I absolutely love Pandora. I use it for finding music for my kids. Find out how.

One of my favorite things: Pandora Radio

September 2nd, 2010

Annabelle rockin to her favorite Pandora station.

Like most things in life the advice of a good friend led to an amazing discovery. When we moved from Tulsa in 2006, my friend Rebecca recommended that I check out a website that allowed a person to listen to music for free with limited commercials. At the time I wasn’t too interested in music that I didn’t already know. I had my CDs and NPR to keep me happy.

When my daughter was a baby we mainly listened to NPR. Let’s be honest,  though: it put her to sleep. Aaron listened to hip hop and claimed that Annabelle loved it. When she got old enough to start reciting some of the lyrics I said that was enough hip hop, too, and decided something needed to change.

That’s when I took Rebecca’s advice and checked out Pandora. Pandora is an internet radio that allows you to make your own stations–as many as you want. Of course they want you to buy the music they help you find, but you don’t have to buy anything. Apart from a 30-second commercial every four or five songs, the music is free.

My Advice for Using Pandora with Kids

I really recommend starting a station for your kids. If you have more than one child, you may want to start a station for each child, or you could have multiple stations for different types of music like one for lullabies, one for kids’ worship, and one for music from your child’s favorite TV shows or movies.

To start a station, click the Create a New Station button. Type in an artist’s name or a song that you may have heard your child sing. Or you can choose Find a Genre Station. The more suggestions you give for an individual station, the better the station will be at guessing what your little one wants to hear.

After you’ve made a station, listen to the music Pandora chooses. If you like a song, press the thumbs up button and it will keep playing music similar to that song. If you don’t like one, press the thumbs down button and it will not suggest music like that anymore. Some unwanted songs may creep up sometimes, but just thumbs down it and Pandora will skip to something else.

If you need help getting started figuring out what kind of music to look for, go to iTunes and search the children’s music there. At iTunes you will have access to a huge selection of music and you can preview a few seconds of each song. Unfortunately not all music on Pandora is available on iTunes yet.

My Favorite Music (for the kids) on Pandora

I’ve been doing all that for six months now, and I’ve developed some wonderful stations for my kids. I’ve also encountered tons of new artists I never would have run into without Pandora. Here are some of my favorites from the kids’ stations:

  • Yo Gabba Gabba!
  • Sesame Street
  • Justin Roberts
  • Renee and Jeremy
  • Frances England
  • The Laurie Berkner Band
  • Robert Bobert and the Bubble Machine
  • They Might Be Giants
  • Bare Naked Ladies

And so many more!

Sharing Your Stations

After you’ve made stations for your kids you will want to sing the praises of Pandora. Pandora has thought of that, too. When you’re playing a station you will see a button called options. Press options and then pick share this station with a friend. You can put in an email address and write a message explaining how great your station is.

You can also check out what your friends are listening to. Click on check it out under Friends’ Music. This will take you to a list of people you know who also listen to Pandora. You can view their most recent songs and see what their favorite artists and songs are. If you like what you see, click on the song and it will create a new station on your profile.

There are so many options on this website that bringing good music to your kids has never been easier. I highly recommend taking Pandora with you on your phone. We listen at home and in the car. It’s great on trips. It could be fun for your family to create a station for a certain trip. Make it a project for the whole family.

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New Feature-My Faves

June 30th, 2010

My Favorite Family

Let me tell you a little secret. I do not enjoy writing. Aaron thinks my articles are too short and I struggle to get what I can.

I’ve realized over the years that I am a woman of few words. Some of my family will laugh at that statement. But I pride myself on being careful with my words. I’ve had some slip ups that were uncomfortable and I didn’t like it.

Then why do I blog?

I started this blog so that I could share my knowledge and other interesting stuff with my friends. And I wanted to do that all one time. Not sending tons of emails or making lots of calls. See, back to the concept of fewer words.

To help me keep my ideas concise and easy to understand I am starting a new feature called My Faves. This feature will be the length of a Tweet, about 120-140 characters. My Faves is located on top of the current article and will convey a product, place or whatever strikes my fancy at the time.

With just a few sentences My Faves give you a glimpse into our daily lives. These snippets are often books that my family and I are reading now, movies that we watch a million times, or places that we go to often.

