Filed under: Child Development, Health and Safety, Middle school, Public school, Video Games

When I was growing up, we had mandatory PE requirements. Through eighth grade, regardless of our after school activities (a lot of us played basketball or baseball) we had PE three times a week. There was no getting out of it unless you had a limb with a cast on it. We played soccer and basketball and kickball; we ran sprints and climbed ropes and played dodgeball. Remember dodgeball?

And no, we didn't always love it, but we did it, and when we complained we ran laps or did push ups.

Today, though, it's harder and harder to motivate kids to participate in gym classes (in schools that still even offer PE, of course). To combat this, some schools are trying innovative new approaches. Like letting kids play Dance Dance Revolution during PE.

An article in today's New York Times describes students at one West Virginia middle school racing in to start their PE class, and offers this explanation: "It is a scene being repeated across the country as schools deploy the blood-pumping video game Dance Dance Revolution as the latest weapon in the nation's battle against the epidemic of childhood obesity. While traditional video games are often criticized for contributing to the expanding waistlines of the nation's children, at least several hundred schools in at least 10 states are now using Dance Dance Revolution, or D.D.R., as a regular part of their physical education curriculum. . . . Based on current plans, more than 1,500 schools are expected to be using the game by the end of the decade. Born nine years ago in the arcades of Japan, D.D.R. has become a small craze among a generation of young Americans who appear less enamored of traditional team sports than their parents were and more amenable to the personal pursuits enabled by modern technology."

I find that sad, that part about kids not wanting to play team sports. I don't think that competitive team sports should be compulsory by any means (not every kid is a gifted athlete, and we've all seen what happens when parents take team sports too seriously) but playing as a team teaches kids valuable lessons about working together. Being part of a team means thinking about yourself not as a superstar but as a member of a group; it forces kids to strategize how to be stronger and faster together.

I also find myself wondering what ever happened to just turning on some music and letting kids dance.

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Filed under: Child Development, Elementary school, Going to school

On Wednesdays, Henry has library at school, which includes computer time. When the school year started, I was delighted that he was getting time to work on the computer; because of his fine motor skills delays, doctors have told us, he will always struggle with handwriting and will need to learn to type at an early age so that he can take notes in class. At the beginning of the year, he was playing phonics games on the computer, designed to teach him to read AND type. We saw dramatic improvement in his keyboarding skills and his reading skills and just generally in his confidence level. It seemed like a good thing.

But last week, he came home and told me for about the third Wednesday in a row that he had spent his library period playing Star Wars games at the Lego website. And frankly, it made me mad.

There are a lot of really great websites for kids Henry's age (he is six and in kindergarten). I'm not even entirely opposed to the Lego site; yesterday, we sat and played a Harry Potter game that required the player to guide the characters through a maze using different keys. But I don't want my six year old playing games where he shoots and kills people, for one thing, and I certainly don't want him playing games based on movies he's too young to see.

And I don't want him doing either during the school day.

I am the most frustrated just now because this is the first time I have felt like a school is directly undermining my parenting choices. We've been battling with Henry for a year or so now about what he watches on television ("But Mom, I am the ONLY ONE who doesn't watch Power Rangers!" he will wail). I was ready for that one, and had prepared my speech about how yes, some of his friends get to do things that he does not, but he gets to do things that his friends don't and that's just the way it is. But now I'm stumped because after telling him how important it was that he follow the rules at school and listen to his teachers, even if they were saying something different from what we said at home, I am vehemently disagreeing with what this teacher is allowing.

I'm planning to talk to Henry's classroom teacher this week, and see if she can get a read on what's going on in the library class. And then I will decide what my next step is.

Have you ever had a situation like this, where your child was being permitted to do something at school that you did not allow at home? What did you do?

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Filed under: Child Development, Lifestyle, Teachers, Preschool, Elementary school, Middle school, High school, Public school, Private school, Going to school, Emotions, Discipline, Parental relationships, Likes and dislikes

There is a fascinating article in this month's New York Magazine about whether or not praising intelligence is really to a truly smart child's benefit. The article describes the case of "Thomas" a bright little boy among the top one percent of the top one percent of a school that only accepts the top one percent of applicants (whew!). His parents, however, warn that his intelligence hasn't necessarily translated into confidence in the performance of his studies. "Thomas didn't want to try things he wouldn't be successful at," his father says. "Some things came very quickly to him, but when they didn't, he gave up almost immediately, concluding, 'I'm not good at this.'" Thomas abandoned subjects like spelling and cursive and fractions because they did not immediately come easy to him.

