Our son with Down syndrome was born 26 years ago, and he has brought our family at least as much joy as you just saw in this video. He can also be a challenge sometimes. So he’s not all that different from his older siblings đ
I’m sorry to say that 90% of infants with Down syndrome do not make it to the predicted day of their birth because their mothers abort them. This is a great tragedy; if there’s one thing we need more of in this world, it’s joy.
When my children were young, and I was very busy taking care of them, and the house, and homeschooling some of them, if someone would have handed me a device that would have stopped them in their tracks and kept them occupied for hours so that I could get everything done on that very long list of things to do that I always hadâŚ.I probably would have given them each a device.
So I understand why todayâs children (including some of my grandchildren) are spending time on smartphones. But weâre seeing more and more evidence that smartphones are a very bad idea for children. They keep them from playing, which is how they learn. They keep them from using their imaginations, which is not a good thing. And now a recent study shows that children who use smartphones spend twice as long using them as talking to their parents.
This is logical, and alarming. The parent-child relationship must supersede all else in a young childâs life. This is how they learn the most important things they need to know: from their parents. Anything that interrupts that relationship needs to go.
It will be hard. I totally understand. Even though I havenât raised a young child in decades, I remember what it’s like. But itâs time to admit that children should not be allowed to do anything with smartphones. These devices are too addicting, and they take children away from far more important things, like conversing with their parents.
My youngest granddaughter discovered the movie “Frozen” and fell in love with it. So when I stumbled onto this scrap of fabric with characters from the movie in my stash, I knew just what to do. When combined with some other coordinating fabrics, it almost made itself. Now she can fill it with toys and drag it around the house, as she likes to do with bags of all kinds.
The British government is sounding the alarm that posting photos of your children online not only violates their privacy, but sets them up for a future where theyâll be unable to control their âdigital footprint.â
To make matters worse, many toys as well as communication tools such as Amazonâs Alexa are gathering personal information on your children, information that can be sold to anyone from marketers to law enforcement officials.
I believe some children will be very unhappy to learn, as adults, that their photos and other personal data have been amassed by people and organizations all over the world since before they were born, when their parents (usually their mothers) posted their ultrasound scans.
The Brits are wise to warn parents about this. I wish the U.S. government would issue similar warnings to American parents, many of whom post literally thousands of photos of their children on social media. Remember, even if you âlimitâ who can see your childrenâs photos on Facebook, for instance, Facebook can still sell those photos to anyone they want. You agreed to that when you signed up for Facebook, you know.
Parents, youâre supposed to be your childrenâs protectors. Get a clue!
This article describes in detail how the concept of homeschooling is taking off in Russia. In particular, Russian Christians like the American homeschooling method known here as Classical Conversations. A well-known Russian priest is working hard to promote this concept, and it’s working well for many families new to homeschooling.
It’s nice to see the success of homeschooling spreading to other countries.