The Pica Perspective

My Recommendations for Play Equipment

I received an e-mail from a mom yesterday, asking what kind of play equipment she should have for her son in their backyard. She knew that such items as balls and jump ropes were good, but wondered what my ideal list of equipment would include. She also asked if I thought there was any merit to having a swing set or slide in the yard.

Since these were such good -- and important -- questions, I thought I'd share -- and expound upon -- my answers here...

While a swing set and slide aren't necessarily "must-haves," they certainly do offer children benefits. For example, pumping higher and higher on a swing is good for muscular strength. It's a developmentally appropriate way for children to experience "strength training," as is climbing the steps to the slide. But, as I told the mom who wrote me, a tire swing will do just fine; and I actually prefer some kind of climbing structure (like monkey bars) to a slide. Children get so little upper torso exercise these days, and climbing, hanging, and swinging can provide it!

The main problem with swing sets and slides is that they're "static" pieces of equipment, meaning that they pretty much have only one use; so they do nothing to stimulate the children's creativity, and kids become easily bored with them. So, in addition to this equipment, I recommend "stuff" with which you and the kids can create and re-create obstacle courses. Naturally, the swing set and slide can become part of the course; but you should also have jump ropes to travel over and under, hoops to travel through and around, tunnels made from big, empty boxes, and planks to traverse or jump over.

Of course, the jump ropes and hoops can be put to other uses as well, which puts them high on my priority list. I also love the idea of children having ribbon sticks and juggling scarves to run and spin and use their imaginations with. And I recommend balls in a variety of sizes, shapes, and textures. I'm a big fan of small beach balls, which are soft, colorful, lightweight, and nonthreatening! They're perfect for early catching and kicking experiences.

There was a study published in the January 2008 issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, in which it was reported that children played harder and longer when their child care centers provided such portable play equipment as hoops, balls, jump ropes, and riding toys. I'd venture to guess that the same can be said about children's backyards!

The Trouble with Testing

Without getting into an overly political discussion, I have to say that one of my most sincere wishes as it concerns the upcoming changing of the guard at the White House is that the new president will do away with No Child Left Behind! A recent AP article that appeared in my local paper summed it up rather well. Titled "Grading system frustrates parents," the piece explained that "accountability efforts -- widespread since the advent of the federal No Child Left Behind Act -- have raised the hackles of parents and educators across the country, who fault the methodology and question the wisdom of tying test results to the job safety of teachers and principals."

Amen! And amen to the parent who said, "This is hurting my son's education. It's all based on the faulty premise that school tests are measuring what kids are learning."

Nowhere else in the world do standardized tests play such a large role in education. In fact, as of ten years ago, we were spending about $200 million a year on testing in the public schools (nearly double that of 20 years ago). Between school, college, and the workplace, Americans take about 600 million standardized tests a year! And all this despite the fact that the experts state that standardized tests are indicative of neither intelligence nor potential. Although the claim is that standardized tests determine a person's potential -- for later success in school/college and in life -- their actual ability to do so has been "awful," according to Peter Sacks, author of Standardized Minds: The High Price of America's Testing Culture and What We Can Do to Change It. (Watch for my interview with Peter Sacks on Body, Mind and Child...coming soon to a computer near you!)

The AP article pointed to a 2006 survey by the Washington-based Center on Education Policy that found that since the passage of NCLB, 71% of the country's 15,000 school districts had reduced the hours of instructional time spent on history, music and other subjects to allow for more time for reading and math. I'm all for reading and math. But there are other things in life, and expecting reading and math to sufficiently comprise an "education" would be laughable if it weren't so darn frightening!

Addicted to Praise

For the past decade or so, the so-called self-esteem movement has led parents to believe that plenty of praise and positive reinforcement gives children the self-esteem they need to succeed. That if repeatedly told how talented, smart, and wonderful they are, children will come to be talented, smart, and wonderful -- regardless of their efforts and actions, and sometimes despite the fact that their efforts and actions indicate otherwise. Blue ribbons are handed out to all participants at an event, regardless of performance. Happy-face stickers are placed on all homework assignments, regardless of execution. "Good job!" is the mantra of Mommy and Daddy, regardless of what the child has or has not done. One young mother even told me she never said no to her four-year-old son, because she didn't want to negatively impact his self-esteem!

