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“You’re giving your child a leg up if you spend more time with them, read to them more, sing to them more, play with them more,” he said, “not if you park them in front of a DVD or an iPhone app.”

Even the folks at LeapFrog caution that electronic toys shouldn’t replace the tried-and-true childhood staples of previous generations. Plain old wooden blocks can be an incredibly valuable learning tool, says Jim Gray, a former child development researcher who now heads the learning team at LeapFrog.

“I would recommend that parents have a healthy toybox,” Gray said, “with a variety of types of toys. Electronic toys are one type, wooden blocks are one type, rubber balls are another type. Dress-up toys, even a piece of paper and crayons are wonderful as a learning environment.”

Read the full article here.

With mind-boggling technology at our disposal, and the deep desire to see that our children develop “normally” many parents seem to be obsessed with comparing their kids intellectual  development with that of other children.  Studies in emotional intelligence have shown that emotional development is far more important when it comes to satisfaction with life and overall well-being.  Studies have also shown that one of the best things to provide our children to foster emotional growth and neurological development is play and laughter.  Play is to a child what work is for a grown-up.  Satisfying, stimulating and challenging play  helps children learn to work with others with fairness and compassion and to learn from their mistakes.  These are opportunities to focus on what is right and build character strengths and emotional intelligence.

The Kids Can Do Anything Character Education programs are designed to help a child develop emotional literacy, recognize their character strengths and to  build upon what is right rather than focus on what is wrong and trying to fix it.