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By: Rebekah Thomson, Pediatric Sleep Coach

Sleep is a vital need, essential to a child’s health and growth. Quality sleep promotes alertness, memory and performance. Children who get enough sleep are more likely to function better and are less prone to behavioral problems and moodiness. That is why it is important for parents to start early and help their children develop good sleep habits. Below are some general guidelines for how many hours of sleep the average child requires at various ages. Remember, every child is different – some need more or less sleep than others – but variations are minimal.

As you can see below, children need about 11 hours of sleep for the majority of their first ten years. Ideally, parents will come to learn their child’s sleepy cues (more on these in a later post) and put them to bed when their child’s body is ready. Otherwise, parents can count 11 hours backwards from the child/household’s wakeup time and aim to have their child asleep by then (i.e. not just starting the bedtime routine). For example, if everyone in the house is up by 6:30am to get to school and work, the child should be asleep around 7:30pm.

Nap suggestions correlate to the average baby’s windows of wakefulness, which means ‘the length of time you can expect your baby to stay awake between sleep times without becoming overtired.” Average windows of wakefulness by age:

The above times are averages for children who are sleeping well at night. How your child naps is dependent upon how your child sleeps at night. Make sure that your child is getting enough sleep, and be aware of your child’s window of wakefulness. Try to ensure that you are starting the naptime or bedtime routine at least 30 minutes before the window of wakefulness expires to mitigate naptime resistance (and meltdowns).

Based on Kim West’s Good Night Sleep Tight

Here’s to a good night’s sleep!

Rebekah
Contact Rebekah Thomson for your Sleep Needs! Rebekah Thomson Counting Sheep Pediatric Sleep Coaching rebekah@countingsheepmv.com (917) 455-3054

By: Maurene Merritt, RN & Yoga Teacher
They're two peak experiences for us, conception and childbirth. For many women, the intensity of our desire to have a baby is so powerful that when we conceive, it feels like a dream has come true for us, and when our babies slip out of our bodies, we describe it as euphoria.

Can we influence how much joy we receive in these rare, spectacular moments? Isn't that what the experiences are all about, joy? Consider the following exercise to help optimize your experiences.
 
It's all about the Joy
Answer these 3 questions

1. 
   Identify the happiest day of your life. 
   
2. 
   Identify 3 factors that helped you to feel so happy.
   
3. 
   Out of the 3, choose the most important one.
   

I think that what you will find is that it was the strength of your desire that supported the other two, for it is our intentions in life that propel our movement. For me, with both conception and childbirth, it was my intense desire that helped me to stay focused,and certain of my success.

By: Gary M. DellaPosta, CPA
Tax-deferral can have a dramatic affect on the growth of an investment. With a state-sponsored 529 College Savings Plan your contributions can grow tax-deferred (some states allow contributions to be partially or completely deductible) and distributed income tax-free as long as distributions are used for qualified education expenses such as tuition, fees, room and board at higher education institutions.

There is no limit on contributions but some states tend to limit contributions once the plan assets have reached a defined maximum (typically $200,000 - $250,000). You may make contributions of up to $55,000 per beneficiary in a single year without triggering a federal gift tax. Married couples may contribute $110,000 per beneficiary in a single year.*

Assets are professionally managed by fund managers selected by the state. Participants can choose from two to almost 30 mutual fund-type investments. Control of the account remains with the contributor regardless of the age of the beneficiary.

On my website I provide a calculating tool for 529 plans, visit my page for this specific calculation: 529 Calculation.

Gary DellaPosta is a CPA and founder of the firm: Gary M DellaPosta, CPA's & Business Advisors.  A graduate of Bryant University, he is a member of the American Institute of CPA's as well as the Massachusetts Society of CPA's.  In addition to providing accounting, tax and advisory services to individuals and businesses, he also provides litigation support to attorneys and has been recognized as an expert in numerous Massachusetts' courts.  Mr. DellaPosta serves on the Board of the Barnstable County Mutual Insurance Co., where he serves on the audit, investment and employee benefit committees.  He also serves as the Treasurer of the Community Health Center of Cape Cod, is a Director at The Cooperative Bank of Cape Cod and is a former director of Eastern Bank and Plymouth Savings Bank.

By: Melinda Lancaster
One of the challenges I feel I face while trying to teach my daughter how to read is correlation and her attention span.  One of the apps that I use that addresses both of these issues is Educreations  Interactive Whiteboard by Educreations, Inc. And it’s FREE!! 

When I first downloaded Educreations, I had no idea what it could really do. Shame on me! I went back to it a couple of months later and started to play and now I LOVE it.