If you and your family have a favorite that you would like to share with us, contact me by hitting the contact button on the right. You can also follow me on Twitter or friend me on Facebook.

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The School Choice Challenge

June 29th, 2010

My little sponge.

This was a great discussion. Thanks to all who commented. Everyone has their own experiences. I chose Aaron and Heather for that very reason. I was confident that their experiences shaped their opinions and that their opinions on this subject were strong.

Despite all these different experiences and different opinions on this important decision we can all agree on this:

Any kind of learning that your child participates in away from your home must be supplemented with extra learning from parents or guardians. And that it is also important that kids who are homeschooled should be encouraged to socialize outside of the home with kids their age.  Both the supplemental learning and socialization can help your child become a well rounded person.

My special thanks go to Aaron and Heather for participating in this debate. I hope they continue to participate in further discussions on Your Homeroom.

To learn more about Aaron and his quest to make writing easy for everyone check out his blog.

To learn more about Heather and her home schooling pursuits check out her blog.

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The Point of Public Schools by Aaron Pogue

June 25th, 2010

Aaron

As a kid, I attended a little backwoods elementary school in northeast Oklahoma. I remember kind and dedicated teachers, pathetically sparse resources, and crushing boredom as I begged my parents, year after year, to bump me ahead a grade.

Before I transitioned to high school, my dad got a job in Wichita, KS, and we moved into a house half a mile from the best high school in the state. I moved from academic squalor to a public school with better educational offerings than most private prep schools.

And that should have been awesome, right? The surprising thing was that, with just a few exceptions, I was still bored. I remember coming alive in Creative Writing just to fall asleep again in Trigonometry, dealing with bullies in the halls, and the constant distraction of all the senseless drama as I begged my parents, year after year, to just let me take the G. E. D. and be done with all this stupid schooling stuff.

That’s my background. And I’m here today to tell you why public school is the right choice for your kids.

Homeschooling

What I’m not going to say is that public school can, on its own, provide your children with all the education they’ll need to succeed in life. It can’t. I have my doubts that you can, either. There’s so much to know, so many aspects of knowledge, that education has to take place in multiple vectors at multiple locations.

That’s a complicated way of saying I believe in homeschooling. I just don’t believe it’s an acceptable alternative to public school. To really serve your children, you owe them both.

The Sandbox

This is my dad’s argument. It’s the same one he gave me in second grade, and again in high school, and it’s the same one he uses now.
If anything, what he’s seen through the years has only strengthened his resolve. In fact, when I asked his advice recently (and, mind you, I was asking what he’d recommend I do for these adorable creatures), he said:

If I had it do to over again, I’d enroll my kids in the roughest elementary school I could find.

Why? For one, public schools generally have access to more resources than all but the most elite private schools (and certainly more than most families do). More than that, though, it’s about socializing.

Socialization

I’m sure some of you are already rolling your eyes right now, just because I used the “s” word. But I may not mean it the way you’re thinking.

I’ve heard it said that homeschooled kids end up “weird,” that since they missed out on the sardines-in-a-tin-can social environment all their peers enjoyed, they can’t ever function normally in society. I know that’s not true. I know plenty of perfectly successful, socially confident people who came up through a homeschool system.

I’m not worried about your ability to teach your child manners. I’m more concerned about your ability to teach your child survival, and that was precisely the principle behind my dad’s argument.

Essentially it comes down to this: at some point in our lives, we’re all going to have to deal with some undesirable characters — bullies and thugs, petty tyrants, bores and drama queens. They’re a part of life, and if you want your children to thrive, your children are going to have to know how to manage these folks.

That’s what I was learning in high school, more than anything else. All those senseless distractions from the pursuit of pure knowledge…those were the point. And in my life now I interact with people on a daily basis who try to approach adult relationships with some of those same stupid high school perspectives.

The difference is that the consequences are so much bigger now. If I put a foot wrong with a bully or a thug I could end up with a gunshot wound instead of a swirlie. If I roll my eyes at the exaggerated problems of a drama queen or mouth off to one of those petty tyrants, I could end up in the unemployment office instead of the principal’s office.

Education is a far-flung thing. I understand the desire to impart knowledge, and I absolutely understand the desire to protect our children from pointless suffering (physical or emotional). Life happens through experience, though — through diverse experience — and for many of us, public schools provide the opportunity to experience a much larger and more varied cross-section of the community than we could ever find in our own families, neighborhoods, or even churches.

