Prenatal Vitamins May Make Your Children Cleverer

A new study led by a research team at Harvard University has reported that taking multivitamins during pregnancy can "add the equivalent of up to a full year of schooling to a child's cognitive abilities." 

The results also found that early life factors including a nurturing environment was very important for a child's intellectual development including educational achievement and fine motor dexterity. 

The multivitamins studied contained iron, folic acid, retinol, vitamin D, vitamin E, ascorbic acid, vitamin B, niacin, zinc, copper, selenium and iodine. Maternal supplementation aided children's procedural memory by an additional 1/2 year of schooling and for anemic mothers, the effect equalled one year of extra schooling. 

In conclusion, the most impactful factors on a child's cognitive ability that trump biological factors include: nurturing home environment, parental happiness, parental education, socio-economic status. 

The research was published in the journal The Lancet Global Health. 

Raising Rocket Scientists

"I consider myself a hero. I don't have a cape, I don't have a golden lasso. I had a call to adventure, a call to live life bigger than myself. I found the elixir." ~ Viola Davis

Here is the curated list for that girl in your life that you were looking for. It's never too early to start empowering girls to be leaders and creators, have you considered creating a Parent Book Club to help foster community building? Community encouragement goes a long way in supporting our children in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). 

Read the full article in Huff Post on gift ideas for raising a rocket scientist (gifts aren't just for holidays): Want Tp Raise A Rocket Scientist?

To our children's futures! 

Roald Dahl, Children's Book Author

Happy 100th birthday to Roald Dahl, who is widely considered one of the greatest storytellers for children of the 20th century! The British author once said, "I have a passion for teaching kids to become readers, to become comfortable with a book, not daunted. Books shouldn't be daunting, they should be funny, exciting and wonderful; and learning to be a reader gives a terrific advantage." 

We at Gingerbread House Daycare couldn't agree more!