Twins in the same classroom or NOT

It is a monumental achievement for parents whose child is going to kindergarten. All the crying, chaos and sleepless nights will be in the memory. Kindergarten represents a different social structure, life and learning style to a family. The children will need to get up earlier to attend school before 8:30 am in the morning. They need to eat lunch in school cafeteria by themselves. They also need to sit in School bus and there is no more 2-hour nap time... They sound normal and plain; however these things have started to give me anxiety attacks. On top of those, I start to worry about the classroom placement for my twins. It will be a difficult decision for me to make if the twins should be in the same or different classrooms. There is no solid research data on measuring acceptance, achievement, and adjustment of twins or multiples in same and different classrooms after my vigorous research in the internet. Both separation into different classrooms and staying together in the same classroom have advantages and disadvantages. It depends on different needs for different twins. The final decision should be beneficial to the twins.
The advantages of being in the different classrooms:

• 
  
  For teachers and other classmates
  • Avoid comparison
  • Avoid fascination and attention to twins that distracts normal educational process
• 
  
  For twins themselves
  • Avoid distraction between them
  • Avoid harmful competition
  • Decrease dependency
  • Fostering individuality

The advantages of being in the same classrooms:

• They need each other: separation anxiety occurs in young children. Twins have each other all their life; it is hard to cut the bond right away in a new, scaring school.
• 
  
  Sibling support in the class
  • A positive school experience should be the key for them in kindergarten.
• Receive a consistent education experience.
• 
  
  It is more convenient for the family
  • Reduce the number of after school parties and keep family unit intact for parties.
  • 
    
    Reduce the time requirement for parents involved in school activities.
    • The parents will need to keep the job to pay the college tuition.
  • Avoid jealousy and competition! It is impossible for me to present in both classes at the same time, or watch two school functions the same time. Every parent of multiples knows that competition for attention is there all the time.
• 
  
  Provide positive competition
  • Not all the twins or multiples are overly competitive; some sibling pressure and competition actually promote learning.

Right now, I am hoping to keep twins together in the kindergarten since it is a new environment for them and they have expressed their own opinions multiple times that they want to be together in the same classroom. Having each other in a strange environment provides some reassurance for them and for me. The reasons favoring the same classrooms in the kindergarten for my twins are:

• They cry each time when I tell them the changing to big boy school this fall. I do not want them to have bad experience or impression about the school. A bad early education experience will set the stage for later academic problems.
• The presence of each other can ease anxiety, provide support and assist adjustment in the new school.
• They teach each other and learn from each other that are positive in learning.
• There are plenty of opportunities to separate them later. It is better to do so latter (after 7 years old).
• There are not identical twins; there is no confusion to teachers or classmates.

The decision of separating or keep twins together may not come from us (parents and children) at the end, because the placement policy may have been established by school, and parents will have little influence on it. I hope there is some flexibility in school, so parents can be involved to decide what the best is for their twins or multiples after they start their class (es). All parties involved can adjust separating or keeping them together after evaluation. A pleasant early school experience sets the foundation for future academic and social accomplishments.
Separating multiples in school (twinslist.org)
How to decide if twins should be in the same classroom (ehow.com)
Should twins be in the same classroom (ivillage.com)
Ten Reasons to keep twins together in the same class (about.com)
Born together, raised together, so why not in classroom, too? (NY Times)
Frequently asked question: classroom placement of twins (adoption.com)

Children are at risk of over-prescription

Most of drugs are developed to treat adult diseases, and most of them have not proven to be safe in child by animal or epidemic studies. Lacking oversight of drug prescription used in young children is posing a threat to our children and an abuse of the public health system. Influence from pharmaceutical industry, lobbies and aggressive drug advertisements have distorted American health system. One clear example is the over prescription of psychiatric drugs in children. It was unheard of the use of psychiatric drugs in preschoolers 20 years ago and then, now psychiatric drugs have been heavily prescribed to young children to " cure" their behavior problems. In 2007, Massachusetts alone has 82,900 children under age 5, were given psychiatric or anti-psychotic drugs (Boston globe). Because of increased psychiatric illness in children, psychiatric evaluation and diagnosis in children are highly controversy.

