The mother, Angie Cromar, is not having twins, but instead two children that are growing next to each other and will be born one week apart.

Cromar is age 34 and has had to successful pregnancies already in life, each separately in the regular fashion.  Her first ultrasound revealed that she was carrying two children; this time however, the scan also showed that the children are at different stages in their development.

Cromar’s doctor, Dr. Steve Terry, stated that the news came as quite a surprise.

There are a set of complications that can come from children that are born from a double uterus including the fact that the condition is often not diagnosed, and women who have it are more likely to have a premature birth or miscarriage.

The actual chances of getting pregnant simultaneously in both uteruses is one in five million with fewer than 100 such occurrences reported across the globe.

Cromer stated that she knows the complications that are possible and is nervous but is still excited about the babies.

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1 Month Before…

With the birthday boy or girl choose what theme that they want to have and who will be invited.
If an entertainer is required make enquiries, get costs and confirm the booking.
If you choose an outdoor party look into buying a pop up gazebo. This can be used to keep the children out of the sun during the day and avoid sunburn or illness.
Once a list for the latter has been drawn up, buy or make invitations and send them out.
Choose the date and time for the party.
Phone around to friends and other parents of children who will be invited to enlist their services to help with the big day.

2 Weeks Before…

Decide on what games will be played and whether any special requirements are needed, such as having a present for parcel the parcel or enough chairs for musical chairs.
Choose what food will be available and what quantities will be needed.

1 Week Before…

Buy the food, cake and any decorations that will be needed.
Ensure that you have enough space on the digital camera to take hundreds of photos.
Phone the helpers and make sure that they are still ok to assist at the party.
Make up party bags.

The night before…

Decorate the house with decorations.
Prepare the food that you can.

And on the big day remember that despite all of this planning things mishaps are more than likely to arise, but remain calm and keep in mind that as long as your child is having a great time, that’s all that matters.

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Dr. Jay Belskiy with the Institute for the Study of Children, Families & Social Issues was one of the authors of the recent article examining the study.  As part of the study, 1364 kids were tracked from their birth through the fifth grade.  For six years, researchers measured the quantity, quality and type of care the children received from age 0 to 54 months.  The study defined childcare as care by someone other than the mother that was given for 10 or more hours per week.

Once the children reached fifth grade, the study showed that the ones with the higher amount and quality of childcare prior to kindergarten consistently had better vocabulary scores.  This improvement was seen both in fifth grade as well as between kindergarten and third grade.

However, it should be noted that no improvement in reading was noted beyond the 54 month period. And curiously, it was the children who had received the higher quality childcare which were found to present a higher percentage of behavioral problems.  Nevertheless, the study’s authors note that this was not a large gap, that their behavior was well within the normal range, and that the behavioral difference might be accounted for by a lack of childcare experience by some of the providers (since even non=professionals such as grandparents qualified as “care-givers”).

The study’s findings are significant because most education experts trace a clear link between learning vocabulary and learning other subjects in school (since reading and vocabulary play a part in all other courses)–and because the biggest jump in vocabulary happens in those first six years of school from kindergarten to sixth grade.

Dr. James Griffin, who was the Science Officer for the study, said that this research shows a clear link between early quality child care and positive child development.

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In fact, Ladd says that studies regularly show that kids who play well with others do better in school than those who don’t get along. One reason:  When kids get along and play well with others in his or her classroom, they become more excited about, and engaged in, school work.

Dr. Ladd says that one of the most important elements for children’s learning is engagement, because if they don’t actively participate in classroom activities and learn to work with others, they won’t learn as much as the children who do interact.

Ladd notes that even early grades, kids don’t feel that school is necessarily all that fun.  But, he says, the difference in those who find school fun and those who don’t is that one group finds fun in playing with other kids, while others don’t and he / she finds a supportive classroom atmosphere.

