Kids are clamoring for expensive gifts at a time when family budgets are as tight as ever. As usual, electronics top the wish lists of many children (and adults), but never before have so many wished for an Apple.

The Apple iPad is the most desired consumer electronic among kids ages 6 to 12 for the 2011 holiday season, with nearly half (44 percent) of kids expressing interest in the product. Two other popular Apple devices — the iPod Touch (30 percent) and iPhone (27 percent) — round out kids’ top three. Nearly one-fourth of teens ages 13 to 18 chose the iPad as their top gift, followed by computers and e-readers. While an e-reader can be had for under $100 (try Amazon’s entry-level Kindle for $80), iPads begin at $500, a price that may not fit into the family budget. What is a parent to do?
 
"It is very important for children to learn to make choices and prioritize, accept limits, deal with disappointment and appreciate value," Laurie Zelinger, a child therapist in Long Island, told TechNewsDaily. "Acquiescing to the child’s requests in the face of either actual financial stress and/or differing values will possibly encourage feelings of selfishness and a sense of entitlement that will be difficult to break in the future.”
 
The first step in managing kids’ gift expectations is to share the family budget for gifts and encourage them to make suggestions that fit within the amount. If a child responds with “but that’s the only thing I want!” and it’s out of the budget, consider these alternatives to just saying “no.”
 
Three alternatives to “no”
Consider buying one gift that the entire family can enjoy. Items such as a Blu-ray player, a Roku media streaming player  and even a tablet that can be plugged into the family’s HDTV can be shared by all.
Pool resources from friends and family and purchase a group gift. For instance, last month Giftiki launched its group buying service on Facebook  in partnership with American Express. Friends are invited to chip in between $1 and $10 toward a gift certificate. With an average of 130 friends per Facebooker, the contributions could go a long way toward an iPad or other coveted gift. Ebay also offers a group gifting program.
Delaying a gift until money for it can be saved or earned by the child is another alternative, if your child agrees. Holiday and birthday gifts could also be combined. The important thing is to involve your kids in the decision-making process. “Helping them develop the problem solving skills needed to reach their own conclusions in this area is an important part of parenting,” Zelinger said.
Walk your talk
 
An important piece of advice for parents facing a budget  crunch is to lead by example. “Parents need not feel guilty, especially if the child has been made a part of the change, understands the problems and realizes you’re all in it together,” she said. “It might be somewhat hypocritical if adults spend money extravagantly for themselves at the same time they are asking their children to make less expensive choices.”

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PRIMARY school students in NSW, many of whom learn no languages other than English, would be taught a language for two hours a week under the national curriculum the federal government is developing. But the NSW Education Department exhibits no enthusiasm for the change, warning of teacher shortages and a crowded curriculum. Currently, the first formal requirement for language teaching does not begin until high school, where 100 hours of language instruction is mandated for students in years 7 and 8. Primary schools are not required to teach languages.

By contrast, Victorian primary students spend 700 hours learning languages. The national curriculum for languages will be written on a basis of primary students spending 5 per cent of total teaching time - or 350 hours - learning a language. In years 7 and 8 this would rise to 8 per cent of teaching time, or 160 hours.

The Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority yesterday issued its final shape paper for languages in the curriculum. Italian and Mandarin will be the first languages developed for the curriculum, and 13 others are under consideration for the next stage.

A spokesman for the federal Minister for School Education, Peter Garrett, said: "It won't be compulsory, but the intention of the shape paper is to make it clear all kids will be entitled to learn a language from kindergarten onwards.''

The national plans represent a challenge for NSW, which lags other states in language teaching. ''If implemented in NSW schools, this will have significant implications for teacher education and teacher supply, as well as the potential crowding of the primary curriculum,'' a spokesman for the Education Department said.

Change in NSW would require the Premier, Barry O'Farrell, to get directly involved in overcoming traditional resistance from the education bureaucracy, said an authority on language teaching.
Associate Professor Angela Scarino, of the University of South Australia, the lead writer of the paper, noted the contradiction of low minimum requirements in NSW and the Premier's enthusiasm for language learning.

''If [the national curriculum] prompts NSW to reconsider its own policy settings vis-a-vis 100 hours it will be fantastic. In NSW it is most clearly time to review the 100 hours mandate.''Professor Scarino said NSW students, the community and the economy were missing out on vital learning. ''If we keep going down this path we will have a citizenry of bilingual speakers everywhere in the world except here, the US and [Britain]. There is a complacency that says English will be enough. But when you learn to do things bilingually your whole way of thinking changes.''Associate Professor Lesley Harbon, of the University of Sydney, said the situation in NSW was ''very disappointing''.