Before you feed your child any psychiatric drugs, please read the article published in Psychiatric drug facts with Dr. Peter Breggin (http://www.breggin.com/). There are medical evidences against the over use of psychiatric drugs in children.

• Psychiatric drug has adverse reaction and can do more harm than good.
• The side effects of common psychiatric drugs (cchr.org)
• National Institute of Medical Health (nimh.nh.gov)
• On March 22, 2004, the FDA has issued an advisory that the new generation of anti-depressants (Prozac, Zoloft, Paxil, Luvox, Celexa, Lexapro, Wellbutrin, Effexor, Serzone, and Remeron) is at risk associated with violence and suicide (the truth about antidepressants, brmecham.com).
• Benzodiazepines can cause mental dysfunction and addiction (Panic disorder, about.com).
• Growth inhibition and mental suppression caused by ADHD drugs in children (http://www.jcrows.com/adhd.html).
• Antipsychotic drugs can cause movement disorder (Tardive dyskinesia).(Mental Health, Ask.com)

According to a study published in the Journal of Pediatric Medicine, it reported that a 98% of all infants have bipolar disorder. The babies suffer from being manic-depressive because they had troubles concentrating during the day, often struggled to sleep at night and could not be counted on to take care of themselves-all classic symptoms of manic depression (the onion; Psychcentral.com). Most of us may get a laugh from it. But it illustrated the danger to use adult diagnostic criteria to evaluate mental illness in very young children.

A 4-year old girl, Rebecca Riley, died from overdose of psychiatric drugs (CBS News). The poor kid was diagnosed with bipolar disorder at the age of two at Tufts-New England Medical Center because of her hyperactivity. Rebecca's mother was convicted of second-degree murder this year in the fatal drug overdose of her own daughter (Masslive.com). Prosecutors pointed Rebecca's parents, concocted mental illness of their daughter in order to collect federal disability benefits. In the verdict, the 4-year old died of a severe pneumonia in the absence of any medical treatment. When I first saw this news, I was shocked by how ignorant and irresponsible of Rebecca's parents and doctor was. Were there standard guidelines to be used for diagnosis of bipolar disorder in two years old? Currently, there is no definitive medical test for children's bipolar disorder. Yet, nearly a million of children have been diagnosed with bipolar disorder and treated with drugs which are not proven to be safe in children. Can you believe that the number of bipolar children is more than that of autism (prevalence is estimated at 1 in 110 births) and diabetes (0.22%) combined?
Bipolar disorder in children and adolescents: a Caution (Psycheducation.org)
Pediatric Bipolar Disorder
Child & Adolescent bipolar foundation
It is dangerous to rely on drugs to cure all the behavior problems. The demand for patience, education, conscience and caring overwhelms the need for a wonder drug.
















(help4adhd.org)

Clean Silver

• Avoid things harmful to silver
• 
  
  Do not wear rubber gloves when clean silver. The rubber corrodes silver and promotes tarnish. Use plastic gloves instead. Avoid using rubber bands or seals on silver items.
• 
  
  Glass liners can be used to protect silver flatware when anti-silver food is served such as: table salt, olives, salad dressing, eggs, vinegar and fruit juice. Plastic liners are the other choice, but plastic is harmful to health and people should try to avoid using it if it is possible.  
• 
  
  Do not let food stand on silver flatware, rinse it immediately after use. 
• 
  
  Do not scratch silver with sharps including utensils and cleaning sponge. 
• 
  
  Do not clean silver in a dishwasher. 
• 
  
  Clean silver tarnish with Baking soda:
• 
  
  • 
    
    Make a baking soda paste by mixing water with baking soda powder. Coat the silver item with the paste and rub to clean until tarnish is gone. Rinse the paste off with lukewarm water, and dry with clean white clothing. This "semi-dry" silver clean method is good for jewelry which has gem stones. It does not damage the stone.  
• 
  
