Five benefits of spacing out your kids

According to the research paper “Birth Spacing and Sibling Outcomes” by Kasey S. Buckles and Elizabeth L. Munnich of the University of Notre Dame, spacing siblings more than two years apart results in better scores on reading and math tests for the older children. Parents naturally want to do everything they can so their child can have an advantage, but there are other pros to spacing out your children.

I can’t say the spacing itself is the sole reason for the spike in test scores. I have three kids, each five years apart, unintentionally. They all do very well in school, but so do many of their friends, and some of them are only children or siblings spaced close together. I tend to believe that the parent’s educational goals and imposed study habits combined with a child’s natural ability and quality of teachers will largely determine a child’s educational outcome.

In our hyper-driven educational system that often cares more about test scores than actual learning, I wonder how much it even matters. Still, I have to say there are some definite advantages to spacing siblings widely apart.

Here is my top five:

Individual attention. With each child, I had time alone for him when he was a baby and toddler to focus on him for many hours a day. By the time another baby was born, the baby prior to that was in school, so I happily devoted time each day to playing, teaching, and enjoying the new addition. It was lovely.

Never diaper train more than one child at a time. My hat is off to the many moms who pull double duty and potty train multiple toddlers at a time. I don’t believe I’d ever have the patience to pull off such a feat.

Stagger out tuition. None of our kids will ever be in college when another is, and that realization is huge. I especially recognize this perk since our oldest started college.

Live-in babysitters. As your oldest gets more mature each day, he can be a big help in watching the younger ones. This privilege should never be abused, of course, but sometimes having your 10-year-old watch her younger siblings — so you can finish dinner, help another with homework, or take a shower — can be purely joyful.

Prolong having a baby in the house. By the time my oldest was no longer a baby or toddler anymore, I was pregnant again with another. I was lucky enough to have a baby in our home for many years. Now that it’s over (my youngest is 11), I can’t explain how much I miss it. A couple of years ago, when the baby urge hit an all-time high, we adopted an adorable black lab. Coincidence? I think not!

Danielle Sullivan, a mom of three, has worked as a writer and editor in the parenting world for more than 10 years. Sullivan also writes about pets and parenting for Disney’s Babble.com. Find Sullivan on her blogs, Just Write Mom and Some Puppy To Love.

Relevant Directory Listings

See More

FlexSchool

<p>Our mission is to provide an engaging learning experience in a supportive environment where students are free to explore their passions, embrace their challenges and find a community of teachers and friends who understand and accept them as they are.</p> <p>Academics:</p> <p>To meet the unique needs of gifted and 2e learners – students who may have co-occurring learning challenges along with their gifts – we provide a gifted-level curriculum with built-in scaffolding, developed by credentialed experts in both gifted education and special education, as well as subject-area experts. Small, discussion-based classes ensure our students can engage in stimulating conversation with intellectual peers while receiving individualized attention and support.</p> <p>Talent Development and Experiential Learning:</p> <p>Central to our program is our strengths-based, interest-based approach to learning. All FlexSchool students pursue personal passion projects and choose from a diverse menu of enrichment activities and electives designed to support exploration and talent development. Our signature FlexFriday experiential learning program provides essential connections between classroom learning and the real world.</p> <p>Executive Functioning and Learning Support:</p> <p>All FlexSchool students have access to an extensive range of accommodations, including breaks as needed, daily executive functioning support, flexible seating, extended time, assistive technology and more. Learning Specialist support is available on every FlexSchool campus.</p> <p>Social-Emotional Learning and School Counseling:</p> <p>Our caring team of certified school counselors, under the guidance of a consulting psychologist, provide robust social-emotional learning and social pragmatics programming. Students are welcome to visit the school counselor at any time – no appointment necessary. FlexSchool counselors also maintain a collaborative relationship with parents and outside providers.</p> <p>Rolling admissions:</p> <p>We understand that student needs don’t always neatly align with the academic calendar, so FlexSchool admits students on a rolling basis. To learn more, join FlexSchool founder Jacqui Byrne live via Zoom for a Virtual Open House. To receive a call from our admissions team, inquire online, email us at [email protected] or call 908-279-0787.</p>

Advantage Care Health Centers

<p><span id="docs-internal-guid-db4b2459-7fff-adc1-4601-75b3690fc174"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #434343; background-color: #ffffff; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Advantage Care now offers in-person and Tele-Health services to all new and current patients through their secure online platform visit: </span><a style="text-decoration: none;" href="https://advantagecare.doxy.me/"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #434343; background-color: #ffffff; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://advantagecare.doxy.me</span></a><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #434343; background-color: #ffffff; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> to see how it works.  Tele-Health Services for Children and Adults include the Following: Primary Care, Psychotherapy, Psychiatry.  Advantage Care continues to take proper measures to keep their patients, community, and staff safe during the pandemic. Advantage Care Health Centers are Long Island’s premier Federally Qualified Health Centers. They accept Medicaid, Medicaid Managed Care Plans, Medicare. The mission of their centers is to provide the highest quality comprehensive primary, dental, mental, and behavioral health care services.  They offer these services to all members of the community with a commitment to those who might otherwise be excluded from the health care system, while remaining cost-effective and efficient. Advantage Care specializes in providing services to children and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities.</span></span></p>

Enabling Devices

<p><strong>Enabling Devices is a family-run business that designs, manufactures and sells adapted toys and accessible devices that make life more joyful and fulfilling for children and adults living with disabilities.</strong></p> <p> </p> <p>It started with a train set, a mercury switch, and a young boy whose therapist thought he couldn’t play with toys. In 1975 our founder, Dr. Steven Kanor, walked into a room at United Cerebral Palsy/Long Island and saw a boy sitting in a wheelchair, his head resting on his shoulder. When he asked where the toys were, the OT said, “He doesn’t have the motor skills to play with toys, and he can’t lift his head.” But Dr. Kanor was not interested in what the boy couldn’t do. He was interested in the boy's potential. The next morning, he was back. He’d brought a train set, which he’d connected to a mercury switch. The switch, the first capability switch he’d designed, was attached to the boy’s ear. When the boy raised his head, the switch made contact and the train ran around the tracks. After several weeks of playing with this toy, the boy was holding his head up straight, even when the train was not running. Dr. Kanor was elated.</p> <p>Since that day, he never stopped innovating, never stopped trying to make our products better, never stopped designing new devices. Today, our design team is just as passionate, just as creative, and just as committed to innovation as the man who founded this company. Enabling Devices is the place to find toys, devices and tools that help build more joyful, fulfilling lives. We have an extensive selection of adapted toys, capability switches, Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) devices, adapted electronics, mounts, iPad products, sensory items and products for the visually impaired.</p> <p>Over the years, the important constants remain. We’re still the same small, family-run company Steven Kanor founded in 1978, with the same values of personal connection and deep product knowledge. We’re still committed to providing caring, individualized service to each customer. And we’re still grateful for the privilege of sharing in your journey.</p>