A good friend of mine is taking a course and writing a paper. She needs help finding resources. Does anyone know of any books, articles, essays, and/or web sites she may find useful? TIA!

"In my english class I have to do an argumentive essay and I chose the topic "Stay-at-Home mom". I was wondering if you knew of any websites which would give me statistics on why it's a good idea for a mom to stay home with their child at least for the first few years. You know, like, how it affects the child vs. a child going to day care."

By Dana on Saturday, February 28, 2004 - 09:16 pm:

I would try archives at news stations web sites. Also, shows like Dateline. They often do stories about that kind of thing. Check Oprah's site too.

By Kate on Saturday, February 28, 2004 - 09:44 pm:

The First Three Years of Life by Burton L. White.

EXCELLENT book! He has a few others, and they are all really good and all say that the child greatly benefits from an at home parent.

By Bobbie on Saturday, February 28, 2004 - 10:19 pm:

Kiss Guilt Goodbye

By Bobbie on Saturday, February 28, 2004 - 10:20 pm:

Study of Early Child Care

By Bobbie on Saturday, February 28, 2004 - 10:25 pm:

Staying at home: Advantages and disadvantages

By Bobbie on Saturday, February 28, 2004 - 10:32 pm:

More kids cared for by moms at home

By Bobbie on Saturday, February 28, 2004 - 10:39 pm:

Dream Job: Stay-at-Home Mom

By Bobbie on Saturday, February 28, 2004 - 10:42 pm:

This is a good one..
Commentary: Choosy moms usually choose guilt

By Mommyathome on Saturday, February 28, 2004 - 10:50 pm:

Check the Dr. Phil website. He's mentioned several times on his show about research done showing that stay at home moms work the equivelant (sp) of 2 full time jobs. He might have some links on there.

By Bobbie on Saturday, February 28, 2004 - 10:58 pm:

VALUE OF A STAY-AT-HOME MOM

By Bobbie on Saturday, February 28, 2004 - 11:00 pm:

GOOD NEWS FOR MOMS: NO ONE MISSES YOU

By Bobbie on Saturday, February 28, 2004 - 11:07 pm:

Applause for Stay-at-home Moms

If these are no good and she is looking for something else tell her to narrow down what she is wanting a bit and I will see if I can find anything else..

By Feona on Sunday, February 29, 2004 - 07:43 am:

Actually I heard it is good for the mom to be home with teenagers too.

By Trina~moderator on Sunday, February 29, 2004 - 09:55 am:

By Bobbie on Sunday, February 29, 2004 - 12:19 pm:

Feona, I think to be honest that it is just as important if not more important to be at home with your teens. I know that there have been a lot of times that if I had held down a full time job on top of my parenting I probably would not have been there in situations that I know I made a huge difference in the life of my older two. DD will be 15 and there are a lot of talks that we have had at spur of the moments and I think who would she have talked to if I hadn't been here and would she have made the right decisions with out discussing through with me first. The teen years are the years were they form their morality, their ethics, the develop empathy and for the first time in their lives with proper parenting the completely see that the world does not revolve around them.. Yes they learn this stuff earlier on but they don't get a full grasp of how it applies to their lives until they are able to apply the lessons learned to situations. Meaning, saying mean things hurt peoples feelings (you say this to your 4 year old) then one day that child (at 12) see's the effects that making fun of someone has on another child and they feel it (empathy) not just hear it and they make decisions for their own life based on that empathy.... Kids are every evolving and they need to have a solid home bases to come back to to question life, to feel comfort, to get the education about life that no school setting can or will ever offer. We as parents need to be the corner stone for our children. We send them out to the world but we need to be available for that question, that hug, that support that they will look else where to find if we aren't there...