Book-Learnin’

Of course, if you didn’t know me, you might read all that and think I’m dismissing book-learnin’ as irrelevant. If you do know me (or know anything about me), you know that’s not the case. I’m all about book-learnin’.

That’s really what I was addressing at the top of this article, though. Basic education happens all the time. If you’re doing your job as a parent, you’re supplementing your child’s education constantly — whether that’s a public school education, a private school education, or a homeschool education.

That’s one of the major principles behind YourHomeroom.com, and we’ve put it to use in our family. Our kids won’t be going to any kind of school for years yet, but when they do they’ll show up knowing how to read and write, and at least a little bit of basic arithmetic. And it’ll be a mark of deep shame for me personally if they find a better literature education at any level of their schooling than I provide them to fill their idle hours.

When it comes right down to it, though, the real-world facts and the basic skills taught in elementary school can easily be taught by parents. It doesn’t even take a rigorous “homeschooling” program to convey that information (which is usually given as an argument in favor of homeschooling by its advocates — because homeschooled kids can learn so much more).

Most of elementary school isn’t about that type of learning, though. It’s more about the socializing, learning and adapting to basic group dynamics and authority structures. And by the time the balance shifts in the other direction — often a transition that occurs during middle school or junior high — the level of information-based education that public schooling provides at the high school level rapidly outpaces anything most homeschooling parents could provide.

Why the sudden change? I can answer that in one word: “specialization.” High schools provide science teachers to teach the science, math teachers to teach the math, and English teachers to teach the language arts. Whether or not they’re genuine experts in their fields, these people dedicate their careers to a particular focus, and that gives them experience and perspective that’s difficult to match.

Of course, there are other options — cooperative homeschools and community schooling, private schools and magnet schools that can compete on that very specialization — but access to any of those resources can be limited, unreliable, and often extremely expensive. Public schools are everywhere, nearly all of them staffed with kind and dedicated teachers who are anxious to provide part of your child’s education.

The rest is up to you. But then, it always was.

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Homeschool by Heather Sutherlin

June 24th, 2010

Heather

As a parent, we are faced with a myriad of difficult decisions.  Should we bottle feed or breast feed?  Should we use cloth or disposable?  Should we join a play group, send them to preschool, join Mommy and Me classes?  The list is never ending!  Unfortunately too many parents never get around to asking themselves what is best for their child when it comes to school.

Most Americans simply assume that their children will go to a public school.  A small minority will struggle with which private school to send them to, but most will never really sit down and discuss the options at all.  When it comes to sending your precious little ones away to be taught and guided for 8 hours a day (or more) by adults you don’t know, shouldn’t this decision warrant a little more consideration?

My Hardest Decision

I personally found this to be the hardest decision I have yet made as a parent.  For me, it began long before my first baby was born.  You see, I was six months pregnant when I graduated from college with a degree in elementary education.  Although I loved my college experience, I was certain as I walked across the stage that day to receive my diploma of two things:

  1. I could not wait to be a mother
  2. my daughter should not have to go to a public school

Becoming a teacher was all it took for me to see every flaw in our current educational system.  Student/teacher ratios are sky high in most public schools which keeps our children from having the precious time and attention they need from their teachers as they learn.  Individualized instruction is a myth that simply can’t happen for most of our students, only those with severe disabilities who are assigned specific learning plans and personal aides.

No Child Left Behind has brought our schools to a new low, solidifying an already crumbling educational system where every learner is now brought down to the lowest common denominator as we focus on helping those who are performing worst.  Other than an occasional attempt in schools to allow students to work on thier own level in reading through programs like accelerated reading, most students will never be able to work at their own pace or on their own level, instead having to slow down for the rest of the group or being pushed on without success if they are struggling.

I personally wanted more for my children than to have to be put through that failing system.  I began researching alternatives before my daughter was even born.  That’s when I began to consider home schooling.

The Merits of Home School

At home, the student teacher ratio is phenomenal!  Even if you had a very large family, you would still be doing better than almost every private school in the country.  This means the teacher can focus on each student instead of seeing them always as a whole group.

