Reading Roundup 2013.04.26

Another big reading week. Enjoy!



Watching Movies with the kids is a mixed bag, New York Times, (Apr. 19, 2013)
Still another reason why Starboy doesn't watch TV or movies.


Do e-readers inhibit reading comprehension? Salon (Apr. 14, 2013)


Standardized test questions kids have to answer that don't even count, Washington Post (Apr. 23, 2013)


How my job went from great to infuriating, Washington Post (Apr. 21, 2013)

New Standardized tests feature plugs for commercial products, Washington Post (Apr. 20, 2013)
It was only a matter of time. Bastards.

NCTE Position on machine scoring of standardized tests, National Council of Teachers of English (Apr. 2013)
Hint: They don't like the idea.

5 Benefits of Sportscasting your Child's Struggles, Janet Lansbury (Apr. 25, 2013)
Lovely article. H/T to The Thumbstumbler

10 Things that are More Important than Discipline, Positive Parents (Jul. 19, 2011)
In case you need one more "do this" article on parenting.

What pro-spanking research misses, The Attached Family, (Oct. 2, 2012)
""Spanking kids does not deter behavior. Like beating a dog, it just makes them mean. "



The Curse of Fertilizer, National Geographic (May 2013)

Commuting Wild Dogs on the Subway, The Sun, (Jan 12, 2011)
Totally random.

Vivian Maier documentary in the works, Messy Nessy Chic (Feb. 18, 2013)

Reading Roundup - 2013.04.05

Here are a few articles that caught my eye this week:



Introverted kids need to learn to speak up at school, The Atlantic (Feb. 7, 2013)
I totally agree with this—with the caveat that scaffolding and support is offered to teach speaking up, rather than demanding it.

Family Inc., Wall Street Journal (Feb. 10, 2013)
Run your family like a business, with a mission statement. Sorry I'm not sure if the link will work.

What does an iPad do to a child's mind? New York Times (March 31, 2013)

The opposite of play isn't work, Teacher Tom, (Apr. 5, 2013)
Discussing the effort of the de-professionalization of teachers

Parents talking about their own drug use to children could be detrimental, EurekaAlert (Feb. 22, 2013)
via Attachment Parenting International

Atlanta test cheating: tip of the iceberg? Washington Post Answer Sheet (Apr. 1, 2013)

If you don't support breastfeeding in public, you don't support breastfeeding, Huffington Post (Apr. 1, 2013)

The new kindergarten: Kids write 'informative' reports, Washington Post Answer Sheet (Apr. 3, 2013)

Is organic milk healthy? Homemade Mommy (Dec. 4, 2012)

Today's quote, via Literate Kids on Facebook:
"The problems many children have are actually generated by too much time spent in environments in which children are expected to "behave." When a restricted environment isn't balanced out by an hour or more a day when children can run hard, laugh hard, wrestle, be daring, and engage in spontaneous play, the strain shows in their behavior." —Patty Wipfler, Hand in Hand Parenting

Reading roundup 02.22.13

Here's some stuff I've been reading lately. Apologies that sometimes these Friday posts go up so late.

The Extraordinary Science of Addictive Junk Food, NYTimes Mag (Feb. 20, 2013)
This is going to be a big talker.

Still Lonely in a World with More 'Onlies', NYT Motherlode (Feb. 17, 2013)
An only child is wistful for the siblings she never had.

Strange Adventures, Teacher Tom (Feb. 17, 2013)
About the anchor of home. This one struck a chord with me.

Building Strong Boys: The Meaning of Manhood, Not Just Cute (Feb. 20, 2013)

Reading Roundup 2012.12.01

A few things I've been reading lately. Not a very interesting week, altogether, except for the fairy cookies:


A musician on his 21-cent royalty check, Marketplace (Nov. 15, 2012)

ConAgra buys into private label success, Marketplace, (Nov. 26, 2012).
Ugh.

North Korea says Unicorns' Existence Proven, Time (Nov. 30, 2012)

Cows fattened with candy when corn feed prices too high, Marketplace (Sept. 25, 2012 or so), via Weed 'Em and Reap

Is Low-Fat Dairy making you gain weight? Weed 'Em and Reep (Nov. 27, 2012)
I don't know about this source, but the information seems similar to what I've read from more reliable sources. via Holistic Squid.

