The 9 Stages of Toddler Art

By Lindsey Barnes for Kveller

As little as I know about art, I know this: Art is subjective. If the kid believes it’s “art,” who am I to say otherwise?

If you are now, or have ever been, the parent of a toddler, you know exactly why “art” is in quotes. While these mini-masterpieces take many shapes and forms, few of them are what one might call gallery-ready.

These are the nine phases we go through with our toddler “art.”

1. The Prodigy

It all started when our little geniuses figured out how to hold a crayon properly in their hand… Amazing! With tongue splayed out the side of their mouth, contact was thoughtfully made with the paper. Incredible! Just like that, the first “masterpiece” was created. We cherished that first gem. It got pride of placement on the fridge and ample discussion of its many artistic merits. Should we start saving now for art school?

2. On A Roll

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10 Kid-Friendly Meals for Shabbat Dinner

Shannon Sarna for Kveller

Planning Shabbat dinner each week is one of my greatest joys. No, really. Cultivating a creative and seasonal menu, grocery shopping, setting the table–I really love it all. Or at least most of the time.

Then there are other weeks when I have no flipping idea what to serve. I am tired, pressed for time, or just lacking the energy to come up with something more than average.

And now that my daughter is old enough to express opinions about what’s for dinner, I have added another layer of stress to those weeks: kid-pleasing dishes.

To help on those off weeks when you barely have time to shower, nevermind come up with some brilliant dish in the kitchen, I put together a few of my favorite recipes sure to take some of the pressure off of you, and satisfy even your most demanding, little Shabbat guests.

1. Pretzel Chicken Fingers from Tales of an Overtime Cook

What’s better than chicken fingers? Chicken fingers coated in pretzels with a honey mustard dipping sauce. This is the kind of dish you make “for the kids,” but secretly can’t stop eating because it’s so good. Miriam Pascal says this is one of the most popular recipes on her site.

2. Meatloaf Cupcakes with Mashed Potato Icing from SparkPeople.com

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Teaching Kids to be a Jewish Hero

Five ways to help our children realize their hero potential.

by Ruchama King Feuerman
Every kid has a secret fantasy of saving the day – being the one to stop the mugger, jump into the ocean to save the drowning child, commandeer the plane away from the hijackers. I think we all harbor that wish to be brave, to be a hero.

I met an elderly man in Safed who had thrown his whole body on top of hand grenade about to explode in a crowded plaza. It didn't detonate but his legendary act still inspired awe and gratitude years later. Now that's a hero, I thought. Every Israeli soldier who goes into his battle and risks his life is a hero.

But what is a Jewish hero? Are our heroes different? Ethics of the Fathers (4:1) asks, “Who is considered strong and brave? Who is regarded as a hero? Someone who conquers his yetzer hara – one’s impulses to commit wrong and do bad. As it written, “Better is one slow to anger than a strong man, and one who rules over his spirit than a conqueror of a city” (Proverbs 16:32).

This definition of a hero tells me lots of things:

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Florida Parents Temporarily Lose Custody of Kids Due to Unsupervised Yard Time

Suzanne Samin for Kveller

The free-range parenting fracas continues. According to an interview posted on free-range expert Lenore Skenazy’s website, two Florida parents are facing felony charges for…allowing their son to play in their yard while waiting for them to come home from work.

Skenazy wrote:

    One afternoon this past April, a Florida mom and dad I’ll call Cindy and Fred could not get home in time to let their son, 11, into the house. The boy didn’t have a key so he played basketball in the yard. He was alone for 90 minutes. A neighbor called the cops, and when the parents arrived — having been delayed by traffic and rain — they were arrested for negligence. They were put in handcuffs, strip searched, fingerprinted and held overnight in jail.

    It would be a month before their sons — the 11 year old and his 4-year-old brother — were allowed home again.

“Cindy” and “Fred” were charged with a felony, and their two sons were sent to live with a woman who is described as a “problematic relative,” who refused to bring the children to visit their parents. She eventually grew tired of caring for them, and sent them back into state custody, where they were fed cereal and not much else.

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The Importance of Chores

Studies show that giving kids chores is key to their personal growth.

by Emuna Braverman for aish.com

Great news for parents! According to research by Marty Rossmann, professor emeritus at the University of Minnesota, giving children household chores at an early age helps to build a lasting sense of mastery, responsibility and self-reliance. (It seems the boy scouts were on to something.) “Chores also teach children how to be empathetic and responsive to others’ needs,” notes psychologist Richard Weissbourd of the Harvard Graduate School of Education.

There’s going to be a lot of housekeepers out of work!

Without getting carried away, this is an important finding – that of course seems obvious. Contributing to the family, giving to others is better for our character than an extra language and other resume-padding activities. It’s time to pull back from the brink.

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Why My ‘Gifted’ Child Will Not Be Attending a Gifted Program

Wendy Wisner for Kveller

I don’t like calling my son “gifted.” I think all children have their gifts—whether they sing, rock it on the baseball field, draw, hula-hoop like maniacs, or make up elaborate stories.

But ever since my son was very little, all things academic were his gifts. At 3, he’d taught himself to read; by 4, he was multiplying, dividing, and manipulating fractions. He loved science experiments and would type up his ideas and theories on the computer.

It was endearing, and made us beam with pride. But we were also a bit worried. What would we do when school came along? He basically knew everything they we going to teach him in kindergarten, and beyond. We knew school was about socializing as well, but what if he was teased—his smartness mistaken for smugness?

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How Our Schools are Screwing Up Recess

By Rachel Fadlon for Kveller

I am *this* close to packing up and moving my family to Finland. This close.

The Finns, they just get it. Their health care system works for everyone. They provide educational opportunities for the their citizens. They all take real vacations and appreciate life. They have amazing maternity leave.

You know what else they get right? School. Have you seen their international rankings? They score above the US in every subject. But what intrigues me most about the Finnish system is how often they let their students take unstructured breaks during the school day. At a time when our school system is reducing the number and length of recess time, the Fins are giving their kids 15-minute breaks after each 45-minute session. Think about that for a minute…

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