Karen Deerwester: Parenting Expert
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Karen Deerwester is the owner of Family Time Coaching & Consulting as well as the Mommy & Me director at The Ruth & Edward Taubman Early Childhood Center at B’Nai Torah Congregation in Boca Raton. She is the author of The Playskool Guide to Potty Training (Sourcebooks 2008), The Potty Training Answer Book (Sourcebooks 2007) which won the 2008 NAPPA Gold Award for parenting resources, and The Entitlement-Free Child (Sourcebooks 2009). Karen has presented enthusiastic workshops for parents and educators throughout Florida and at National Conferences since 1985. She is the parent “expert” for BlueSuitMom.com as well as a columnist for South Florida Parenting Magazine and the “national parenting examiner” for Examiner.com. Karen has contributed parenting/early childhood advice to Parents Magazine, Parenting Magazine, Real Simple, Women’s Day, Essence Magazine, and to influential books such as The Experts’ Guide to the Baby Years and Worst Case Scenario: Parenting. Karen has also appeared on numerous TV and radio programs including MSNBC, NBC, and NPR.
REVIEWS
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When you turn off the TV, your child benefits in two essential ways: time together and time alone. The following “Alternatives to TV” gives you winning ways to spend time together as a family and to combat children’s boredom. Children who “unplug” from TV learn resourcefulness and independence. Here’s an opportunity to awaken your child’s curiosity and to redefine your priorities as a family. Try them once a week or an hour a day. You’ll be surprised by how much you and your children will enjoy a newfound freedom.Read More » -
Hobbies and personal interests explode with school-age children, as they know what they like and love learning new things. Follow your child’s interests. Books, writing stories or songs, drawing or painting are perennial favorites. Here are exciting and creative Alternatives to TV to add to your favorite activities.Read More »
Initially, some children will go through withdrawal without TV. Do not ask your child to turn off the TV when you want to catch up on emails, finish a work project, or hide in your room after a stressful day. You’re not likely to meet with success. Even if you aren’t participating in the same non-TV activity, your presence in the same room makes a difference. -
Children's “potty training” books are the foundation of a positive potty learning experience. The best children's “potty training” books add to your child's awareness of how his body works and to the excitement of making new potty choices. Reading potty books allows your child to think about potty experiences in a nonthreatening way, to sit quietly with his personal potty questions, and to imagine potty mastery without the possibility of failure.Read More »
Add favorite “potty” books to your child's collection before you have any potty expectations. Choose books that reflect your child's interest and engage your child's unique personality. Watch your child's eyes as you read different pages to see where your child's emotional self connects to the story or to the illustrations. Bring books to life by weaving favorite potty themes into your daily conversations with your child. Allow your child to reread favorite books a hundred times or more. Repetition builds familiarity and confidence. -
The best potty training accessories meet two important criteria: 1. they give parents easy, hands-on tools to make the potty training process understandable to young children; and 2. they help parents create a fun, positive atmosphere for potty learning. All children learn to say good bye to diapers – eventually. But most children take 4-6 months to achieve potty independence. The best potty training accessories help parents and children enjoy this potty learning period as an exciting time of growth and discovery.Read More »
It's true that a child who is developmentally ready for potty training will be more successful than a child who doesn't have the bladder control or a child who is in an oppositional stage (the no-my way stage). The best products support your child's development instead of being intrusive or overwhelming to your child.