Make your own fairy mail envelopes, A Little Lair (Sept. 28, 2012)
This blog offers elf-y tricks to go with the fairy/elf door they sell with a storybook. Great resource for you Elf-on-the-Shelfers, though I should say that I'm totally against tormenting your kids with that style of threats and bribes. But creating fantasy? Those are stories that can offer positive lessons.

Baking fairy or elf cookies, A Little Lair (Nov. 24, 2012)

Reading Roundup 2012.11.23

Here are just a few things I've been reading lately. Hope you had a warm and lovely Thanksgiving yesterday!

Take Back the Holidays, Patagonia catalog (Holiday 2012)
Try a $100 Christmas or a gift exchange, to focus on people rather than commercialized frenzy.

Did California Voters Defeat the Food Movement Along with Prop. 37? Mother Jones (Nov. 7, 2012)
"In short, Prop. 37 got crushed under fat stacks of cash: its supporters raised $8.7 million, vs. $45.6 million for its opponents...What do you get for $45.6 million? You get a slick, relentless, truth-challenged campaign, crafted by veteran GOP political hand and former tobacco flack Thomas Hiltachk."

GoldieBlox, a toy that combines story-reading and construction to build a simple machine.
I love the idea of following steps to make something that does something. I hope this takes off and starts a movement. Even if the movement only is for Lego to make changes to its pink sets.

Reading Roundup 2012.11.09

Here are a few things I've been reading lately. Some are from last week; the post didn't go up. Oopsie.

How to avoid GMOs (for real), MamaNatural (31 Oct. 2012)
I've been reading a bunch on GMO lately and it's all so depressing I can barely lift my head up to comment.

What's the difference between these two brains? Telegraph UK (28 Oct. 2012)
A vote for attachment parenting.

Broken Spelling Theory LAObserved (16 Nov 2012)
On the Petraeus affair

Back when a chocolate puck tasted, guiltily, like America, NYT (16 Nov 2012)
I was a Ding Dong or Cupcake girl myself. But in Florida they called them Ring Dings.

Interview with Lisabeth Sewell McCann of Sparkle Stories, ErinGoodman.com (13 Nov 2012)

The Hater's Guide to the Williams-Sonoma Catalog, Deadspin.com (13 Nov 2012)
Wherein we learn that raising chickens is jumping the shark, right. Now. My favorite comment: "I am admittedly a shameless foodie douche sometimes but screw you, my omlettes are foodgasms."
File under: First World Issues.

Reading Roundup 2012.10.26

Here are a few things I've been reading this week.

Mali: no rhythm or reason as militants declare war on music, Guardian UK (Oct. 23, 2012)

Ali Farka Toure station on Pandora

Are the Benefits of Flax Worth It? Butter Believer (Oct. 8, 2012) H/T to Sweet Ginger Mama.

There are Benefits to Boredom, Boston Globe, (Jan. 22, 2004)

Reading Roundup 2012-09-17

Here are some things I've been reading this week.

Is Technology Sapping Children's Creativity? Washington Post Answer Sheet (Sept. 13, 2012)

How the Finnish School System outshines US Education, Stanford University News (Jan. 20, 2012)
The Finnish school system might sound like a restless American schoolchild's daydream: school hours cut in half, little homework, no standardized tests, 50-minute recess and free lunch. But the Finns' unconventional approach to education has vaulted Finland to the upper echelon of countries in overall academic performance, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.

True Sharing Can't Be Taught, The Attached Family, (Aug. 22, 2012) (Registration Required)
When educational television tries to teach young children to share, it's helpful for parent to know how the desire to share really develops in children....Sharing isn't something that is learned. True sharing comes from feelings of caring, together with the ability to think about the 'yes' and 'no' feelings of sharing. In other words, when you care about someone, you will want to share with him.

Get in some Gelatin, The Nutrition Coach (Apr. 1, 2012)

Make your own (healthy) Jell-o, The Little Gnomes Home (Aug. 21, 2012)

Fermentation guru seeks out new (and old) flavors, New York Times, (Sept. 17, 2012)

5 Ways the Modern World Makes You Easy to Stalk, Cracked (Sept. 13, 2012)
Big Brother is watching you. Only it's not big brother. It's anyone.

