Have the Kids in Your Care Lost a Loved One?

photo from hospice 4 Children’s Books About Death This is a long weekend in America. Monday is a national holiday, Memorial Day, when we have parades and services honoring the soldiers that have lost their lives protecting our country. But, Americans also remember those they have lost personally who weren’t in the military as well. […]

1,400 Things for Kids to Be Happy About

Weekly Trip to the Library What makes for a happy childhood? The little things, just like at any other time of life. Kids are happy when they read books with their mother and father. They like little things like smelling a Christmas tree or building a fort with a friend. 1,400 Things for Kids to […]

10 Benefits of Reading Aloud to Babies

Without the Motivation to Read, Children Don’t Read It is vital that nannies and au pairs read to children of every age to help kids develop the love of reading. In the book, Baby Read-Aloud Basics,Caroline J. Blackmore and Barbara Weston Ramirez they explain that without the motivation to read, children don’t read. In Baby […]

Girls Will Be Girls by JoAnn Deak

Weekly Trip to the Library The three-year-old I care for has already had girls at preschool tell her the clothes she was wearing weren’t  cute and other girls have told her they don’t want to be her friend. At my previous nanny job the five-year-old girl in Kindergarten often came home crying because a girl […]

And Then It’s Spring by Julie Fogliano

Weekly Trip to the Library This is a great book to help young children notice the small changes that come ever so gradually with the shift from winter to spring. After a long snowy winter a boy and his dog decide to plant a garden. They dig the brown earth, they plant, and they wait. […]

What Are Your Favorite Fingerplays and Preschool Songs?

Why Nannies Should Use Fingerplays and Musical Acitivities with Children According to Dr. Harry Steckman of the Steckman Studio of Music in Oak Park, Illinois, nannies should use age-appropriate musical activities to aid in child development. Within just a few weeks after birth babies respond to human voices with gurgling. By seven- to eight-months-old children move their […]

Are the Organic Foods You Buy Actually Good for You?

Weekly Trip to the Library: Foodopoly by Wenonah Hauter Do you or the parents you work for try to buy only organic food? Do you only shop at the organic market for food? Do you support the local farmer? Do you ever think the fruit, vegetables, and the chicken you eat tastes different than it […]

Book Reviews by Kids for Kids

Geronimo Stilton I’m Too Fond of My Fur by Geronimo Stilton Review by Olivia, 8-Years-Old Do you like adventures? Well then this is the book for you. This book is about a mouse named Geronimo Stilton. Geronimo Stilton is a small, scaredy- mouse. Geronimo gets a phone call from his friend, a scientist. His friend […]

Flat Stanley by Jeff Brown

Book Reviews by Kids for Kids Review by Taylor, Eight-Years-Old Flat Stanley is about Stanley Lambchop. One day a bulletin board fell on Stanley and made him flat. At first he was upset, but then he learned that being flat could be fun. He did things no normal person could do. One day Mrs. Lambchop […]

Lean In by Sheryl Sandberg

Weekly Trip to the Library Review By Polly Psi (posted on 3/30/2014) Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Leadis part-auto biography, part self-help guide, part career advice, and part new feminist manifesto. In this provocative, well-documented and readable book, Sheryl Sandberg, CEO of Facebook, chronicles her experiences and her advice as a corporate leader. […]