*COOL COOL--Famous names: movie characters, artists, athletes, musicians, and writers, even nanny diary names *NEW COOL--Spiritual names like Pax or Eden; color names (Indigo, Lavender); music names (Jazz, Cadence, Madrigal); foreign word names (Luna, from the Spanish for "moon"; or Vero, Italian for "truth"). *TOO COOL--Why not to name a child Kool or Tiger. plus superlatives you won't find anywhere else: Coolest Cowboy Name, Coolest Southern Belle Name, Coolest Palindrome Name, Coolest Spice Name, Coolest Hero Name... Cool Names is the definitive guide to the hottest names.

    We call this imprisonment schooling, yet wonder why kids become bored and misbehave. Even outside of school children today seldom play and explore without adult supervision, and are afforded few opportunities to control their own lives. The result: anxious, unfocused children who see schooling—and life—as a series of hoops to struggle through.In Free to Learn, developmental psychologist Peter Gray argues that our children, if free to pursue their own interests through play, will not only learn all they need to know, but will do so with energy and passion. Children come into this world burning to learn, equipped with the curiosity, playfulness, and sociability to direct their own education. Yet we have squelched such instincts in a school model originally developed to indoctrinate, not to promote intellectual growth.To foster children who will thrive in today’s constantly changing world, we must entrust them to steer their own learning and development. Drawing on evidence from anthropology, psychology, and history, Gray demonstrates that free play is the primary means by which children learn to control their lives, solve problems, get along with peers, and become emotionally resilient. This capacity to learn through play evolved long ago, in hunter-gatherer bands where children acquired the skills of the culture through their own initiatives. And these instincts still operate remarkably well today, as studies at alternative, democratically administered schools show. When children are in charge of their own education, they learn better—and at lower cost than the traditional model of coercive schooling.A brave, counterintuitive proposal for freeing our children from the shackles of the curiosity-killing institution we call school, Free to Learn suggests that it’s time to stop asking what’s wrong with our children, and start asking what’s wrong with the system. It shows how we can act—both as parents and as members of society—to improve children’s lives and promote their happiness and learning.

    In Unlatched, Jennifer Grayson, an environmental journalist and mother of two young breast-fed children, puts “common knowledge” to the test by breaking down the complex social and political factors that have altered breastfeeding practices around the world for decades.Since the rise of baby formula in the early twentieth century, breastfeeding has gone from a basic biological function to a never-ending controversy and hot topic in the media: an Instagram photo of Blake Lively breastfeeding her daughter gained 367,000 likes was posted across media sites from USA Today to Us Weekly. Donald Trump started an uproar after calling a lawyer “disgusting” for requesting a breastfeeding break during a court case. A photo of an Argentinian politician breastfeeding her eight-month-old during a session of Parliament quickly went viral, drawing a mix of support and criticism. Target’s breastfeeding policy, allowing women to nurse in any area of the store, was recently shared on Facebook to praise from mothers across America. Clearly, this is a topic that constantly makes headlines and sparks heated discussion throughout the world. Growing up, Jennifer Grayson thought nothing of the fact that her mother had not breastfed her. It wasn’t until she became a mother herself that she realized she had missed out on a natural, profound, and incredibly important experience, one that she became determined to give to her own children. Her curiosity about breastfeeding soon turned to passion, leading her to launch a worldwide search for knowledge and stories of breastfeeding. From modern-day Burkina Faso to eighteenth-century France, from China to inner-city Baltimore, Grayson explores the personal stories of women around the world, and their relationship to breastfeeding. Along the way, she takes readers behind the scenes at a formula factory, interviews controversial breastfeeding figures including Michele Bachmann and Dr. William Sears, and shares her own personal experience of extended breastfeeding her now four-year-old daughter. A searing and insightful look into the state of breastfeeding, Unlatched digs deep to uncover the cultural, corporate, political, and technological factors that have transformed the way people think about breastfeeding, and provides a thorough and fascinating study of one of the most contentious issues affecting women today.