These examples may seem harmless, especially considering they make children feel good -- temporarily. But there are many problems with the concept of giving children self-esteem, not the least of which is that it isn't possible. (You can foster it, but you can't offer it up like Halloween candy.) Also, trying to bestow self-esteem through constant praise and positive reinforcement simply doesn't prepare a child for the realities of life. Someone is eventually going to say no to her. Instead of a happy-face sticker, a teacher or an employer is going to hand over a heavily red-penciled report and demand to know what she was thinking. Blue ribbons will not be awarded just because she walked through the classroom or office door. And no one is going to say "Good job" unless she's actually done one. (Even then she might not hear it!)

The self-esteem movement has also resulted in what experts are saying is a link between instant gratification ("Thanks for coming; here's your blue ribbon.") and a lack of frustration tolerance in children. In Sharna Olfman's book All Work and No Play: How Educational Reforms Are Harming Our Preschoolers, psychiatrist Marilyn Benoit notes that she's seeing a growing number of "explosive" children who are "unable to cope with the slightest of frustrations, and lash out aggressively. They are entitled, demanding, impatient, disrespectful of authority, often contemptuous of their peers, unempathetic, and easily wounded."

When a child is convinced that he is superior to everyone else and can do no wrong, eventually reality comes crashing down -- and then so, too, does the child.

Children who have been overly and falsely praised -- for everything from "being nice" to reading -- are less likely to keep doing whatever they've been praised for doing. Kids aren't dumb. They know false praise when they hear it. And they know they're going to receive it regardless of what they do. So why bother making an effort?

Kids easily become addicted to praise. The more they get, the more they need. In Child Development, noted educator Bev Bos writes: "[Children] do not have to be told they are wonderful because they are born knowing they are. They are born with an inherent self that is intellectual, complete; an inherent self that can dance, sing, write poetry, and tell stories, and has a sense...of joy about learning, growing, and doing."

Kudos to the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood

Some weeks it's just not possible to write two posts! This was one such week, but now that I'm here I want to follow up on my last post, which introduced you to the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood.

Yesterday, for my Body, Mind and Child podcast, I interviewed Susan Linn, Director of CCFC; and she mentioned that they've had two recent wins:

• McDonald's had been advertising on report cards in Seminole County, Florida. Report cards went home to elementary school students in an envelope adorned with Ronald McDonald promising a free happy meal to students with good grades, attendance, or behavior. CCFC launched a campaign, got a huge amount of national press around the issue, and McDonald's just agreed to stop the ads. Here's the press release on the program: http://www.commercialfreechildhood.org/pressreleases/reportcard.htm and CCFC's statement on McDonald's decision to pull the program: http://www.commercialfreechildhood.org/pressreleases/ronaldmcdonald.htm.
• In 2006, CCFC filed a Federal Trade Commission complaint against Brainy Baby and Baby Einstein for false and deceptive marketing (http://www.commercialfreechildhood.org/pressreleases/babyvideoftccomplaint.htm) because they claim their videos are educational for babies. While the FTC did not act in the way CCFC (and I) would have liked, both companies have significantly changed their websites and no longer make claims that their products are educational.  (Unfortunately, for many parents, the perception that the brands are educational persists). Here's the follow-up press release: http://www.commercialfreechildhood.org/pressreleases/ftcfailure.htm.

For those of us who often feel helpless against the onslaught of misinformation being fed to parents and the public, it's wonderful to know that there are caring, committed people out there with whom we can join and fight!

I also want to mention that in preparation for my interview with Susan, I read her book, Consuming Kids: Protecting Our Children from the Onslaught of Marketing & Advertising. It's wonderful and well worth reading! I'm embarrassed to say how unaware I was of the extent to which the commercialization of childhood has impacted society in general and our children in particular.

Here's to a Commercial-Free Childhood

I received an e-mail this week from the Associate Director of the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood -- a group I'd somehow never heard of, despite the fact that we share a distaste for the "commercialization of parenting."

According to their website, CCFC is a national coalition of health care professionals, educators, advocacy groups, and concerned parents who counter the harmful effects of marketing to children through action, advocacy, education, research, and collaboration. They support the rights of children to grow up -- and the rights of parents to raise them -- without being undermined by rampant commercialism. CCFC is headquartered at the Judge Baker Children's Center in Boston.