The national curriculum guidelines would be a huge advance if properly resourced. ''Language teachers would need to be convinced the resources and staffing will come along with the national direction,'' she said. The final version of the plan includes Hindi, Australian sign language, and classical languages to be considered for introduction in the second stage of the curriculum.

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Did you read to your kids today? For many parents it’s as automatic as feeding them. But reading may be about a lot more than bonding or even learning to read, according to a new report. It could be a major contributor to your kid's academic success as a teenager. The report comes out of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, which runs academic testing for 15-year olds from the world’s industrialized countries, including Canada.

The thinking behind this Program for International Student Assessment, or PISA, is that much of a person’s life trajectory can be predicted by these teenage scores. In a piece called How About Better Parents?, New York Times writer Thomas Friedman highlights the newest findings of the group, which since 2006 has been collecting data about how parents are raising their children to see what relation it has to scores.

According to the report, “students whose parents often read books with them during their first year of primary school show markedly higher scores in PISA 2009 than students whose parents read with them infrequently or not at all.”

This so-called performance advantage showed up “regardless of the family’s socioeconomic background,” Mr. Friedman writes. On average, he reports, the score difference is 25 points, which is considered “the equivalent of well over half a school year.”What’s more, merely asking about how school went is gives children another boost.

Andreas Schleicher, who runs the program, told Mr. Friedman that “just asking your child how was their school day and showing genuine interest in the learning that they are doing can have the same impact as hours of private tutoring. It is something every parent can do, no matter what their education level or social background.”Some teachers, not surprisingly, are happy to have the spotlight turned on parents for a change.

Deseret News columnist Mary McConnell is a high-school teacher and educational consultant, and while she says she’s had mostly positive experiences with parents, she describes the news as “ammunition” for teachers. “I still don't think this takes teachers off the hook. But the findings should challenge a lot of parents,” she writes.

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Good news for travelers who can’t afford to bring a nanny on the trip – but would love a night out without the kids. Care.com has just launched its extensive child care directory which gives city-by-city listings of reliable babysitter help. Care.com boasts free background checks and detailed listings, so parents can find child care in any city.  

Care.com’s Day Care Directory provides a listing of resources at the local level, searchable by zip code.  Just a few clicks – and you have a list of qualified, reputable options at your fingertips.  Featured child care providers within the site provide additional information ranging from qualifications and certifications to current availability and rates!

This site was designed to provide families with concise and timely information with a robust list of options for all 50 states. In order to  ensure the safety and quality of their nannies, Care.com goes the extra mile:

Q: What kind of background check is done on the nannies?

A: When a background check is requested through Care.com, the following information is verified:

1. Social Security Number Verification – The user’s Social Security Number will be verified to ensure that it is a valid Social Security Number and that the person is a legal citizen of the United States.

2. Address Verification – The user’s address will be verified to ensure that it is associated with the user.

3. Criminal Record Verification – A search of criminal records will be conducted to see if the user has a criminal record. The records that are searched include:

a. State and county criminal record repositories

b. State sex offender registries

c. Prison, parole and release files from state Department ofCorrections, Administrative Office of Courts, and other state agencies

d. Proprietary LexisNexis criminal record information.

The specific records which are searched vary by state and county. For example, sex offender registries are not available in the states of Vermont and Washington. Accordingly, such offenses committed in these states would not be found by this search. Please refer to this table to understand exactly what records are searched.

Q: Do you thoroughly check their references?

A: We provide our customers with recorded reference checking.  When a care seeker comes across a provider profile that they are interested in, they can request a recorded audio reference for them.  We will call the provider’s reference and ask them a series of questions over the phone, while taping the conversation (which the reference first consents to). We then provide the care seeker with a downloadable audio file of the conversation, so that they can hear the provider’s previous employer talking about them. The care seeker can also access the reference information in written transcript form.
In addition, all care seekers that use the service also have the freedom to directly request reference contacts from a provider listed on the site.

Q: Do you have insurance and what does it cover?

A: Yes, we do have insurance; however, we do differ from traditional “nanny agencies” in that we are not actually providing the services of a sitter that is employed by Care.com.  Our service is designed as a marketplace to connect care providers that post profiles on the site with families seeking care.  In addition to the security measures listed above, we provide tips and tools on our site to guide parents and care seekers towards thoroughly screening any potential providers that they may choose to hire.

Q: How long have you been in business doing this?

A: Care.com was founded in November 2006 and the website launched on a national level in May 2007.