Dr. Ladd encourages parents to help their boys and girls improve in school by making sure their social skills are up to par.  He says parents should watch their kids as they play with other kids.  If there are any problems or conflicts with the other children, then use that as an opportunity to teach your children how to resolve differences, Ladd says.

An example that Dr. Ladd gives:  if you see your kid shove his way into the front of the line, speak with him in a calm manner, and ask how he or she would feel if someone did that to them?  Ask if they would want to play with someone who did something like that.  Many kids, when confronted in this way, will change their behavior. Sometimes, he says, it’s also helpful to encourage the child to watch other kids at play together, and to invite them to mimic any positive behavior that they observe. And most child development experts agree with that advice.

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The study concluded that in households where both the mother and father work, the father’s impact on language-learning was greater than the mother’s.  Researchers had videotaped parents as well as their two-year-olds as they children played.  Where fathers were present and using diverse vocabularies, the children demonstrated higher language development, the researchers say.

On the other hand, the mothers’ vocabulary was not shown to have a significant effect on the children’s language improvement.

Nadya Panscofar, one of the study’s authors, said that the study emphasizes that child development happens best when the father as well as the mother is included.  She said a family who wants to boost a child’s IQ must include the father, as must those who want to make sure their children are better prepared for school.

Panscofar, along with Dr. Lynne Vernon-Feagans, worked together to coordinate the study when both researchers were affiliated with Penn State.

Another significant finding of the study:  Children who received higher quality child care from age 0 to three also received higher scores at age 3 on expressive language development tests. Still, according to the findings, family involvement, especially by the father, was more important than child care.

While the study’s authors have not gone this far, some families have taken this news to indicate the value of stay-at-home fathers as opposed to the traditional mom-at-home routine.  While this is not likely to become the norm any time soon in the West, it does, nonetheless, emphasize the problems that might arise when a child is raised by only one of his or her parents.  Child development must include both parents to be most effective, according to this and other studies.

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First, some background.  Crawling is a skill that babies, for as far back as we can trace, have learned usually before learning to walk.  There have been a few instances where a baby goes straight from sitting to walking, skipping the crawling stage altogether.

This is extremely rare, though.  Most go from lying to sitting to crawling to standing to walking.  Usually the crawling stage takes place late in the child’s first year.

However, children crawl in different ways.  There’s the traditional hand and knee technique.  But we’ve all seen children, either in person or on those funny-video TV shows, who crawl in more unusual ways.  Some will slide on their bellies, while a few master the unusual technique of sitting on their bottoms and propelling themselves forward by paddling their legs.  A few even crawl backwards.

There are many pediatrician-author books that state that it’s not an issue if or how a child crawls.  As long as they’re able to get from one place to another, they say, that’s all that matters.

Glenn Doman, who has written extensively on right-brain issues, says a child must learn crawling forward or his brain will not develop as it should.  According to Doman, crawling forward stimulates the child’s brain so that it develops a convergence of vision.

Consequently, children who never master correct forward crawling will often have more trouble reading and writing than those children who forward-crawled correctly. Furthermore, those never mastered crawling might also experience speech difficulties.

While the issue has far from been settled, one thing is certain:  No harm has ever been determined to come from forward-crawling (other than the child bumping his or her head), so a parent might do well to encourage correct crawling to spur correct child development.

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Gynaecologists tell women early in their pregnancy that they need extra folic acid during the early.  Also, it’s been proven fairly definitively that a mother can boost a child’s IQ slightly by breast-feeding the baby.  In fact, there are many positive health effects of breastfeeding.  The extra fatty acids (Omega 3 and Omega 6) for a breastfeeding mom, along with essential minerals and vitamins, are known to assist with the mental development of their newborn.

When a baby is born, its brain is nearly 70 percent the size of a full-grown adult’s brain.  The brain grows most during a child’s infancy, and is nearly finished by the time he or she reaches six years. Therefore, it’s important that parents watch their child’s diet closely during those formative years.

