The Pica Perspective

What to Look for in an Organized Program

In the latest (March) issue of Parents Magazine, I'm quoted in a piece on the best "classes" for toddlers. With that in mind, I thought I'd expand on my thoughts here...

Even if your little one is too young for organized sports (and you know I think they are if they're under 8), you may still want to participate in some kind of structured physical activity program. You may be looking for regularly scheduled opportunities for you and your child to socialize -- to get together and have fun with other parents and children -- or to set aside a certain time each week where physical activity is guaranteed. If so, you won't have any trouble finding programs from which to choose. The difficulty may lie in choosing the right one.

Many centers, in the tradition of playgrounds, provide space, equipment, and opportunities for moving and socializing. Some offer Mommy/Daddy-and-me "classes" for babies and toddlers. Some offer drop-off programs for preschoolers. The latter type should have a small participant-to-instructor ratio (no more than 10 children per adult). With any kind of program, the instructors should be well trained, with special understanding of early childhood. The equipment will be child-sized, but they should also be of the types that were originally created with children in mind. That means there are no treadmills or barbells -- no pieces initially designed for adults but later miniaturized for children. Finally, the program must have a philosophy of fun first -- of play, as opposed to regimen.

Beware of programs that promise to improve your child's physical prowess, "accelerate" his skill development, or get him "pumped up" (increase his muscle strength). The first two aren't physically possible. The final promise is somewhat of a possibility, but generally strength training isn't appropriate for children under 12 (primarily because the bodies of younger children aren't yet fully developed). Even if getting pumped up were a possibility, because fitness is fleeting -- an ongoing process, as opposed to a finished product -- any pumping up gained will be lost as soon as your child stops working at it.

If your child is still a baby, it's best to avoid infant exercise programs that call for working your little one's limbs. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) warns against programs in which a baby's limbs are exercised, held in various positions, or otherwise manipulated. Naturally, you wouldn't intentionally push beyond your baby's limits. Still, it's all too easy to do, and pediatricians are seeing more fractures and muscle strains as a result of programs like these.

Before making a decision, visit the centers you're considering and bring your child with you. If the program is intended for infants, the emphasis should be on ensuring one-on-one time between you and your baby, during which you gently play and move together. If your child is older, ask yourself which programs look like the most fun. Which offer a balance between structure and free choice for the children? Are their goals developmentally appropriate? How well do the instructors interact with the children? Most important, which program is your child most enthusiastic about?

Inappropriate Praise

In January I wrote a post called "Addicted to Praise." In it, I lamented the fact that the self-esteem movement had resulted in parents praising their children regardless of what they did or did not do, all in the name of making them feel good about themselves. One of the points I made was that praise is a form of extrinsic motivation and, as such, failed to help children develop intrinsic motivation -- satisfaction experienced from doing things for their own sake.

Now along comes psychologist Carol Dweck, author of a new book called Mindset: The New Psychology of Success, whose research has shown that children praised for effort and the process they're engaged in fare much better than those praised for how smart and talented they are. The former, she says, results in a "growth mindset," while the latter creates a "fixed mindset."

In an article in Scientific American, Dr. Dweck writes: "The students who held a fixed mindset...were concerned about looking smart with little regard for learning. They had negative views of effort, believing that having to work hard at something was a sign of low ability. They thought that a person with talent or intelligence did not need to work hard to do well. Attributing a bad grade to their own lack of ability, those with a fixed mindset said that they would study less in the future, try never to take that subject again and consider cheating on future tests."

Students with a growth mindset, on the other hand, "think intelligence is malleable and can be developed through education and hard work. They want to learn above all else. After all, if you believe that you can expand your intellectual skills, you want to do just that. Because slipups stem from a lack of effort, not ability, they can be remedied by more effort. Challenges are energizing rather than intimidating; they offer opportunities to learn."

According to Dr. Dweck, students with a growth mindset are "destined for greater academic success" and are "quite likely to outperform their counterparts" who have a fixed mindset.

