(Part 3) Top products from r/raisingkids

Hi! Over the years I've found a few good activities to assist my daughter with HUGE memory problems (amongst other things) with reading.
I think the thing she loved most was Starfall. It's a website that has different rhymes and stories for different reading rules, a lot of people recommend it.

I used the book, How to teach your child to read in 100 easy lessons. Which was helpful to a point, but then progress stalled with increasing word size.

On the review pages of Amazon it was suggested that the Bob books were a better way to go, as the child can read a whole book by themselves, fast - which is pretty motivating!

Good luck, hope you find what works for your step-sister! She's lucky to have such a caring sibling :)

My son knew all his letters at age 2 as well. At 3 he was reading out street and shop signs, and now at 4 he can read simple books by himself. All we did was read books with him from a young age. He watches about an hour of TV/videos every day, stuff like Pingu or Dora or Thomas or kids' songs on youtube - none of which can be credited with teaching him to read, I think it was just reading with him.

Some of his favorite books (in chronological order):

• Classics like Goodnight Moon and The Very Hungry Caterpillar
  
  
• I See A Monster
  
  
• Funny Face - highly recommended, gave my two-yr-old a simple way to recognize and express his emotions
  
  
• Five Little Monkeys Jump on the Bed and other similar sing-along and/or play-along books, which greatly helped him begin to sight-read words.
  
  
• Catch Me, Catch Me, the first book he learned to read by himself. Simple rhyming text combined with his favorite theme, trains.
  
  
• That Rabbit Belongs to Emily Brown - his latest favorite: great story, great mix of repeating words and new/challenging words without ever going completely over his head.
  
  
  
  I'm a stay-at-home mom so we probably have more time to read with kids than families where both parents work. But even so maybe you can still try: we only read about one book a day on average, so making it a bedtime routine would put two-working-parent kids on the same footing as ours.

There's no correct answer, of course.

Over time, my wife and I have used combinations of a nanny, grandparents, and day care since my son was two months old, as we both had to return to work for various reasons. In terms of his health and development, we have no complaints: he is thriving. That doesn't mean much, as I'd probably say the exact same thing if my wife were working at home, or if I was. He is in a full-time day care that he loves. There have been plenty of tears along the way, but your husband's view of day care as something out of Dickens is just wrong. He cherishes his little friends, the teachers, and the lessons he gets each day.

For me, an important factor is the total cost to the parent who stays at home. Some people have mentioned depression, etc., but I would focus on career issues. I'm in my 40s. With one exception, the women I know who stayed at home to raise kids are simply erased from the work place. Whatever their level of achievement before --- these are women I know with PhDs, MBAs, etc. --- they never manage to find a full-time job again. The stories (excuses?) are different, but the results are the same, whether they tried in elementary school or later.

The parental choices you make include what your life will be like after the children have come and left the house. If you have an advanced degree, or work in an area that you love, I would urge you to consider full-time or part-time child care. I don't know you, of course, or your field, but your remarks about part-time projects struck me as probably unrealistic. I'm a hiring manager, and the vast majority of the resume I see with side-projects do not lead me to hireable candidates. Many people fool themselves; don't be one of them.

You also mention living in the SF Bay Area. You two should plan out some realistic budgets that go out to school age for your two kids. As you've noted, many of our public schools are simply awful, in part due to the lingering disaster that is Prop 13. You may well have to move or use a local private school.

Finally, I strongly recommend the book The Two-Income Trap, written by now Senator Elizabeth Warren and her daughter. As you may know, Warren is a bankruptcy specialist, and she came about the topic of the book from an unusual angle: she was looking at why couples got into financial straits. The book is too long to summarize, other than to say that every couple needs to look thoughtfully at their real risks and their actual obligations. Genuine love of children is one element of the two-income trap, as the book explains.

Very reasonable and thoughtful, certainly. But is it objectively true? Some people go with a "seems to work for me" mode of thinking, and that's fine, but others, like myself, want to know the hard science and learn the truth about these things.

Simply put, the plural of anecdote is not evidence. While there may be lots of parents who appreciate his advice, there is little to no science supporting his opinions, and quite a bit of conflicting science negating it.

If you're at all interested in said science, I recommend picking up this book: http://www.amazon.com/Parenting-Reason-Evidence-Based-Approaches-Dilemmas/dp/041541329X

• Anything by Mo Willems.
  
• Anything by Eric Carle
  
• Brown Bear, Brown Bear, what do you see?
  
• Gossie and Friends Books (note: there is another box set that adds "Booboo", which is a great book, but they are too small 4" square books instead of the 6" squares).
  
• Go Dog Go. Hand, Hand, Fingers, Thumb. Hop on Pop. One fish, Two fish. Pretty much anything in the Dr Seuss early reader series.
  
• Goodnight, Moon.
  
• Goodnight, Goodnight, Construction Site.
  

Check out Playful Parenting:
https://smile.amazon.com/Playful-Parenting-Connections-Encourage-Confidence/dp/0345442865/ref=sr_1_3

The basic thesis is that at this age, you can get the kids to do what you want by making it fun for them. It's like Mary Poppins said:
> In every job that must be done, there is an element of fun. You find the fun and - SNAP - the job's a game.

That's why I'm glad I read a book about Stoicism. It's all about tactical ways to reduce negative emotions and value what you have. I'm sure I've had many, many more "good days", and really engaged with my kids, putting these ideas in practice.

Simplicity Parenting has a wonderful chapter about toys and how keep them meaningful but under control. It's a fantastic book.

Good reminder for Bob's Burgers. I've been meaning to get back to that.

​

Here's some books that we liked around Kindergarten:

• https://smile.amazon.com/Jimmy-Zangwows-This-World-Moon-Pie-Adventure/dp/068985563X/
  
• https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1423133080 ( We Are in a Book! (An Elephant and Piggie Book)
  
• https://www.amazon.com/Gruffalo-Julia-Donaldson/dp/0142403873
  
• https://www.amazon.com/Day-Crayons-Quit-Drew-Daywalt/dp/0399255370
  
• https://www.amazon.com/Book-No-Pictures-B-Novak/dp/0803741715
  
• https://www.amazon.com/Press-Here-Herve-Tullet/dp/0811879542/
  
• https://www.amazon.com/Bad-Case-Stripes-Scholastic-Bookshelf/dp/0439598389
  
• https://www.amazon.com/Have-Filled-Bucket-Today-Bucketfilling/dp/099609993X
  
  Really any Tony Diterlizi, Dave Shannon, or Mo Williams books are good.
  
  ​

These both look like great books and they both remind me of one of my daughter's favourites "Me... Jane" a very short and simple but inspirational re-telling of Jane Goodall's life story.

I highly recommend No Bad Kids and Peaceful Parent, Happy Kids. Both books helped me tremendously as a parent, and helped me parent the exact opposite of how I was raised. One of the most important things at this age is consistent, clear boundaries, and standing your ground. Do not make empty threats - follow through.

With school starting please run to your local library and get

Stand Tall Mary Lou Mellon by Patty Lovell

https://www.amazon.com/Stand-Tall-Molly-Lou-Melon/dp/0399234160

NurtureShock: New Thinking about Children

Parenting From the Inside Out

The Whole-Brained Child

He's advising other people take risks, risks he has not taken himself nor could he truly understand.

Does he have a book out?

Edit: Yep. His ideas are not new or novel, and the people beating this drum in the media have a book to hawk.