7 Ways to make your work easy to fact check, Poynter (Sept. 17, 2012)

Keep it Simple—Lunches

Homemade cheese scones, fruit, cucumber • Blue Cupcake photo

My friend Trés Juliee* does not live a simple life (hey, she has kids) but she continually reveals the beauty in simplicity that pares life down to the important essences. Where I dream up ways to layer and enmesh (and complicate), she says, "Let's just go." Where I "add just one more thing" and again "wait—one more," she says, "Ça suffit"—that's enough, keep moving, let it be beautiful on its own.

And so it is with her kids' daily lunches: Simple, just enough. Whole, organic foods. Beautifully and easily presented.

 By request from the kids: Snacks for lunch, with iced water bottle • Blue Cupcake photo

She uses Rubbermaid LunchBlox** to create her bento-style container, which she says fit perfectly into Liam's and Oceane's Pottery Barn Kids lunch bags.** I've used LunchBlox as well, and—except that they are plastic, which isn't great for the environment—they're great. I have liked the sizes and shapes of the containers: They are lightweight and easy to find (Target), and the packaging says they are "BPA free."

Noodles with peanut sauce, fruit, nori snack • Blue Cupcake photo

Juliee has decided to post a photo of each day's lunch fare online, to help inspire other parents packing lunch boxes in the morning. She's not big on "kiddie" food, so I'm looking forward to ideas for my own box lunches as well.

For the summer heat and a loose tooth, the soft lunch: Couscous with raisins, yogurt, nori snack, fruit • Blue Cupcake photo

Follow Trés Juliee and Blue Cupcake on Instagram here or search for  "blue_cupcake" on Instagram to see her daily lunch posts, and more. And please check out her yummy blog with her beautiful cupcakes and cake creations! My not-so-secret hope is that it all is published in a spiral book one day, with a few recipes and a LOT of indexing, for quick and easy lunch inspiration.

 Hummos and pita, crudite, fruit snacks, fruit slices • Blue Cupcake photo

*To help with privacy, nearly everyone here gets a code name.

**Trés Juliee, Blue Cupcake and this blog do not have any affiliation with Rubbermaid, Pottery Barn Kids, Target, or any of the food manufacturers or growers pictured here.

Reading Roundup

Here are some things I've been reading this week. Each story could be its own post...but...I need to occasionally do things that do not involve sitting at a computer.

Judge Invalidates Fla. State Board Rule on Teacher Evaluations, Tampa Bay Times (Aug. 22, 2012). As Diane Ravitch says on her blog: "This teacher-evaluation stuff is complex, poorly thought out, and endlessly divisive. It is being foisted on states across the nation—Thank you, Race to the Top—without any clear evidence that it works."

Was Van Gogh color blind? Asada's Memorandum (~Aug. 2, 2012)

Web sites Accused of Collecting Data on Children, New York Times (Aug. 22, 2012)

BPA may last in our bodies for generations, Grist (Aug. 28, 2012) via Sweet Ginger Mama

How to Avoid Pthalates and BPA, with links to lots of other stories on same, The Daily Green (Feb. 4, 2008) via Sweet Ginger Mama

Rare Hantavirus kills second Yosemite visitor, AP via laboratoryequipment.com (Aug. 29, 2012)

Reading Roundup

Here are some things I've been reading this week.

This is my favorite thing I've read in a long time: The Terrible Tragedy of the Healthy Eater. Northwest Edible Life (Aug. 1, 2012). A very hilarious snapshot of life right now.

LA City Hall has a breastfeeding room now. LA Daily News (Aug. 14, 2012)

The new book Bullied is out. It started here.

Gluten and why it makes you fat. (File under: I'm doomed.) Huffington Post. (Feb. 18, 2012)

Women are taking back natural birth in Brazil. MSNBC

GMOs and food safety. (File under: We're all doomed.) Deliciously Organic (Aug. 12, 2012)

Sherpas, K2 and a new book, "Buried in the Sky." Extraordinary rescue of a Sherpa by a Sherpa. The Madeleine Brand Show (Aug. 14, 2012)

Doodling improves information retention. Smashing Magazine (Aug. 3, 2012)

City of Needles sets world record for hottest rain: 115 degrees. Pete Thomas (Agu. 15, 2012)