the happy juggle

Hellooooo geeky whanau.

Straight into it then … here is a fab article about babies from Psychology today about babies.  Eat it up!  Share with your friends!  Another bit of baby deliciousness is to be found in this resource from the Campaign for a Commercial Free Childhood.  It’s a PDF of ideas for supporting babies to entertain themselves screen-free.

What else?  Brain scans show us that there are different ways of relating to numbers, and also that fear makes our sense of smell more powerful.

Here is research from the Journal of Neuroscience to suggest that the brain benefits of learning music last for a lifetime, and I humbly invite you to check out the podcasts that Nathan and I created for Family Times.  Check back often, k?

In other more personal news, since last I blogged I have submitted an article (and made an editor tear up!  Hurrah!), we’ve celebrated a birthday in my house (complete with triumphant cake icing session!) and enjoyed a magical noho marae in a glorious bit of the country.

Next I await publication of my letter of the month (could I be more excited?) in Good magazine … I blogged about it here … and I gotta get cracking in fulfilling my role as peer reviewer for the Southern Early Childhood Association.  Jeepers!  Before I can do this, though, there is ANOTHER birthday in my house tomorrow, and a cake needs creating!

 

mothers, children, families

A couple of weeks ago I recorded some podcasts with my friend & colleague, Nathan Mikaere-Wallis.  They will be hosted by our friends at Family Times magazine and will be live in about ten days.  I completely, publicly forgot the referencing info for all this deluxe temperament research, so here is my atonement. 

Meanwhile, there is chaos and unrest in the Ukraine.  I wonder if any of you geeky friends were moved to tears by video of the “Send In the Mamas” protest?  Kind of reminds me of that story about Jimmy Carter getting stalled peace talks going again by having participants share family photos.  But I can’t find a reference for this story so there is a chance that I have made it up.

I have also been inspired by the extra-curricular work of the AWESOME children’s entertainer, the musician known as Raffi.   He has founded the Centre for Child Honouring, and you can learn about it by following that link back there.

A couple of links for the brainiacs: one is brand-spanking from the journal Pediatrics … here is the abstract describing interventions to improve cortisol regulation in children (Dr. Jack Shonkoff is listed as an author, so it’s gotta be good), AND this is an interview with neuroscientist James Fallon, whose brain scan suggests that he shares brain patterning with psychopaths.  Good times!

As always, I’d love to share more.  As always, the real-life demands of my real-life family must trump all else.  Arohanui xx