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26 votes
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Do children have a “right to hug” their parents?
14 votes -
The parents in my classroom
25 votes -
The “bad nanny” wars
7 votes -
How did you decide on a daycare for your small child/children?
Hello, I hope this is the right place for this kind of question. I've thought about posting it for a few weeks now but didn't know whether I should or not. My wife has recently opened a small home...
Hello, I hope this is the right place for this kind of question. I've thought about posting it for a few weeks now but didn't know whether I should or not.
My wife has recently opened a small home daycare. We tailored everything to what we would look for if we needed daycare for our child, which was a small class size (5 children max), fully licensed and compliant with all local and state laws (which a lot of other places aren't), plenty of safe indoor and outdoor space (including a whole damn playground), and a learning-based curriculum rather than just babysitting. We have gotten a couple of people to sign up, but are having a rough time attracting more. Some people message us to ask questions, but then never reply when we provide answers. We've tried lowering our prices a bit to get started, and we're very flexible when it comes to time and needs.
So I'm just wondering, for any parents out there who have or have had small children and needed daycare, how did you decide on a place? Where/how did you find this place? And what about it stood out to you? Was it the price? Location? Recommendation of a close friend?
Any insight would be appreciated, thanks.
19 votes -
Children predict the year 2000 (1966, video)
25 votes -
VHEMT: the Voluntary Human Extinction Movement
31 votes -
Birthrates are plummeting worldwide. Why?
47 votes -
One in four school-starters in England and Wales not toilet-trained, say teachers
40 votes -
How your family shapes your body image
6 votes -
Three long-term effects of a "plastic wrap parenting" style
21 votes -
Delaying parenthood via the cryopreservation of live-born children - the unintended consequences of blurring embryonic and human rights
18 votes -
What is the importance of not swearing in front of my kid?
Honest question. My son is only 5 months, but that is something that came to mind while reading posts on American websites. My culture is not nearly as sensitive to swear words are English...
Honest question. My son is only 5 months, but that is something that came to mind while reading posts on American websites. My culture is not nearly as sensitive to swear words are English speakers seem to be, so I would like to know if there's any reason to be mindful of that other than specific cultural sensibilities. Is it inherently bad to use swear words in front of kids? Do you have any personal views on the matter?
35 votes -
Families find ways around Taliban restrictions on girls’ education
15 votes -
Citing safety, dozens of Jewish families are leaving Oakland public schools
37 votes -
To fight absenteeism, US schools turn to private companies
22 votes -
How a child's accidental call to a top-secret phone line launched NORAD's Santa Tracker
36 votes -
With one of the lowest rates of bullying in Europe, we speak to teachers, pupils and parents to find out how Denmark is managing to stamp out harassment in schools
17 votes -
America isn’t ready for the two-household child
26 votes -
What does it mean to friend someone online?
Recently my daughter (third grade) has started learning to type at school. It's a Montessori program, so it's a pretty low tech environment overall, which I mention because I don't necessarily...
Recently my daughter (third grade) has started learning to type at school. It's a Montessori program, so it's a pretty low tech environment overall, which I mention because I don't necessarily expect them to have a nuanced view of technology issues.
One of the typing programs they use is nitrotype.com, which adds a competitive gameplay element. However, it also has mechanism to friend another player. Friends can only communicate with stock phrases, so there's not too much "Internet leakage" beyond being able to choose a username.
I set it up for my daughter on her Linux Chromebook (I whitelist things I want her to have and everything else is blocked at DNS). Seeing her interact with it the first time, I realized that she spends as much time "adding friends" as doing the typing.
On its face, this activity is pretty harmless. But I am worried about the patterns it might be creating for her. I'm worried about her uncritically engaging with the dopamine hit of getting a new friend. Or how it shapes her idea of how many friends she has or where idea of her self worth comes from. Or what she thinks friends are.
So after that long preamble, here are some questions:
- How would you explain "friends" in this context?
- Would you distinguish them from other kinds of friends, either real or virtual?
- Would you attach a moral component to the activity? E.g. that it is good/bad or helpful/harmful
- How would you frame it to the teacher? Not so much in terms of whether or not they should do it in the classroom, but what kinds of conversations should they be having about the friends experience?
- If I'm asking the wrong questions, what questions should I be asking instead?
I'm really interested in seeing the perspectives people have on this. My own ideas are a bit murky, but I will put them down as a comment.
37 votes -
Sweden halts adoptions from South Korea after claims of falsified papers on origins of children
10 votes -
Population decline in Japan has led to more than 8000 public school closures since 2002
59 votes -
At a Helsinki nursery, children spend all day in the forest – how outdoor learning benefits children's health and teaches them to value nature
25 votes -
When foster parents don’t want to give back the baby
24 votes -
Seeking advice from atheist/nonreligious parents: How have you raised your kids to be freethinking amidst a highly religious community and/or extended family?