  Clean silver with Toothpaste:
  • 
    
    Another "Semi-dry" clean method for clean silver jewelry with gem stones. Gently rub the items with white (non-gel) toothpaste. Rinse the toothpaste off with lukewarm water, and dry with clean white clothing.
• 
  
  Clean silver tarnish with Baking soda, Aluminum and Salt mix:
  • It can be used for sterling silver jewelry without gem stone. Sterling silver is an alloy of 92.5% of silver and 7.5% of copper. 
  • Place a sheet of aluminum foil in a container or use an aluminum disposable plate. Add 8 Oz of hot tap water, 1 tablespoon baking soda, 1 tablespoon salt. Stir to dissolve the baking soda and salt. Put the silver item to the hot mix, leave it overnight. Next day, rinse with lukewarm water and dry with clothing.  
  • 
    
    Boiling water is suggested to be used by others (YouTube), but actually, hot or warm water may do the job. It depends how tarnished the item is. Boiling water silver clean treatment is more effective for cleaning old tarnish. Warm water with longer soaking may be as effective as the boiling water and the procedure is safer.
• 
  
  Silver polish: commercially available silver polish such as 3M 625 tarni-shield, Hagerty silver polish, is available in store.
• 
  
  Metal Brite Electrolytic Silver Cleaning Plate: I saw this advertisement on TV. It seems to be an effective method if all the home silver clean methods fail.
• Expensive silver: seek help from Professionals.

Too Much Authority?

Schools are places where children can learn and grow. They should be objective, and safe for children, teachers and parents. Schools also have social responsibilities to educate our children and prepare them for their future. In modern society, a child's education is a mixed result from parents, schools, media, government and legislation. Every party needs to be sensible to their role and cannot over abuse their authority. Parents would consider needs of their child. Schools and others should put benefits of most children first. With that being said, it is not easy to balance each authority especially if there are a child and emotion involved.

A few of school controversies for us to think about.

Case 1: A Catholic School in Boulder, Colorado, refused enrollment of a child in its preschool program because the student's parents are lesbians (Politics daily). It is not unheard of rejection from private schools over many strange reasons. There was a case in New York that a child was rejected to enter kindergarten program because the school has no-sibling policy (New York Sun). It is usually less controversy since private schools establish their own rules. Most cases will not become high profile. A lot of little boys or girls have been rejected by many private schools. Does Catholic or other private school have too much authority to reject children for various reasons? Dose the public have too much authority to ask private schools to change their policy?

Case 2: A few years ago, a Lexington (MA) Dad was arrested, spent one night in jail over objections to homosexual curriculum in son's kindergarten class (news April 29: Boston globe; Park incidence: massresistance.org). The father was charged with trespass in school property. Did Lexington School have too much authority to send a parent to jail? Did Lexington parents have too much authority to influence public school?

Case 3: Kansas State Legislation banned teaching evolution. Kansas law proclaims that "All Kansans are descendants of Adam and Eve and were created by the hand of God without the help of Charles Darwin." (Assimilated Press) There are overwhelming evidences to support Darwin's evolution (Darwin's theory of evolution: bioweb) and Vatican has declared that Darwin's theory of evolution was compatible with Christian faith (Times). Does State Legislation have too much authority on teaching? Do people in Kansas have authority to demand the right to learn evolution?

Case 4: Hobe Sound School (Florida) classified a mother's punishment as illegal after she skipped her son's lunch intentionally (WPTV.com). The child forgot packing his own lunch and his mother wanted to teach him responsibility by e-mailing teachers not to provide lunch to her kid. Do parents have authority to tell school not to feed their child? Will it be illegal if School does not provide lunch to a child who does not have a lunch?