Homeschooling allows us to begin with individualized instruction.  I can look at my child as a unique individual who has her own strengths and weaknesses, her own learning style, her own interests, and work from that point forward.  She doesn’t have to conform to a standard set for a class of 20-30 kids.

As a parent, we know our children best, so we are better suited for their education than any other professional.  We don’t have to wait months to learn their habits, learning styles, or interests.  We already know our students intimately!  And at home, our students have the freedom to do what works for them.  If she works best sprawled on her bed, then she doesn’t have to sit at the desk.  If she memorizes facts easiest by jumping rope while reciting them, then she has the freedom and encouragement to do just that.

Our goal is her success.  We’ll use whatever means necessary to help her succeed and she gets to work at her own pace.  As a teacher, I can focus on each student, giving them just what they need and moving them at their own pace toward success.

Student-Led Learning

I believe strongly in student-led learning.  This is a concept that is taught in many teacher education programs, but not free to be used in our public school system due to the extreme regulation of a teacher’s work time and environment.  They simply don’t have time for such pursuits when “teaching to the test.”  At home, however, we find it best to let the student lead the learning experience at times, so that they are pursuing their own interests in an educational and meaningful way.

This method of learning creates an internal motivation for the student that is unequivocally effective.  No amount of coercion by the teacher could ever create such a powerful motivation in students to move forward in their pursuit of knowledge.  Although we have a steady framework for learning in our home, complete with a school day schedule and store-bought curriculum, we still have freedom to allow our learners to seek out their own interests.

For instance, right now we are learning about medieval history in our school, but my son has become fascinated with Vikings.  His interest has become insatiable.  So we began buying books, looking up facts on the internet, even learning how to write runes in Old Norse.  In the public school he would be in second grade, and I can guarantee they would not be studying medieval history in second grade, much less allowing him time to take his study further into the history of Vikings.

Here he has the freedom to take control — albeit limited at this time — of his education.  He can work ahead in math (he’s halfway through his third grade book) and slow down in spelling.  This freedom benefits him not only because he loves school more than he did when he was in public school, but because it allows him more opportunity to succeed.

Because we allowed him to explore his interests, he went from being almost a year behind in reading to two grade levels ahead!  His assigned reading material is on grade level, but the extra reading he has done this year as he studies Vikings has propelled him forward since those books are all written at a higher reading level.  His internal motivation took him much farther than my (or any other teacher’s) external motivation would have gotten him.

Success Is Our Goal

We want our children to succeed at school – to excel even — and homeschooling gives them the best environment for doing just that.  Statistics continually show that homeschooled children perform better than their public school counterparts.  They do better on standardized testing in elementary school, on the ACT and SAT.  They do better because they have more motivation, more freedom to learn in an environment best suited for them and most of all, because they have teachers who are so willing to have them succeed that they are willing to go against the cultural grain, give up careers and sometimes even social connections in order to help them succeed.

Although some argue that a parent without an education degree is not really qualified to teach their children, I completely disagree.  Parents make the best teachers because they know their students better and love them more deeply.  Parents are more willing to sacrifice for their students, seek out the best methods and materials, and persevere with their students through subjects that challenge the child until they succeed (as opposed to the practice of moving a child on to the next grade level despite failure as is the habit of our schools today).

I realize that not everyone can, or should, homeschool.  But, if you are considering this monumental transition, I encourage you to prayerfully research homeschooling.  It took me 10 years to finally fulfill this desire of my heart and bring our children home again from the public school.  Fear and doubt kept me from doing what I knew to be best for my children.  Our home is healthier and happier than it has ever been and though I think I appreciate it more now than I would have if we had never sent them away to school.  I sincerely hope we never go back!

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The School Choice Challenge

June 22nd, 2010

Annabelle is ready for school.

If you are the parent of a genius or gifted child, like we all are, then I am sure you have worried about where your little superstar will go to school. Will public school be enough to keep him interested till college where his intelligence can truly be tested? Or is home school a better choice, where he can learn at his own pace, follow paths that interest him, and enter college earlier than his peers?

My Experience with Home School

These are questions that I have struggled with since I was in school. I spent my early years in public school where I collected some fond memories but not much knowledge. After that, my mom decided to homeschool me. It was great! I’d get up late, spend a few hours doing  school work, then watch TV for the rest of the day. After two years, my mom decided that she couldn’t teach me Algebra and started looking for a private school.