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One of Canada’s esteemed educators has taken swift action on a very serious issue. Anarchy had taken over the schoolyard at Earl Beatty Junior and Senior Public Schools in Toronto. Ball-playing kids were out of control. Hitting one parent and nearly hitting many more.

Principal Alicia Fernandez has taken decisive action, banning soccer balls, footballs, volleyballs and tennis balls from the playground. All in the name of safety. Recreational foam products, better known as Nerf balls, did manage to clear the list of contraband play devices.

Think this is an isolated incident? Think again. Last year, an Ottawa public school banned ball playing in winter. In June, a public school in St. Catharines, Ont., banned balls after a girl watching a schoolyard soccer game was struck. Thankfully these bans were overturned by petitions of outrage.

But this is a widespread problem. Canadian traditions like snowballs and street hockey have already been eradicated in many parts of this country. Schools across North America have also banned cartwheels, dodge ball and even tag. Yes, tag. Why? Running kids can fall. Or a child might be tagged too roughly, leading to a fight.

One school in Australia made international headlines when it banned handstands due to the risk of head and neck injuries. Maybe this doesn’t go far enough to ensure the safety of our precious children. Skipping rope? A serious tripping and choking hazard. Hopscotch? The horror!

Am I missing something? Are kids today made of fine porcelain?

These laughable examples are no laughing matter. We’re inflicting serious harm on children by keeping them out of harm’s way. Our educators claim to take childhood obesity seriously. What could be better than good old-fashioned calorie-burning play? No, they seem far more interested in putting sedentary kids on diets. Enforcing militant healthy eating programs.

Think back to your own childhood. Compare the freedom you enjoyed with today’s kids. You probably walked yourself to school, explored ravines, maybe you even climbed trees. Scabbed knees should be honoured like Boy Scout badges. A symbol of truly experiencing the adventure that is childhood. How can we expect kids to grow up to be self-sufficient adults if we don’t give them a chance? Let’s give them some of the freedoms we had!

Obsessively keeping children out of harm’s way is doing more harm than good. Research by Ellen Sandseter, a professor of psychology at Queen Maud University in Norway, concludes that kids need to encounter risks to overcome fears on the playground. She and other psychologists believe that protective playgrounds achieve the opposite of their intended effect. Instead of making children feel safer, and therefore braver, they actually make them more anxious and fearful.

For school administrators, it’s not really about a child’s well being at all. Bubble-wrapping our kids in the name of safety is all about control. Let kids be kids so they can become adults and act like adults. It’s Canadian common sense.

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Fat kids often turn into fat adults with a host of related health problems: diabetes, high blood pressure, clogged arteries. But a study finds that if those heavy kids lose weight they may be on a par with people who were never overweight.

A meta-analysis released today in the New England Journal of Medicine looked at weight status and health among 6,328 people who were followed from childhood for an average of 23 years. The study subjects were divided into four categories: those who were normal weight as kids and not obese as adults; those who were overweight or obese as kids but not obese as adults; those who were overweight or obese as kids and obese as adults, and those who were normal weight as kids but obese as adults.

In some studies being overweight in childhood was associated with a risk of developing type 2 diabetes and high-risk cholesterol levels in adulthood, and in all studies those weights were linked with high blood pressure and high triglyceride levels.

But among children who were overweight or obese as kids who were normal weight by adulthood it was a different story--their risks of type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol were similar to people who had a body mass index that was normal throughout their life. However, adults who were obese had more risks, regardless of their weight in childhood. Their risk of developing type 2 diabetes grew by a factor of four compared to normal-weight adults who were overweight or obese as kids.

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You’re probably not surprised to hear you have a big influence over your children — though they probably won’t admit it. A recent study from the University of Arizona and the National Endowment for Financial Education found that parents are the most important factor in building financial capability for their children.

The kids aren’t getting these lessons in school. According to the Jump$tart Coalition for Personal Financial Literacy, only four states require a course devoted to personal finance; 20 others require personal finance instruction incorporated into other subject matter.

But many of us shy away from being the teacher here. We feel we’ve made too many mistakes on our own dime, or we’re not familiar enough with the information to pass it on. And so it seems the key to raising money-smart kids is twofold: First, you have to get the information you need. Then you need an effective way to pass it on to the next generation.

Here’s advice for both steps:

To build a solid foundation for yourself ...

Look in your community. Many offer free or relatively cheap programs about basic financial concepts — saving, how to budget, the ins and outs of credit and debt. You might find a course like this sponsored by your church, your community association or local recreation center, the library or nearby community colleges, says Patricia Seaman, a senior director at NEFE.

“The key is to understand what is behind the financial education,” she says. “Is it an organization that is making money off the course? Is there an agenda behind it?”

