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Lisa Holewa was amazed by how easily her daughter's kindergarten class moved from one project to another. There was no whining, no tantrums.

At home, Holewa's daughter dawdled or tried to negotiate when changing tasks, and Holewa assumed it was because she wasn't firm enough. But the teacher, Joan Rice, simply had the 5-year-olds put their unfinished projects in a "Not Done" pouch -- giving them a signal that they would get to return to the project.

"That's the moment when I thought there's really something magical going on here," Holewa says.

Holewa, a former reporter for The Associated Press, went on to write, along with Rice, "What Kindergarten Teachers Know: Practical and Playful Ways for Parents to Help Children Listen, Learn and Cooperate at Home." The book, released Tuesday by Penguin Group's Perigee division, is aimed at parents of 3 to 6 years olds.

Here are five of their tips:

Get a child's attention: Be physically in the child's presence when speaking. Make eye contact, and touch him on the shoulder or hand to get his attention.

Break up tasks into pieces: It's important to have clear endings and beginnings to activities and to give specific directions broken into manageable steps. Instead of saying, "Clean up this mess," they recommend saying, "Put all the cars into this bin then put it on the shelf in your bedroom."

Play is important: True play isn't participating in organized sports or playing computer games. It involves children using their imagination, such as using wooden blocks to build a roadway for race cars.

Create a routine: For reluctant sleepers, follow a relaxing, consistent routine every night to build toward bedtime. Parents can sprinkle "sandman's dust" or baby powder over children before sleep, or rub "sleep potion" or body lotion on arms and legs as a gentle massage.

Use quiet time: Some teachers feel the concept of a "time out" has become overused and punitive. The authors suggest approaching a child gently before the quiet time with words like, "You could use a quiet time to relax." That allows children to save face with their friends.

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New dads twice as likely to become depressed, study finds

Fathers of 9-month-olds are about twice as likely as other men their age to show symptoms of major depression, which also can hurt their children: Depressed fathers read less to their kids, and the children know slightly fewer words by age 2, a study suggested last week .

Depression in mothers is known to hamper children's academic performance and mental health. But the study on fathers, presented at the American Psychiatric Association meeting in Washington, D.C., is among the first to suggest that fathers' depression in early childhood affects children.

In the study, 10 percent of the dads with 9-month-olds had symptoms that met the criteria for clinical depression, says James Paulson, study leader and a psychologist at Eastern Virginia Medical School in Norfolk. That compares with 5 percent for U.S. men the same age, he says.

"Anybody who's had a baby knows it can be intensely stressful and intensely pleasurable at the same time," Paulson says. "The man may feel increased financial demands, fatigue from a loss of sleep, a change in his relationship with the woman -- any of these could contribute to depression."

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U.S. parents' baby knowledge lacking, study finds

Nearly a third of U.S. parents know surprisingly little about typical infant development, and this lack of understanding can rob their babies of much-needed mental stimulation, researchers said, according to Reuters New Service. "There are numerous parenting books telling people what to expect when they're pregnant," said Dr. Heather Paradis of the University of Rochester Medical Center in New York.

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Protect your eyes when playing sports

The warmer weather brings more outdoor sports, and with them, the increased danger of eye injuries.

The Pennsylvania Optometric Association and American Optometric Association urge even casual athletes to protect their sight by keeping street eyewear off the playing field. Conventional frames and lenses do not meet the minimum requirements for impact resistance in most sports. Sports-protective eyewear is tested to meet rigid standards. Because all sports have different visual demands, an optometrist with expertise in sports vision can recommend the proper eyeglasses or contact lenses for a patient, or design a vision-therapy program to maximize visual skills for a specific sport.

For more information about sports vision, visit online.

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