New York City Indoor Place for Kids

Indoor Playgrounds in New York City
Apple Seeds: 10 West 25^th St, between Broadway &6^th Ave. New York
Citi Babies: 52 Mercer 3^rd FL, New York
City Tree House: 129A W20th St. between 6^th & 7 Ave. New York
JCC's R&R Shabbat: 334 Amsterdam Ave, New York, NY 10023
Kids Fun House: 62-73 Fresh Pond Rd, Ridgewood, Queens, NY
Nairobi's Knapsack: 744 Frankline Ave., Brooklyn, NY
New York City Explores: 2 locations,

• 388 Atlantic Ave, New York, NY
• 186 Underhill Ave, Brooklyn, NY

New York Kids Club: Multiple locations

• Manhattan Upper West Side 89th St, Child Enrichment Center: 601 Amsterdam Ave.
• Downtown/Gramercy Park, Child Enrichment Center, 38 East 22nd St.
• Manhattan Upper West Side 68th St. Child Enrichment Center: 169 Amsterdam Ave.
• Manhattan Upper East Side 67th St. Child Enrichment Center: 219 East 67th St.
• Brooklyn Heights Children Enrichment Center: 182 Henry St.
• Manhattan Tribeca/Battery Park Child Enrichment Center: 393 South End Ave.

Play Garden Tribeca: 95 Franklin St.
Sony Wonder Technology Lab; 550 Madison Ave. at 56^th New York
Still Hip: 283 Grand Ave., Clinton Hill, Brooklyn, NY


Museums in New York for children and family
Brooklyn Children's Museum: 145 Brooklyn Ave, Brooklyn, NY
Children's Museum of Arts:182 lafayette St. New York, NY
Children's Museum of Manhattan: The Tisch Building, 212 West 83^rd St., New York, NY
The Jewish Museum:1109 5^th Ave., New York, NY
NY Hall of Science Museum:47-01 111^th St., Queens, NY

American Museum of Natural History: Central Park West at 79^th St., New York, NY

Bronx Museum of the Arts: 1040 Grand Concourse at 165^th St., Bronx, NY

Brooklyn Museum: 200 Eastern Parkway, Brooklyn, NY

New York City Fire Museum: 1904 Firehouse at 278 Spring St., New York

New York City Police Museum: 100 Old Slip, New York, NY

The Metropolitan Museum of Art: 1000 Fifth Ave., New York, NY

Museum of the City of New York: 1220 Fifth Ave., New York, NYMuseum of Biblical Art: 1865 Broadway at 61^st St., New York, NY

PS1 Contemporary Art Center: 22-25 Jackson Ave at Intersection of 46^th Ave., Long Island City, NY

Queens Museum of Art: New York City Building, Flushing Meadows Corona Park, Queens NY

Sculpture Center: 44-19 Purves St. Long Island City, NY.

Staten Island Museum: 75 Stuyvesant Place, Staten Island, NY

Studio Museum Harlem: 144 West 125 St., New York, NY

Speech Therapy

Every child develops language skills at different speeds. Children who show signs of speech impediments should be helped as soon as possible because speech is critical for their learning, communication and social development.

Parents may not be aware of their child's problem because parents are accustomed to their child's voice. Common speech patterns in a child such as, frequency of using language, fluency of speech and pronunciation of words, should be monitored by parents. About 10 percent of children have communication problems including speech and hearing disorders. Early remediation is more effective and it can avoid the situation that a child's speech becomes the amusement object for others. Possible hearing dysfunction, voice problem and aphasia could be diagnosed earlier based on daily interaction between a child and his/her parents. Articulation, language receptive and expressive problems may be noticed at preschool ages.

If a child is difficult to understand by others and frustrated in oral communication, he/she could benefit from speech therapy program. If child's speech is improving quarterly, she/he likely catches the standard speech over time. Here are some sensible steps to figure out if additional speech therapy program is needed for your child.

• List your own observations on your child's speech development.

a.The sounds he/she has problems with.
b.The position of the sounds in a word (initial, medial or final).
c. The frequency of mispronunciation.
d. Can the child understand parents' language?
e. Can the child make sentences appropriately?
f. Is stuttering a problem (fluency disorders) affecting the child?

