevers of 101–102F with antipyretics. Home use of antipyretics upon the first signs of a fever is also common. These behaviors have lead to the ubiquitous use of aspirin, acetaminophen, nimesulide, and ibuprofen, which control temperature by inhibiting prostaglandin synthesis in the hypothalamus.

The evidence that medical doctors are causing unnecessary fever phobia is best summed up by a doctor himself:

“Doctors do a great disservice to you and your child when they prescribe drugs to reduce fever” says Dr. Robert Mendelsohn, pediatrician and author of How To Raise A Healthy Child in Spite of Your Doctor. “Fever phobia is a disease of pediatricians, not parents, and to the extent that parents are victimized by it, doctors are at fault.” Parents are left to fear that their child’s temperature will keep rising unless measures are taken to control it . “They don’t tell you that reducing his temperature will do nothing to make the patient well or that our bodies have a built-in mechanism, not fully explained, that will prevent an infection-induced temperature from reaching 106 degrees F (41 degrees C) (3)

Like many other illnesses, I would like to cover this topic on my page because much of the information on it out there is grossly distorted by the medical industry. I see too many parents falling into the trap of over-treating illness instead of letting God’s design do it’s thing. I used to be one of them!

Disclaimer: I will cover this topic with the use of expert advice and formal research in order to avoid simply stating my personal opinions on it. Please consult with your health professional should questions arise.

Fever Is Part of God’s Wonderful Design
The first thing we have to understand is that fever is just another of many amazing healing responses God designed our bodies to have. It is a natural, internal medicine!

According to Dr. Marcia Schaefer, it takes a temperature of at least 102 degrees Fahrenheit before the white blood cell cascade that fights off bacteria and viruses can begin. When we try and lower a fever, we prevent this healing cascade.

According to an article from Dr. Mercola,

A basic fever, one due to minor bacterial or viral illness, can be an expression of the immune system working at its best.

(http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2000/12/17/fever-part-one.aspx)

Suppressing a Fever Interrupts the Natural Immune Process

According to the study from BMC Pediatrics listed above,

There is evidence that [acetaminophen] is also an immunosuppressive agent.

So while a fever helps strengthen the body’s natural immune system, treating a fever with acetaminophen can actually cause the body’s immune system to be suppressed.

Here are a few examples of studies proving the immunosuppressing problems of treating a fever and prolonging illness:

A study of adults with colds found that aspirin and acetaminophen suppressed production of antibodies and increased cold symptoms, with a trend toward longer infectiousness.

In a study of children with chickenpox, acetaminophen prolonged itching and the time to scabbing compared to placebo treatment.

In test-tube studies, therapeutic levels of aspirin suppressed the ability of human white blood cells to destroy bacteria.

Another study found that a host of pain relievers, including aspirin and ibuprofen, inhibited white-cell production of antibodies by up to 50 percent.

Suppressing a Fever Can Actually Cause Febrile Seizures

Parents’ concerns over a high fever are usually related to the fear of febrile seizures. Ironically, febrile seizures are often the result of using acetiminophen to treat a fever. According to health expert Pat Robinson, Tylenol wears off abruptly and can lead to fever spikes. Fever spikes are the main cause of febrile seizures. (http://heal-thyself.ning.com/profiles/blogs/children-and-fevers)

Additionally, doctors and nurses prompt parents of children who have already suffered from febrile seizures to dose up on the acetaminophen. Unfortunately, this practice is not supported by medical research. A 2003 study done by doctors at Queen Mary’s Hospital, Sidcup, Kent, UK, showed the following:

There is no evidence that antipyretics reduce the risk of subsequent febrile convulsions. (http://www.bestbets.org/bets/bet.php?id=647)

Suppressing a Fever Can Increase Risk of Cancer

Evidence is mounting that proves suppressing a fever can increase a person’s risk of cancer. Dr. Marcia Schaefer says:

“By taking an antipyretic or NSAID (Tylenol, ibuprofen) you actually prevent the body from creating tumor suppressor gene – the gene that kills cancer cells. So every time you pop a pill for that fever, you are increasing your risk for cancer, because you are not allowing the body to do what it does best – heal.” (http://lifeonthefrancofarm.blogspot.com/2011/09/gerson-therapy-and-autoimmune-diseases.html)

In Dr. Mercola’s article linked above:

Fever increases the amount of interferon (a natural antiviral and anticancer substance) in the blood.

Fear or Faith
At this point, it should come as no surprise that interfering with God’s natural design is a good way to cause additional problems, especially when that interference involves man-made medicine. The more I research, the more I see this to be the case.

