Hi, I’m Tracy Solomon. Isabela Granic is a great friend and highly-respected colleague of mine. When she asked me to join this blog, I have to admit that there was some hesitation. For one thing, compared to Is, I am a cyber toddler. Blogging and social networking are two things I've actively resisted so far, for a number of reasons. But let’s face it, it’s the wave of the future and it’s where our children will be interacting soon enough (if they aren't already).  Spurred by Isabel’s enthusiasm, I started reading the blog and, you guessed it, I was hooked. I think what really struck me was how much the blog reads like the kinds of conversations she and I frequently have about motherhood, work, family life and oh yes, juggling it all!  

While we have lots in common, we are also lucky enough to have some complimentary differences. Isabela has twin boys as you know, I have one 5-year-old son. He is a child of passionate interests and some unusual abilities that really keep me on my toes. Isabel’s expertise in developmental psychology is more in the social and emotional development arena, mine is in cognitive development. My key interests are in symbolic reasoning (how children learn to decode media from pictures to videos – fiction and non- to books and eventually school texts) and spatial reasoning (how children learn to navigate) and also at the intersection of these; children’s comprehension of maps, scale models, graphs, rulers etc. All of this is, of course, related to more formal learning which is how I came to my current research in early mathematics education. Although these areas are where my own research is focused, as a developmental psychologist, I'm pretty much interested and reading up on all aspects of development; basically, anything that changes over time for children. After all, you cannot just slice the emotions or the thinking and reasoning out of the child and study it in isolation. The challenge, or the puzzle, is that it’s all going on together!

It’s been an interesting journey weaving this knowledge into parenting. Funny what happens when your emotions are involved and the stakes are so very high. I may give advice, but I just as often ask for it. Frankly, my parenting and my research are that much richer since my son was born largely because of everything I've learned from other parents. I'm very excited about the chance to be interacting with you on this site. I’ve already learned a lot from what I’ve read. I hope that you too continue to find the blog useful in all sorts of ways.