What helps children mature with a positive sense of self?

Age? With age, a child will learn increased control, gain memory, develop cognitively, and learn language and a sense of how to plan for the future.

Supported waiting? Children have difficulty waiting, but can be supported while they wait. Talk to them. For example: "In 5 more minutes, dinner will be ready. I know you can wait that long."

Follow through? Follow through after a child waits. Do not imply a reward will come if it will not. This is part of trust!

Modeling? Adults who control their own anger, aggression, language, and needs provide positive models for their children.

Feeling in control? Provide children with age-appropriate choices. Offer two choice you can live with, and give the child an opportunity to learn to make decisions by choosing.

For Preschoolers

· Build on a child's interest by helping him or her experience or learn more about a topic. 
· Involve children in real chores and helping tasks to give them a sense accomplishment. 
· Treat children with respect. Ask their opinion and listen. Give mean-ingful feedback. Learn about typical stage develop-ment, including the development of trust, independence, and initiative. 
· During times of disappointment, let your child know you still love and support him or her. After the crisis has passed, reflect on and discuss possible ways to cope in the future.

For School-Age Children

· Respect a child's strengths, and they will respect you. 
· Help the child set goals, and then link ongoing effort with success. 
· Examine values. Self-esteem is grounded in what a person values.

For Teens

· Keep talking to teens even if it seems they don't listen or care. 
· Talk to teens about making good choices and about the many ways we express how we feel about others. 
· Say two good things before talking about any bad things. 
· Tell the teen something about yourself so they will feel safe sharing, too.

Contact Information:

Karen DeBord, Ph.D., State Extension Specialist, Child Development, North Carolina State University karen_debord@ncsu.edu

AMES, Iowa - The floods, storms and tornadoes of 2011 are taking their toll on the nation's children, who may be stressed, worried or frightened about what is happening to them and their families. Staff members from Project Recovery Iowa offer tips on talking to kids about natural disasters in this month's Science of Parenting radio program podcast from Iowa State University Extension.

The podcast is available for free download from the Science of Parenting website or iTunes.

Science of Parenting podcast co-host Douglas Gentile is an ISU Extension specialist and associate professor of psychology. He said, "We know from research that kids of different ages are scared by different things, they worry about different types of things, they have a totally different understanding of what's happening. So how do we work with kids of different ages?"

Keep Kids Safe
First, adults, parents and other caregivers need to let children know that "we're here to keep them safe and to provide a safe environment," said Teresa Zilk with the Iowa Department of Human Services, which implements Project Recovery Iowa, a free and confidential, federally funded crisis counseling program.

Remain calm and try to alleviate the children's fear, added Abby Lamont, a crisis counselor with Project Recovery Iowa. Listen to them and let them talk on numerous occasions. Let them know they are reacting normally to an abnormal circumstance.

Limit the Details
Both Zilk and Lamont suggested limiting children's exposure to the details of the disaster. They don't need to see all the news coverage. However, Zilk said, ask them about what they've seen and how they feel about it. Give them a lot of hugs and face time, and let them know the family will get through this difficult time.

"They might keep asking about [the disaster]. You might have to revisit the subject a few times," Zilk said. And, it's OK for parents to say they don't know the answer to their child's question or how to explain what's happening.

However, reinforce children's feeling of safety, Zilk said. "Yes, this terrible thing happened. But we're still a family. We're still whole. We're still able to make it."

Give Kids Times to Talk
Give older children ample opportunities to talk about their feelings, Lamont said. She also suggested engaging young children in activities that will build their resilience. For example, keep track of every time it rains but doesn't flood by marking the days on the calendar. After a few months, count the marked days to help kids learn that it can rain a lot but not flood, and they can remember that they got through it.

Children at any age may show signs of trauma, Lamont said. For example, young children may have night terrors or regress to a behavior they had when they were younger, such as clinging to their parents or bedwetting. Such behaviors are normal reactions to the stress of a disaster. However for all children, parents should watch for signs of unusually aggressive behavior, loss of concentration or inability to sleep, which may indicate that the child needs additional help to cope with the crisis.

Project Recovery Iowa serves residents of Hamilton, Story, Polk, Jasper, Warren, Marion and Wapello counties with counseling and referral related to natural disasters. Lamont said, "We're a listening ear, we're a peer counselor. We try to reassure them that, 'yes, everything that you're feeling is very, very normal.'"

Zilk encouraged other Iowans to call ISU Extension's Iowa Concern Hotline, 800-447-1985. "Someone is available 24 hours, seven days a week. You will not be able to get a crisis counselor to come to your door, but you will be able to speak to someone over the phone," she said.

