Tag: Finance

Posted in Financial freedom, Kids

Need to Teach Your Kids About Personal Finance? Here Are Some Fun and Engaging Ways to Start

Posted on by Tim Connolly
Teaching Kids About Money: Why Is it Important? | Inside Your IRA
Need to Teach Your Kids About Personal Finance? Here Are Some Fun and Engaging Ways to Start

One of the most important skills that parents can pass on to their children is the correct and responsible way to handle money.

Considering how important financial literacy is for navigating life, it’s surprising that it isn’t generally taught in schools. This also makes it all the more important that, as a parent, you impart these crucial life skills. The family environment is also a great one to teach kids about issues—such as debt and credit cards—that can be sensitive. Above all, talking about money with your kids from an early age encourages an openness that is one of the most important positive impacts of nuclear families.

It’s never too early to start, either. Kids as young as 4 years old can start to understand financial concepts. The key is making those lessons age-appropriate. Economic education groups are supporting families to teach financial lessons to their children with free advice and resources. This article will look at ways families can teach their children about finances and how to safely manage money.

Financial literacy is one of the most important skills for building a successful life, but unfortunately, many adults do not possess it. Beth Kobliner, author of the bestselling book “Get a Financial Life” and a member of the President’s Advisory Council on Financial Capability, points out that the mortgage crisis of recent years shows just how little financial knowledge most Americans have.

This is reflected in the shocking state of personal finance among individual adults in the United States today. Almost half of all Americans are living paycheck-to-paycheck. Only 46 percent of Americans have set aside any money at all for a rainy day fund. The average credit card balance an American carries is more than $6,000.

Do you really want your children to make these same mistakes and have financial burdens for the rest of their lives? If you’re like most parents, you may respond with a firm no, but you may also argue that schools should teach financial literacy to students instead. Unfortunately, schools and the educational system as a whole aren’t going to do your children any favors either.

As we’ve previously pointed out, the main problem with American education isn’t funding, but rather the topics that schools focus on. Financial education is a huge lacuna in our public school system. This means that if you want your kids to grow up to be successful, you’ll most likely have to teach them yourself or champion financial education at your child’s school.

You can start teaching your kids about handling their finances responsibly from a very early age. The key is to make these lessons appropriate to their level of intellectual development. While a 3-year-old might not understand the complexities of financial derivatives, they can certainly understand that if you give them $1 they have a choice about which piece of fruit to buy.

The research also indicates that there is a real benefit to starting young when it comes to building good money habits. A child’s money habits can be formed as early as age 7.

The most important principle in providing financial education to kids is to take it slow, and make your lessons relevant to their everyday lives. This means that your lessons will vary according to how old your kids are.

Below, we’ll take a look at the key lessons you should teach to kids of various ages, and how to do that.

The best lesson to begin with, and one that even many adults still haven’t learned, is this: You have to save and wait to buy something you want.

This is a key lesson for kids to learn at a very young age, and you can begin this process when they are still 3 years old. Young children can have a problematic association between going into a store and you buying presents for them.

It’s therefore important to point out to them that toys cost money, and that money isn’t unlimited. When you go shopping, you can explain to them that you are in the store for a particular item, and therefore you will not buy them presents.

In addition to this basic lesson, there are some great activities that you can do, even with very young children:

  1. Create three jars, labeled “saving,” “spending,” and “sharing.” Whenever your kid receives money—even a couple of dollars—they can then decide which jar to put it in. The “spending” jar can be for buying sweets and other small items, and the “sharing” jar is for donations to charities or presents for friends. The “savings” jar is for more important items.
  2. You can also have your kid set a savings goal, such as to buy a particular toy, just make sure that they are being reasonable with how much they want to save up. They should be able to afford their present in a few weeks, not a year.

As your kids start to grow up, you can build on these lessons. Between the ages of 6 and 10, you can continue with the “jar system” we’ve explained above, and perhaps start to give them a little more in their allowance. Just make sure that you supervise their savings goals, so that they don’t get overambitious and start to have negative associations with savings.