We visited several private schools to see what they looked like, how many kids would be in my class, and just basically what I could expect if I went there. The whole thing was so weird. I was already an awkward teenager and being paraded through a school that I might not even attend was mortifying. The kids would look at me and I’d hear them whispering, sure it was about me.

My parents settled on a small Christian school in Derby, Kansas. Close enough to home that I could drive myself but far enough to give me some breathing room. After some time, I really grew to love the school. My classmates were great, the classes were challenging, and I felt comfortable there. I played on the girl’s basketball team and participated in many clubs.

My Experience with Public School

Aaron, my then on and off boyfriend, attended one of the best public high schools in Wichita. I definitely picked up on some animosity toward my little private school, but I think he was just jealous of the boys there. There were 3 in my class and I dated 2 of them!

Anyway, he always said that he had more opportunities at his school. We had the soul-winning club and he had debate. We had sign language class and he had French, oh la la! (That’s sarcasm.) Of course, he also had access to serious musical and drama programs, dozens of Advanced Placement courses, computer labs, science labs, an Honors program, and…well, you get the idea.

He liked to point those things out, too — not necessarily in a mean way, but he took it for granted that his educational opportunities were clearly superior to mine. I didn’t necessarily agree.

Until college, anyway. That’s when I began to understand what he’d been talking about all those years. I really didn’t know how to write a decent paper or even do research for one. I seriously disliked reading. (And let me tell you a secret: there is a ton of reading to do in college!) These are just some examples of things that could have been different if I had gone to his big fancy public school.

The Great Debate

These questions and more have troubled my brain and (because I’m a mommy now) my heart. So what do I do? Public school could have more learning opportunities and social opportunities…but at the same time, it could also offer more “social opportunities.” (That’s a nice way of saying drugs and sex.) Home school may let me tailor an education to my kids’ abilities and my family’s principles, but it could also offer fewer chances to socialize. It’s a never-ending circle of what-ifs.

I have asked two great parents for some insight to help me sift through all these concerns. They should be able to offer an interesting perspective, because both are the product of a strong education first at public school and then at private universities. They’re also siblings who have been debating for a long time, so it should be interesting.

  • Heather is my sister-in-law, and she is currently home schooling her 3 kids.
  • Aaron is my husband, and he’s still lecturing me about the value of public schooling and how to get the most out of it.

These two great thinkers will present their opinions and ideas to us over the next week. And I’d love to get your opinion, too. I’m sure we’ll have some great discussions about the merits and weaknesses of school systems.

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Library Events

June 8th, 2010

Lucky Penny Players Present: The Ugly Duckling

Thursday, June 10, 2010

Location: Edmond

Times: 9:30-10:30 am, 10:30-11:30 am

Location: Village

Times: 1-2 pm

Location: Belle Isle

Times 7-8 pm

All ages welcome.

The Ugly Duckling

The Ugly Duckling

The Lucky Penny Players will be performing their swan song in their 26th Neighborhood Arts Tour. The groups’ final show will be a Lucky Penny classic; The Ugly Duckling written by original LPP Andrew Hickman. This is the timeless tale of a misfit duckling looking for his proper place in the world. Ducks, flamingoes, an alligator, and of course, a swan, will be sure to bring this Lucky Penny favorite to life.

Co-Sponsor: Arts Council of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma Arts Council, National Endowment for the Arts

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This just in. The Library is awesome!

June 4th, 2010

Today, I took my two kiddos to the library to get some new books. I am constantly amazed at their delight with libraries. It just so happened that the summer reading program began on June 1st. So, I signed both of them up. Yup, even the eight month old got signed up.

Here’s how it works: Go into your area library. Put your child’s name, age and school they attend on the card provided. On ours, I wrote home school, since they are too young for public school. Don’t forget to pick up your registration prizes: a Sonic brown bag, reading log, stickers, and a pass to the Sam Noble Museum of Natural History, and a Science Museum Coupon.

At the bottom of the card there is a place to write a goal. There are three goals you could choose from, 8 hours of reading, read 8 books or read 800 pages. There are 3 levels of goal reaching. Kids who read their goal can get prizes.

