-BAM! Body, Mind and Child - Preparing Your Child's Body and Mind for Life!

Fighting bullying requires a collective, collaborative effort among teachers, parents and school administrators. This segment explores the barriers to effective school/home collaboration against bullying, along with strategies to overcome them.

Walter B. Roberts, Jr., Ed.D. is a professor of counselor education at Minnesota State University, Mankato, whose research and advocacy are in the areas of bullying prevention, school safety, and mental health. Author, Working with Parents of Bullies & Victims

Dr. Edward Dragan is the author of The Bully Action Guide: How to Help Your Child and Get Your School to Listen.

Parent-teacher conferences are notorious for being dreaded, poorly attended and adversarial when they do occur. Our guests unpack the dynamics behind parent-teacher conferences and share tips on how to make them positive, effective, collaborative opportunities that help students.

Betsy Landers is the National PTA® President. Heidi Rosenberg is a senior research analyst at Harvard Family Research Project, where she focuses on promoting family engagement in education. Susan M. Heim is an author, editor and blogger, specializing in parenting issues. She is a longtime editor for the bestselling Chicken Soup for the Soul series.

Our guests disagree on whether teacher collaboration is new, but they all agree that teacher collaboration is becoming more important, is being done in new ways and is more important now than ever. Learn more...

Ellen Meyers is

author of "The Power of Teacher Networks". Carrie Leana is the George H. Love Professor of Organizations and Management at the University of Pittsburgh, where she holds appointments in the Graduate School of Business, the School of Medicine and the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs. Reporter Sarah D. Sparks spent the last five years writing about federal and state education regulations. She writes a blog called "Inside School Research" for Education Week.

According to our guests, immersing your students in nature offers many benefits to both students and teachers. Find out why you should take your students outside as often as possible. This segment also offers specific outdoor lessons you can use with your class today.

Laura Champe Mitchell is the Administrative and Enrollment Coordinator Discovery Woods Learning Community. Sharon Danks is an environmental planner and principal of Bay Tree Design, inc. in Berkeley, California. A frontrunner in the green schoolyards movement, Sharon's professional work has focused on schoolyard ecology and ecological design since 1999. She is the author of Asphalt to Ecosystems: Design Ideas for Schoolyard Transformation.

Many argue that teaching penmanship is a thing of the past, but at what age should children be taught to use a computer keyboard? Some are starting as early as kindergarten, but is it developmentally appropriate? We turn to a panel of experts for guidance on when to start teaching children to hunt and peck and use proper finger placement.

Cris Rowan is a pediatric occupational therapist and author of "Virtual Child - The terrifying truth about what technology is doing to children." Jacqui Murray is a Technology Teacher for K-8. She wrote a tech curriculum for kindergarten-fifth grade now used in hundreds of schools all over the country. Lisa Guernsey, Director of New America's Early Education Initiative, focuses on how to create and scale up the best learning environments for children in their early years, from toddlerhood through third grade.

Learning from mistakes is one of those notions that is easier said than done. In fact, the way teachers and parents react when children make mistakes says volumes to young children and can impact them for the rest of their lives. Our guests share insights on encouraging a willingness to make mistakes and to learn from them. Hint: It starts with you.

Dr. Fernette Eide, Neurologist, and co-author of The Dyslexic Advantage and Mislabeled Child. Alina Tugend has been a journalist for more than 25 years and has written about education, environmental issues, and consumer culture for numerous publications including The New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, Education Week, She is author of Better by Mistake: The Unexpected Benefits of Being Wrong. Fran Simon is Chief Engagement Officer of Engagement Strategies, LLC. She has been an Early Childhood educator since 1981.

These days many parents want their children to have "advanced" academic skills. Too often these expectations are developmentally inappropriate. In this segment our guests provide guidance to teachers on how to manage inappropriate expectations from parents.

Jody Martin has 25 years experience in the early childhood and is Vice President of Education and Training Creme de la Creme. Emma S. McDonald, a veteran teacher, is the author of several books on education including Survival Kit for New Teachers and Classrooms that Spark. Deborah J. Stewart, M.Ed. has over 20 years experience in the field of early childhood education and is the Executive Educational Director over three child care campuses.schools for over a decade. Now a contributing writer to Education Week.

Experts and advocates recommend at least 1 to 2 hours a day of physical activity for children. But how do you fit it into your daily program, when there�s so much else for you to do? And what kind of physical activity should it be? Tune in; our experts have the answers.as well as several activities you can use right away.

Frank Keil is Charles C. & Dorathea S. Dilley Professor of Psychology at Yale University. Dr. Linda Elder is an educational psychologist and a prominent authority on critical thinking. She is President of the Foundation for Critical Thinking and Executive Director of the Center for Critical Thinking. Maureen Kelleher covered Chicago's public schools for over a decade. Now a contributing writer to Education Week.

Experts and advocates recommend at least 1 to 2 hours a day of physical activity for children. But how do you fit it into your daily program, when there�s so much else for you to do? And what kind of physical activity should it be? Tune in; our experts have the answers.as well as several activities you can use right away.

Nikki Steven, fitness expert, speaker, model and founder of Method Motivation Wellness and Personal Training Studio is Las Vegas. She is also the Founder of the Children’s Fitness Foundation. Diane H. Craft, PhD, Professor, teaches adapted physical education courses in the Physical Education Department at State University of New York at Cortland and co-author with Craig Smith Active Play: Fun Physical Activities for Young Children. Deborah J. Stewart, M.Ed. has over 20 years experience in the field of early childhood education as a teacher, director, and consultant for staff training and professional development.

Many people wonder why teachers - especially early childhood teachers - would be stressed. But, often, even the teachers wonder why they are feeling stressed, when education is a field they entered out of love. There are good reasons for those feelings and solutions to getting past them. Tune in to learn more.

Dr. Jennifer Baumgartner is an assistant professor in the Division of Family, Child and Consumer Sciences at Louisiana State University and Co-author of Dimensions article, "Finding More Joy in Teaching Children. Jeff Johnson is a Family Child Care Provider. He is the Author of "Keeping Your Smile and Finding Your Smile Again". Deborah J. Stewart, M.Ed. has over 20 years experience in the field and is the Executive Educational Director over three childcare campuses.