I felt the best way to demonstrate its potential was to make this short video. While I am sure there are some limits to what you can do, I have not been stymied by it yet.

Here are some real positives about this app-

Lessons are recorded in the parent’s voice

There is no limit to how short or involved you want to make the lesson

But, the two I like the most are 1. The ability to show correlation in the way you feel suits your child best and 2. Since it is much like a video it holds her attention. And knowing her attention span limitations, I am guided as to how long and involved to make the plans.

There are many videos on YouTube that can help you reach this app’s full potential.

Parents, educators and children have multiple options ranging from font color and using your finger, stylus or text to using your own photos to images from the Web. Lessons can be multiple pages or just one.

In addition to what you and your child can create, Educreations has a website where educators and other parents have shared their lessons as well.  And, as you can see, there is a large selection of study areas, and each of those has multiple lessons at every different age level and ability.

This is a fantastic app. The price can’t be beat. And your child can create his or her own videos as well- a real motivator if they have the ability.

Happy Spring and a good day to all.

Melinda Lancaster

The Choice to Homeschool
Part 2 in the Homeschool Series

By Tracy Lamperti, 
Psychotherapist, Educator, Consultant

This is the time of year when parents all over are questioning their children’s education for the following year, particularly if their child is entering preschool or kindergarten.

What about socialization?

HS kids are so great when it comes to socializing! They tend to be children who can mix with a variety of different ages, kids and adults.  When it comes to siblings, someone should do a study about homeschooling and "sibling rivalry or warfare". I'm sure it would show that homeschooled siblings get along far better than "other" schooled siblings. Not just my children, but this is what I see everywhere I go!  In my experience, they learn to work things out and see that the best, or only outcome is to work things out.  

As I said in part 1, when we started homeschooling, we were part of a large group of families.  It was great and the kids mixed together and at times broke off in their age groups.  Over the years, families made different decisions about schooling choices and our group dwindled to just a few of us.  I’ll be the first to admit, this was really hard and disappointing.  It really pressed me to reach out and facilitate more connections for our children.  We became active in Girl Scouts, town rec after school activities, town and church activities and engaged the grandparents as often as possible.  In fact, for at least the last few years, we are the only homeschooling family from our town.  I wish for myself and for our children that we were part of a larger group, but it has not been an issue that has compelled us to make a different decision.

Will you homeschool in high school also?

Plenty of families do, however, as our children get older and smarter, and need a stronger educational influence from adults other than their parents, we move more toward other choices.  It is doubtful that our son will enter a public school education ever, for a variety of reasons.  We have chosen to enroll him in a nationally accredited school for three core classes.  Next year we may opt for 4.  He has live teachers and classmates all around the globe.  He uses chat and Skype when he needs to interact with them directly.  He and I recently had a conference with his math teacher who was in North Korea!  Our daughter takes a heavy class load from one company via pre-recorded video instruction.  She is of the age that she can still imagine that the teachers are teaching her directly.  

For our family, we enter into a sort of reflective, evaluative mindset every April, reassessing the needs of our children, our family, ourselves, etc. to determine the best plan for the next year. The children are part of that to some extent but the power to decide has never been turned over to them. Not so far anyway.

Can homeschooled students go to college?

I know many homeschooled students who have gone on to college.  In fact, the feedback I have gotten from their parents is that the colleges are very friendly to homeschooled students who can show success in their schooling portfolio, because these are individuals who already have a proven track record of motivation, success and self-direction.  I know some families whose children have taken classes at the community college while also taking their high school classes and completed their high school requirements (which would be a GED, unless they have met all of the requirements of an accredited school) and within a year, completed all of the requirements for their associates degree, putting them academically AND financially way ahead.

How can you stand to be with your kids so much (and vice versa)?  

Well now, this is a challenging one.  In my opinion, we have to take our mind out of the modern day stereotypes of the parent/child relationship, which society would have us believing is all about increasing conflict and power struggle.  Yes, as a psychotherapist, I know all of the major theories of child and adolescent development and individuation, etc….  The whole issue is complicated by our “complicated” lives of this century, where families are strapped with more expenses than ever, forced into two income necessity, many broken homes, pressure to have our kids going from one extracurricular activity to the next, every day of the week, etc.  I can really only speak to how we try to manage it.  We try to make the best choice with curriculum.  We try to keep in mind that our children are our highest priority and it is not our children who have chosen the homeschool life, or many other parts of their life.  So if we have chosen it, we need to make it work in a way that is best for them.  That means accepting that some things will be given up in lieu of getting other things.  

What if your family and friends think you are crazy?