Like all of my other articles on medicine, we must decide if we are going to put our faith in God or in the medical world. Many times, we let our fear get in the way of God’s amazing design and we seek out the medical profession to get “control” over illness. We must transfer our faith from the allopathic medical world to the Creator of our bodies.

That being said, there are occassionally situations that require the analysis of a medical professional.

Dehydration is the most prominent danger in the case of fevers. In order to prevent this from happening and requiring medical treatment, parents can simply be sure to keep a child with fever very well dehydrated. Coconut water is a great source of natural electrolytes that does not contain all of the artificial food dyes and sugar found in conventional children’s electrolyte products.

Broth, tea, kombucha/kefir, and water are also great ways to keep a child with a fever hydrated. Frequent small sips are best. Avoid meats and high-protein foods if possible as they are difficult to digest and raise the body’s temperature.

In addition to ensuring adequate dehydration, there are additional ways you can encourage a child’s body to heal without suppressing the fever:

1. Avoid sugar and products with sugar. This includes conventional breakfast cereals, many crackers, desserts, and even energy bars. Sugar will suppress immune function. In fact, studies have proven that a person’s immune system will weaken to a level directly corresponding with their level of sugar intake.

2. Utilize the power of natural vitamins! Vitamin D3 and Vitamin C should be used in megadoses for around three days. Dr. Mercola recommends 10 times the amount of vitamin D during an illness for about three days. His regular recommendations are as follows:

Below 5: 35 units per pound per day
Age 5 – 10: 2500 units
Adults: 5000 units
Pregnant Women: 5000 units

Adjust accordingly for children during an illness.

For Vitamin C, it is important to remember that the government’s guidelines set forth in the RDA (recommended daily allowance) is simply the MINIMUM amount needed to PREVENT disease. It is not the amount used to simply maintain good health, let alone recover from an illness.

Doses of at least 1,000 mg (1 gram) of vitamin C in the form of ascorbic acid can be used (dissolved in water/smoothies) every hour until symptoms subside. Orthomolecular expert Andrew Saul recommends taking it “to bowel tolerance,” meaning taking as much as can be tolerated without having diarrhea. That is the level where the body and its tissues will achieve “saturation” of vitamin C.

When To Seek Treatment
Dr. Mercola recommends that a baby under 3 months old with a fever should be taken to see a medical professional. Additionally, a fever that lasts for more than three days or gets higher than 104 degrees should receive a medical analysis as well.

In every other situation, research is proving that allowing God’s design to do exactly what He designed it to do is the best treatment.

(For more in-depth information on fevers, including febrile seizures during fever, read this article: http://www.whale.to/a/west8.html)

by sjpoff

http://healthyfamiliesforgod.blogspot.com/2011/11/fever-what-every-parent-needs-to-know.html

If your family does not have a plan, I hope this blog will help you to prepare one. I also advocate the importance of asking the relevant questions of your child’s school or day care center, and your local hospital. Children have different mental and physical health concerns than we adults do, and all of us who interface with children in the community need to both be prepared for them and prepare them.

There are several websites which provide excellent resources for you: www.fema.gov/kids, www.americanfamilysafety.com , and the website for the American Academy of Pediatrics, www.aap.org/disasters . Look them over, and when you do you will find that there are basically three tasks for us to attend to: purchase emergency supplies, make a plan, and stay informed. An emergency kit should include: a backpack, 12 hr. light stick (green), plastic whistle and lanyard, 37-piece 1st aid kit, 50 yds. duct tape, 14-in-1 pocket tool, 3-way can opener, AM/FM radio w/battery, batteries, flashlight, 2x solar blanket, 2×2400 calorie food ration w/5-yr. shelf life, 2x emergency poncho, 2xN95 repirator mask, 2x bio-hazard bag, work gloves/leather palm, waterproof matches (50). Many of these items can be ordered over the internet through one of the above sites.Your children can also help you to list and shop for these items, and at the same time, you can explain to them why and how they can be used. You can also plan and practice disaster drills.

There has been no shortage of disasters in our country throughout the year – fires, floods, tornadoes, earthquakes, murders, kidnappings – and September 11th will always evoke our grief and anxiety about terrorism. Think about what your child’s first-hand experience with disaster is. Are there family members who are or have been harmed or killed? Have they witnessed disasters in TV? Sometimes children need psychological first aid. It’s particularly important to create opportunities for connection. Connection to family and friends and to the larger community can greatly influence resilience. I’m reminded of the mother in Joplin, Missouri I heard about, who had the good sense to direct her children away from watching news bulletins on their TV and instead brought them into the community to help disperse supplies to the tornado survivors.