At this age, it’s also important to start to include your kids in your financial decisions, so that they get a taste of what making decisions with money is all about. For instance:

  1. You can include your kids in small financial decisions, such as buying products online. The average person already spends five hours a week shopping online, so there should be ample regular opportunities in your life for including your children in the buying and shopping process. You can explain that certain products offer better value for money, or the importance of taking advantage of sales.
  2. You can also start to give your child a little more autonomy at this age. For example, when you need to go shopping for new shoes, you can give your child money and allow him or her to select the shoes he or she wants within that price range.

Around this age, you can start to shift from short-term savings goals to longer-term goals. By the time they reach 11 years old, most kids will have an appreciation of how long a month is, and can start to conceptualize how long they will have to save up to afford something.

Children around this age can therefore begin to get a basic understanding of how money and finances in the real world work. For example, children around this age can begin to understand concepts such as compound interest, how credit cards work, loans, debt, and income.

A critically important subject that you will want to introduce to a child in this age range is how to keep track of cash flow, in addition to teaching terms such as line of credit, operating cash flow, and working capital.

Another very useful lesson at this age is to teach your kid about compound interest. This might sound complicated for an 11-year-old, but most kids will actually grasp the concept pretty easily. You can also help them by:

  1. Describing the idea of compound interest with real numbers, and not in the abstract. Research shows that this makes the idea much easier to understand.
  2. You can also show your child how to do some compound interest calculations on Investor.gov. Here, they can see how much money they will earn if they invest a certain amount and it grows by a certain interest rate.

As your kids approach adulthood, the lessons you pass on can grow more complex. One of the most important discussions to start having with them at this age is about the cost of a college education.

Most colleges offer a “net price calculator” that will allow you to calculate the total cost of going to particular colleges, and you should start to have this discussion by the time your children are in ninth grade. You can compare how much each college costs, what the employment prospects of graduates are, and how much student loan debt could affect your child’s lifestyle after graduation if they attend that college.

Another key lesson for teens, especially as they approach their 18th year when they will become an adult, is to start seriously talking about investments, and their long-term financial goals. If you’ve managed to cultivate a habit of saving in them, now is the time to explain how to safely start to invest in the stock market. Stock trading mobile apps such as Robinhood have been great for making investing more accessible to younger people through zero account minimums and commission-free trading.

At this age, you can also start to have discussions with them about the way in which finances impact our society and politics. It’s important to teach your children not just about personal finance, but about how money in our economy works as well.

It’s never too early to start your kids on the road to success, and that includes teaching them about money and finances. The family environment is a great one for imparting lessons that your kid’s school overlooks, but also has other advantages.

Talking about money with your kids from a young age will not only give them the habits and knowledge they need to manage this successfully in the future; it will also cultivate an openness that will mean that money is far less likely to be a source of family tension.

Posted in Kids, money management

How to Teach your Kids about Personal Finance

Posted on by Tim Connolly
personal finance
How to Teach your Kids about Personal Finance

Parents face lots of challenges while upbringing their children. There is so much to teach them to help become independent and successful individuals. Though not everyone recognizes it, personal finance is one of the most important skills that needs honing. Good education and other skills just don’t cut it, if the person doesn’t know how to handle money correctly and responsibly.

Thankfully, the family environment is a great one to teach kids about issues like debt and credit card. And it’s never too early to start teaching kids about money either. Kids as young as four years old can begin to understand some financial concepts if you make lessons age-appropriate.

Why is Financial Education so important?

Ability to manage your finances is one of the most important skills for building a successful life. Unfortunately, many adults do not possess it. Beth Kobliner, a member of the President’s Advisory Council on Financial Capability, stated that the mortgage crisis during the recent years showed just how little financial knowledge most Americans have.

Presently, nearly half of all Americans are living paycheck-to-paycheck, with only 46% of them setting aside any money at all for a rainy-day fund. Furthermore, the average credit card balance a U.S. citizen carries is more than $6,000. Such statistics make the sorry state of average American’ finances glaringly clear. If you want your children to avoid the same mistakes, you need to teach them how.