A course offered by an insurance agency will likely be front-loaded with information about insurance you may not want or need. One that’s taught through an adult-education program might be unbiased. New York City’s Department of Consumer Affairs has the Office of Financial Empowerment, which offers one-on-one financial counseling for free.

Check out online resources

There are a ton, but here are some favorites. MyMoney.gov, run by the Financial Literacy and Education Commission, is a collaboration of 22 federal agencies. The site has calculators to help plan retirement and manage debt, budgeting worksheets and a consumer guide to credit cards.

It also divides information by category so you can find what you need whether you’re a teacher, caregiver, retiree, parent or kid — and updates regularly in response to new legislation. Smartaboutmoney.org, run by NEFE, is another good resource, as are the websites of financial magazines like Money, Kiplinger’s and SmartMoney.

I recently helped develop a financial bootcamp for LearnVest.com, called the Take Control Bootcamp. It’s a free, 10-day program that will help you take an inventory of where you stand, then learn to budget, track spending and make the most of your income. You can access it at learnvest.com/takecontrol.

To pass on what you’ve learned to your kids …

Incorporate day-to-day lessons. When I was a child, my parents took their paychecks to the bank and deposited them in person. When they wanted money, they went to a teller. These days, checks are direct-deposited, money comes out of a machine in the wall, and we swipe a plastic card to make a purchase. In other words, your kids can grow up thinking money comes in an endless supply if you don’t show them otherwise.

That means explaining where the money is coming from and how it got there when you take cash out of an ATM, taking them through your decision-making process at the store — why you’re buying this, but not that, because you can’t afford both — and giving them an allowance that they have to budget for the week.

The idea is to give them enough to buy some things they want and need every week, but not enough to buy everything, so they have to make the same decisions you and I do. As they get older, you can give an allowance every two weeks or every month, so they have to make the money last longer. And if they want to make a big purchase? They have to save for it.

Use games as learning tools

You can teach basic financial lessons with games they already play. Paul Golden, who also works at NEFE, told me his kids play a game called Lego Star Wars on Xbox. They collect coins that they can use to “unlock” other figures in the game. Some figures require a lot of coins, others only require a few — if they want the best figures, they have to save up for them. This is a great teaching opportunity.

Then there are games that are designed specifically to impart financial lessons, like DoughMain and Jump$tart’s Reality Check, which allows kids to plan the kind of life they want — the car, the house, the events or activities they’ll attend — then tells them the income they’ll need to support it. All of these open the door to money discussions, led by you.

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The research, published in the CMAJ (the Canadian Medical Association Journal), found a strong link between childhood aggression and increase in lifestyle-related illnesses, such as obesity, diabetes, alcohol dependence among others.

The study involving over 3,000 youths in Canada found that childhood aggression resulted in 8.1 per cent increase in their medical visits, 10.7 per cent up in injuries and 44.2 per cent increase in lifestyle-related illnesses.
    
Childhood aggression in young women (18 to 23 years old) was also found to have resulted in higher use of gynaecologic services. For this study, the researchers from the University of Sherbrooke, Concordia University, University of California (Davis) and University of Ottawa used data from the Concordia Longitudinal Risk Project that involved 3913 people, who were in grades 1, 4 and 7 from 1976 to 1978 but received health care between 1992 and 2006.

"Our results confirm that there are specific behavioural characteristics, identifiable in childhood, that can have enduring consequences to physical health and can predict increased use of health services in adulthood," Dr Caroline Temcheff of University of Sherbrooke and co-authors wrote.

"Childhood aggression should be considered a health risk when designing interventions to improve public health, particularly those targeting children and families."According to the researchers, childhood aggression directly and positively predicted overall use of health services in adulthood for the participants of this study.

"These associations were seen even when controlling for the effects of sex, education and neighbourhood poverty." Childhood likeability was correlated with lower usage of medical services, including those for injuries and dental visits.

"The direction of these effects is consistent with research suggesting that adults with larger social networks seem to have better health outcomes than those who are less socially connected," the authors said.

"Addressing problematic childhood behaviour and teaching appropriate ways of interacting, self-care and coping strategies to vulnerable children will probably require early preventive intervention to mitigate long-term risks to health," they added.

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Johnson sophomore McKenna Magnuson was in the seventh grade in 2008 when the high school played its inaugural varsity volleyball season. At the time, and like so many of her classmates, Magnuson envisioned the day when she would play on the varsity, going so far as to attend all of the Jaguars' matches.