We didn’t have a huge amount of support or any encouragement for our decision to homeschool.  It helps to be in a marriage where we know that together, we make these important decisions for our children.  To not have the support from a spouse…that’s another story.  For us, we just remember that in our little part of the world, it is a little “crazy” of an idea to homeschool.  The grandparents are living and working in a community where their friends are attending their grandchildren’s school concerts and keeping a brag book of all of their school awards and accomplishments.  That’s not usually the case for grandparents of homeschooled kids.  In time and trying to avoid conflict, we have found that our children’s grandparents have been proud to step into the homeschool world and feel really important about having a skill or expertise that they can teach their grandchild in “school.”  Try not to stress out about other people’s opinions.  There are lots of people who have considered homeschooling, even if they didn’t end up doing it and will respect your decision.

Are you guys…”anti-public school?”

We are NOT anti-public school.  As I said in part 1, I had wanted to put my son in school in Kindergarten and again in 3rd grade.  It didn’t work out.  We have considered putting our daughter in public school every year and chosen not to.  NOT because of an “anti” issue, but because homeschool is the choice we want to make for her.  Public school has many benefits for children and families.  So does homeschool.  Public school has disadvantages.  So does homeschool.  As a side-note, as a psychotherapist, I interface with the public schools almost every day.  I never want to have an “us/them” relationship.  There are many school personnel that appreciate working with me, knowing that my children are homeschooled.  There are some who steer away from me.  I think they are uncomfortable about it.

While we are not “antiHS” it is a commonly accepted fact that whoever controls the education, steers the moral, ethical and social issues of the nation. I'm not going to tell anyone not to send their child to public school, mine might in fact end up there. But if you do, either make sure your values line up with theirs or figure out how you are going to keep you own child from being a pupil in an indoctrination camp. Public schools are not values-neutral and they are educators.  My point isn't for every child to be trained up as a Christian, as I am, but rather for children to be taught facts as facts, theories as theories and beliefs as beliefs.  

For example, are you ok with your 12 year old being given an aspirin by the school nurse? Sorry, they aren't allowed to. 

Are you ok with your 12 yo being given the morning after pill? Well, sorry again, because it doesn't matter if you are ok with it or not. Already, if you live in NY, they can give it to your little girl without even telling you. 

Plug in any issue here;  

Your kindergartener being “corrected” when they reference the Birth of Christ at Christmastime, or when they say something about a creator of the universe?  

Teaching your child the new rounding methods in the common core.

Methods of teaching reading.

Who marriage should be between.

Whether Johnny uses the boys’ room or girls’ room if he feels like a she.

As far as I know, we still live in a free country with a Constitution.  We are free to believe what we want and speak about our beliefs.  It is very disappointing to hear when theories are being taught as fact and when those teaching the theory as fact are directly mocking those who state their belief as a belief regarding the same topic.  It’s troubling to me that students are graduating without being about to sign their name in cursive and troubling that they will not be able to look at an original historical document and read what it says because they do not read cursive.  But they can text like nobody’s business.  …btw, u no w@ i mean? I mean that really sux. ufb.

Teachers are under an incredible amount of pressure during the school year.  Some studies show that they are dealing with behavioral issues more than 45% of the time and trying to fit in all of the curriculum at the same time, and then being evaluated and ranked based on MCAS and now Common Core standards.  Homeschool clears away much of this.  We can teach from a standard curriculum from 20 years ago if we want, and our HS’d student is likely to turn out just as successful as the PS’d student.  

There are examples of success and failure in both arenas.  I can personally attest to the fact that some HS’d children are NOT being educated at home.  It’s a horrible shame to the homeschool community but a devastating disservice to the child.  I can also personally attest, from my professional experiences, that there are teenagers that have not been educated and cannot read and are walking with cap and gown to receive their diploma.  There are adults who were HS’d and are leading big companies and commanding high salaries.  The same is true for PS’d adults.

Let me leave you with this interesting trivia.  Actually, take a look at it yourself.  If we humans have these evolving brains, why do the speeches need to keep getting dumber and dumber?  Every parent, whether their child is public schooled, private schooled or homeschooled, needs at be involved in their child’s education.  It’s the parent who needs to ensure that their child get the best possible education, even if that means your public schooled child needs to be homeschooled on the side.

Tracy Lamperti, LMHC
Psychotherapist, Educator, ConsultantMy Blog
My Website
lamperticc@gmail.com
774-722-5919 

Cape Cod Mommies doing a social media survey of our community in conjunction with the Lower Cape Early Childhood Action Council. Please take a minute and fill out this brief 10 question survey.... you will be entered to win a $50 Gift Card for Stop & Shop to be used for gas or groceries!