Goal 1 prizes:

  • Reading Award Ribbon
  • El Chico Coupon
  • Whataburger Coupon
  • Oklahoma City Thunder Coupon
  • Folding Flying Disk with Pouch
  • Entry in Prize Drawing

Goal 2 prizes:

  • Oklahoma Children’s Theatre Coupon
  • Reading Certificate
  • Oklahoma Redhawks Voucher
  • Elephant Bar Coupon
  • Frontier City/White Water Bay Ticket (1 ticket)
  • Entry in Prize Drawing

Goal 3 prizes:

Entry in prize drawing

Prizes for drawing:

  • Nintendo Wii
  • Digital Camera
  • $25 Visa Gift Cards
  • Science Museum Oklahoma Family Membership
  • OKC Zoofriends Family Membership
  • $10 Sonic Gift Cards
  • OKC Philharmonic Discovery Concert Series Family Passes

If you want to learn more about this program visit the Metropolitan Library System. You can also check the calender of events for great summer activities to keep your kids busy.

If you don’t live in Oklahoma City, check out your local library. Chances are they have a summer reading program too. It may not be as cool as ours but nothing ever is.

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Wait! Don’t throw that away.

June 1st, 2010

My friend Rebecca forwarded me an email about a camp program at the Science Museum of Oklahoma. They are collecting recyclables to use  at the camp. Below is a list of items that you use everyday. So pack some plastic bags full and head over to the museum. If you can donate the items before June 14, then you can get some free passes to the museum.

Contact Emily Rothrock, Event Coordinator, for your free passes. 405.602.3752

The Wish list:

  • Beads, buttons, ect…
  • Old costumes, wigs, crazy clothes, ect…
  • Shoe boxes
  • Old board games, with or without the game pieces
  • Paper towel rolls
  • Toilet paper rolls
  • Mailing tubes
  • Old headphones
  • Glass bottles of any shape or size
  • Old CDs
  • Milk jugs small and large
  • 2-liter and small soda/water bottles
  • Small margarine/butter/cream/cottage cheese tubs
  • Metal soda and beer bottle caps and tabs
  • All the cornstarch in the world
  • Aluminum cans
  • Gerber baby jars
  • Garden hoses

I think I have all this stuff already. Museum, here we come! Thanks for the heads up, Rebecca.

Click on this link to read my review of the Science Museum of Oklahoma.

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Rash Decision: Part 2, By Nicki Austin

May 25th, 2010

Scary Fevers: Roseola

Usually followed by a high fever.

Usually follows a high fever.

Roseola is a virus that affects babies and starts with symptoms that may stump you and your doctor. Most noticeable are the high fevers (up to 104 to 105), although other than acting feverish your baby probably seems just fine. As a smart parent you rush the baby to the doctor, where she is tested for strep, pneumonia, maybe even a UTI, which all turn up negative. The doctor will probably prescribe an antibiotic for an ear infection (ear drums in babies are often red when there’s fever). A few days go by without improving, even on the antibiotic, when one day the fever disappears. You breathe a sigh of relief… only to notice these small flat pink spots on the baby’s neck, chest, belly, and back. Back to the doctor you go, where she puts the pieces of the puzzle together and announces “Roseola!” and may even discontinue the antibiotic (it won’t do any good to fight the virus). I have caught a couple cases of this during the fever phase (yes, I started an antibiotic just to be safe), but when the rash showed up just like I said it might, the parents thought I could see the future or something.
  • Ages: 6-24 months
  • Seasons: All
  • Treatment is for the fever only. If the baby is given an antibiotic during the fever phase, ask your doctor if you’re allowed to discontinue it (one of the RARE times you might be allowed to stop an antibiotic when the child is better).

The Itch that Scratches: Eczema

Dry, pink, rough rash.

Dry, pink, rough rash.