Researchers are beginning to note a real distinction between intelligence in children and the importance of effort, and parental praise may have a large role in discouraging effort. According to a survey conducted by Columbia University, 85 percent of American parents think it's important to tell their kids that they're smart. Parental praise is viewed as universally a good thing, as it supposedly bolsters self-confidence. But a growing body of research suggests that unending parental praise of a child's intelligence may actually encourage underperformance. Researchers call it the "inverse power of praise."

I know I am guilty of it. My wife and I are both constantly telling our daughter how smart she is, if only to combat the power of all those strangers also telling her how "pretty" she is. I want her to be confident not just in her looks, but in her mind. But the research described in the New York article is pretty convincing. I wonder if the same is true for telling a kid how good looking he is? Clearly the conclusion to draw from this is not that parents should tell their kids that they are stupid, but parents should probably structure praise in way that both challenges the child to do more than s/he already does, without eroding the confidence that would allow her/him to do it.

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Filed under: Adoption, Lifestyle, Pregnancy and Birth, Family togetherness, Moms, Dads

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Filed under: Health and Safety, Lifestyle, High school, College, Teenager, 15-19 years, Celebrity style, Alcohol

Oh those Williamsburg hipsters, what will they come up with next. The same "artist" who brought the world the laboring, gaping-vagina'd Britney Spears back in 2006 has unveiled his latest commentary on popular culture---the Paris Hilton autopsy sculpture, which is being reported as some kind of "education tool" to scare kids away from drinking and driving on prom night, but seems more like a hoax designed to garner publicity for the artist. The life-size Hilton sculpture includes her pampered puppy Tinkerbell (also wearing a tiara), gripping on to her cell phone, with removable innards in her opened abdominal cavity. The rigor-mortised heiress sculpture can be seen in the hipster-mecca of Williamsburg, Brooklyn, at the Capla Kesting Fine Art gallery. The gallery is advertising the sculpture as part of a "Campaign to Rescue Women of Youth." The 'unglamorous' display also includes support material from anti-drunk driving organizations that is supposed to counter "the disturbingly glamorized trend of Hollywood's 'girls gone wild'," according to gallery director, David Kesting. Advocating teenagers to experience the Hilton display "hands-on," Kesting notes, "Paris' internals, which include her small intestines, and other elements, are removable to assist teens with an empathetic view of drunk driving tragedy from the coroner's perspective."

If you want to see more pictures of the sculpture, go here. But they may not be safe for work, children, or anyone with good taste.

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From time to time our multi-generational home expands to include my older sibling. My brother and mother were always more compatible, though also more explosive, when we were kids in the house. Their laughter came easily, their pranks were notorious and their fights were legendary. All in all, growing up around their relationship was never dull and it taught me much about the more complicated dynamics of a household.

As I have mentioned before, my mother and I have worked out a fairly harmonious existence during the last 10 months of our blended household efforts. I understand that she struggles with control issues and she tries not to inflict those issues too heavily upon me on a daily basis. And for them most part all is well, until another family member stumbles into the mix. Currently my brother has been visiting for about two weeks, he has a flexible work schedule that allows for extended visits away from his home. My kids couldn't be more excited to have a grown man in the house. He gets down on his knees to chase Devon, he listens while Cassidy praddles on and on about who's who and what's what in her classroom and he helps Loren with technical computer issues. My brother helps with the many areas that my mother and I can't always address on an everyday basis. However, my sibling and my mother have yet to reach an easy existence with each other. An argument before breakfast in not an uncommon occurrence, another one by lunchtime is to be expected and yet another one by dinner is the routine. In between those outbursts are laughs and hugs as they realize their faults and apologize to one another.

The patterns of childhood do not necessarily disappear just because we are all getting gray hair and gravity is taking its toll on our bodies. To live with our families is a constant reminder of who we were and who we will always be. My mother and brother will always laugh and fight through their days. They will anger easily and then apologize in the next minute. This relationship will always boggle me for as long as I try to understand it. As ever I feel blessed that I have the opportunity to know my family so well, even if sometimes I do wish for just the tiniest bit of space to enjoy the silence.

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Filed under: C-section, Birth complications, Recovering from birth

Christianne Ray of the small town of Puyallup may be the smallest woman in the state of Washington to ever give birth to a baby. Standing just 2 feet, 9 inches tall, Christianne gave birth to a baby girl last Tuesday. Kyrsten Elise was born by cesarean section, measuring 14 inches longa nd weighing 4 pounds, 8 ounces. That may not seem like much, but young Kyrsten was born nearly half as tall as her mother! I guess that shouldn't be too much of a surprise, though---her father Jeremy Bowden stands 6 feet, 4 inches tall.

