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

Time out? Taking away toys? Take away privileges? Scold? Counsel? What does developmentally appropriate discipline look like in the classroom

In this segment our guest give specific guidelines for getting classroom discipline right in early childhood settings.

Are American students falling behind in their ability to think and solve problems creatively? Is the focus on standardized testing and high stakes accountability obscuring our ability to truly prepare students for work and life in the 21st century? Are testing and developing creativity mutually exclusive? What can teachers do to encourage creativity in a climate where the emphasis is on standardized testing?

Why is it so important for children to develop empathy at a very young age? Can empathy be taught and if so, what does the process look like? What are some of the barriers to fostering empathy in young children? Tune in as our guests share their insights on the research around how children develop empathy.

Children typically love recess so it seems quite logical that withdrawing recess from children who misbehave or fail to do assignments is an appropriate disciplinary approach. But some argue that withholding recess does more harm that good. Listen to this segment and consider the pros and cons.

Students from Finland routinely rank at the top of international test in reading and math. Yet their educational system operates in ways that we in America are sure would produce substandard academic outcomes. What is Finland doing right? What can we learn from them? Could their best practices work here in the United States?

Increasingly early childhood professionals are being confronted with inappropriate sexual behaviors by the children in their care. We're seeing young children mimicking sexual acts, touching each other's body parts and displaying sexual curiosity far beyond their age. What is normal? What is not? What is developmentally appropriate? How should parents and early childhood professionals best handle these behaviors?

Is nap time in preschool and Pre-k wasted time? The push to get kids on the academic fast track has some schools doing away with nap time on the premise that those one to two hours can be better used. Our guests weigh in with the research and their experience on the value of nap time. the right side of this issue?

Many parents, teachers and policy makers believe that the best way for dual language children to achieve English language literacy and academic success is to completely submerge the child in English -- leaving their home language behind. But citing research, our distinguished guests say that most of the conventional wisdom on dual language learners is simply wrong. Are you on the right side of this issue?

It's called "bodily-kinesthetic intelligence," a technical term for one of the eigtht types of cognitive skills in Howard Gardner's theory of multiple intelligences. In theory, people who have bodily-kinesthetic intelligence should learn better by involving muscular movement. This segment connects this theory to specific teaching strategies.

Many refer to the problem as the "child obesity" problem, but our distinguished guests see it primarily as a matter of reduced physical activity. They cite a number of contemporary causes and offer practical solutions.