-bam! Body, Mind And Child - Preparing Your Child's Body And Mind For Life!

Not all stress is to be avoided. According to our guests there are three different types of stress. Positive stress, tolerable stress, and toxic stress. Teachers need to be able to distinguish the different types and the symptoms of stress in children to help them manage stress effectively. Learn more... Dr. Megan R. Gunnar is a Regents Professor and Distinguished McKnight University Professor of Child Development at the Institute of Child Development, University of Minnesota. She received her Ph.D in psychology at Stanford University and completed a post-doctoral fellowship in developmental psychoneuroendocrinology at Stanford Medical School. Ellen Galinsky, President and Co-Founder of Families and Work Institute (FWI), helped establish the field of work and family life at Bank Street College of Education, where she was on the faculty for twenty-five years. Her more than forty books and reports include the best-selling Mind in the Making: The Seven Essential Life Skills Every Child Needs, Ask The Childre

In an era of high-stakes accountability and standardized testing, is there room for teaching beyond the test? You bet, say our guests, and here's how to do it without losing your job. Kate Beaudet is Co-founder and organizer of Coalition for Educational Justice (CEJ), a community organization comprising parents, teachers, and students fighting for equity in public schools. Elena Silva, PhD., is a senior policy analyst at Education Sector, where she oversees the organization's teacher quality work. Reporter Sarah D. Sparks writes a blog called "Inside School Research" for Education Week.

Many teachers returning to school this year report a growing sense of powerlessness to effect change and do their jobs. An increasing number of teachers are expressing their disagreement with education policy in a climate that often ignores them. In this segment we talk about how you can find your voice, and impact the system without losing your job.

Despite all of the attention to the problem of bullying, much of it continues under the radar of many teachers and parents. In this segment we shine a light on the hidden side of bullying, explain why it often goes undetected and discuss strategies to deal with it.

Some educators have reported an increase in the number of twins in their classrooms. According to our guests, there are a few myths and some misguided ideas about teaching twins that need to be corrected. In this segment we discuss what every educator and parent needs to know about teaching twins.

Some of us are victims; others of us are unwitting conspirators in a process that teaches girls that how they look is who they are. The impact is far-reaching. Our guests today discuss the impact of the early practices that lead to this belief and point the way to giving girls a healthy self-identity.

There's a lot of attention on evaluating teachers these days. The relentless pursuit to improve student achievement has put teacher performance under the microscope. But are we clear about what really makes a good teacher, how to measure good teaching and how to replicate it?

In many ways "time out" has become the new spanking. First, it has become the default approach for dealing with child misbehavior. But, like spanking, conventional application of time out is now being challenged as harmful and inappropriate. Our guests say it's time to rethink how and when time out is used.

Some say the concerns about Pre-K testing in the new Race to Top - Early Learning Challenge program are a premature tempest in a teapot. Others see it as a new road to education hell, being paved with good intentions. We invited a diverse group of educators and advocates to come and help us make sense of it all.

We could call this segment, "how to pick your battles." What is clear is that all undesirable behavior should not be addressed, every time, on the spot. Our guests offer insights and guidelines for determining when to intervene and when to ignore the behavior and allow it to take its course.

According to our guest, homeschooling is not what it used to be nor what many people think it is. If you haven't looked at homeschooling in a while this may be a good time to update your understanding -- before the next school terms starts. .

All of our guests in this segment seem to agree that today's parents are very different from generations past. They cite diverse examples and offer a variety of reasons, but all prescribe useful tips to help today's teachers survive today's parents.

In America, early childhood professionals often look at parents as pests rather than partners in the education process. Some teachers dread the prospect of meeting with parents, and parents often are less than thrilled with their interactions with teachers. This segment looks at barriers to teacher-parent collaboration and offers bridge-building strategies.

Every teacher knows that when the children go outside to play, that's the time for teachers to have a break and for children to do their own thing. Well, today’s guests say that play time is not break time and savvy teachers put as much thought into planning play time as they put into planning the rest of the school day.

According to a recent study, 98 percent of teachers are using punishments and rewards for classroom management, but are they really effective? Are there better ways to motivate young students? If so, why are sticks and carrots so popular? In this segment we explore the difference between classroom management and discipline and look at creative strategies aimed at promoting internal motivation in students.

There has been some buzz around the topic of creating a national common core curriculum. The notion has engendered quite a bit of push back, raising fears of loss of local control. We invited two education advocates and a practicing teacher join us to explore the implications.

Are boys’ brains and girls’ brains fundamentally different? If there are differences, are they significant – and do they really matter in the context of teaching? In this segment our guests identify and attempt to debunk the big myths about teaching boys versus teaching girls.

"Great job!" "That was very good!" Teachers and parents use phrases like these everyday to give positive reinforcement to children. But are we creating praise-addicted children by giving them too much unwarranted, rote and excessive praise? Turns out that positive reinforcement can be negative. In this segment our guests give us the basics on how to get it right

Despite a plethora of research in the area of early childhood education, much of it is not being transferred into practice. In this segment we explore why this disconnect exists and what needs to happen to build a bridge between, research, policy and practice.

Many believe that there is a correlation between the quality of a child's handwriting and their literacy and intelligence. Others assert that there is no relevant connection and, more importantly, that the advent of computers makes practicing handwriting less important.