Download Science of Parenting Podcasts
Science of Parenting podcasts are available for free download from the Science of Parenting website, www.scienceofparenting.org, or can be subscribed to in iTunes. Each month a new, 30-minute Science of Parenting program, as well as previous programs, will be available, as well as blog posts and other research-based parenting information.

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One of the pure pleasures of summertime in Iowa is eating sweet corn fresh from the garden or farmers' market. Gardeners have questions when it comes to getting the ears from field to plate. ISU Extension specialists offer answers to those questions; to have additional questions answered, contact the experts by emailing or calling the ISU Extension horticulture hotline at hortline@iastate.edu or 515-294-3108.

When should I harvest sweet corn?

Sweet corn should be harvested at the milk stage. At this stage, the silks are brown and dry at the ear tip. When punctured with a thumbnail, the soft kernels produce a milky juice. Over-mature sweet corn is tough and doughy. An immature ear will not be completely filled to the tip and the kernels produce a clear, watery liquid when punctured.

The harvest date can be estimated by noting the date of silk emergence. The number of days from silk emergence to harvest is approximately 18 to 23 days. Prime maturity, however, may be reached in 15 days or less if day and night temperatures are exceptionally warm. Most hybrid sweet corn varieties produce two ears per plant. The upper ear usually matures one or two days before the lower ear.

Harvest sweet corn by grasping the ear at its base and then twisting downward. Use or refrigerate sweet corn immediately after harvest. Optimum storage conditions for sweet corn are a temperature of 32 F and a relative humidity of 95 percent.

The ears on my sweet corn are poorly filled. What are possible causes?

Poorly filled ears are often the result of poor pollination. Hot, dry winds and dry soil conditions may adversely affect pollination and fertilization and result in poorly filled ears. Water sweet corn during pollination if the soil is dry. Improper planting may also affect pollination. Corn is wind pollinated. Plant sweet corn in blocks of four or more short rows to promote pollination.

How can I keep raccoons out of my sweet corn?

The most effective way to prevent damage to the sweet corn crop is to encircle the area with an electric fence. A two-wire fence with one wire 4 to 6 inches above the ground and the other at 12 inches should keep the raccoons out of the sweet corn. Mow or cut the vegetation beneath the fence to avoid electrical shorts. To be effective, the electric fence should be installed about two weeks before the sweet corn reaches the milk stage.

Are there special corn varieties that are grown to produce "baby" corn?

The small size of "baby" corn suggests that it's a special variety. However, most baby corn is actually grown from regular sweet and field corn varieties. The ears are harvested when they are 2 to 4 inches long and one-third to one-half inch in diameter at their base. Most corn varieties reach this stage one to three days after the silks become visible. While many sweet and field corn varieties are suitable for baby corn production, there are a few varieties, such as 'Babycorn' and 'Bonus,' which are grown specifically for the miniature ears.

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AMES, Iowa – Iowa Learning Farms (ILF) is sponsoring a field day at the Craig Embretson farm in Clayton County on Wednesday, July 13, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. The field day will include a complimentary lunch, information about strategies for no-till and also cover crop management. The event is free and the public is invited to attend.

Pat Schaefers, Clayton County Natural Resources Conservation District (NRCS) District Conservationist, will share information about no-till and farmer Craig Embretson will share his experiences from 20 years of no-till crop management. Field day attendees will see no-till corn following corn, no-till corn following soybean, and no-till soybean following corn. Tom Kaspar, plant physiologist with the National Laboratory for Agriculture and the Environment, will discuss the potential of fall-seeded cereal grain cover crops to reduce soil erosion, improve soil quality in corn-soybean rotations and provide early spring grazing feedstocks for cattle. Laura Christianson, Ph.D. candidate in the Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering department at Iowa State University, will discuss bioreactors and other techniques to limit nitrate transport to water bodies.

Farmers and non-farmers are encouraged to bring their families to the field day to see the Iowa Learning Farms' Conservation Station. The Conservation Station is a mobile learning lab that teaches audiences of all ages about soil conservation and ways to protect quality of our soil and water resources. The back of the Conservation Station houses a rainfall simulator, demonstrating the effects of rainfall on undisturbed soils with a variety of land covers, showing both surface water runoff as well as subsurface drainage. At the front is a learning center with hands-on displays and tools to learn about soil, water and wetlands.

Craig Embretson's field day site is located at the intersection of County Road X16 (Gunder Road) and Eagle Avenue (southeast corner of intersection), approximately six miles north of Elkader.

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