Showing results by author "Tricia Ferrara M.A." in All Categories

In The Academics of Play, parenting strategist Tricia Ferrara tackles this tricky subject by giving parents fresh, realistic insights into the value of unstructured play while dispelling the myths that surround it. According to her, "Play is one of the most under-utilized cutting-edge strategies for helping children discover a sense of self and mastery."

Children can lose their way as they enter the Bermuda Triangle of pre-adolescence, and parents can feel like they are piloting without instruments. Surrounded by mounting pressures from peers, adults and the media to succeed at an early age, children can become confused and overwhelmed as they are put on a fast track to meet expectations previously reserved for older children.

The first in a series, Navigating the Future Now offers a critical overview of the growing arena of advertising and marketing messages that target and, at times, exploit children. The emerging role of parents as "gatekeepers" to the minds and souls of young children and adolescents also is explained.