{"id":347,"date":"2014-12-03T12:15:03","date_gmt":"2014-12-03T19:15:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/happyhomeschooling.com\/?page_id=347"},"modified":"2015-07-08T20:40:04","modified_gmt":"2015-07-09T02:40:04","slug":"its-mom-not-fisher-price","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/its-mom-not-fisher-price\/","title":{"rendered":"It’s Mom…Not Fisher-Price"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"lego-615239_1280\"When we spend $$ for that colorful, wonderful new toy, we are hoping, wishing, and dreaming that we can delight baby or keep our toddler busy “for hours” like the package says. But it turns out that toys are just toys\u2014and not Mommy<\/strong>. No surprise. Mommy is what children really need and want!<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

I bought a woodcrafting kit as a gift for my son Ammon when he was about 9 years old. It looked so creative and fun! The box showed all sorts of clever contraptions, vehicles, and birdhouses that you could build with the wood pieces and instructions inside! I supposed that Daddy would get it out and play it with him, or that Ammon’s own curiosity would make that toy happen. Now Ammon is nearly 16, and guess what? Yep, the wonderful wooden craft kit never got opened. I need to give it to the thrift shop, because it makes me cry when I see it. Ammon isn’t interested in building little toy cars anymore . . . he is learning to drive a real one!<\/p>\n

Research done at London’s Institute of Education determined that a stimlulating home environment with lots of toys and books may help toddlers progress temporarily, but the biggest indicator of long-term benefit comes when mother (or father) enters the picture<\/strong>. Dr Leslie Gutman, the report’s lead author, said “Toys and books have their place . . . but what is important is having the parents interact with the child . . . To have parents read to their children is much more important than having a hundred books\u2014that’s great, but if you are not reading to your child, that’s not engaging with the child.”<\/p>\n

Toys are only tools\u2014tools that help parents and kids engage, connect and enjoy each other. They are lifeless<\/i> until you<\/i> are involved<\/strong>.
\n\"\"<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

May I recommend:<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n

\"toynight\"
\nToy Night
\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

\"archeskids\"
\nSoak in the Joy!
\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

\"homeschoolpoemmom\"
\nCome Play with Me
\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When we spend $$ for that colorful, wonderful new toy, we are hoping, wishing, and dreaming that we can delight baby or keep our toddler busy “for hours” like the package says. But it turns out that toys are just toys\u2014and not Mommy. No surprise. Mommy is what children really need and want! I bought […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3699,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[23,10],"tags":[163,94,171],"class_list":["post-347","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nurturing","category-why-homeschool","tag-mothers-influence","tag-play-with-me","tag-toys","entry"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/lego-615239_1280.jpg?fit=1280%2C960&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6IrRN-5B","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":474,"url":"https:\/\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/toy-night-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":347,"position":0},"title":"Toy Night","author":"Diane Hopkins","date":"","format":false,"excerpt":"Playing with your children and their toys: it is easy when they are little, but as they grow up a bit, we don't play quite as often. But an 8-12 year old enjoys Mom and Dad engaging with them just like a little one does. And toys\u2014oh, they take on\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Nurturing"","block_context":{"text":"Nurturing","link":"https:\/\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/category\/why-homeschool\/nurturing\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/dadlouisa.jpg?fit=397%2C500&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":519,"url":"https:\/\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/rotate-your-toys\/","url_meta":{"origin":347,"position":1},"title":"Rotate Your Toys","author":"Diane Hopkins","date":"","format":false,"excerpt":"Toys are the tools of little ones! I learned in college how stimulating a child's brain led to higher intelligence, so I always wanted to have as many as good toys as possible at my house, feeling like they would help my kids brain develop. I was on the lookout\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "How to Homeschool"","block_context":{"text":"How to Homeschool","link":"https:\/\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/category\/how-to-homeschool\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"\/images\/hth\/toybox.jpg","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":759,"url":"https:\/\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/making-sunday-special\/","url_meta":{"origin":347,"position":2},"title":"Making Sunday Special","author":"Diane Hopkins","date":"","format":false,"excerpt":"Ahh, the Sabbath day! How nice it is to take a break from teaching school, from big meal prep, from doing housework or shopping. I think God gave us a great gift by establishing a day of rest. I sure need it! The culture we live in has pretty much\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Molding the Heart"","block_context":{"text":"Molding the Heart","link":"https:\/\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/category\/why-homeschool\/molding-the-heart\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/sunset-691204_1280.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/sunset-691204_1280.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/sunset-691204_1280.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/sunset-691204_1280.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/sunset-691204_1280.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":423,"url":"https:\/\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/my-cantaloupe-man\/","url_meta":{"origin":347,"position":3},"title":"My Cantaloupe Man","author":"Diane Hopkins","date":"","format":false,"excerpt":"Ammon (15) loves plants. He cherishes them, in fact. He can spend hours supervising and nurturing his garden. When he was a little boy, I always made sure he had his own large bed in our family garden that he could plant with whatever he wanted. This year, Ammon wanted\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "How to Homeschool"","block_context":{"text":"How to Homeschool","link":"https:\/\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/category\/how-to-homeschool\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"ammonscanteloupe","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/ammonscanteloupe.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":807,"url":"https:\/\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/what-do-preschoolers-need\/","url_meta":{"origin":347,"position":4},"title":"What Do Preschoolers Need?","author":"Diane Hopkins","date":"","format":false,"excerpt":"What do preschoolers need? That's an easy answer: #1 they need YOU! Yep: they need Mom, in all her constantly loving glory, with lots of hugs, snuggles, toe-kissing, hand-holding, hair-tousling, kisses, pats, holding-on-her-lap and listening. That's the #1 need. And in your moment-by-moment interaction, be sure to lead them to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Preschool"","block_context":{"text":"Preschool","link":"https:\/\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/category\/what-articles\/preschool\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/04\/rebekahpuzzle.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":711,"url":"https:\/\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/test-or-not-test\/","url_meta":{"origin":347,"position":5},"title":"To Test or Not To Test? That is the Question","author":"Diane Hopkins","date":"","format":false,"excerpt":"TEST! That one word can strike terror in the hearts of kids and moms alike. What is a test for? Should testing be a part of homeschooling? Are the scores accurate? Do my children need outside testing by the school district to determine their grade level and their weaknesses and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Concerns"","block_context":{"text":"Concerns","link":"https:\/\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/category\/how-to-homeschool\/homeschooling-concerns\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"teepee2","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/05\/teepee2.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/347","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=347"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/347\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7391,"href":"https:\/\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/347\/revisions\/7391"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3699"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=347"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=347"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=347"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}