You are both working. You have a new baby. One parent will have to stay at home. Which one? How do you adjust your finances from two incomes to one? How do you put your career on hold? This book focuses on practical issues and emphasises each family's unique values and provides helpful tips for creating a lifestyle for both parents and children. The author has interviewed dozens of stay-at-home parents who shed light on a variety of topics which the reader may not have considered weighing the rewards and challenges; choosing who stays at home; financial planning; caring for your kids; nurturing yourself; managing your time and space; family dynamics; returning to work. An invaluable book for first time parents and newlyweds, containing many ideas and topics not to be found in other parenting books.

Melissa Stanton's The Stay-at-Home Survival Guide is an all-encompassing, truth-telling how-to book that addresses the many practical and psychological issues facing stay-at-home moms today. How do you create time for yourself? Is there really time to do it all (feed the kids, keep them busy, clean the house, balance the checkbook, and take a shower)? How do you deal with the absence of the "professional you"? An invaluable resource for mothers, The Stay-at-Home Survival Guide includes interviews with stay-at-home moms, discussions with experts (family therapists, educators, medical specialists, career counselors), checklists to help you make the most of your time and keep you balanced, and Melissa Stanton's own experiences leaving a career as an editor for People magazine to become a stay-at-home mom herself.

A practical approach to affording your kids from cradle to college. Bringing home your bouncing baby boy or girl should be an exciting time of celebration–not cause for worry about how you’re going to pay for feeding, clothing, and caring for your new bundle of expenses. The average family will spend between $11,000 and $16,000 during a new baby’s first year, and more than $200,000 before a kid’s eighteenth birthday. Unfortunately, a second child only doubles your costs, with little economy of scale for each additional baby. Before you start using these statistics as birth control, take a deep breath and know that you can have a family and make a comfortable future for your children while saving for your own important goals. The Wall Street Journal Financial Guidebook for New Parents shows you the way, with information on how to: • Safeguard your child’s well-being with wills, trusts, and life insurance • Best weigh your child-care options and decide whether to go back to work • Save on taxes with child-friendly tax credits and deductions plus tax-advantaged benefits at work • Manage your family’s health-care costs • Save for long-term costs by setting up a college fund • Spend smart and save money at every stage of your child’s development • Continue to contribute to your own retirement savings From maternity (and paternity) leave to flexible spending accounts to 529 college plans, The Wall Street Journal Financial Guidebook for New Parents provides all the information you need to meet your child’s expenses while also protecting your family’s financial security.

Cheryl Gochnauer tells what being a stay-at-home mom is like from the perspective of one who is doing it, and she offers practical tips on how you can transition to a life at home.

Family policy holds a particular status in the quest for a more equitable world as it intersects the rights of women, children, and workers. But despite local and global efforts and initiatives, the state of family policy in different areas of the world varies widely. Through a cross-section of countries on six continents, Family Policies Across the Globe offers the current state of the laws concerning family life, structure, and services, providing historical, cultural, and socioeconomic context. Lucidly written chapters analyze key aspects of family definition, marriage, child well-being, work/family balance, and family assistance, reviewing underlying social issues and controversies as they exist in each country. Details of challenges to implementation and methods of evaluating policy outcomes bring practical realities into sharp focus, and each chapter concludes with recommendations for improvement at the research, service, and governmental levels. The result is an important comparative look at how governments support families, and how societies perceive themselves as they evolve. Among the issues covered: Sierra Leone: toward sustainable family policies. Russia: folkways versus state-ways. Japan: policy responses to a declining population. Australia: reform, revolutions, and lingering effects. Canada: a patchwork policy. Colombia: a focus on policies for vulnerable families. Researchers , professors and graduate students in the fields of social policy, child and family studies, psychology, sociology, and social work will find in Family Policies Across the Globe a reference that will grow in importance as world events continue to develop.

The simple act of going to work every day is an integral part of all societies across the globe. It is an ingrained social contract: we all work to survive. But it goes beyond physical survival. Psychologists have equated losing a job with the trauma of divorce or a family death, and enormous issues arise, from financial panic to sinking self-esteem. Through work, we build our self-identity, our lifestyle, and our aspirations. How did it come about that work dominates so many parts of our lives and our psyche? This multi-disciplinary encyclopedia covers curricular subjects that seek to address that question, ranging from business and management to anthropology, sociology, social history, psychology, politics, economics, and health. Features & Benefits: International and comparative coverage. 335 signed entries, A-to-Z, fill 2 volumes in print and electronic formats. Cross-References and Suggestions for Further Readings guide readers to additional resources. A Chronology provides students with historical perspective of the sociology of work. In the electronic version, the comprehensive Index combines with the Cross-References and thematic Reader′s Guide themes to provide robust search-and-browse capabilities.

Through careful ethnography and rich in-depth interviews at a non-profit foster family agency, this book takes a look behind the scenes of our troubled foster care system.

For a century, America’s early childhood policy has been premised on a myth. This falsehood—which dictates that child care and education are somehow separate and distinct—not only suboptimizes the most important window in all of human development but costs American taxpayers an untold fortune. ItÕs time to think differently. Written in plain yet provocative language by one of the fieldÕs most respected bipartisan policy experts, The Daycare Myth makes the case for why the early years matter; why America’s longstanding early childhood policy approach sacrifices the needs of young children in favor of promoting adult employment; and why fixing the problem makes good sense, regardless of your place on the political spectrum. With straightforward guidance for policymakers, practitioners, and parents, this incredibly timely book is a wakeup call for a nation that aspires to nothing less than the wholesale transformation of America’s early childhood landscape. Book Features: Invites readers to rethink their very understanding of the early years by outlining a bipartisan case for change.Addresses the needs of policymakers, practitioners, and parents individually with practical implications and action steps for each.Melds policy with what the current science of brain development tells us about the importance of childrenÕs early years and the critical role they play in future success.Challenges longstanding assumptions, calls out ineffective approaches, and outlines a new path beneficial to children and families, employers, state and federal economies, and society as a whole.

This book provides a step-by-step plan for effectively using drama, role-play, music, art, and much more in the classroom to reach every one you teach. An outstanding resource for anyone involved with guiding and educating students of all ages.

Provides comprehensive exam review as well as test-taking strategies and study techniques.