Families' eldest boys do best on tests

By RANDOLPH E. SCHMID, AP Science Writer

Boys at the top of the pecking order — either by birth or because their older siblings died — score higher on IQ tests than their younger brothers. The question of whether firstborn and only children are really smarter than those who come along later has been hotly debated for more than a century.

Norwegian researchers now report that it isn't a matter of being born first, but growing up the senior child, that seems to result in the higher IQ score ...

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Can Johnny Come Out and (Be Taught to) Play?

Proposed Programmed Playgrounds for New York City
By BENEDICT CAREY
ALMOST any popular playground offers both a curly slide, and a Hobbesian slide toward a state of child-chaos. Girls scrambling to escape hot lava bang into boys driving a bullet-train spaceship who have just run over a preschooler in Power Ranger tights. Parents lurk around the edges, or push a swing, hoping to make it to nap time before someone draws blood.

All that may soon change, for many families, if an ambitious idea ...

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PEER EXCLUSION AMONG CHILDREN RESULTS IN REDUCED CLASSROOM PARTICIPATION AND ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT

May Be As Harmful As Bullying

Washington, DC — Children who are excluded from activities by their peers are more likely to withdraw from classroom activities and suffer academically, according to a recent study in the Journal of Educational Psychology, published by the American Psychological Association (APA).

A longitudinal study, conducted over a five-year period following 380 students from age 5-years old to 11-years old, found that children who are rejected by their peers have more t ...

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Depression symptoms less likely in kids with accurate self-perceptions

TALLAHASSEE, Fla.
Children who can accurately assess how their classmates feel about them -- even if those feelings are negative -- are less likely to show symptoms of depression, according to Florida State University researchers.

Psychology Professor Janet Kistner found that children in third through fifth grades who had the wrong idea about their level of social acceptance were more likely to develop symptoms of depression over time. The study, "Bias and Accuracy of Children's Perceptions ...

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Taking the Mystery of Special Education for Parents

New local DVD helps parents see they’re not alone

By MARK STEIGENGA
Daily News Staff Writer

Laurie Bush remembers feeling totally lost at her son’s first IEP.

“I had no idea what an IEP was. The call from school was a big surprise. They told me my son was struggling in reading and he was falling behind. I just agreed to everything they said. They send you this big packet of stuff and it is overwhelming.”

That was first grade. Now that her son is a freshman at Ludington High Sch ...

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