    Scott W. Cohen’s first year as a father, this book is the only one to combine two invaluable “on the job” perspectives—the doctor’s and the new parent’s.The result is a refreshingly engaging and informative guide that includes all you need to know at each age and stage of your child’s first year. Drawing on the latest medical recommendations and his experiences at home and in the office, Dr. Cohen covers everything from preparing for your baby’s arrival to introducing her to a new sibling, to those three basic functions that will come to dominate a new parent’s life. Eat, Sleep, Poop addresses questions, strategies, myths, and all aspects of your child’s development. In each instance, Dr. Cohen provides a thorough overview and a simple answer or explanation: a “common sense bottom line,” yet he doesn’t dictate. The emphasis is on doing what is medically sound and what works best for you and your baby. He also includes fact sheets, easy-to-follow diagnosis and treatment guides, and humorous daddy vs. doctor sidebars that reveal the learning curve during his fi rst year as a dad.Lively, practical, and reassuring, Eat, Sleep, Poop provides the knowledge you need to parent with confidence, to relax and enjoy baby’s fi rst year, and to raise your child with the best tool a parent can have: informed common sense.

    

    Ease all worries with The Baby Bump, a comprehensive guide that offers expert and real mom advice on surviving those all-important nine months. Featuring tips and advice on everything future moms really want to knowincluding what is safe to eat, how the baby develops week by week, and what to expect in the delivery roomreading this book is like chatting with a been-there, done-that best friend. The Baby Bump offers a wealth of fun features such as Birth Plan Checklists, a Kick Count Tracker, and a Work Your Wardrobe outfit assembly guideall wrapped in a bright, cheerful package. It's the must-have resource for any mom-to-be.

    Frans Plooij answers questions regarding babies' physical, mental, and emotional development, covering topics such as crying, sleeping, changing family dynamics, and many more. This complete Q&A book is based on the must-have, bestselling book, The Wonder Weeks, and the award-winning Wonder Weeks app. -Developmental charts -Fill-in schedules -Unique insights into babies' development -Practical and concise information The Wonder Weeks..."This book will open parents' eyes to aspects of their children's growth, development, changing behavior, and emotional responsiveness that they might otherwise not notice or find puzzling and distressing." Catherine Snow, Ph. D., Shattuck Professor of Education, Harvard Graduate School of Education.All parents want to know about baby's: - physical development- sleep- crying- diet- emotional development- stress- intelligence- health

    But she didn't expect to be lectured for slipping her fussing toddler a snack, or to be forbidden from packing her older daughter a school lunch. Karen is intrigued by the fact that French children happily eat everything—from beets to broccoli, from salad to spinach—while French obesity rates are a fraction of what they are in North America.Karen soon begins to see the wisdom in the "food rules" that the French use to foster healthy eating habits and good manners in babies and children. Some of the rules call into question both our eating habits and our parenting styles. Other rules evoke commonsense habits that we used to share but have somehow forgotten. Taken together, the rules suggest that we need to dramatically rethink the way we feed children, at home and at school.Combining personal anecdotes with practical tips and appetizing recipes—including Zucchini and Spinach Puree and Bouillabaisse (Fish Soup) for Babies—French Kids Eat Everything is a humorous, provocative look at families, food, and children that is filled with inspiration and advice that every parent can use.

    Savage, true and deeply relatable - finally, a book that resists the sanitised, acceptable face of parenting. You might not feel better, but at least you'll feel less alone.

    And here's your first hint: Focus on what you can be doing for her rather than what's happening to her.She's pregnant. She knows that. You know that. And her 152 baby books tell her exactly what she can expect. Your job is to learn what you can do between the stick turning blue and the drive to the delivery room to make the next nine months go as smoothly as possible. That's where John Pfeiffer steps in. Like any good coach, he's been through it. He's dealt with the morning sickness and doctor visits, painting the baby's nursery and packing the overnight bag, choosing a name, hospital, and the color of the car-seat cover. All the while he remained positive and responsive - there with a "You're beautiful" when necessary - but assertive during the decision-making process (he didn't want to wind up with a kid named Percy). And now it's your turn.She might be having the baby, but you have plenty of responsibilities.

    Today’s kids have adopted sedentary lifestyles filled with television, video games, and computer screens. But more and more, studies show that children need “rough and tumble” outdoor play in order to develop their sensory, motor, and executive functions. Disturbingly, a lack of movement has been shown to lead to a number of health and cognitive difficulties, such as attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), emotion regulation and sensory processing issues, and aggressiveness at school recess break. So, how can you ensure your child is fully engaging their body, mind, and all of their senses? Using the same philosophy that lies at the heart of her popular TimberNook program—that nature is the ultimate sensory experience, and that psychological and physical health improves for children when they spend time outside on a regular basis—author Angela Hanscom offers several strategies to help your child thrive, even if you live in an urban environment. Today it is rare to find children rolling down hills, climbing trees, or spinning in circles just for fun. We’ve taken away merry-go-rounds, shortened the length of swings, and done away with teeter-totters to keep children safe. Children have fewer opportunities for unstructured outdoor play than ever before, and recess times at school are shrinking due to demanding educational environments. With this book, you’ll discover little things you can do anytime, anywhere to help your kids achieve the movement they need to be happy and healthy in mind, body, and spirit.

