Parenting Understood

Welcome to the first episode of the Parenting Understood series known as Pinot and Parenting.  These episodes will focus less on research and more on experience. So much goes into parenting and we are excited to often talk about the amazing research and evidence based practices that focus on supporting our children and ourselves. However, we have found that experiences, parenting, teaching and counseling are also vital resources that can be uplifting, funny, and challenging.

In our inaugural episode, we are excited to feature Caitlin Murray of Big Time Adulting who will share her experiences as a mother and how to use everyday family comedy to help handle the good and the bads of life.

You can follow Caitilin Murray @bigtimeadulting

In this episode, we speak with Dr. Jeanne Donaldson on the topic of giving time outs to children. Dr. Donaldson earned her Ph.D. in Psychology from the University of Florida and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine at the Kennedy Krieger Institute. Her research focuses on solving problems common in early childhood and assessing child and adult interventions. After this episode, you will understand the different aspects that go into giving a child time out, considerations on when to use the time out strategy, and easier ways to implement an effective time out!

If you are curious and want to learn more about time-out from positive reinforcement, Michelle has several free resources available on her Instagram Account @thriving.toddler.

Visit the guide section that includes seven posts on “Time Away From Positive Reinforcement.” You can also download the time-out check list here:  https://www.thrivingtoddler.com/time-out-opt-in

In this episode, we speak with Dr. Ashley Fallon, PhD in Early Childhood and Childhood Education from New York University and Director of Mansfield Children’s Center, regarding how to produce summer activities for our children when we are all out of ideas. Dr. Fallon will demonstrate ways to introduce structured and unstructured learning into the summer days to combat “The Summer Slide.” After this episode, you will have easy, fun ways to add learning into children’s and parent’s daily schedules!

For any questions or more information regarding this episode, you can reach out to Dr. Fallon at [email protected]

In this episode, we speak with Pediatrician, Author, Speaker, and Mama Mindset Coach, Dr. Whitney Casares of Modern Mommy Doc about her new book The Working Mom Blueprint that illustrates techniques and research regarding how to become well-centered and present parents. Dr. Whitney speaks on the importance of self-care especially for working moms who are constantly combating stress, juggling tasks, and managing guilt. We will showcase that when moms thrive, kids thrive!

You can find Dr. Whitney on Instagram @modernmommydoc and at https://www.modernmommydoc.com/

You can order Dr. Whitney’s book, The Working Mom Blueprint and The New Baby Blueprint: Caring for You and Your Little One, at: https://www.modernmommydoc.com/books

In this episode, we speak with Dr Meghan McCormick, Research Associate at MDRC and lead researcher on Boston’s Public Pre-Kindergarten Project. Dr McCormick has extensive research experience examining the roles of the home, school and neighborhood contexts on children’s development. Today she focuses on “constrained” vs “unconstrained” activities in which young children are involved at home and school, and the benefits of unconstrained activities. We also get into a great conversation with Meghan on how to choose a good preschool for your children. You can find Dr Meghan McCormick on Twitter @meghan_mccorm and https://www.mdrc.org/about/meghan-mccormick McCormick, M., Weiland, C., Hsueh, J., Pralica, M., Weissman, A. K., Moffett, L., Snow, C., & Sachs, J. (2021). Is skill type the key to the prek fadeout puzzle? Differential associations between enrollment in pre k and constrained and unconstrained skills across kindergarten. Child Development, 1-22.

In this episode, we speak with Dr. Natalie Brito, an Associate Professor at New York University, about the early development of self-regulation. Dr Brito is a developmental psychologist who examines how early social and cultural contexts shape the trajectory of neurocognitive development. In this discussion, Dr Brito discusses how the development of regulation in young children is intricately related to the supports they receive from caregivers, and ways that we as parents can support their development of these skills. She also addresses what are realistic expectations for self-expectation at different stages in development. You can find Dr Natalie Brito on instagram at @britobabylab , https://steinhardt.nyu.edu/people/natalie-h-brito Brito, N.H., Greaves, A., Leon-Santos, A., Fifier, W.P. & Noble, K.G. (2020). Associations between Bilingualism and Memory Generalization During Infancy: Does Socioeconomic Status Matter:Bilingualism; Language & Cognition. Brito, N.H., Elliott, A.J., Isler, J.R., Rodriguez, C., Friedrich, C,. Schuffrey, L/. & Fifier, W.P. (2019). Neonatal EEG as a Biomarker for Later Neurodevelopmental Disorder Risk during Toddlerhood. Developmental Psychobiology.

In this episode, Michelle and Erin discuss rigorous quantitative research examining short and long term effects of early child care on children’s social and cognitive development. In our discussion, we delve into depth on the National Institutes of Health and Human Development Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development and their methods and findings. Early Care and Education can be a stressful topic for parents but high quality research allows us to identify the many positives to high quality care and educational experiences for children and parents. A comprehensive overview of the NICHD SECCYD study can be found out: https://www.nichd.nih.gov/research/supported/seccyd/overview NICHD Early Child Care Research Network. (2004b). Type of child care and children’s development at 54 months. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 19, 203 – 230.

Welcome to Parenting Understood! A collaboration between a practitioner, Michelle Tangeman, and researcher, Erin O’Connor, which provides research and objective, evidence based information on parenting and child development allowing parents to become critical consumers of the plethora of information in media outlets. Each week we will delve into a central topic in parenting.

Please follow Michelle @thrivingtoddler and Erin @scientificmommy.