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Strollerderby
If you’ve got a smart kid, one who is capable of learning far beyond the norm for his or her age, what sort of education would you want for them? Would you want them to be taught as much and as quickly as they could handle? Or would you prefer they be given the same work as their peers, so as not to stand out? I know someone who is strongly opposed to the gifted program, primarily because of the unhappy experience he had as part of the program. In his case, the gifted designation served to ostracize him from his peers.
Recently a commenter asserted that raising a child is identical to raising a dog. “Both can be encouraged to good behavior through rewards and discouraged from bad behavior through punishment.” “Both demand enthusiastic praise and consistant (sic) (non-angry) discipline.” “Just like a dog, you must put a plastic cone on a child’s head to keep them from chewing on their butt.” Okay, I made that last one up. Or did I?
Many took umbrage with the commenter’s remarks, but I (always the scientist) decided to put them to the test. Over a weekend I pitted my three-year-old against our 1 ½ year old border collie to once and for all resolve the question: who is smarter, a toddler or a dog? Here are the competitors.
Pulling out those ABC flashcards to give your tot a head start on early reading? You might want to include the family dog in on the lesson. According to a recent study, your dog just might be as smart as your toddler.
Okay, so no one is suggesting that dogs can learn to read. But they can “count” to five and recognize up to 250 words, including signs and gestures. That, leading dog researcher Stanley Coren tells CNN, puts them on level with your average human 2-year-old.
Joslyn Gray 
Amber Doty 
Julianna Miner 
Monica Bielanko 
Sierra Black 
Meredith Carroll 
Carolyn Castiglia 
Sunny Chanel 
Madeline Holler 
Wendy Michaels 
Rebecca Odes 
Danielle Smith 
Danielle Sullivan 
Katherine Stone 
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