It is always important to keep attuned to your children, but is expecially important around the time of a disaster. Is she or he having trouble sleeping or having trouble with school or friends? What about chores or other routine tasks? These symtoms may be a sign that your child needs extra attention from you, needs communication and/or comforting. Sometimes reading books to them helps children to talk about what’s bothering them. Pick up one at your local bookstore or library. One of my favorite books on the topic for adults is “Terrorism and Kids” by Fern Reiss (Peanut Butter and Jelly Press), which was written in reaction th September 11th, 2001 but contains several ideas and suggestions that are relevant to other disasters as well.

Now is the time to get started; you’re already on the computer. Just click on to the websites above and begin your family’s disaster preparedness. You’ll be glad you did, and so will your children.

by Catherine McCall, MS, LMFT in Overcoming Child Abuse

http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/overcoming-child-abuse/201109/how-can-we-help-children-deal-natural-disasters

Have you noticed that sometimes your children just need to hear a message once and they get it? And, frustratingly, you can send a message dozens upon dozens of times and it is as if they had never sent the message at all? Well, welcome to the real world of parenting where nothing goes as expected, what is supposed to work doesn’t, what isn’t assumed to work does, and what does work only works intermittently or only works for a limited time. It takes detective work and a real understanding of your children to figure out why some messages get through easily and others, despite your best efforts, don’t seem to get through at all.

Even if you understand the messages you want to communicate to your children, even if you know which conduits through which those messages are conveyed, and even if you have strategies by which to send those healthy messages, you can’t be sure that those messages will get through. Every time you send a message to your children, it will likely have to navigate its way through a maze of “message blockers” that can deflect, weaken, contaminate, or outright destroy your intended messages to your children. If you can understand these message blockers, you can lessen their impact and increase the chances that your messages will make it into your children’s psyches.

Overly Complex Messages: “Huh?”

One of the challenges of communicating messages to your children is ensuring that they actually understand the messages you send. The key to this understanding is conveying messages in ways that are appropriate for their level of development. I see many parents who send messages that seem perfectly clear to them and then can’t understand why their children aren’t getting those messages. Even worse, parents then blame their children for not getting their messages. The problem is that parents see their messages through their own eyes rather than through those of their children. But your children don’t think the way you do. You have years of experience during which you have honed your ability to interpret and understand the world. In contrast, your children are still relatively undeveloped when it comes to how they perceive, interpret, analyze, and make decisions about their world, whether a toddler, preschooler, elementary schooler, or beyond. This is why you have to walk in your children’s shoes. Ask yourself, if you were them, what message would you be getting.

Disconnect Between Send and Receive: “But I Didn’t Mean That.”

A disconnect between sending and receiving can occur in several places. You may intend to send one message, but end up sending another. The disconnect here is between your intention and your action. For example, you may intend to communicate to your children the message that they should eat their vegetables because they will help them to grow big and strong, but the actual message that you send is “I get mad at you when you don’t eat your vegetables.”

The disconnect can also occur between what you send and what your children receive. Don’t think about the message you mean to convey, but rather the message your children will likely get. Ask yourself: How clear is my message? If I were three years old, for instance, what message would I get? Here’s an example. You work very hard at a job for which you earn a good living and that affords your family a comfortable lifestyle. You want to send the message to your children that you love your work and taking care of your family is important to you. But the message they get is that “my momma cares more about her job than she does about me.” Certainly two very different messages with very different ramifications in your children’s perceptions of your work and how you feel about them.

Infrequent Messages: “How Many Times Have I Told You?”

Messages can have a powerful impact on children, if they get through. Some messages are so potent they can get through with just one or two expressions. For example, children don’t need to touch a hot stove twice to get the message to stay away from it. But with most messages, the more you “click the send button,” the better chance your children will get them. So if you don’t send your children each message with sufficient frequency, it may not sink in.

Everyday life, for most parents, is incredibly busy, with a long list of daily priorities including work, meals, housekeeping, family care, and shopping. And because you’re so busy, it’s easy for your messages to fall through the cracks. As you’re dashing around with too long a to-do list and not enough hours in the day, you might fleetingly think that you’ll get to those important messages. But, because family life rarely slows down, they continue to be pushed farther down the priority list until those messages are no longer on the list.