You can find these beneficial Omega 3 fatty acids in such products as salmon, tuna, mackerel and of course, some supplements.  Omega 6 comes in cereals, grains eggs and poultry.

On the other side of the coin, poor diet has been linked to things that will hinder a child’s educational performance: It hinders concentration and learning.

Study after study shows that elements such as pretend and parent interaction help a child’s intellectual growth.  Both of these elements come when you involve them in educational toddler or baby games, as well as crafts, party games, and more.

The key when you’re selecting games that will help with child development is to pick things that will engage the child’s brain, both left and right sides.  This means games that involve creativity as well as logical thinking. And don’t be afraid to guide the playtime activities in ways that you think will engage them even more. Playtime need not be them and them alone.  When you guide how they pretend and what they do, you can ensure that their brains are being strengthened to the maximum.

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According to new research, a child might actually increase his intelligence level by learning a musical instrument.

The study was led by Dr. Frances Rausher, a psychologist with the University of Wisconsin at Oshkosh, along with University of California’s Dr. Gordon Shaw.  The results were just recently printed in Neurological Research magazine.

In the doctors’ study, a group of preschoolers were given weekly piano lessons while a second group received computer trainer.  A third control group received no special instruction.  Those learning the piano scored 34% more than both other groups on tests, which measured reasoning skills needed for mathematics, science, chess and engineering.  Especially intriguing is the fact that those with no special instruction scored exactly the same as those who received computer instruction.

The conclusion is clear:  Early-life experiences determine which brain neurons will connect with others and which will die away.  And since neural connections impact every kind of intelligence, a child’s brain will only develop to its maximum potential when it’s exposed to essential enriching experiences in the child’s early years. In other words, training in music generates in the child the neural connections necessary for abstract reasoning.

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The study took a close look into the effect that the integration of internet and home entertainment has had on the way youngsters spend their time and develop.

Professor at the University of Otago, Dunedin Dr. Rosalina Richards stated that the attractive value of screen activities and their easy availability has created a lot of excitement about how much opportunities are opened up by these options.  However, at the same time there needs to be some concern over how much these activities may displace others that are important for development and health during youth.

Dunedin continued to state that in particular one needs to closely look at how screen time is changing the type of relationships that youngsters typically develop with friends and family.

The study looked at the activities and habits of 3,000 teenagers that ranged in age between 14 to 15 about how they spend their free time as well as how attached they are to their peers and parents.

It found that teens that spent a large amount of time on the computer or in front of the television are more likely to report that they are not that close to parents and find it hard to develop a real emotional bond or relationship with them.

In fact, the risk of a child reporting a low attachment to their parents increased by 4% for every additional hour that they spent in front of the television and by another 5% for every hour in front of the computer.

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This jives with the story you may know of Emperor Frederick II who, in the 13^th century, tried to discover children’s “natural language” that they would speak if they were to be raised without exposure to any language.  Frederick along with many others felt that children would naturally learn “the language of God.”  Instead, they never learned any language, and all of them died in childhood.

When parents interact with their children, it not only will help boost a child’s IQ and develop language skills, but it also helps him with the development of imagination skills.

Another study validates this idea.  Professor Wendy Haight from the University of Illinois discovered that children learned much when parents help them through pretending games and showed them skills such as manners and greetings.

Taken together, we can conclude from all of these studies that when an adult is interacting with a child, it positively impacts his or her ability to learn, to imagine, to innovate, and to make and maintain positive social contacts. Furthermore, this holds true regardless of which ethnicity, economic level or language grouping that the child comes from.  There is some thought that perhaps this at least partially explains the success of home schools in creating smart kids.

As a bonus, not only does such interaction boost a child’s IQ, but it also helps fulfil his or her emotional needs. Conversely, other studies reveal that kids who have been neglected and abused find it harder to learn and suffer more emotionally.

The moral:  Don’t just stick your child in a room or corner somewhere and tell him or her to stay out of your hair.  Rather, engage them and interact with them if you want to grow healthy, smart kids.

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