• Obtain feedback and documentation from teacher regarding the child's communication and language skills at school.
• Go over your and teacher's documents with your child's pediatrician. Discuss with your child's pediatrician to decide if speech therapy is appropriate.
• An oral examination can identify possible irregularities in the structure of the child's mouth.
• Hearing evaluation performed by an audiologist.
• Ask for referrals of speech therapists (certificated) from the pediatrician.

The qualification of speech-language pathologists (or therapists)(Bureau of Labor). The private health insurers generally require therapists to be licensed to qualify for reimbursement.

• A master's degree in speech-language pathology.
• License and certification (in 47 states):

1. A passing score on the national examination on speech-language pathology.
2. 
   
   300-375 hours of supervised clinical experience.
3. 
   
   9 months postgraduate professional clinical experience.
4. 
   
   Continuing education for license renewal.

Common speech problems for younger children (childrendisbilities.info) Children's speech: when should a parent be concerned (International children's education)
Speech-Language Therapy (KidsHealth.com)
What sounds should my child be saying (talkingchild.com)

Bring kids to work

It became hot news after a child's voice being heard in air traffic control communication with pilots at John F. Kennedy Airport tower (Boston Fox 25 news). JFK airport is the sixth busiest airport in the U.S. Consequently, two employees at JFK airport tower are on administrative leave due to the lack of professionalism. Their futures and their families' futures will be decided by the final verdict from Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). This kind of distractions is totally unacceptable to FAA according to FAA spokesman. The development of this story is highly debatable. Some people feel the punishment is out of proportion and the other would completely agree with FAA that the work is too important that has zero tolerance of errors.

I asked myself which side I am on. After 2 days, I remain undecided. The fact is that there is no doubt of the importance of air traffic control (ATC). Many lives are dependent on air traffic transmission. I agree with the idea that ATC room is not a playground. The air controllers were probably not thinking wisely. The child appeared to be under supervision as a control explained the reason for the young voice, and instructions were given to pilots on the ground. Given how bad our economic is, I have deep fear for the air controllers and their families if they lose their jobs. I hope that there is a way to save their jobs.

The case of child in air traffic control tower is extreme and not common because of the demand for their absolute perfection. Most of parents, similar to me, probably do enjoy some freedom of bringing kids to work. Sometime, it is unavoidable if child is sick suddenly. I was in trouble once that I took my 3-year old sick child to a 9:00 AM company meeting. My kid was throwing up at 8: 35 AM right after I dropped him at daycare. The teacher called me on my cell phone, I turned around to pick my poor child and then we rushed to my scheduled company meeting at 9:00. My boss was surprised to see us, and told me after the meeting that I should drop the kid home before I come to the meeting. I thought that it is a common sense: Kids are sent to daycare because nobody can take care of them at work.

It is difficult with a high profile case. But, with so many competent staffs, FAA will have an ideal resolution harboring merits, humanity and professionalism.

Kindergarten Shots

Kindergarten represents a big milestone in child development. It congratulates parents that your child is old enough to go to " real school". At the meantime, parents need to prepare proof of residency, birth certificate, immunization form and general health forms. The whole family will have new adventures soon.


As public health concerns, Massachusetts General law 105 CMR 220.000 requires school children be immunized against:

• Diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis: DTP or DTap-5 doses
• Polio-4 doses
• Measles, mumps, rubella (MMR)-2 doses
• Hepatitis B-3 doses
• Varicella (Chicken Pox)-1 dose

These five vaccines are essential for entrance of public kindergarten in Massachusetts. The immunization record is a part of registration submission. The registration time varies among cities and towns, generally it runs from March to June. Children who are immunized according to the CDC recommended schedule may need to be immunized up to 4 or 5 injections during their hospital visit for the"kindergarten shots". In the guideline from Center of Disease Control, the age for receiving immunization of DTaP, Polio, MMR and chicken pox is around 4-6 years old. Many of children borne after March may not be immunized with any of these at the age of four. These children may need to have 4 kindergarten shots in one hospital visit. The number may go up if Hepatitis B doses are not up to schedule.