Unfortunately, Financial education is a huge lacuna in the U.S. public school system. So, parents can’t depend on schools in that field.

personal finance, How to Teach your Kids about Personal Finance

Which age is appropriate for starting financial education? 

You can begin teaching your children about handling their finances responsibly from a very early age. Just try to make the lessons appropriate to their level of intellectual development. A 3-year-old might not understand the complexities of financial derivatives. However, they can certainly understand that if you give them $2 they can choose which piece of fruit to buy.

According to the latest researches, there is a real benefit to starting young if you want to build your kid’s good money habits. Furthermore, a child’s money habits can be formed for the age of 7.

How can you teach your Kids about Finance?

The most important principle is to take it slow. Try to make your lessons relevant to their everyday lives. The lessons may vary according to how old the kids are. For example, if they are between 3-5 years, you may try to teach them about saving and buying something they want.

Young children often can’t associate going into a store and you buying presents for them. It’s important to point out to them that toys or candies cost money, and that money isn’t unlimited. During the shopping, you can explain to them that you need a particular item, and you will not buy them presents.

Furthermore, you can create three jars, labelled “spending,” “saving,” and “sharing.” Whenever your kid receives money, they can then decide which jar to put it in. The “savings” jar is for important items, while the “spending” jar can be for buying sweets or small items, and the “sharing” jar is for donations or presents for friends.

As your children start to grow up, you can build on these lessons. For example, between the ages of 6 and 10, you can continue with the “jar system”, and even start to give them a little more in their allowance. However, make sure that you supervise their savings goals so that they don’t start to have negative associations with savings.

Around 11-13 age, you can already start to shift to longer-term goals from short-term savings goals. Children around this age begin to get a basic understanding of how money and finances work in the real world. They may also understand concepts such as compound interest, how credit cards work, debt, loans and income. That allows you to expound on your lessons.

Posted in Discipline in kids, Financial freedom, money management

The Allowance Debate

Posted on by Tim Connolly
The Allowance Debate

Being a parents its your responsibility to teach kids about money and the life skills they’ll need to thrive as adults. Some of the most important skills that can be taught to them relate to making smart money decisions. One topic that often provokes strong opinions relates to allowance: how much to give, whether to tie it to chores and what it should cover.

To Tie Chores to Allowance or Not?

I recently read a good book that reinforced my beliefs on this topic and introduced a few nuances. The book, “The Opposite of Spoiled” by Ron Lieber, a New York Times columnist, makes the point that allowance is a tool to teach kids how to manage money and not to teach them a strong work ethic, so it should not be tied to chores. Kids will have plenty of other opportunities to learn a solid work ethic (e.g., on sports teams, in school, with part-time jobs) but will not have many opportunities to learn to make smart decisions about money. Kids should still have chores and contribute as a member of the family, but they should not be paid for regular chores (odd jobs are a different story).

How Much to Give?

When determining how much to give, it’s important to consider what you are expecting your children to pay for with their allowance. With younger children, it might be easiest to just give a formulaic amount such as the number of dollars per week that they are old. So, a 7-year old would get $7/week. However, the nuance was that as the children get older and you want to make them responsible for a larger portion of their spending, you might need to deviate from this simple formula and give an amount that should cover what you want them to pay for.

So, if you want your son to be able to go to the movies twice a month and eat lunch out once a week with friends, then you should make sure his allowance is enough to cover these activities, at least until he starts having other sources of income. The point is to make it fair based on the lifestyle you want to enable and to increase responsibility for more purchasing decisions over time. By high school, it isn’t unreasonable to put your child in charge of their entire clothing budget, perhaps by giving them a lump sum once or twice a year.

How to Split Between Spend/Save/Give?

The other important recommendation was to split the allowance between Spend, Save and Give buckets and use these to teach your kids the values of saving for the future and generosity to those less fortunate. When kids are young, this money can be placed in clear labeled jars so they can have the visceral experience of seeing and counting their money, but I recently opened three separate online accounts for each of my children now that they are older.

