LONDON — Should your baby be fed according to a schedule or on demand? A new study suggests that demand-feeding is associated with higher IQ scores, but a casual link can not be decided so far.

Researchers at the University of Essex and University of Oxford reported that they investigated data of more than 10,000 children born in the early 1990s in the Bristol area in Britain.

The IQ scores of eight-year-old children who had been demand-fed as babies were between four and five points higher than the scores of schedule-fed children, says the study published in the European Journal of Public Health.

This difference is also evident in the results of tests at ages five, seven, 11 and 14 when the children were in school.

Lead researcher Maria Iacovou, at University of Essex, said: “The difference between schedule and demand-fed children is found both in breastfed and in bottle-fed babies.”

“To give a sense of the kind of difference that four or five higher IQ points might make, in a class of 30 children, for example, a child who is right in the middle of the class, ranked at 15th, might be, with an improvement of four or five IQ points, ranked higher, at about 11th or 12th in the class.”

However, she stressed that at this stage, it should be very cautious about claiming a casual link between feeding patterns and IQ.

“This is the first and only study of its kind, and further research is needed before we can say categorically that how you feed your baby has a long-term impact on his or her IQ and academic attainment, and before we can say definitively what the mechanisms are by which this relationship comes about,” she added. (Xinhua)

Boston, MA (PRWEB) – Noyo, an educational software startup company based in Boston, is excited to announce the availability of its iPad Spanish learning app, designed to teach vocabulary to novice students ages four and up. With lively graphics, amusing storylines, and enthusiastic voice-over by a native speaker, the Noyo Spanish educational app for kids is designed to systematically boost the vocabulary of young students through a fun and engaging interface.

Noyo’s attractive, interactive platform features nearly 200 custom-illustrated scenes. Packed with vocabulary words voiced by a native speaker, and featuring built in assessment questions, this educational app is designed to help students learn over 1,800 Spanish vocabulary words and phrases.

“Currently, there is no other interactive language platform like Noyo on the market,” said co-creator Mike Sullivan, who serves as Chief Learning Officer. “The software developed for Noyo Spanish makes learning intuitive and recall a cinch for kids of all ages. We have had tremendous feedback from teachers, students, and parents alike.”

Noyo Spanish, an innovative departure from typical flashcards, takes young learners on a virtual journey through a colorful landscape of exciting scenes. The Spanish curriculum introduces words and phrases in context and the highly visual delivery of the material makes remembering new vocabulary easy.

“Noyo brings something new to the educational app marketplace,” said Ted Chan, Noyo’s CEO. “It responds to a need for language learning products that are engaging, interactive, and enjoyable for kids.”

Noyo links up nearly two thousand vocabulary words to entertaining images and high-quality audio in order to provide a strong educational foundation for language learning. An experienced team of graphic design artists brings vocabulary to life with comical characters and amusing scenarios that will be loved by children of all ages.

Noyo is great Spanish language app for children eight targeted vocabulary units, each with its own set of assessment questions for maximally effective learning.

Features of the Noyo Spanish iPad app for kids:
-Over 1800 vocabulary words, each reinforced by supporting audio, visual representation, and written translation
-194 top-quality, custom-illustrated scenes, packed with friendly characters and amusing scenarios for kids of all ages
-Audio by a professional voice artist who is a native Spanish speaker
-8 targeted units (Food, Travel, City, House & Home, Seasons, Animals, Schools, Sports)
-Built-in assessment questions at the end of each unit to reinforce learning
-Highly visual intuitive, user-friendly navigation system
-Content designed for self-study for new language learners of all ages, for parents to use with young children, and for teachers to use in the classroom
-Available in Spanish, with other languages, including English, French, Italian, Mandarin and Portuguese, coming soon

Noyo was created through the combined vision of beloved Spanish schoolteacher Mike Sullivan and innovative mobile software entrepreneur Ted Chan, who specializes in mobile user interface design.

Houston, Texas (PRWEB) – Leon The Lion teaches children that they have potential. The author Leon Terrell Ash emphasizes through Leon The Lion that with potential the sky is the limit. Children enthusiastically follow along in the book as the big bright pictures tell a clear and simple story about the word, “Potential.” Leon The Lion believes everything can be done and anything can be achieved.

Join Leon The Lion as he inspires and encourage the youth. Leon explains to his friend Krystal the “Potential” that she has and how it works. Join Leon The Lion on this journey. Leon The Lion’s message is one word, “Potential!” Visit http://www.TerrellAsh.com for more information and to order Leon The Lion. Contact: Facebook “Leon Terrell Ash.”

Leon Terrell Ash is the author of three books. He worked as a chemist, nurse, and now author.

Recession is really hitting every one in the family hard. As reported in the Wall Street Journal, many parents are now opting to do away with disposable diapers. Hence, sales for these have gone down.

The volume of diapers sold in the U.S. slipped 1% in the four weeks ended Sept. 4 from a year earlier, extending a string of similar or steeper declines stretching back to August 2010, according to Consumer Edge Research, whose retail-sales tracking doesn’t include Costco Wholesale Corp. or Wal-Mart Stores Inc. Dollar sales fell nearly 3%, indicating parents are both cutting back and trading down to cheaper private labels.

Dollar sales of diapers in the four weeks fell 4% at Huggies maker Kimberly-Clark Corp. Procter & Gamble, maker of Pampers and Luvs, saw dollar sales drop 2.5%. Even generics were down, with sales of private-label diapers slipping 0.5%.

Disposable diapers, when you really factor in the cost, can be very expensive for a family who barely gets by with minimum wage. As a result, some families are opting to use disposable diapers longer than they should, resulting in the rise in the sales of rash creams.

There may also be other indication as to why this is happening, aside from the recession. Parents may be choosing to use cloth diapers because it’s a lot more practical and healthy for the environment.

Other parents may also be opting to buy in bulk or at discounts, to save on cost.

Are you still using disposable diapers for your baby or have you taken an alternative route?

New research reveals that the majority of American adults think that children need more pressure to succeed academically. Interestingly, students do not agree.

OnlineDegrees.com has designed an infographic that highlights information from a 2011 Pew Global Attitudes Survey and a study of American students called “Success with Less Stress,” which both discuss parental involvement and pressure when it comes to their child’s academics.

More than six out of 10 Americans surveyed in the Pew report say that parents do not put enough pressure on their children to succeed academically. Their views are shared in nearly half of the countries surveyed, including Lithuania, Spain, Brazil and Israel.

Surprisingly, students at high-performing American schools feel the exact opposite, as the student survey revealed. Instead, they shared that they feel overwhelmed and 70 percent of students said that they “often or always” feel stressed about their school work. For example, students are persuaded to succeed in school, sports and other extracurricular activities, which can leave them feeling burnt out. On average, students spend 3.07 hours doing homework per night, which equals to 552.6 hours a year.

“Parents and their children have been battling over school and homework for decades,” said Michael Stearns, spokesperson for OnlineDegrees.com. “This study gives us the numbers we need to understand both sides and viewpoints.”

Evidently, the debate between parents and students is not only an issue in the United States. Adults surveyed in India, Kenya and Pakistan think that parents push their children too much to be successful.

“It’s hard to say what the right amount of academic pressure is,” commented Stearns. “Both parents and students understand the importance of academia, but the numbers of who thinks how much is too much are definitely different than what we expected.” (PRWeb)