We've chatted recently about foods that we ought to avoid in our diets, giving you alternatives to wheat, dairy, and meat. Now, I'd like to have a chat about some of the amazing super-foods that we all ought to consume regularly. Super-foods are foods that dramatically increase our health and boost our resilience to disease. Because there are so many superfoods out there that are amazingly good for us, I'm going to focus on a few that are readily available, and easily integrated into your d

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Superfoods
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Filed Under: Child Health, parenting

Reward charts - the amazingly simple solution  to all of your children's behaviour problems, or are they...? Reward charts are used as a means of feedback on our child's behaviour. When he is "being good" a star or sticker is added to the chart. When he is "being bad" no star or sticker is added, or perhaps, one is taken away.  The marketers of these charts argue that as a species, we love being praised, and it's a natural human instinct to act for praise. Perhaps we do, as a race, lik

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The Perils Of Reward Charts
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A common part of most western based diets is wheat. It is in almost every meal we have such as cerals for breakfast, bread or wraps for lunch or bread included in dinner. Wheat is even recommended by many of the world's government as an essential part of your daily intake. Many of you would have heard of celiac disease. Essentially this is a gluten allergy and the only way to deal with it is to remove it from your diet, which means no bread or cerals etc. Though the problem is that thi

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Removing Wheat From Our Diets
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A family member of mine just kitted out her play room with a toy kitchen, stove, sink, bench, the works. My children had a lot of fun playing with the toy things, making cups of tea and generally role playing dinner with their cousins.  When we came home, I was discussing the experience with my husband, considering getting our own play kitchen equipment. Later that afternoon when I was cooking dinner, I was struck by an epiphany. Toy kitchens, while a lot of fun, are a waste of money. M

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Live And Let Learn
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Filed Under: Cognitive Development

Continuing on from Gifts For Children 5 And Under, I have created a list of eco-friendly or at least active toys for children 6 and up. Some are for children who are closer to 6 and others are for children closer to 12 or above. These toys are very much more appreciated in our household than the usual video game and electronic devices. Again I would really appreciate your help in rating the toys listed below to get a feel what natural parents most like for their children. This should serve as

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Gifts For Children 6 To 12 Years Of Age
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Filed Under: Christmas, Creative Play