The Spend debit account gets funded weekly and the other two are funded monthly. The final nuance was that when the children are young, the parent can determine which percentage of the allowance goes into each bucket, but once they are a bit older, the parent could allow the child to decide and maybe incent them to put some of their money in the Save and Give buckets by matching their contributions or paying interest.

The point of these activities is to impart important money values and habits to our children that will stick with them into adulthood and enable them to make smart money decisions.

Posted in Discipline in kids, Kids, money management

Educating Your Children on Finances

Posted on by Tim Connolly
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Schools are back in session, but financial education starts at home. There are multiple financial life lessons you can begin teaching your children. From a young child all the way to adulthood, financial education leads to financial success.

Ages 3-6. Their eyes are on everything.

This is a great time to teach kids about money so that they can carry this money concept throughout their lives. One study from the University of Cambridge found that money habits in children were formed by the age of 7.

When they get money for a birthday or holiday, have them save it in a clear piggy bank or jar. At this age, humans are visual creatures. As they see the amount of money grow they will get excited. Each time you add money, use this as an opportunity to count what they have saved. Help them set a goal of something they would like to use the money on.

Activities teaching how to save and the importance of patience are important in this early development in showing sometimes you have to wait. Remember that young children have a short attention span so it is important to keep their goals fairly short.

Ages 7-13. Their eyes are on you.

At this transitional age, children are watching everything you do, they are closely tuned into their parents spending habits. This age group is building their habits and values from what they see their parents do. What your kids see you do is a lot more powerful than what they hear you say. Of course when they see and hear the same thing that creates a strong message.

Teaching this age group the difference between wants and needs can help build day to day habits that will shape how they earn, save and shop. Weighing decisions and teaching consequences, such as ‘if you buy this you will not have enough money for that’, helps teach budgeting and saving skills that prepare them for a successful financial future.

Explaining budgeting at this age doesn’t have to be difficult, there are tools such as Three Jars that can help them understand spending limits, and learn money management in an easy and fun way. Using a free digital program will speak to this age group right where they are… on their phones! Three Jars has an app that works like a ledger so your child can keep up with their spending and saving.

Explain to them how to read what is on a receipt. How sales tax is calculated and how to determine percentages such as tips or discounts. Understanding sales tax is important when saving for larger items.

Ages 14-18. Their eyes are on the future.

As our children are reaching young adulthood, we are preparing them to go out into the world. We want to make sure they are equipped with those life skills that will yield success. Buy this time they may already have developed a concept of how the financial world works. However, they are now ready to learn some more in-depth concepts that will come into play as an adult.

Checking accounts are a necessity, and using a debit card is the preferred method of payment for most, but we must teach our kids that money comes from somewhere! Once your child begins earning money, setting up an account for them is a great way put a real budget plan to use. They will be a lot more cautious of what they spend their money on if they are the ones that have to work to earn it.

According to a 2017 poll, nearly half of Americans are living at or beyond their means each month. Sharing the family budget and helping them to create their own is an extremely useful life skill. If your family does not have a budget, make one together. It will give your children a greater appreciation of what they have and how it is earned. For tips on creating a budget, you can visit our blog on financial success.

A Partner Savings account is a great option, for young and older children, to explain how interest accrues. Letting teens practice money skills and making their own financial choices keeps them from feeling overwhelmed with the responsibility once on their own.

When you go to purchase their first car, sit down and explain how getting a car loan works, and how lending works in general. This is a fantastic transition into a conversation about how credit works. Explaining the potential dangers of credit card debt and how to build a positive credit history can put your child ahead of the game as they ready for college.

College is already a conversation most parents are having with their teens in high school. Payment options and how student loans work is a vital part of this decision-making process. As of 2018, the average debt per student borrower is $27,975.

Posted in Discipline in kids, Financial freedom, money management, Parenting, teaching teens

How to Teach Your Kids About Money So They Become Financially Responsible Adults

Posted on by Tim Connolly

How early is too early to familiarize your kids with core money concepts like earning, spending, saving, debt, credit, and investing and focus on financial education for kids? Money can seem like an inappropriate or simply overwhelming topic to bring up to your kids, but it doesn’t need to be—in fact, it absolutely shouldn’t be.