    But our fears are misplaced, according to Yale early childhood expert Erika Christakis. Children are powerful and inventive; and the tools to reimagine their learning environment are right in front of our eyes.           Children are hardwired to learn in any setting, but they don’t get the support they need when “learning” is defined by strict lessons and dodgy metrics that devalue children’s intelligence while placing unfit requirements on their developing brains. We have confused schooling with learning, and we have altered the very habitat young children occupy. The race for successful outcomes has blinded us to how young children actually process the world, acquire skills, and grow, says Christakis, who powerfully defends the preschool years as a life stage of inherent value and not merely as preparation for a demanding or uncertain future.           In her pathbreaking book, Christakis explores what it’s like to be a young child in America today, in a world designed by and for adults. With school-testing mandates run amok, playfulness squeezed, and young children increasingly pathologized for old-fashioned behaviors like daydreaming and clumsiness, it’s easy to miss what’s important about the crucial years of three to six, and the kind of guidance preschoolers really need. Christakis provides a forensic and far-reaching analysis of today’s whole system of early learning, exploring pedagogy, history, science, policy, and politics. She also offers a wealth of proven strategies about what to do to reimagine the learning environment to suit the child’s real, but often invisible, needs. The ideas range from accommodating children’s sense of time, to decluttering classrooms, to learning how to better observe and listen as children express themselves in pictures and words.           With her strong foundation in the study of child development and early education and her own in-the-trenches classroom experience, Christakis peels back the mystery of early childhood, revealing a place that’s rich with possibility. Her message is energizing and reassuring: Parents have more power (and more knowledge) than they think they do, and young children are inherently creative and will flourish, if we can learn new ways to support them and restore their vital learning habitat.

    In the book, the method has been adapted to the Western lifestyle in various ways, while still maintaining a natural and gentle approach. The word "training" is used in the positive sense of a loving exchange of communication and teaching/learning between mother and baby. For this comprehensive, elaborate and exquisite tome, the author has scoured the world for proof that her infant potty training method really works . . . and to the ultimate benefit of babies, parents and environment. The book contains stage-by-stage guidelines, amazing photos from around the world, testimonials by practicing mothers, medical opinions by doctors and pediatricians, guidelines for late-starters and much more. The book also provides historical writings on early training, dispels all the classical myths about infant pottying, and discusses the changes in child-raising philosophies that instigated the Western world's move away from this traditional means of toilet learning. Background: Infant potty training, like many things in life, begins with conditioning. It can be approached in a rational and scientific manner as well as an intuitive one or a combination of both, depending on what works best for you and your baby. The rational approach involves timing and observation of elimination patterns and baby body language. The more instinctive approach involves intuition and "tuning in" to your baby in more subtle ways. Both approaches are discussed in detail. Updates to second edition: a chapter for late-starters (families starting with babies over 6 months old); a long and detailed section on "potty pauses" and "potty strikes"; a selection of favorable Western medical opinions; a greatly expanded list of elimination signals given by babies; expanded chapter on "nighttime pottying"; more information on the "sensitive period" for infant potty training; additional photos from around the world; and some new testimonials.

    --Theodore Sectish, MD, associate professor of pediatrics, Harvard Medical School; program director, Children's Hospital Boston Dr. Le-Bucklin's new parenting book is the first by a pediatrician who is also a mother of twins. No other pregnancy and parenting book for multiples offers this unique and much-needed perspective.Twins 101 features practical advice and well-researched information in an easy-to-read format. From maintaining a healthy twin pregnancy to meeting the daily challenge of caring for twins, Twin 101 guides families through each stage with insightful tips, practical advice, useful resources, and inspirational stories.

    New nature games--favorites from the field--and Cornell's typically insightful commentary make the second edition of this special classic even more valuable to nature lovers world-wide. The Sharing Nature movement that Cornell pioneered has now expanded to countries all over the globe. Recommended by Boy Scouts of America, American Camping Association, National Audubon Society and many others.