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Hasbro's Play-Doh contains many chemicals including Kerosene, petroleum distillate and borax. Even though the company insists the compound is non-toxic, it may be best to consider avoiding these chemicals anyway. With a little research I discovered a few good recipe's for making your own play dough at babyparenting.about.com.

Here's my personal favorite:

Nature's Playdough

1 cup flour
1/2 cup salt
1 cup water
2 T oil
2 T cream of tartar
beet, spinach, and carrot juice

Mix flour, salt and oil, and slowly add the water. Cook over medium heat, stirring until dough becomes stiff. Turn out onto wax paper and let cool. Knead the dough with your hands until of proper consistency. Use as is, or divide into balls and add a few drops of the vegetable juices to make green, pink, and orange.

My wife and I have always been a little environmentally conscious. Now that we are having a baby we wondered what effect this new little member would have on our green-lifestyle. We started doing the research and found one of the best ways to maintain an eco-friendly lifestyle when raising a child is to use cloth diapers, and there are other benefits too.

I know what your thinking, "you've got to be kidding me!" I realize that cloth diapers are a little more work and probably seems less sanitary at first glance, but you can rest assured that cloth diapering is entirely sanitary and modern cloth diapers are easy.

Here are some great benefits of clothe diapers:

1. Environmentally responsible
   It's simple. The less we throw away, the less we harm the environment. Disposable diapers make up 1% of solid waste in U.S. Landfills. This may not seem high, but considering fast food wrappers contribute only 0.1%, things come into perspective. Not only does cloth diapering mean less landfill space, it also means less fuel used to transport and dispose of waste material. Cloth diapers are an all around great choice for the environment.
2. Great money saver
   

Recently, California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has been receiving a lot of criticism about statements he made at this year's annual convention of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists. At this event he told Hispanic journalists that immigrants who wish to learn English must avoid the Spanish media.

"You're just forced to speak English, and that just makes you learn the language faster," Schwarzenegger said.

This may seem harsh and Schwarzenegger admitted he is going to get himself in to trouble for saying it, but is it really that far from the truth?

Some say Hispanic television, newspapers and magazines are essential for Spanish-speaking immigrants to function in society. Although this is probably true for newly arriving immigrants, the earlier one can force themselves to avoid these media sources, the faster they will learn English.

"No Child Left Behind" is a highly ambitious policy. It is known as the largest educational reform in 40 years. Regardless of the law's goals of bridging the educational gap between all groups of children, there are many things the bill leaves behind.

A recent report by the Bluefield Daily Telegraph (http://www.bdtonline.com/) does a great jobs explaining some of the problem. This article states four main objective of "No Child Left Behind." These are:

1. "instruction be based upon research-based strategies;"
2. "schools provide quality reading instruction;"
3. "parents be given alternatives to low-performing schools;
4. "schools, districts, and states be held accountable for all students’ learning. "
   

That blob of color, scribbled line or fuzzy shape may mean a lot to your child. Now how do you talk to them about it?

The best way is honesty, according to online resource Family Education Network (life.familyeducation.com).

“Children are hungry for true appreciation. They do not want flattery, opinions or even blind support for what they do,” according to the organization. “All children create from who they are in the best way they can.

“If parents and teachers don’t introduce the idea of better and worse, the children won’t either. When children are a littler older, they have already been conditioned to think in this way.”

Early art experience not only encourages creativity, but fosters independence, sensory exploration and happy memories, according to Bright Horizons Family Solutions (www.brighthorizons.com).

Children in the United States are living in a growing cultural melting pot.

“The differences that come from people from all over the world enrich our culture, bringing new ideas and energy,” according to parenting Web site KidsHealth.org (www.kidshealth.org). “Many children are way ahead of their parents in terms of exposure to cultural differences. Their circle of friends, their schoolmates and their athletic teams are much more varied than those of even a generation ago.”

KidsHealth.org and other sources say the best way to teach diversity is by exploring favorite foods, specials holidays and other parts of cultures, expelling myths about people such as Native Americans.

“Throughout our lives, we have been bombarded by stereotypical portrayals of American Indians. Books, television programs, movies and toys tend to depict Native Americans as oversimplified feather-wearing characters,” according to Native Child
(www.nativechild.com). “Inaccurate and often offensive representations of American Indians are deeply rooted in the American consciousness.”

There has got to be a reason for all that crying, kicking, screaming and general misbehavior.

Even if university research, educational Web sites and other sources differ on why children act up, they all agree parents should try to find out what's behind it.
“Children misbehave for a reason. Being a parent can sometimes seem like being a detective,” according to The WonderWise Parent, an online resource created through Kansas State Research and Extension. “Why did my child do that? What is he trying to accomplish?

“If the behavior is accidental or if the child did not know it was unacceptable, then the behavior is not really misbehavior. Misbehavior involves deliberate disobedience to a reasonable limit.”

Deliberately acting out could be because:

Research from the National Cancer Institute suggests that eating large quantities of soy-based foods as a child leads to a reduced risk of developing breast cancer later in life. Results show a nearly 60 percent decrease in risk.

"Childhood soy intake was significantly associated with reduced breast cancer risk in our study, suggesting that the timing of soy intake may be especially critical," said lead investigator, Larissa Korde, from the NCI's Clinical Genetics Branch.

This reduced risk is asscociated with the presence of soy isoflavones.

Although many studies suggest that soy consumption is highly beneficial in all age groups for reducing cancer risk, Korde states that positive results were seen more strongly and consistently with childhood intake.

The underlying reason for these results is unknown, but researchers suggest that soy isoflavones cause changes in the breast tissue that may increase resistance to carcinogens later on.

This is a press release from TV Teachme.

TV Teachme cognitive learning development for art, alphabet and music bring learning to babies
1 -38 months.

(PRWeb) November 29, 2006 -- T.V. Teach Me Art, Letters and Music are the latest in the new science of
cognitive thinking videos for babies that use complex artistic images, soothing melodies and songs. Colorful, high
contrast shapes are used in conjunction with music and sound effects to keep a baby focused, stimulated and
entertained.

Cognitive learning specialists, speech language therapists and television producers were consulted using the latest
research and child learning development discoveries to create cognitive development baby videos.

Current research in the U. S. education system shows that kindergartners in public schools show equal or greater learning gains as compared to those who are privately educated.

The results of this University of Notre Dame study were a surprise to William Carbonaro, the research leader, because of the financial advantages and other major factors benefiting private schools.

The same study at higher academic levels show opposite effects. "... private school students still have substantially higher test scores at the end of kindergarten than public school students," Carbonaro said.

Carbonaro believes that public school systems should launch all-day kindergarten in order to catch up with private achievement levels.

This study was published in the November issue of the American Journal of Education.