Most vaccines have been proven to be safe to most children, but four or five shots at one time are awfully too many for a little child. Each vaccine has side-effects and the side effects accumulate upon multiple immunization. Mild side effects, such as: fever, redness or swelling in injection site are relatively frequent in children. Fever alone, the frequency is about 1 in 4 children who get DTap shot. It is about 1 in 6 children with MMR vaccine; 1 in 10 with chickenpox vaccine; 1 in 15 with hepatitis B vaccine. The frequency of soreness and redness is even higher. Health care providers should spread these immunization into 2 or 3 hospital visits, however, for the convenience of hospital, they usually cluster all the immunizations to one monster " kindergarten shots". It does not seem to be proper to me. If hospitals do not feel compelled to arrange multiple visits, alternatively, CDC can specify different immunization times for DTaP, Polio, MMR and chicken pox vaccines. It will result a better timetable for immunization in young children.

The obscurity of immunization timetable is evident after I witnessed soreness, swelling, vomiting and fever in my children for last three days after they received their kindergarten shots. I did not do my homework before the appointment because I trusted hospital and their immunization schedule. "Both of them had been used for many others and they should be fine" I thought. I did not check my children's immunization record and did not realize so many vacciines involved for "kindergarten shots".

I was speechless when the nurse showed up with 8 needles on her hands; four for each of my twins. I would call it off if she had told me the number of the shots before she came up with all the needles full of liquid. I am suffering from my own conscience becaue of the side effects from too many vaccines at once. The side effects are not life-threatening but annoying enough to make twins stay awake at night and throw up. I wish, I could have done differently.

I am warning all the parents who have any child at pre-school age to be aware of the "monster kindergarten shots" and to avoid to have all the shots given at once. It is a right thing to check the immunization record in advance and make two appointments to spread kindergarten shots over multiple visits.

Toy Poisoning

Toxic ingestion can occurs when younger children put toys containing toxins such as lead in the paint or phthalates in the plastic toys, into their mouths. Lead poisoning can lead to death and neurological disorders in young children. General population has better awareness to the lead poisoning and routine blood lead level in young children is examined by pedestrians in the US. Phthalates, a group of hazardous chemicals known to cause reproductive abnormalities, are widespread in all the house products, however, their toxicity are not commonly mentioned.

Young children are susceptible to toy poisoning because of (1) the immature bodies that are vulnerable to small amounts of toxins, and (2) their irresistible craving to put everything into their mouth during teething.

Phthalates are used as plasticizers to increase flexibility, softy and transparency of plastic products. It is found everywhere in modern society such as toys, teeters, food packages, hoses, shower curtains, vinyl flooring, lubricants, hair spray and shampoo (case study: phthalates in www.chemicalbodyburden.org). Phthalates can cause reduction in sperm counter, atrophy of reproductive system, hormonal imbalance and cancers etc. In a society full of plastic products, it is hard but people should try the best to eliminate the use of harmful plastic.

A number of baby products are reported to contain phthalates (Baby Center) including: plastic baby bottles, plastic matters, baby lotions and shampoos.

Top 10 most toxic toys lised in greendivamom.com.

1. Totally me! Dressy Rainbow Jewelry (Geoffrey Inc).
   


2. Hannah Motana's " 2 hearts and HM graphic Necklace" (Dinsey).
   


3. Road Racers with Play mat (Wholesale Merchandisers, Inc)
   


4. Lightning McQueen Racing Chair (Disney)
   


5. Lift-it Luke (Ravensburger F.X. Schmid, USA Inc.)
   


6. High School Musical Crown Necklace (Disney)
   


7. Best Friends Bands (bracelets, Alex Panline USA Inc.)
   


8. Ball Track-large basic Set (Habermaass Corp)
   


9. Eight Mini Twist-up Crayons (Alex Panline USA, Inc.)
   


10. Bath letters and numbers (The Little Tikes)
    

Toxic Toys (Masspirg.org)

Toxic Toys? (PBS.org)

Toxic chemicals in toys (healthy stuff.org)

Toy Recalls of 2009 (parents.com)

Toy recalls (GetRecall.com)