“Would you ever let your child climb behind the wheel of a car and drive away without instruction, practice, or tips on how the car works? Of course not, because doing so could have a devastating outcome,” says Gregg Murset, a certified financial planner and the founder of chore and personal finance app BusyKid. “The result of a child growing up without a clue of how to earn or manage money can be just as problematic to the entire family.”

The earlier kids are introduced to the basic life skills of money management, the more comfortable and self-sufficient they’ll be out in the real world as adults (which might be crazy to think about if you have really young kids, but it’ll happen one way or another).

From the basics to the complex, here’s how to start instilling important financial skills in your kids in a way that sticks with them for life.

Know That There’s No “Right” Time to Broach the Subject

“All kids learn differently, so there probably isn’t one right way to tackle the topic of money,” Murset says. “However, it’s critical to address it.

A recent study showed that people who learned about money as a child were three times more likely to have a personal annual income of $75k or higher than those who didn’t. Now if that doesn’t motivate you as a parent to sit your kids down, nothing will.”

Should you try to lecture your 6-year-old about taxes or compound interest? Probably not. But should you talk about many times they’ll need to help take out the trash and mow the lawn before they can afford that new bike? Absolutely.

Don’t Make Money an Off-Limits Topic

If and when it comes up, it’s OK to be transparent about money and how much day-to-day things cost, like groceries, clothes, and household upkeep. “For example, parents should share more about household expenses so their kids can already be making mental notes on what it costs to leave lights on or waste food,” Murset says.

You don’t want to burden your kids, make them feel responsible, or start them worrying about money—but giving them a real-world sense will help them grasp bigger concepts about smart spending, wants vs. needs, and not taking possessions for granted.

Posted in Kids

Three Tips for the Perfect Bedtime Story

Posted on by Tim Connolly

Telling bedtime stories freely and in your very own words is a great thing, children love it and they are allowed to join in and steer the story together with you.

Telling bedtime stories can also be a daunting task if you’re not used to invent and tell stories freely.

The good thing is, with a couple of little tips and some guidance, you can learn this skill and train to tell engaging stories. You’ve got the very best audience a storyteller can wish for: your own kids.

Today I’ll share three easy tips for the perfect bedtime story, so here we go.

Structure Your Story

Every story has a certain structure and follows specific rules to engage the audience, at the very core a simple story needs three storypoints: a beginning, a middle and an end.

Add one more storypoint in the middle, like a surprise twist, something dangerous that the characters have to overcome or a turn of events that changes the direction of the story — with these storypoints you’re ready and well equipped to build a great adventure.

  • Beginning (where do we start?)
  • Middle (what happens in the story?)
  • Turning Point (something unexpected happens / a problem occurs)
  • End (how does the story end?)

This is the part most people struggle with: how do I come up with a story? There are a couple of things you can do:

  • Think of a character. Any character. Preferably someone or something that your kids really enjoy — a knight, a pirate, a fairy or even take your own kid.
  • Think of a setting — where does this character live? In a castle, a boat, the woods or at home?
  • What problem occurs? A dragon besieges the castle, a treasure map in a bottle is discovered, the animals got sick or a huge cave troll appears in the garden and your kid decides to help him.
  • How can this problem be solved? The dragon was lonely and wanted to visit the people and not scare them, the treasure turns out to be a stranded person, the animals ate berries from a mysterious bush or your kid finds a new home for the cave troll.

These are just some really quick examples, but you get the idea. Frankly speaking: coming up with a story actually is the hardest part, but that’ also the part we’re going to help you out with!

Paint Pictures With Words

When you have the basic structure and the most important storypoints, it’s time to tell them in an engaging way that creates suspense and makes the children really care.

So it’s time to tell your kids what happens — but try to shake it up! Nothing just happens, it all has to be experienced.

When a character enters a building — what does it look like? Is it a big hall where you can barely see to the end or a tiny cave? Is it cold or warm, do you smell something? What can you hear? How does this character talk? Is he speaking very loud all the time or really quietly? Does he have an accent or mixes up some words?

