While providing a solution for helping all family members reduce their screen time, this book really is about how to use the newly available time to spend more quality time together as a family as well as supporting each other to develop a more healthy, productive and enjoyable lifestyle. The book focuses on four areas: Connectedness, Open Communication, Fitness, and Organization. Using an evidence-based approach, the author helps parents learn how to encourage developmental play activities, develop avid readers, instill cooperation and mutual respect, improve physical fitness, build self-esteem and character, and reduce struggles over bedtime, chores and homework. The book also provides tips for helping kids safely make the most of their screen time.

A wise and inspiring guide to creating a happy and healthy blended family by Mashonda Tifrere with contributions from her co-parents--Swizz Beatz and his wife, Grammy-Award winning singer and songwriter Alicia Keys. In January 2010, founder of ArtLeadHer Mashonda Tifrere and legendary record producer Swizz Beatz finalized their divorce. When Swizz married award-winning singer/songwriter Alicia Keys, a new dynamic was born--three adults who loved and were deeply committed to raising Mashonda and Swizz's four-year old son Kasseem. In Blend, Tifrere draws on the insights they gained from their journey as well as advice from family therapists, parenting experts, and other blending families, to provide an invaluable resource for blended families. Statistics show that one in three Americans is now a step-parent, stepchild, step-sibling or other member of a blended family. The number of first time marriages or romantic relationships that end in divorce or breakups and the high percentage of remarriages and new relationships that involve children demand a unique, life-affirming approach to processing the end of one relationship and the rebirth of a new familial dynamic with the well-being of children at its center. In this book, Tifrere shares intimate details on how she and her co-parents used communication, patience and love to create an environment where they were able to work as a team and all the children involved could thrive. Blend will inspire a generation of families.

The Well Balanced Child is a passionate manifesto for a "e;whole body"e; approach to learning which integrates the brain, senses, movement and play. This fully revised edition includes a new chapter with a story and movement exercise that parents can use to help children reach their potential.

Ellyn Satter's Secrets of Feeding a Healthy Family takes a leadership role in the grassroots movement back to the family table. More a cooking primer than a cookbook, this book encourages singles, couples, and families with children to go to the trouble of feeding themselves well. Satter uses simple, delicious recipes as a scaffolding on which to hang cooking lessons, fast tips, night-before suggestions, in-depth background information, ways to involve kids in the kitchen, and guidelines on adapting menus for young children. In chapters about eating, feeding, choosing food, cooking, planning, and shopping, the author entertainingly helps readers have fun with food while not eating unhealthily or too often. She cites current studies and makes a convincing case for lightening up on fat and sodium without endangering ourselves or our children. The book demonstrates Satter's dictum that “your positive feelings about food and eating will do more for your health than adhering to a set of rules about what to eat and what not to eat.”

You've probably heard the advice "put on your own oxygen mask before assisting others." This is true both in airplanes and in classrooms—you have to take care of yourself before you can help someone else. If teachers are stressed out and exhausted, how can they have the patience, positive energy, and enthusiasm to provide the best instruction for students? Author Mike Anderson asked that question as a teacher himself, and the answers he found form the basis of The Well-Balanced Teacher. He found that teachers need to take care of themselves in five key areas to keep themselves in shape to care for their students. In addition to paying proper attention to their basic needs for nutrition, hydration, sleep, exercise, and emotional and spiritual refreshment, teachers also need Belonging: Teachers need to feel positive connections with other people, both in school and outside school. Significance: Teachers want to know that they make a positive difference through the work they do. Positive engagement: When teachers enjoy their work, they have great energy and passion for their teaching. Balance: Healthy teachers set boundaries and create routines so that they can have rich lives both in the classroom and at home. Anderson devotes a chapter to each of these needs, describing in frank detail his own struggles and offering a multitude of practical tips to help readers find solutions that will work for them. When teachers find ways to take care of their own needs, they will be healthier and happier, and they will have the positive energy and stamina needed to help their students learn and grow into healthy adults themselves.

A practical, compassionate guide to building a supportive relationship with someone with a mental illness--while taking care of yourself. A practical, compassionate guide to building a supportive relationship with someone with a mental illness--while taking care of yourself. The ultimate goal of those with a mental disorder and the people who love them is balance: emotional, mental, spiritual, and behavioral. Yet, living with and responding to a mentally ill person often leads to the chaos of a relationship where the rules change, the dynamics are volatile, and the expectations are unanchored. In readable, down-to-earth prose, A Balance Life teaches family and friends what they can expect from those they love who have mental health problems. It offers nine clear-cut strategies for implementing a plan to support them, including how to:assist a loved one in developing healthy self-esteemaccept mental illness as a fact of lifeidentify early warning signs that precede a more difficult phase of the illnesscreate a supportive network of family and friendsEach strategy is illustrated by inspiring stories of real people who have put the principles into practice, and is followed by key questions that ask to ponder their own situations. This is the to bringing order to chaos, providing a framework for reactions to the person who has a mental illness. It clarifies expectations and offers advice and encouragement.Tom Smith is the cofounder of the Karla Smith Foundation, which supports parents and loved ones of mentally ill people. He is author of several articles and books, including God on the Job and Alive in the Spirit."A unique blend of inspiration, compassion, and practical advice, every person coming to grips with the mental health problems of a loved one deserves to hear the message of hope, love, and faith infused within this book." Kim T. Mueser, Ph.D., co-author of The Family Intervention Guide to Mental Illness"Effective, practical strategies for families and friends of people who struggle with mental illness. Each chapter is punctuated by real stories of hope, as well as questions for discussion or personal reflection. A handy, useful toolkit." Herbert E Mandell, M.D., National Medical Director of Kids Peace"An invaluable resource. I wish my own loved ones had had it sooner, and I'll be sharing it with them now. Highly recommended." Marya Hornbacher, author of Madness: A Bipolar Life

"A guide to the stages and issues in boys' development from birth to manhood"--Provided by publisher.