In this I’m mostly referencing the “classic” childhood eczema that is often accompanied by a history of allergies and/or asthma. The “atopic triad” of eczema, allergies, and asthma often runs in families, so I’ll commonly see siblings with some combination of those. In babies this dry, pink, rough rash can be pretty much anywhere on the body, but especially the face, chest, and belly. In older kids it shows up in the folds of the elbows and knees, and anywhere else the child is prone to dry, itchy skin. Particularly long-lasting flares of eczema raise the skin lines and make them more noticeable.
  • Ages: Babies on up. Usually improves after adolescence
  • Seasons: All, with flare-ups in colder/drier months
  • Treatment: Includes ALL of the following:
  • 1. Changes in habits, like only giving baths every other day (or less) and patting, not rubbing, the skin dry.
  • Avoid scratching! Smaller kids can wear socks on their hands in their sleep. Older kids can take zyrtec or prescription anti-histamines to calm the itching.
  • 2. Prescription steroid creams: There is a ton of options, so it may take some trial periods to find out what works best. Steroids can eventually damage the skin, so I often give a stronger ointment or cream for flare-ups and a weaker lotion for milder rashes.
  • 3. Moisturizing: Eczema needs the heavy-duty “emollient” moisturizers, like Eucerin or Aveeno Cream. If a “lotion” slides off your finger before you apply it, it’s not a rich enough moisturizer to use for eczema. Compounding pharmacists can also whip up some great stuff. The not-so-hidden secret to using moisturizers to improve eczema is that you HAVE TO KEEP USING THEM. Set up a routine and be diligent about sticking to it. Your child may hate it for a while, but if you just make it part of the day, like brushing his teeth, he’ll get used to it and enjoy not feeling itchy all the time.

Suffering in Silence: Acne

I wanted to include a quick word on treating your teen with acne. It may not bother him or her at all, but it often causes teens a great deal of distress, even if it seems “mild” to parents. The last thing a teen wants is for someone to point out anything about his or her body, even his skin. I would advise you speak to your teen’s doctor in private (over the phone or in the office prior to her appointment) and ask the doctor to suggest treatment for the acne to the teen during the visit. I usually broach this topic with a teen this way: “I know a lot of teenagers wish their acne could get better. How do you feel about your acne?” This lets her know she’s just like everyone else and opens up a conversation on the topic.
  • Ages: Puberty and up
  • Treatment: 1. Skin care regimen – GENTLE cleansers like Dove Liquid or Oil of Olay. Usually harsh cleansers like clearasil or neutrogena strip the skin of natural oils, making the inflammation that leads to acne worse. Your teen should wash NO MORE THAN twice a day unless they’ve been sweating or get visibly dirty. Again, cleansing more often increases inflammation. Follow each cleansing with any prescription cream and then moisturize. This should also be a gentle, oil-free facial moisturizer WITH SUNSCREEN. The prescription creams increase sensitivity to the sun. Obviously a sunscreen isn’t needed at night but why buy two different products? It is fine for teenagers with acne to wear make-up and it will often boost their self confidence until things improve. Go to the pharmacy or Ulta or the department store and have someone help her pick a foundation that, #1 is the right shade and, #2 is non-acne forming (aka non-comedogenic) and oil-free.
  • 2. Salicylic acid or benzoyl peroxide – Chances are most teenage girls have tried everything under the sun that says “acne treatment” by the time they see me for help. If a teen has very mild acne and hasn’t tried anything yet, there are prescriptions available that have higher percentages of medicine than the OTC versions.
  • 3. I almost always start with a topical retin-A for anything more than mild acne. There are a lot of generic options now so this type of treatment is much more affortable. This is used starting out at once a day after cleansing (usually at bedtime). The creams/gels/lotions are applied over the entire face in a thin layer. It is very common to have redness and flaking, sometimes even irritation, at the beginning stages of use. In these instances cut back use to every other day until it improves. These work very well but they do take time, usually about 4 weeks to notice a big difference. If your doctor doesn’t offer a baseline photograph then take one at home before starting treatment, to offer as encouragement to your teen during treatment.
  • 4. Occasionally the acne has deeper and larger pustules that require a few weeks of oral antibiotic. These also increase sensitivity to the sun.
  • 5. Birth control – This can be helpful for teen girls who have bad acne flare-ups with their periods, but I usually don’t prescribe birth control solely for acne treatment. If your teen has painful or irregular periods and would benefit in these areas from birth control, she can consider the improvement in acne a bonus.
  • 6. Diet – Chocolate and fatty foods don’t cause acne. But, healthy foods going into your teens have a lot of other benefits. Drinking plenty of water makes the skin healthier.

I hope you’ve found this primer interesting and helpful in learning about some skin conditions you might encounter in your children.

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