Lifelong Learning: Growing With Your Child
During the first five years, children are learning huge amounts of information every moment. A child’s experiences in the early years actually build the brain’s architecture. Listen here to see how you can help build the foundation for a lifetime.
Resources
Lifelong learning is good for your health, your wallet, and your social life (Harvard Business Review)
Hands Up, Let's Sign
When it comes to knowing what preverbal babies want, parents sometimes wish the universe would give them a sign. One way of lessening the frustration may be using baby sign language. Research from the Mayo Clinic shows that babies who are exposed often and early to sign language can begin to use signs successfully by eight or nine months, right about the time children begin to know what they want.
Resources
Is baby sign language worthwhile? (Mayo Clinic)
Teaching your baby sign language can benefit both of you (PsychCentral)
Teaching your baby sign language can benefit both of you (PsychCentral)
Time To Care For Children With Special Needs
Caring for children with disabilities and special needs takes time. It also takes patience, flexibility, and in many cases Paid Family Leave. With Paid Family Leave for working family members, these children can get the support they need while their parents have the time off needed to provide that care.
Resources
Maryland Developmental Disabilities Council (Maryland Developmental Disabilities Council)
Paid Family and Medical Leave (The Arc)
Paid Family and Medical Leave (The Arc)
Our Elders Need Time To Care
Our parents and grandparents have devoted much of their lives to caring for us. With more than 43 million unpaid family caregivers in the US, the time is now to implement the benefits of Paid Family Leave. It’s now our turn to care for them, and we owe them the best care possible.
Resources
Older Adults and Family Caregivers Need Paid Family and Medical Leave (National Partnership)
Our Military Needs Time To Care
Soldiers are trained to expect the unexpected. So when caregiving needs arise or change as a result of a deployment, families need to be ready. It’s time to be Gung Ho for Paid Family Leave.
Resources
Military Parental Leave Program -- Not Exactly as Promised (Moms Rising)
Veterans and Military Families Need Comprehensive Paid Leave Solutions (Center for American Progress)
Veterans and Military Families Need Comprehensive Paid Leave Solutions (Center for American Progress)
Your Workers Need Time To Care
What do Papua New Guinea, Swaziland, Lesotho, and the United States have in common? They are the only four countries which do not mandate paid time off for new parents.
Resources
Paid Family and Medical Leave: Good for Business (National Partnership for Women and Families)
Of Course US Birth Rates are Falling -- this is a Harsh Place to Have a Family (The Guardian)
Of Course US Birth Rates are Falling -- this is a Harsh Place to Have a Family (The Guardian)
Get The Lead Out
Baltimore City saw a 97% decrease in the number of children with elevated blood-lead levels over the last 25 years. But the threat remains, and there are still too many children with dangerously high levels of lead in their system. Together let’s get the lead out and create a healthier future for our children.
Resources
Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Program (Baltimore City Health Department)
Baltimore’s Toxic Legacy Of Lead Paint (FiveThirtyEight)
Study Hopes To Help Lead-Exposed Children Before Learning Disparities Emerge (Huffington Post)
Lead Poisoning In Maryland Drops To Lowest Recorded Levels (CBS Baltimore)
Baltimore’s Toxic Legacy Of Lead Paint (FiveThirtyEight)
Study Hopes To Help Lead-Exposed Children Before Learning Disparities Emerge (Huffington Post)
Lead Poisoning In Maryland Drops To Lowest Recorded Levels (CBS Baltimore)
Dads Need Time, Too
It takes a lot to be a good dad - especially time. Yet while some employers recognize the importance of providing leave for men, most do not. Maryland can make the crucial time off dads need to bond with their babies the new normal. It’s time for a change. Listen here to see how we can make this happen.
Gender Stereotyping
Gender stereotyping plays a significant role in who our children believe they can become. But gender typecasting, often unintentional, is ingrained in our culture or family of origin and is too rarely questioned or resisted. Remember, what you say and do are the greatest influence on who your child will become.
Resources
What are gender roles and stereotypes? (Planned Parenthood)
How do I talk with my preschooler about identity? (Planned Parenthood)
How do I talk with my preschooler about identity? (Planned Parenthood)
Time To Care
We all need time to care - for new babies, for aging parents, for loved ones with health needs, or for healing ourselves. Yet many Americans can’t take time to care because we lack paid family leave. The United States is the only industrialized nation without paid family leave. The time for paid family leave is now.