This question is particularly regarding kids ages 5-12. I've read some great tips, and I'm wondering what you have found to help. Here are a few: Emphasize boundaries with frequent caretakers,...
This question is particularly regarding kids ages 5-12. I've read some great tips, and I'm wondering what you have found to help. Here are a few:
- Emphasize boundaries with frequent caretakers, such as grandparents and neighbors.
- Share science facts, religious traditions, and a variety of creation myths with young kiddos to neutralize Bible stories.
- Talk regularly about your own ethics and values.
- Explain others' beliefs and contextualize those beliefs as part of their culture.
26 votes -
California public school students will learn about labor rights under first-of-its-kind law
44 votes -
Incel ideology has entered the mainstream
52 votes -
South Korean teachers seek protection from harassment by students' parents
38 votes -
Is this the world's most inconvenient podcast?
2 votes -
Should you let babies 'cry it out'? Debate reignited by new study.
18 votes -
Parents, how do you raise a well-behaved and well-adjusted child?
Aiming this question at parents mostly. I'm about to be a dad in the next week or so and I obviously want to raise my son to be a good person. My father was/is an absent drug addict, so I have a...
Aiming this question at parents mostly.
I'm about to be a dad in the next week or so and I obviously want to raise my son to be a good person. My father was/is an absent drug addict, so I have a good roadmap of "don't." But I saw very little in the way of "do."
Where is the line between being too authoritarian vs too permissive? What are your thoughts on gentle parenting? I don't want to trade "well-behaved" for "well-adjusted" or vice versa.
I'm also open to newborn advice since that's what I'll primarily be dealing with for the next little while, obviously.
55 votes -
Is Finland the best place in the world to be a parent – Alexandra Topping travels to Helsinki to find out why the UK pre-school system lags so far behind
4 votes -
Good manners, obedience and unselfishness: data reveals how UK parenting priorities compare with other nations
16 votes -
In this Arizona city, kids with autism are more than welcome
23 votes -
Swedish schools minister Lotta Edholm moves students off digital devices and on to books and handwriting, with teachers and experts debating the pros and cons
20 votes -
Grimes and Elon Musk reveal third child, Techno Mechanicus, in new biography
33 votes -
Record numbers of children are on the move through Latin America and the Caribbean, UNICEF says
7 votes -
Ten things kids don’t know how to do (and five things they know how to do better)
15 votes -
Why did a Mexican drug gang kill forty-three students? Text messages hold clues.
19 votes -
Norwegian preschoolers get early exposure to outdoor life by hiking routes around kindergartens
20 votes -
How can I tell if my child is ready to start school next year?
10 votes -
Sweden seeks to stem deadly rise in youth crime – illegal guns are relatively accessible, with younger and younger children being drawn into serious crime
14 votes -
Both parents agree: The child is being harmed. Which one will the US court believe?
26 votes -
She wasn't able to get an abortion. Now she's a mom. At 13 years old, soon she'll start 7th grade.
95 votes -
Millions of kids are missing weeks of school as attendance tanks across the US
49 votes -
Desperate Chinese parents are joining dating apps to marry off their adult children
49 votes -
What are some ideas for what can or should be done to facilitate kids’ independence and social life?
I'm GenX. I've participated in numerous conversations about how we used to spend large amounts of time outside either alone or with groups of friends, using bikes, skates, skateboards and other...
I'm GenX. I've participated in numerous conversations about how we used to spend large amounts of time outside either alone or with groups of friends, using bikes, skates, skateboards and other ways to goof off and have a good time, but that doesn't happen as much in the US today.
@hobofarmer talked about the trouble his kids have finding friends to spend time with.
The Japanese tv series Old Enough highlights a real cultural difference. https://www.netflix.com/title/81506279
This news article is about parents using air tags to keep track of their kids. If the kids are airtagged, do they then get more freedom to roam? https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2023/07/26/tracking-kids-airtags/
archive https://archive.li/Zg35345 votes -
Help with educational resources - Non bio parents reveal
Does anyone know of any good resources for helping kids understand when their dad is not their bio dad? My brother is not his eldests bio dad. Some bullying/ nastiness means my Bro and his Mrs are...
Does anyone know of any good resources for helping kids understand when their dad is not their bio dad? My brother is not his eldests bio dad. Some bullying/ nastiness means my Bro and his Mrs are sitting the kid down today (on an expedited schedule) to tell him and explain hes not a mistake etc. Are there any good educational bits anyone might know of?
8 votes -
US schools lost track of homeless kids during the pandemic. Many face a steep path to recovery
14 votes -
Just give kids school lunch
34 votes