Here’s what is necessary to keep your messaging on track and consistent: You need to keep your messaging on your radar screen as much as possible. Clear off the clutter on your fridge and post the important messages that you want to send your children. On your smartphone, set your alarm to remind you throughout the day. Have your spouse prompt you on a regular basis and you need to do the same for him or her.

Too Many Messages: “Do this, that, and the other thing.”

One thing you have to be careful of when you commit to conscious messaging is message overload, in other words, you try to convey too many messages to your children at one time. You may get so excited about all of the great messages you can communicate to your children that you start hurling as many messages as possible at them at once. Several problems arise when you become overzealous about sending messages to your children. First, the messages, rather than being distinct, may amass into an incomprehensible jumble that loses all of its value. Second, your children may be so bombarded by messages that they won’t be able to focus adequately on any single message. The worst case scenario is that, to avoid being overwhelmed by the messages, your children actively resist them and may actually do the exact opposite of what your messages tell them.

The best strategy is to choose and focus on a few messages that are most appropriate to your children’s current level of development and life situation. Life has a way of letting parents know what their children need to learn at any given time. For example, if your son isn’t sharing with his younger sister or your youngest daughter is hitting her older sister, you are presented with a ready-made “teachable moment” in which to send messages about generosity and kindness, respectively.

Inconsistent Messages: “You Can This Time.”

Though we may not like to admit it, many of us as parents aren’t as consistent as we should be. Too often, we allow our children to do some things sometimes – usually when it’s expedient – but not other times. What’s the message that your children are getting with these inconsistent messages? At best, they don’t get the messages at all. At worst, the contradictory messages confuse them so much that they choose for themselves which message works best for them, even if it isn’t the one you want them to get. Or even worse, they get the meta-message that being inconsistent is okay.

Conflicting Messages: “But Daddy Said…”

If you and your spouse send conflicting messages, you pretty much guarantee that a message won’t get through to your children. Not only will your children not get the best message, but they will be confused by the contradicting messages from such credible sources and may become paralyzed with uncertainty about what your message really is and what you want them to do.

To reduce conflicting messages, parents need to look at their parenting beliefs and explore where the conflicting messages are coming from. As I mentioned in Chapter 1, in-depth discussions about parenting philosophies and styles should be prerequisites to identifying and resolving possible conflicts in the messages that you send to your children. In an ideal world, you want to come to some resolution long before the messages are communicated to your children. In the real world, the sooner you can regain consistent messages, the better it will be for your children.

Note: This post is excerpted from my latest parenting book, Your Children are Listening: Nine Messages They Need to Hear from You.

by Jim Taylor, Ph.D. in The Power of Prime

Here are the instructions which I believe wont be too hard to follow for both you and the kids.

1. Prepare your pumpkin:

• Cut a hole in the top for the lid. Make sure you cut in the angle so that your lid sits on top of the pumpkin and doesn’t fall through
• Scoop out all insides (seeds and strings) with a spoon
• Scrape some of the flesh from the inside, so your pumpkin is about an inch thick all the way around (or at least wherever you’ll be carving).

2. Print out the pattern.
(You can find a lot of free pumpkin patterns on the internet or draw one yourself)

3. Trim off excess paper.

4. Tape or use pins to affix the pattern to the pumpkin.

5. If your pumpkin’s skin isn’t equally smooth, dip the paper in water or vegetable oil.

• Smooth the pattern onto the pumpkin, affix with pins or masking tape and let the paper dry.
• You can also make small cuts in the paper where it bunches so it lies flat on the pumpkin. Add pins or tape to hold

6. Poke holes through the pattern with a nail, push pin or pumpkin poker. Make the holes about 1/8th inch apart (or even closer for more complicated patterns). This step can take quite awhile so be patient. Just place the pumpkin in your lap and work away at it.

7. Remove the paper from the pumpkin.

Note: Rub flour or chalk dust all over the part where you poked the holes so you can see them better.

8. Push a nail through the pumpkin skin where you want to start carving.

• Turn and push until it’s all the way into the pumpkin, then remove.
• Repeat anywhere you’re going to need to start carving (eyes, nose, etc).
• You want to do all the pushing before you start carving because it take some pressure (once you start carving, the pumpkin becomes weaker and applying pressure may cause it to break)

9. Using your nail hole as a starting point, cut the design with your serrated knife or saw.

• Start somewhere in the center of the design to keep from putting too much pressure on areas already carved
• Use a sawing motion to cut out your design, using very light pressure… take your time and allow the sawing to do the work rather than applying pressure and forcing it.