By: Jennifer L. Long, RN, NCN 

Obesity is an eating disorder and it is affecting our childhood population at an alarming rate. It shows no prejudice in any part of our country. There are two needs for why we eat; one is a physiological need to sustain energy and nutritional requirements, and a psychological force that drives our eating behaviors. The question is, what motivates children to consume healthy foods and can early behavior change improve the present and future health outcomes for today’s children?

According to the Theory of planned Behavior and the Health Action Process Approach, behavior follows directly from a conscious decision to act. This summarizes beliefs around the favorability and controllability of action (Gardner, 2011). There are theories that suggest that behavior can occur through different routes that can compete with each other. One is a deliberative route, which involves previous thought and cognitive effort. The other is the automatic route, which is defined by environmentally cued responses that require no effort and are completely involuntary. Habits are considered learned behaviors that occur with repetition and over time become automatic responses. If habits are a result of learned behavior, children who have developed poor eating habits learn such behavior from influences in their environment. Many factors can influence health behaviors of young children. According to the Social Cognitive Theory, cognitive and personal variables such as self-efficacy/ motivation, social/ environmental variables such as, poverty and limited access to health care, are all important determinants of health behavior. The Health Self-Empowerment Theory acknowledges the influence of social/ environmental variables as well as cognitive/ personal variables, on health-promoting behaviors. It also states that engaging in health-promoting behaviors and avoidance of health-risk behaviors are influenced by five empirically based, modifiable, self-empowerment-oriented variables; health motivation, health self-efficacy, self-praise of health-promoting behaviors, health knowledge and responsibility and active coping strategies and skills for managing stress and depression (Tucker, 2012).  While eating and exercise are direct influences on weight, other psychological factors must be considered as indirect. “Depression might indirectly influence weight loss by increasing emotional eating behavior or by reducing dietary adherence (Stotland, 2005).” According to Tucker, out of those five theory variables, health motivation may be the most important in determining the potential for engaging in health-promoting behaviors. 

If parents are unable to provide support as healthy examples, schools must step up and provide the education and facilitate a healthy environment to promote change. The goal is to provide early opportunities to promote healthy habits that continue into adulthood and decrease the prevalence of obesity and obesity related health issues, such as diabetes and heart disease. “Adolescent obesity has increased dramatically over the past several decades, with 34% of adolescents and young adults, ages 12 to 19 currently overweight or obese (Pbert, 2012).” School nurses are readily accessible and offer the skills and credibility to provide ongoing support to children at no extra cost. They are positioned to be an active role in the treatment and prevention of obesity. Healthy diet, exercise counseling and behavioral management training are all shown to decrease BMI in youth. In trying to identify other factors causing the rise in obesity, it is shown in the literature that loss of control (LC) is prevalent among overweight children and adolescents (Goossens, 2009). Recent studies have shown the relationship between negative emotions and loss of control, it is significantly related to symptoms of anxiety and depression in children and adolescents seeking treatment (Goossens, 2009). “The Affect Regulation Model proposes that individuals who lose control over their eating and start to binge believe that eating provides distraction and comfort from painful negative emotions (Goossens, 2009).” This model is what introduced what is now known as emotional eating and looks at this as a coping mechanism to regulate and decrease negative emotions. In children who suffer from anxiety, emotional eating may be a way of dealing with the hyper arousal they experience, where as depressed individuals, emotional eating may provide more positive emotions. “Early detection of LC and its emotional precedents can be of importance for the prevention and treatment of overweight and eating pathology (Goossens, 2009).” It is important to screen those seeking treatment for the presence of negative emotions and loss of control to ensure an adaptive and effective treatment plan. 

I believe that parents are on the frontlines when it comes to setting a example of health-promoting behaviors. If there is lack of education equipping these parents with tools to help their children, it is community leaders and specialists left to provide the resources and availability to promote health and wellness. 


“Transformation Begins With Nutrition”- Jennifer Long, RN,NCN.
 
Contact  RNutrition Health & Wellness to receive Nutrition & Health Consulting  from Jennifer Long, RN, NCN. 
 
Phone: (508) 360-2032
Email: RNutrition2013@gmail.com 
Website:   www.rnutritionhealwell.com

By: Gary M. DellaPosta, CPA
If you, your spouse or dependents had significant medical or dental costs in 2013, you may be able to deduct those expenses when you file your tax return. Here are eight things you should know about medical and dental expenses and other benefits.