As Johnson celebrated its four-game victory against district rival Reagan in the Region IV-5A final at Greehey Arena on Saturday, Magnuson was taken aback by the program's quick ascension. In four seasons, the Jaguars had gone from being a fledgling program to advancing to the UIL Class 5A state tournament. Johnson (44-6) will play Coppell (40-8) in the state semifinals at 7 p.m. Friday at Strahan Coliseum in San Marcos.

“I never thought that I would be a part of the team that went to state,” Magnuson said. “Seriously, it's, like, the greatest thing that I think I'll probably ever do in volleyball.”Johnson coach Nicole Blakeman, who is taking a team to the state tournament for the first time in a 17-year career that includes stints at Clear Lake and Rockwall, feels the same way. “It's still kind of unbelievable,” Blakeman said. “We set out to do something, and we were able to sustain the effort and made it. I have a really great group of kids.”While Johnson is headed to the state tournament for the first time, the Final Four has become Poth's second home.

The Pirettes (42-9) defeated Marion in the IV-2A final on Saturday to advance to state for the 13th time, the 10th-most appearances in UIL history. Poth will play Jewett Leon (44-2) at 1 p.m. Thursday in a Class 2A semifinal match. It will be the sixth time the teams face off at the state tournament. The Pirettes are 5-0 in the series, defeating the Lady Cougars in the state final in 1995, 2004 and 2006 and in the state semifinals in 2005 and 2010. Poth won last year's match 25-10, 25-13, 25-21, serving for 10 aces and limiting Jewett Leon to a negative-.011 hitting percentage. Avery Acker had 16 assists, nine digs, and eight kills in that match, while Jessica Dziuk had 14 assists and five aces. Kelsee Felux recorded six kills and a .500 hitting clip, Jordan Kotara had 31/2 blocks, and Micah Weaver had two blocks. All of the players are back this season.

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Every child should be tested for high cholesterol as early as age 9 — surprising new advice from a government panel that suggests screening kids in grade school for a problem more common in middle age.

The idea will come as a shock to most parents. And it's certain to stir debate. The doctors on the expert panel that announced the new guidelines Friday concede there is little proof that testing now will prevent heart attacks decades later. But many doctors say waiting might be too late for children who have hidden risks.

Fat deposits form in the heart arteries in childhood but don't usually harden them and cause symptoms until later in life. The panel urges cholesterol screening between ages 9 and 11 — before puberty, when cholesterol temporarily dips — and again between ages 17 and 21.

The panel also suggests diabetes screening every two years starting as early as 9 for children who are overweight and have other risks for Type 2 diabetes, including family history.

The new guidelines are from an expert panel appointed by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute and endorsed by the American Academy of Pediatrics. Some facts everyone agrees on:

_ By the fourth grade, 10 to 13 percent of U.S. children have high cholesterol, defined as a score of 200 or more.
 
_ Half of children with high cholesterol will also have it as adults, raising their risk of heart disease.

_ One third of U.S. children and teens are obese or overweight, which makes high cholesterol and diabetes more likely.

Until now, cholesterol testing has only been done for kids with a known family history of early heart disease or inherited high cholesterol, or with risk factors such as obesity, diabetes or high blood pressure. That approach misses about 30 percent of kids with high cholesterol.

"If we screen at age 20, it may be already too late," said one of the guideline panel members, Dr. Elaine Urbina, director of preventive cardiology at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center. "To me, it's not controversial at all. We should have been doing this for years."

Elizabeth Duruz didn't want to take that chance. Her 10-year-old daughter, Joscelyn Benninghoff, has been on cholesterol-lowering medicines since she was 5 because high cholesterol runs in her family. They live in Cincinnati.

"We decided when she was 5 that we would get her screened early on. She tested really high" despite being active and not overweight, Duruz said. "We're doing what we need to do for her now, and that gives me hope that she'll be healthy."

Dr. Roger Blumenthal, who is preventive cardiology chief at Johns Hopkins Medical Center and had no role in the guidelines, said he thinks his 12-year-old son should be tested because he has a cousin with very high "bad" cholesterol who needed heart bypass surgery for clogged arteries in his 40s.

"I'm very supportive" of universal screening, he said. "The knowledge of their cholesterol numbers as well as their blood sugar levels can be very helpful for the physicians and their families about which patients are headed toward diabetes."

Dr. William Cooper, a pediatrics and preventive medicine professor at Vanderbilt University, said expanding the testing guidelines "would seem to me to make sense."

But he added: "One of the risks would be that we would be treating more kids, potentially, and we don't know yet the implications of what we're treating. Are we treating a number or are we treating a risk factor?"

That's the reason a different group of government advisers, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, concluded in 2007 that not enough is known about the possible benefits and risks to recommend for or against cholesterol screening for children and teens.

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