Parents of children I follow often ask me for advice on how to bring up their kids. The idea is that there are strategies they are unaware of that will make their kids happy and successful. Their doubts and questions vary from whether they should give their kids so-called educational games, get them to finish...
There is a correlation between the amazing ability humans have to learn and their rather long infancy. The almost total impossibility to look after oneself in the first years of life is a crucial step to have a huge future intelligence that underlies our ability to innovate/create and survive. Clearly, grandparents are an important part...
Eating a lot of processed foods may damage our health. For example, food that is rich in sugar may be harmful even of sugar is a carbohydrate which is indispensable for our good health. The problem is that our body is programed to process carbohydrates and not to receive already processed carbohydrates. Either way the...
Many of the great talents in sport, music, art etc. were discovered as children. Some great pianists were already playing music at the age of three. Tiger Woods, the famous golfer used to play golf in the sitting room of his house with his grandfather. By the age of four Michael Schumaker was driving go...
There is considerable variation in the expressive power of three-year old children and various studies have established that disparities at this age affect future academic results. Some parents speak a lot and use a rich vocabulary with their kids. Does this help children express themselves better or is their level of ability innate? Results show...
We recognize objects even when we just see a part such as a bicycle that is partly hidden by a wall with only the wheel being visible. The brain says “cup” when all we see is the handle, or face when we see mouth. Recognition of the whole is based on a comparison between what...
With the birth of a new child many parents see their previous child as having suddenly grown. It was thought that this was because the comparison with a newborn baby made even a small child appear very big. A recent study asked seven hundred mothers with children aged 2-6 years to mark on a wall...
Pointing a finger may seem a rather simple action. You point a finger to show someone the road, or to point out something in the middle of many other things, or to draw attention to a stain on clothing. Usually words of explanation follow. Infants begin pointing after about 9 months of age and over...
The human papilloma virus is the primary cause of cervical cancer in women and oral and genital tumors in men. HPV is usually passed from one person to another through sexual intercourse. In US about 10000 women are diagnosed with cervical cancer every year and about 40% die. It is the fourth cause of death...