1. You must itemize. You deduct qualifying medical and dental expenses if you itemize on Schedule A on Form 1040.

2. Deduction is limited. You can deduct total medical care expenses that exceed 10 percent of your adjusted gross income for the year. The AGI threshold is still 7.5 percent of your AGI if you or your spouse is age 65 or older. This exception will apply through December 31, 2016.

3. Expenses must have been paid in 2013. You can include medical and dental expenses you paid during the year, regardless of when the services were provided. Be sure to save your receipts and keep good records to substantiate your expenses.

4. You can't deduct reimbursed expenses. Your total medical expenses for the year must be reduced by any reimbursement. Normally, it makes no difference if you receive the reimbursement or if it is paid directly to the doctor or hospital.

5. Whose expenses qualify. You may include qualified medical expenses you pay for yourself, your spouse and your dependents. Some exceptions and special rules apply to divorced or separated parents, taxpayers with a multiple support agreement, or those with a qualifying relative who is not your child.

6. Types of expenses that qualify. You can deduct expenses primarily paid for the diagnosis, cure, mitigation, treatment or prevention of disease, or treatment affecting any structure or function of the body. For drugs, you can only deduct prescription medication and insulin. You can also include premiums for medical, dental and some long-term care insurance in your expenses. And, starting with tax year 2011, you can also include lactation supplies.

7. Transportation costs may qualify. You may deduct transportation costs primarily for and essential to medical care that qualifies as a medical expense, including fares for a taxi, bus, train, plane or ambulance as well as tolls and parking fees. If you use your car for medical transportation, you can deduct actual out-of-pocket expenses such as gas and oil, or you can deduct the standard mileage rate for medical expenses, which is 24 cents per mile for 2013. (This rate decreases to 23.5 cents in 2014.)

8. No double benefit. You can't claim a tax deduction for medical and dental expenses you paid with funds from your Health Savings Accounts or Flexible Spending Arrangements. Amounts paid with funds from those plans are usually tax-free.


Gary DellaPosta is a CPA and founder of the firm: Gary M DellaPosta, CPA's & Business Advisors.  A graduate of Bryant University, he is a member of the American Institute of CPA's as well as the Massachusetts Society of CPA's.  In addition to providing accounting, tax and advisory services to individuals and businesses, he also provides litigation support to attorneys and has been recognized as an expert in numerous Massachusetts' courts.  Mr. DellaPosta serves on the Board of the Barnstable County Mutual Insurance Co., where he serves on the audit, investment and employee benefit committees.  He also serves as the Treasurer of the Community Health Center of Cape Cod, is a Director at The Cooperative Bank of Cape Cod and is a former director of Eastern Bank and Plymouth Savings Bank.

By: Suzanne Golden, M.S., CCC-SLP

I have a sign hanging by the door in my office for my clients to read (if they are able to) on their way out.  It says: “STOP! Think about it….  WHY do I come to speech?  WHAT did I learn today?  HOW can I use it outside of speech?” 

The meaning behind this sign is so important.  I try to address these questions with all of my clients.  In order to make progress it is so important for clients to know what they are working on and why it is important.  While it is easier for my older clients to take ownership of their therapy than it is for my younger clients, a key piece to the puzzle is also the caregivers.  

As a parent of a child in speech therapy it is so important to be involved.  Being “involved” may mean a variety of different things depending on you, your child and your child’s therapist.  For some families it may be beneficial for the parent to sit in the therapy room for every session.  This will allow the parent to watch the techniques the therapist uses, understand the goals that are being worked on and easily take away strategies to use at home.  For other families, having the parent in the room can be too distracting for the child.  In this case, the parent may instead choose to sit in for one session every month or every other month.  Or, if possible, the parent may watch the therapy through a one-way mirror in an adjoining room.  

Whether the parent is in the room or not, it is important for the parent and therapist to have open communication.  In my clinic, I try to take the last 5-10 minutes of my session to talk with the parent.  I inform them about what goals we addressed that day, what activities we completed and what carryover activities can be done at home.  This is also a time for parents to ask any questions they may have.  Parents and therapists should work as a team to have open communication and share ideas/strategies to increase the progress of the child.  

If you are a parent of a child in speech therapy (or any other kind of therapy!) I urge you to truly be involved in your child’s therapy.  Think about the words on the sign:

Know WHY your child goes to therapy. 

Know WHAT your child is working on in therapy.   

Know HOW you can promote the carryover of skills to outside of therapy.  

You are your child’s best teacher and advocate! 

Golden Speech Therapy
Suzanne Golden, M.S., CCC-SLP
Contact Info:
781-603-8529
www.goldenspeechtherapy.com
www.facebook.com/goldenspeechtherapy