10. When making curves, just slightly turn the saw. When making sharp corners, remove the saw and re-insert it at an angle.

11. To remove pieces, push them out from the inside. For larger pieces, you may want to cut them into smaller bits and remove them in sections.

12. Once your pumpkin is all set, use a pumpkin light (safer than a candle) or a candle in a candle holder designed for pumpkins to light it up.

• Light the candle and place it on a piece of tinfoil inside the pumpkin. Put the lid on. Let it sit a minute
• Remove the lid and there should be a smoke mark on it
• Cut a vent in the lid where the smoke mark shows

13. Enjoy!

With some sprinkles, marshmallows and an edible marker, it takes mere seconds to transform mini cupcakes into googly-eyed monsters. More cute than scary, these sweet monsters will brighten any Halloween dessert table. And this decorating idea is simple and easy for any crafty kid to make too.

Supplies

Mini cupcakes
Frosting
Mini cupcake liners or wrappers
Food coloring (orange, green and purple)
Sanding sugar or sprinkles (orange, green and purple)
Small, shallow bowls
Spatula or disposable decorating bags
Mini marshmallows
Regular marshmallows
Black edible marker

Helpful Hint: Choose any of your favorite cupcake and frosting recipes, or use store-bought. Find cupcake liners, decorating bags, sprinkles and the edible marker in the craft store.

Directions

Prepare your marshmallow eyes by using the black edible marker to make a dot on the flat end of regular size marshmallows and mini marshmallows. You’ll need either one regular marshmallow or two to three mini marshmallows for each cupcake. Set aside. If you are displaying these cupcakes on a table at a Halloween party, draw dots for eyes on both sides of the marshmallows so the cupcakes will watch you from behind, too.

Prepare mini cupcakes according to the recipe and let cool completely.

Prepare frosting according to the recipe. Divide and tint orange, green and purple. If desired, fill a disposable decorating bag with each color and snip about ½-inch from the tip. Otherwise, omit the decorating bag and just use a spatula.

Top your cupcakes with orange, green and purple sprinkles in three separate bowls and set aside.

Working with one cupcake at a time, use the decorating bag or a spatula to pipe or spread frosting on a cupcake. Dip the frosted top immediately in a coordinating color of sprinkles.

Place the cupcake on a tray right side up, then place either a regular marshmallow, or two or three mini marshmallows on top of the cupcake, on their sides so the eyes look forward, pressing the marshmallows into the frosting. If necessary, use a dab of frosting to adhere the marshmallows.

by Meaghan Mountford

Recently in my behavioral pediatrics practice I saw James, a 5-year-old boy (details, as always, have been changed to protect privacy) who struggled with severe social anxiety. The lunchroom and gym were particularly difficult, and he would retreat into silence. In a visit with his parents we were discussing how to approach the teachers about making him comfortable in school. We had a full 50 minute appointment so we were, in a sense, free to let ideas emerge. That’s when his father observed, “You know, he loves classical music.” His mother described a recent outing where there had been a lot going on and James was quite agitated. But when someone put on some classical music, James became completely calm and seemed at peace.

It was an important detail. We began to brainstorm about how they might make use of this observation in the school setting in addition to social experiences outside of the classroom.

This story led me to wonder how this piece of information might help us to understand James’ brain. For some reason he couldn’t process all the sensory information coming at him in a busy social scene. But with the help of classical music, it was as if the neurons, the cells of his brain, lined up and began to work properly.

This visit got me thinking about a movie I recently saw The Music Never Stopped. It is based on the story of an actual patient as described by neurologist and writer Oliver Sacks in his essay “The Last Hippie.” The movie’s main character is a young man who suffered severe brain injury, and was socially disconnected even from his immediate family. But he had been a passionate musician, and when when he listened to music he loved from the time before his injury he became completely clear thinking and engaged. Like my young patient, his brain was a place of confusion and disorganization until the music allowed things to, in a sense, fall into place.

Interestingly, while working on this post I received an email from the publicist at Berklee College of Music alerting me to an upcoming program (October 5th-6th) about music therapy for autism spectrum disorders. The press release for the program states:

There is scientific evidence that music therapy influences children on the autism spectrum in several ways, like enhancing skills in communication, interpersonal relationships, self-regulation, coping strategies, stress management, and focusing attention,” says Berklee’s Music Therapy Department Chair Dr. Suzanne Hanser.

Similar to my young patient with social anxiety, children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders are often overwhelmed by sensory input. It makes perfect sense to me that music would help them to organize their experience and engage with the world around them.

