Margaret Kim's blog

After reading the responses to the article Should Parents Spank Their Children?, some of which support spanking, it occurred to me that perhaps many parents just don’t know how else to influence their children’s behaviour. Some parents feel that spanking is the best way to teach their children not to misbehave. Some parents feel that everything else has failed and so, having run out of other options, they turn to spanking. If you are a parent, especially one who would like to begin learning about alternatives to spanking, please consider the following points. Read more

Once my child could easily recognize numbers and all the letters of the alphabet, I was anxious to have him practice writing them. My child, however, had very little interest in writing the same letter or the same number repeatedly; he did not like to practice. Really, who could blame him? Even I, his control freak mom, could see how boring it was. Read more

With a simple, homemade tactile box, your children can practice describing items that they experience through touch - a fun activity for stimulating imagination, and also good for turning your children into word maestros.

Here's how you can put together a fully functional tactile box with materials lying around your home:

Find an old shoe box and cut a hole in one end. Make sure your child's hand can fit inside the hole. Read more

Patterning is a basic math-related skill. I remember when I was in kindergarten (yes, I swear I do!), the classroom had a bin of these little interlocking blocks. Each block was a different colour. We had to follow instruction sheets that displayed the blocks arranged in certain patterns, to see if we could use the blocks to recreate the patterns on the sheets. Read more

The ability to estimate is an important math skill. When practicing how to estimate, kids are learning that math and numbers can be fun. In math, if you know how to estimate pretty well, you can develop an idea about a possible answer to a question without doing a lot of work, and your estimate can let you know if you're on the right track as you are working toward the full solution. Read more

This article was originally published in May, 2006

It's no secret that breastfeeding provides both a mother and her baby with numerous physical and emotional health benefits.

Unfortunately, some new moms who have every intention of nursing their babies end up switching to formula within the first few weeks of their babies' lives. Read more

Before you use a conventional lice-treatment shampoo for yourself or your children, consider this: Many lice-treatment shampoos contain ingredients that have been banned as agricultural insecticides and are extremely toxic. For instance, the insecticide lindane, once used to protect crops such as barley, wheat, and corn from pests, is no longer used by farms in Canada, and has been banned in over 50 countries around the world. But it can probably still be found at your local drug store, in bottles of lice shampoo.

In 2002, the state of California in the United States banned lindane from being used in pharmaceutical products due to reports that the chemical was causing skin irritations, dizziness, headaches, convulsions, and even death. Read more

In the spring of 2005, when I was pregnant for the first time, I wrote an article about the potential dangers of leaving a baby to cry. I received much feedback on this topic, some in support of my views, some in complete disagreement of my views, and some merely encouraging an open mind. Three years, two children, and an enormous accumulation of sleep-debt later, do I still believe that it is wrong to leave a baby to cry?

Yes and no.

While I still believe in attachment theory and consider myself to be an attachment parent, through my experiences with our babies I have come to realize that this issue, as with most of life's issues, is not black and white. Read more

As the adage goes, all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. Translated into reality, however, a lifestyle of all work and no play has more serious consequences than simply making Jack dull. Maintaining a workaholic lifestyle will, over time, inevitably lead to a decline in the quality of one's relationships and health. Read more

This easy and delicious fudge recipe calls for protein-rich almond butter and antioxidant-rich raw chocolate powder, making it a decadent treat that is much healthier than conventional store-bought fudge.

Although this fudge is made with all-natural ingredients, it is best to eat only one or two small pieces at a time, as eating honey-rich foods can stress one's blood sugar-regulating mechanisms.

Ingredients: Read more