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    Blog Posts by Julie Meyers Pron

    • User post: NOW my son is ready for kindergarten

      By Julie Meyers Pron | Back To School – Thu, Aug 5, 2010 4:58 AM EDT

      boy going to Kindergartenboy going to KindergartenAbout 6 months before having my first August baby, I gathered with teacher friends in the teacher lunch room at the elementary school where I taught. I knew then, without even knowing my child, that with an August 31 cut-off, the baby would be "held back" prior to Kindergarten.

      There were many reasons. To start, I'd rather him or her be the oldest than the youngest. He'd drive his car and drink legally first rather than last. I recognized that no matter how much he could handle academically when he was 6, 7 or 8, it was the maturation of the child I was more concerned about. So I wasn't just thinking ahead 6 or 7 years, I was thinking ahead 12 or 13 years.

      While this decision was based on emotions, it was also based on experience. Each year, by the time the first week of school had ended, I could practically place my students in a line by age, youngest to oldest, and without even glancing at the class roster. This wasn't an academic judgment, it had nothing to do with the

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    • User post: Want a happy summer with the kids? Give them STRUCTURE

      By Julie Meyers Pron | Parenting – Fri, Jul 30, 2010 6:48 AM EDT

      Somewhere along the way, someone failed to tell us about the need for structure in the summer time. That laid-back summer? It's more of a dream when you have young kids.

      Its summer. Ideally, there should be no concerns over schedules, activities or structure. That's what they tell me. "Relax," friends say. "Sleep in," others proclaim. "Let them run free," I hear.

      Yeah, I hear. And I tried. We tried, actually, for 3 whole days. But the first 3 days of summer vacation were, as a friend so gently put it, a doozie. Breaking up fights wasn't bad. Sleeping in could have been enjoyable. But the consistent craziness of my children and their lack of understanding of appropriate behavior drove this mama to mania. And her husband wasn't too far behind on the insanity level (lucky him, he got to go to work each day.)

      What gives? We're pretty strict parents. We have high expectations for our kiddos. Fun certainly reigns supreme, but manners and respect trump fun. Period.

      Find a frog?

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    • User post: Green and Healthy--Family Trip to Farmer's Market

      By Julie Meyers Pron | Parenting – Mon, Jul 19, 2010 7:01 AM EDT

      Through the spring and summer months, our town hosts an open-air farmers market , which on a recent Saturday morning I skipped so that the Huz and Middle could spend a little male-bonding time after the barbershop and breakfast.

      What a thrill for Middle, to spend quality time exploring with his daddy. Together they perused the tables, admiring the bright vegetables and fruits with unique, imperfect shapes along with the scents of the gardenias, tulips, petunias and pansies and the heavenly baked goods. They met local farmers and learned about growing and cooking. It excited Middle, age 4, that he had met real growers. And he looked forward to trying their food and planting their flowers and gifting their beautiful bouquets to Mommy.

      On Just Precious, I often blog about ways that parents can teach children to make healthy choices. The goal, here, is for the lessons to begin at home, so that as children enter schools, mall food courts and restaurants, they're learning to

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