There is currently an explosion of research at the intersection of neuroscience, genetics, and developmental psychology to help us understand young children who are struggling with a range of what are usually referred to as “behavior problems.” I am a clinician, not a researcher. However, I listen carefully to my young patients. I encourage their parents, as James’ parents clearly were, to be curious about what the world is like for them. If we listen and observe in this way, these children can be our greatest teachers.

by Claudia M. Gold, M.D. in Child in Mind

http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/child-in-mind/201109/music-children-and-brain-development

One of the most important findings about brain development shows that the brain has critical periods for learning. If you deprive a brain of information during this crucial time, it may never develop properly; the opportunity is lost. On the other hand, some early experiences can forever enhance the development of a young brain, and potentially change behavior across an individual’s lifespan.

In the 1930s, Konrad Lorenz, a Nobel-prize winning ethologist and zoologist, had a new hypothesis to test. He knew that goslings followed around their mother goose from the time they could walk. What he didn’t know was if geese hatched with an instinctual program in their brain that caused them to follow their biological mother, or whether they learned at a young age to follow whoever was around. To test his idea, he took two sets of eggs and allowed them to hatch. For the first, he allowed the biological mother to care for them as usual. As always, the goslings trailed their mother wherever she went. For the second group, Lorenz nurtured them himself. They followed him as closely as if he had laid their eggs.

To see if his gaggle truly recognized him, Lorenz put all the goslings into the same nest, briefly separating them from their “mothers.” He then allowed the goslings to reunite with either him or the mother goose. Every gosling from the first group went for the goose, but every gosling from the second went straight back to Lorenz. Goslings did not hatch with an instinct for identifying their biological mother. Instead, they instinctually learned during a critical period—about 12 hours after hatching—who their “mother” was, even if it was a human.

Lorenz’ study provides some of the earliest evidence for critical periods of development and learning. More than any other animal, we humans require intensive learning from the time we’re born until adulthood, and if you’re like me, even as an adult you still have a lot to learn. If we don’t reach children during their early years, it may be too late to teach some of them important skills they’ll need to become successful.

Although preschool does not teach market economics or neuroscience, it provides necessary skills that are essential to getting—and keeping—a job later in life. Most important, children learn how to socialize with peers, manage stress and solve problems. At age 28, the adults who received preschool educations years before had significantly higher job prestige, earnings and socioeconomic status.

In addition to boosting the life-course prospects of the children who received preschool education, the program also saves society money. It costs around $8,000 to send a child to preschool for a half day during the school year, but the estimated benefits in terms of increased productivity and reduced cost to the criminal justice system put the savings at just over $80,000, a ten-fold return on investment.

The struggling economy has everyone looking for ways to increase productivity, including supplying the workforce with drugs that rev up mental output, so-called cognitive enhancers. The idea is that an office running on stimulants, such as the ADHD-medication, Adderall, might outperform and produce jobs at a faster rate than one running on coffee and hard work alone. Yet, based on the results of the Chicago study, we have evidence to believe Stanford law professor Henry Greely, ethicist of biomedical sciences, when he said,”The single best cognitive enhancer in the world is primary education.”

Now if we could just find a cognitive enhancer for members of Congress.

References:

http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/you-illuminated/201109/getting-ahead-why-preschool-benefits-the-brain

Arthur J. Reynolds, Judy A. Temple, Suh-Ruu Ou, Irma A. Arteaga, and Barry A. B. White. School-Based Early Childhood Education and Age-28 Well-Being: Effects by Timing, Dosage, and Subgroups. Science 15 July 2011: 360-364.

Jeffrey Mervis. Past Successes Shape Effort to Expand Early Intervention. Science 19 August 2011: 952-956.

by Joshua Gowin

•Yarn
•A piece of a cardboard (The size of the book/cardboard determines the size of the doll you will make; select a size that is approximately the same size as the finished product you’d like)
•Scissors
•Choice of decorations (google eyes, contrasting yarn, ribbon, beads, etc.)

If you want a girl-you now have a ‘skirt’. If you want a boy–split the skirt in the center into 2 parts from the waist down. Tie them off as you did the arms. If legs are long enough, you could also braid them.
You can decorate as desired. For a different look, braid the arms and legs before tying them off. You can also give girl doll hair. To make a hair wrap yarn around a width of two fingers. Slide it off the fingers, tie in the center, then tie at the top of the head. Snip the loops!
Try some embellishments like ribbon or using two colors of yarn successively.