Really focus on the details and let your kids join in — what do they hear? What do they see? What do they think happens next?

The great thing is that kids have crazy imagination skills and will be there to help you out, so explore the story together with them.

Have Fun

The most important part of bedtime stories is to have a great time with your kids. Remember how often you made a fool out of yourself and actually enjoyed it? Don’t hesitate to make mistakes, mix up some storypoints or forget what happens next — you’re not telling a story in a room full of people — these are your kids and they will help you out and share a laugh with you.

Be prepared to derail from the structure or a new character appears out of thin air because your children just thought of that — that’s the fun part of bedtime stories.

You’re not only watching or reading something together, you’re making it up along the way.

Enjoy your mistakes and embrace the unpredictability — you’ll never forget the great time you had together!

There are many bedtime stories to read for your children which leads to developing a good relationship with them and don’t forget to let them know about financial literacy for kids it will help them in future too.

Posted in Parenting

A Child Bumps Her Head. What Happens Next Depends on Race?

Posted on by Tim Connolly

When a child experiences a mild head injury and a parent seeks medical attention, what happens next in New York City seems to depend on the ZIP code and the color of the parent’s skin.

In April, the actress Jenny Mollen, wife of the actor Jason Biggs and resident of Manhattan’s affluent West Village, announced on social media that she had accidentally dropped her 5-year-old son, causing a skull fracture and requiring treatment in the intensive care unit of a private Manhattan hospital’s I.C.U.

Three months earlier and several miles north in the Bronx, my client, a Latina mom, was folding laundry in her apartment when she saw her 9-month-old daughter and 7-year-old son bump heads while playing on the bed. The following day she noticed that her daughter had a bump on her head. She took the baby to her pediatrician, and a follow-up at the hospital showed two minor skull fractures with a small underlying bleed.

This is where Ms. Mollen’s and my client’s stories diverge. According to Ms. Mollen’s social media account of the incident, she and Mr. Biggs were met with compassion and sympathy by the hospital. Ms. Mollen publicly thanked the staff, saying she was “forever grateful.”

Get the big debates, distilled. This comprehensive guide will put in context what people are saying about the pressing issues of the week.

At the Bronx hospital, though, my client was met with suspicion, interrogation and accusations of child abuse, even after explaining her daughter’s accidental head bump with her brother to the hospital staff. Emergency room staff members called the New York City Administration for Children’s Services to report possible child abuse. A.C.S. workers and the New York City police interrogated her, as well as her husband and their 14-year-old daughter. At no time was this distraught mother told she could or should contact a lawyer. Nonetheless, when the baby was ready for discharge without requiring any medical treatment, A.C.S. told her parents that they could not take her home and that they must identify family members to care for her and her siblings. Otherwise, the children would be placed in the foster system with strangers. Though she was still regularly nursing the baby and no judge had reviewed this decision, my client had no choice but to comply. She left the hospital without her daughter.

Two days later, as a family defense lawyer who represents parents against abuse charges in family court, I met her. She was terrified and shaking during our first conversation, and told me she had not seen her children in two days. The first thing she wanted to know was when they could come home. That day, without any evidence of wrongdoing, A.C.S. filed a petition in Bronx Family Court accusing her and her husband of child abuse by intentionally causing their daughter’s skull fractures. A.C.S. asked the judge to issue an order to keep the children out of their parents’ home and asked that they remain with a relative.

To be clear, there’s nothing to suggest that Ms. Mollen and Mr. Biggs abused their child or that they should have been investigated or charged with abuse. The outrage is not that they were treated with compassion and understanding — it’s that low-income black and Latino parents in the Bronx are not.

Though the words “skull fracture” are enough to bring chills to any parent of a young child, in reality mild skull fractures in young, mobile children commonly result from accidents and generally do not require treatment other than observation. And though parents can usually describe the event or provide information about how they believe a skull fracture was caused, it is not uncommon for a parent to notice increasing head swelling or a bump hours or days after something happened, when the child’s activities and movements are long forgotten.

