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

When children fight, should you be a Paris peace negotiator or an Ultimate Fighting Challenge referee? Typically neither teachers nor parents are taught how to manage conflicts between children. Tune in now and get some solid, tested guidance on what to do when children are ready to rumble.

Our guests discuss how stress impacts learning in young children and can produce stressed based learning disabilities with long term implications. The good news is that stress based learning disabilities can be reversed with understanding and trained assistance. The segment closes with advice on prevention and stress management.

While perusing an online teachers forum I saw a discussion about whether calendar is developmentally appropriate for preschoolers. There where many opinions shared. Then one teacher wrote. "I know it's not developmentally appropriate but I do it any way. So what? That's how I was taught." Today we ask our guest Dr. Lilian Katz. So what?

Today's kids are manifesting alarming levels of stress at earlier and earlier ages. In fact, many children are burned out by the time they get to third grade. The causes are many, diverse, severe and often underestimated by teachers and parents. As these stressors can have a long lasting effects, our first task is to understand what is stressing our students and children so we can begin to mitigate them. Tune in and find out... .

This segment explores intentional teaching and finding the balance between teacher-directed & child-directed activities. Our guests explain the nuances and implications and share tips for working in a teaching climate that limits child-guided learning. .

Many teachers fear touching children and many schools have no touch policies. Our guests say that children need to be touched. In fact, they assert that low-touch-teaching retards children's development and creates social dysfunctions that can last a life time. In this segment we'll talk about embracing touching in the classrooms, why it's essential and consider the practical issues and risks. .

Why won't Johnny just sit still? How can I teach a child who is constantly fidgeting and moving? In this segment our guests examine this problem and share a considerable amount of research challenging the notion that children need to sit still to learn. A new approach is offered along with specific teaching strategies.

Computers, learning software, gaming, and the use of Internet are tools that are growing in popularity in the early childhood classroom. But is digital media a wonderful asset in early childhood education, a distracting and harmful liability or somewhere between the two. Our distinguished guests offer some perspective.

At one extreme there are satellite parents and at the other extreme are helicopter parents. How do we determine the right balance between being too involved in our children's education and development and being not involved enough? Three thoughtful parents and experts share their insights and offer some guidelines.

Bubble wrapped, sanitized, protected and weak. As we've tried to protect our children from every conceivable threat, real or imagined, we have essentially created a fragile generation of Americans who lack some of the basic coping and survival skills of generations past. The general consensus is that we're creating a nation of wimps. So what can we do now? Moreover what should you being doing differently with your child.

Steroid use, gambling on games, animal abuse, cheating, lying, adultery, assault and regular episodes of bad behavior by athletes has become a cliche. In the wake of sports scandal after sports scandal, is the notion that sports builds character simply a suburban myth? This segment brings together a distinguished panel to separate the fiction from the reality of youth sports.

Whether it's on the quiet or in your face the fear of men in early education is widespread. Yes, it's difficult to quantify and talk about, but It's real. From parents, to administrators the fear of men who work with young children has a significant impact in classrooms and beyond. We brought together a parent, a male educator and an early education attorney to look at the fear and the reality of men in ECE.

For many parents and teachers, the more books they read, the more programs they listen to and the more experts they watch, the more things they discover they have failed to do. This often leads to a persistent lingering question: have I totally messed up my kids? This segment provides some much needed answers!

For many parents and teachers, the more books they read, the more programs they listen to and the more experts they watch, the more things they discover they have failed to do. This often leads to a persistent lingering question: have I totally messed up my kids? This segment provides some much needed answers!

In the shadow of parents and teachers increasingly wrestling with unruly behavior and intractable discipline problems comes a new study that raises questions about current attitudes on spanking. Recent research compared spanked children with non-spanked and, in some important developmental areas, spanked children were better off. So now what?

Is it possible that ADHD is really the result of poor parenting or misguided teaching? Is ADHD even a legitimate diagnosis, or have we simply "medicalized" what is typical child behavior under specific conditions? The issue is far from settled. Our two guests share very different views and both make a compelling case. Listen, get the facts and decide for yourself.

While many teachers, schools and parents discourage rough housing, the data suggests that rough and tumble play is actually very good. Among the many unrecognized benefits is the intimacy and need for touch that it provides young boys. Thomas Reed makes a compelling case for not only encouraging rough and tumble play but for joining in frolic.

Kicking, biting, hitting, fighting, why are some children more aggressive than others? In this segment our guests explore the foundations of aggression in children, the causes, the warning signs and specific techniques for preventing and managing aggression from birth to age eight.

The explanation for the differences in the way boys and girls develop and therefore what should expected of each has changed over the years. Our two experts offer a panoramic view of gender differences and identify the three basic things you need to know to be an effective parent and teacher

As children increasingly enjoy indoor activities and more parents choose to keep them inside where it's "safe," child development experts are discovering what happens to children who don't get outdoors enough. Learn more...