Kyrsten does have some health issues and will remain in the neo-natal intensive care unit for a few weeks before she can go home with her proud parents. Christianne's pregnancy was difficult as well. At first doctors did not believe she would be able to carry the baby to term. "Cause they thought the baby was going to press on her lungs and she wasn't going to be able to breathe and neither was the baby or something," Bowden said. "They didn't want that happening, so we've proved them wrong about a lot of the stuff." Bowden says he needed to carry herup the stairs after she gained 30 pounds during her pregnancy. Again, that may not seem like much, but Christianne only weighed 80 pounds to begin with.

Christianne is not the smallest woman to ever give birth---that record belongs to Dolletta Boykin, who at 28 inches tall gave birth to two children back in the 1880s.

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Filed under: Teachers, Elementary school, Middle school, High school, College, Public school

Last week, representatives in the house overwhelmingly passed a bill that would provide 600 million dollars in scholarships and stipends for those studying math and science on their way to becoming teachers. Such students who commit to teaching elementary or secondary school could get an annual scholarship of $10,000.

The legislation was prompted by a 2005 report from the National Academy of Sciences that warned of foreign competition facing the U.S. labor force. "That report told us that now is the time to take bold steps to ensure that our children are prepared for the jobs of the future and that our nation can continue to compete in the global economy," said Rep. Bart Gordon, D-Tennessee.

It's nice to see the government taking positive action towards improving our public education system. "The kids are going to benefit," said Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-California,. "The schools are going to benefit. The country is going to benefit." I agree completely. I just hope these teachers stick with it for more than a couple of years.

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Filed under: Child Development, Gear, Health and Safety, Lifestyle, Media, Toys

I'm not sure about you, but I am not keen on the idea of anyone reading my brain waves: robots, gods, aliens, or toys. And I don't think I want anything tapping into my kid's mind parts, either. Or perhaps I am just nostalgic for the days where a Speak & Spell was the most technical item in the toy box.

Yet technology companies such as Neurosky Inc. are promising toys that react to a child's brain power by tapping in to their electrical signals. Capturing energy from the human brain could add a compelling element to a video game, for example, where players could control avatars and video game characters with nothing but their thoughts. The company used the "Tiger Woods PGA Tour" as an example, noting that players who master zen-like concentration would nail a put, while players who let their minds wander or get nervous would not play a successful round on the green.

One company, CyberLearning, is already using the technology for a video race car game where the user can only reach maximum speed when they're focused. If attention falters or anxiety gets too high, cars slow down to a chug.

Although it's been known for a long time that mental focus can spur physical reaction, I'm not sure I'm ready for this new technology. Between my cell phone and my wireless laptop and my land line and my iPod, I have enough electrical currents buzzing around my head. Plus, I'm not sure I would want my kid to master "zen like concentration". If he did, couldn't he concentrate on being the boss of me?

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Filed under: Lifestyle, Media

(Monday April 30, 2007) What did you watch last night? Did you catch Desperate Housewives or Brothers and Sisters? You can see my reviews of them by clicking on the titles. In all fairness, I will go ahead and tell you right now that I like Brothers and Sisters better. I started watching the show because I offered to review it. I was already reviewing Desperate Housewives anyway, so why not? They are on back-to-back. But Brothers and Sisters is a show I can sink my teeth into. And, okay, Rob Lowe is Hottt too.

Let me ask you this: Is it just me, or as you have had kids, has your taste in men/women (except your husband/wife, naturally) changed? I have pretty much grown up with Rob Lowe. But the fact that he is older than I am, married, and has his own kids does increase his sex appeal. I find that even though Jude Law is beautiful, he is too... young. But the fact that he has kids is certainly appealing. Men like Keanu Reeves are fun to look at, but what on earth would we talk about?

Okay, how did I get started on that? Oh yeah. Brothers and Sisters. Dave Annable, who plays the youngest brother, Justin, is now dating Emily VanCamp, who plays his sister Rebecca. Ewww! Annable, what happened with Grey's Anatomy's Kate Walsh? I know Annable and VanCamp are no actual relation, but way to make it even harder for me to suspend my disbelief.

What are you going to watch tonight? I am probably going to watch CSI from last Thursday... (Hey, I am a parent, remember-- I never said I could promise to watch shows ontime).

Note: You can catch re-runs of CSI on Spike TV late at night, and House re-runs are shown on USA on Friday and Monday evenings.

See you Sunday!

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