In my experience representing parents against abuse charges in the Bronx, I have repeatedly seen the mere existence of a skull fracture in a young black or Latino child brought to the hospital trigger a call to a state child abuse hotline, an investigation, a child abuse accusation in family court and the removal of children from parents. This is especially the case when a parent cannot tell the hospital exactly how the injury was caused because it may have occurred days before the symptoms arose or were noticed.

In the past 18 months alone, we at Bronx Defenders have represented at least six parents charged with abuse based on a child’s minor head injury.

Research shows that black and Hispanic pediatric emergency room patients with minor head trauma are two to four times more likely to be evaluated and then reported (as suspected abusive head trauma) when compared with white, non-Hispanic patients. Once there are suspicions of abuse, black children are more likely to receive invasive testing like full body X-rays.

We have challenged child abuse allegations in the courtroom on several occasions, and it almost always turned out that A.C.S. had little medical evidence to support its contention that an isolated and mild skull fracture was from abuse rather than an unfortunate accident — even when the parent could not say how the fracture occurred. For family defense attorneys, the process of litigating hearings to exculpate parents and reunite families can last weeks or months, during which time the family is traumatically separated. Even short stays in foster care have proven harmful to children, who can be placed with strangers and separated from siblings, family and other support systems. To address this harm, which is experienced disparately by low-income parents of color, A.C.S. needs to change its practice of presumptively separating children from their parents without adequate evidence that the child was harmed by a parent.

In the case of my client, for example, I immediately consulted a New York City-based pediatric neurosurgeon to confirm that the baby’s skull fracture was minor, plausibly accidental, and that her mom’s story was consistent with the injury. It was then quickly exposed during my client’s arraignment that A.C.S. had no firm medical evidence to support its charge of child abuse. In fact, A.C.S. admitted that though it had separated her from her children and filed abuse charges, it had not spoken to a neurologist, neurosurgeon or child abuse specialist, nor had it spoken to any doctor who provided conclusive evidence that the baby’s skull fracture was anything other than an unfortunate accident. That day, over A.C.S.’s objections, the judge ordered that the children be returned home, and three months later, A.C.S. withdrew its charges and the case was dismissed.

But none of this should have happened. All families deserve the sort of support and compassion that the Biggs/Mollen family received in a time of need.

While a better-safe-than-sorry approach that accelerates child removals may sound like a responsible way to protect children, it ignores the harm and trauma children can experience when they are separated from their families and placed into foster care.

New York City must grapple with how and why it has permitted a system to hurt children by believing some parents but not others.

Rain or shine, there are plenty of outdoor learning opportunities for your children- both in childcare and at home. So go outside, get dirty, and have fun! and learn new things at Dad blogs about parenting and kids.

Posted in Kids

Urban-Farming Camps Have Kids Asking, Where’s the Healthy Food?

Posted on by Tim Connolly

At summer programs in Harlem and the Bronx, children grow crops and talk about the limited sources of good nutrition in their neighborhoods.

Standing between two buildings on 127th Street, a group of campers on the cusp of adolescence mulled over a change in schedule. Normally, they would spend the morning planting and gardening as part of Harlem Grown, a youth development nonprofit that uses gardening and cooking to teach and empower children in Harlem.

But on this Friday, they would become amateur cartographers, mapping their local food landscape.

The 15 campers walked through their neighborhood, paper and pencils in hand. How many delis? (By some counts, 17, by others, 14.) Supermarkets? (Three.) Fast-food restaurants? (Twenty-two, they estimated, but lost count.)

As he looked for places offering affordable vegetables, Myles Bradumn, a 13-year-old camper, grew frustrated. “What about the delis?” he asked.

“Can you get vegetables at the deli?” said his counselor, Jarielle Isaac, 22.

“Sort of,” Myles replied.

“Can you get a lot of produce at the deli? Is there fresh food there?” she asked, pressing him.

“No,” Myles snapped. “But where are we supposed to get our food from, then?”

For years, summer programs like the Fresh Air Fund have transported low-income New York City children into the suburbs and countryside for outdoor activities. More recently, urban-farming initiatives have offered similar experiences within city limits.

