Dr. Milton Chen--who has worked in program development for Sesame Street and the Electric Company--shows parents how to make use of the educational potential of television, video, and other media--while avoiding their pitfalls. Short, concise chapters spotlight subjects such as TV and violence, role models, and more.

What to Do When You Don’t Know What to Do! “ Moms and dads need expert guidelines, especially when it comes to their kids’ health. This book reveals the inside strategies I use myself—I’m a parent, too!— to avoid critical, common blunders where it matters most: in the ER, pediatrics ward, all-night pharmacy, exam room, or any other medical hot spot for kids. These tips could save your child’s life one day. Even tomorrow.” –Dr. Jen Making health care decisions for your child can be overwhelming in this age of instant information. It’s easy to feel like you know next to nothing or way too much. Either way, you may resort to guessing instead of making smart choices. That’s why the nation’s leading health care oversight group, The Joint Commission, joined forces with Dr. Jennifer Trachtenberg on this book: to help you make the right decisions, whether you’re dealing with a checkup or a full-blown crisis. The Smart Parent’s Guide will give you the information you need to manage the pediatric health care system. Dr. Jen understands the questions parents face—as a mom, she’s faced them herself. She walks you through everything: from how to choose the best ER for kids (not adults) to when to give a kid medicine (or not to) to how pediatricians care for their own children (prepare to be surprised). Her goal is your goal: to protect the health of your children. There simply is nothing more important.

Has your daughter come to you in tears, asking, “Am I smart?" Or has your son wanted to know, “How smart am I?" Dr. Kathy wants children to ask an even more important question, “How am I smart?" When parents determine ways children can be smart, they'll better understand their own children's educational needs and how they learn best. This must-read reveals roots of behavior struggles and relationship conflicts, and their possible solutions. Would you believe that knowing your children's intelligence strengths can also help you raise them to know, believe in, love, and serve God? With great detail and positive insight, Dr. Kathy unfolds the eight different ways intelligence manifests itself through the "multiple intelligences." This practical guide gives you valuable ideas and pays rich dividends for you and your children.

A plain-English guide to teaching phonics. Every parent can teach reading—no experts need apply! Too many parents watch their children struggle with early reading skills—and don't know how to help. Phonics programs are too often complicated, overpriced, gimmicky, and filled with obscure educationalese. The Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading cuts through the confusion, giving parents a simple, direct, scripted guide to teaching reading—from short vowels through supercalifragilisticexpialidocious. This one book supplies parents with all the tools they need. Over the years of her teaching career, Jessie Wise has seen good reading instruction fall prey to trendy philosophies and political infighting. Now she has teamed with dynamic coauthor Sara Buffington to supply parents with a clear, direct phonics program—a program that gives them the know-how and confidence to take matters into their own hands.

Admissions rates of 6 percent? Kids applying to thirty-two colleges? Sixteen-year-olds with more impressive resumes than Fortune 500 CEOs? Has the nation lost its mind? Why yes, it has! J.D. Rothman, the Neurotic Parent of blog fame, takes readers on a hilarious satiric journey through today’s insane college admissions process. The vividly illustrated book takes you from the Itsy-Bitsy Fiske Guide and Junior Kumon Tips for Preschoolers through Rejection Letters from the Heart and Bed Bath & Bye-Bye.

Gifted teenagers require special understanding in order to thrive. Learn how to understand your adolescent's intensity and excitability, how to nurture creativity and self-directed learning, how to offer support without taking control, and how to care for yourself as the parent of an intense and creative teen. This book helps parents to view the challenging years of middle school and high school not merely as college prep, but as a preparation for life.

"By parents, for parents. That is what makes Smart Parents: Parenting for Powerful Learning different from most parenting books. Drawing on personal parenting stories and expert advice from more than 60 contributors, this guide will leave you with ideas you can put into action immediately."--from back cover.