The website includes newspaper and magazine articles about marketing to children, articles, fact sheets, and details about CCFC's current campaigns -- including efforts to stop advertising on Webkinz, the most visited virtual world for children in the U.S., to stop McDonald's from advertising on report cards, and (my personal favorite) to require Disney to show evidence that the Baby Einstein videos are beneficial for babies.

Whether you're a parent or an educator, or simply someone who cares about children, CCFC's website and work are worth checking out. Also, their 6th annual summit, "Consuming Kids: The Sexualization of Children and Other Commercial Calamities" will be held in Boston April 3-5. It looks to be an important and exciting event!

Letting Babies Be

Until this morning, I'd never heard of the Pikler approach to infant care; but it certainly resonated with me, so I want to pass along some information about it...

An article called "Giving Babies the Best Start in Life" gives a nice overview of "Pikler babies." Here's a brief excerpt:

"Pikler babies" are recognized in Budapest even when they are older by the grace and confidence with which they move. The roots of this grace and harmony lie in Pikler's notion of what a baby needs for optimal development: lots of space and time for free, uninterrupted play, supported by sensitive, observant attention during slowed down daily care routines. The approach is based on respect for babies as human beings and not objects and trust in them to develop as they are meant to without our interference or "help."

What a novel idea, huh? For a Body, Mind and Child podcast (not yet posted as of this writing), I talked with motor development specialist Dr. Jane Clark of the University of Maryland about "containerized kids." Jane and I worked together on the task force that created national guidelines for early childhood physical activity, and it was at one of those work meetings that a colleague used that expression. In short, "containerizing" babies refers to the practice of always having them in something, like car seats, high chairs, carriers, and the like. Not long ago, a pediatrician appearing on Good Morning America claimed that infants are spending upward of sixty waking hours a week in things! Jane and I talked about what a bad idea that is from a motor development perspective, but the pediatrician on GMA pointed out that such practices also can have a negative impact on a baby's personality.

Unfortunately, too few of the babies in today's American society will grow up displaying "grace and confidence." We'll be lucky if they display such necessities as coordination and independence!

Resolve to Stay Active through the Winter!

I'm very big on goals and resolutions, and one of the goals I'm proud to say I checked off my list from last January was the one about being more physically active! Yes, you can surmise from that that I wasn't previously practicing what I preached -- at least not on a regular enough basis. But last spring I discovered the joy and ease of simply going for a walk at the start of each weekday morning, and it quickly became something I wanted to do and missed when I couldn't. So, as the temperatures plunged below 20 degrees here in New England and I discovered that 16 degrees was my limit for tolerating the cold, the question became: What now?

The answer came in the form of an old love: dancing. These days, when the thermometer tells me I won't like it outside -- or the snow in the driveway is too steep to get through, as it was this morning -- I put on either Ricky Martin's Vuelve or the soundtrack from Moulin Rouge and take to the living room floor for 25 minutes! My heart starts pumping, the endorphins start flowing, and if I close my eyes I can even imagine I'm on a tropical island somewhere!

So, if you're also a wimp when it comes to winter but want to make sure you and your family stay fit, here are some ideas:

• Set aside time every day for active indoor play. Make sure there's someplace where you and your child can safely move -- where knickknacks and sharp corners aren't a concern -- and do some dancing yourselves. You might also put on a lively march, or break out the pots and pans, and hold a lively "parade" around the house. Play an energetic game of Follow the Leader, or set up an obstacle course using furniture, empty boxes, a jump rope, and other props.
• If you've purchased active toys, as recommended in my previous blog "Ask Santa for Active Gifts," be sure they're not neglected in favor of more sedentary toys and games. Play Twister as a family, join your child in juggling colorful scarves, and time yourselves to see how long you can keep a balloon in the air!
• Join a program like Gymboree, ensuring both social interaction and physical activity on a weekly basis.
• Bundle up and go outside! If I can go outdoors when it's above 16 degrees, so can you! Take a walk, play in the snow, catch falling snow on mittens or pieces of black construction paper. You can even give your little one a child-sized shovel so she can "help" with the driveway or walk!

Spending time outdoors and physical activity are both essential to your health and to your child's. Don't let him get the impression that, for three months during the year, neither is possible!