But programs like Harlem Grown and Culinary Arts and Agriculture Training, which began in July at four New York City Housing Authority buildings around the city, are taking the local experience one step further, helping children explore bigger questions in their neighborhoods: what the food choices are, and why healthy options are often hard to find or afford.

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Posted in Kids

5 Toys and Games to Pack for the Trip for the kids

Posted on by Tim Connolly

These are the toys and games that Wirecutter parents pack to keep their children entertained while traveling.

Next time you fly — or take a long road or train trip — with your children, consider stocking your carry-on with toys and games that will not only entertain them but maybe even teach them a little something. Here are a few suggestions, aimed mostly at younger children, but often fun for older ones and adults, too.

Pro tip: Whatever your go-to travel toys end up being, reserve them for trips so that they retain their special-occasion allure.

These coloring pads’ water-filled pens and reusable pages — they turn bright hues when wet — let preschoolers “paint” without mess on the plane or in the car.

In this learning app, children explore and shape an imaginary land, watching the flora and fauna change — which helps them become more observant travelers, too.

This analog game offers delightfully tough logic puzzles. Translation: It’ll help keep your grade-schooler occupied through the inevitable real-life traffic jams and travel delays.

An upgrade from the old Magna Doodle, this LCD drawing board is more colorful, more accurate, and easier to erase — and just as self-contained and mess-free.

This quick-paced “pick and pass” card game is simple enough for children as young as 5 to master, but tricky enough for older players to enjoy.

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Posted in Kids

The importance of healthy habits and exercise for children

Posted on by Tim Connolly

Most people feel better when they get regular exercise. A sedentary lifestyle is not only unhealthy, but it can make us feel sluggish and more fatigued in the short term with even worse long-term implications. Kids need exercise too in order to grow and develop to their highest potential.

Healthy habits established in childhood will more often stay with us throughout our lives. Parents and schools need to help children develop healthy habits and active lifestyles. Studies show that overweight, inactive kids are likely to remain overweight as adults, with the weight problem often worsening as they grow older.

Carrying extra weight puts kids at risk for a number of health problems, including high blood pressure, heart disease, diabetes, and even some types of cancer. Parents offer their children a big health advantage when they teach them to love exercise, sports and other physical activities, propelling them to healthier lives.

Regular exercise builds strength, enhances coordination and improves overall health. Most people are aware of the physical benefits of activity, but the pay-off doesn’t end there. Physical activity helps to relieve stress, reduces anxiety, and helps stave off depression.

Children who are allowed outlets for their natural energies are more capable of controlling their behavior in school and often excel academically when compared to their less active peers. Even young children show better self-control when they are given opportunities for active play, and this connection between activity and emotional well-being remains all throughout their lives. While a limited amount of time spent watching television or playing video games isn’t necessarily harmful for children, the majority of their pastimes should be play-based including physical activity.

In addition to benefiting their physical and emotional well-being, participation in sports and other active play-based endeavors allows kids healthy social interactions which helps them develop friendships with their peers.

Lots of learning occurs during childhood, including important lessons on how to interact with others in positive ways. Kids who are secluded in their homes watching videos or playing computer games miss many opportunities to fine tune their social skills, putting them at a disadvantage when compared to children who participate in team activities.

Childhood obesity rates are the highest in history and constitute a major threat to the health and well-being of an entire generation of children. In fact, pediatricians are reporting more diabetes and heart disease in children than ever before. This trend in children’s health is frightening, but can be turned around.

Parents have a responsibility to ensure that their children eat healthy diets and get sufficient exercise. Scheduling active family outings, playing together and modeling a healthy lifestyle are all decisions that can help kids to get healthy and stay healthy throughout their entire lives.

Simpson County Schools is committed to developing the whole child. We offer many opportunities for students to be active and engage in healthy activities during and after school. In addition, our school lunch program offers a nutritious and healthy breakfast and lunch daily.

In fact, all students are eligible for free breakfast! Our students being healthy and active are beneficial to our life readiness vision so that each may graduate prepared for a successful life, post-secondary training and careers.

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