My interview with Carol is featured this week on Body, Mind and Child. Listen to learn more about mindset, "unteachable" kids, learned helplessness, and the role of mistakes in the learning process!

Play, Private Speech, & Self-Regulation

Yesterday on National Public Radio's Morning Edition, a program called "Old-Fashioned Play Builds Serious Skills" aired. The discussion involved the "commercialization and co-optation of child's play" and its effects on private speech and self-regulation.

Private speech is the kind of talking kids do to themselves when they're playing: figuring out what they're going to do and how they're going to do it. It's a skill that, when carried over into adulthood, helps individuals overcome problems and manage emotions. But because fewer children are playing "make-believe" and engaging in unstructured activity, private speech is a skill that's disappearing.

So, too, is the ability to self-regulate disappearing. According to the article at NPR's website, "Kids with good self-regulation are able to control their emotions and behavior, resist impulses, and exert self-control and discipline." No small feats.

Accompanying the article are suggestions for "better ways to play." Among the suggested activities is Simon Says, an activity I've always liked (when modified for constant participation) for its promotion of body-part identification and active listening skills. It never occurred to me that this simple game is also great for promoting self-regulation because, in order to succeed at it, children have to think before they act and not do something!

                                                                     
This week's featured interview on BAM Radio is "Connecting Your Child with Nature," with guest David Sobel, author of Beyond Ecophobia: Reclaiming the Heart in Nature. In it, David discusses some of the ways in which children play in unstructured ways outdoors!

Music to My Ears

We haven't talked yet about music in this blog. It's not because I think music is unimportant in early childhood. On the contrary, I'm a huge proponent of the need for music in children's lives and education. I can't imagine how anyone can live a fully satisfying life without music in it, but for children it's absolutely critical!

In my presentations, I tell audiences that music:

• is vital to the development of language and listening skills;
• helps improve attention span and memory;
• expands vocabulary;
• alters moods -- to soothe or energize, as needed;
• increases motivation to communicate with the world; and
• heightens one's sensitivity to aesthetics!

You can read what a stay-at-home dad has to say about it in his blog, "A Family Runs Through It." There's also some great information in this piece:"Language Development and Music: Music Can Help Children Learn to Talk and Communicate".

Early childhood music specialists say that children should experience music through listening, singing, moving, playing, and creating. "Playing" can be as simple as banging on pots and pans. And "creating" covers a wide range: everything from creating movements to go with the music to making up lyrics to humming an "original song."

Plato, it seems, was a huge music fan. He said: "Music is a moral law. It gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, a charm to sadness, gaiety and life to everything. It is the essence of order and leads to all that is good, just, and beautiful, of which it is the invisible, but nevertheless dazzling, passionate and eternal form."

Sensory Integration

Yesterday I interviewed Christy Isbell for Body, Mind and Child. Christy's a pediatric occupational therapist and co-author of a book called Sensory Integration: A Guide for Preschool Teachers. Although sensory integration is certainly a hot topic in education these days, I must admit that I didn't know as much about it as I should -- especially considering I'm a movement person, and movement is involved on so many levels when there are problems with sensory integration.

Let me start at the beginning. Sensory integration occurs in the central nervous system as the body gathers information through the ears, eyes, nose, mouth, skin, muscles, and joints. Christy explains that although we're taught all through school that there are five senses, there are actually seven. The other two are "hidden." They're the vestibular sense, which has to do with movement and balance sensation, and the proprioceptive sense, which alerts us to our body's position in space.

When there are problems using the information that comes in via the seven senses, it's called Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD). Children with SPD fall into three categories: sensory avoiders (the most common), sensory seekers, and sensory under-responders.

Although there are a variety of ways in which these problems manifest themselves, according to Christy they all have "an enormous impact on children's overall development." SPD in its many forms also has a tremendous influence on a child's ability to learn. Among the symptoms are poor attention span, difficulty focusing, poor handwriting, and low self-esteem. I was particularly fascinated by Christy's description of sensory seekers who are in constant motion and often misdiagnosed as having ADHD. For such children, she said, drugs like Ritalin won't have any effect.

Because SPD is still not commonly understood and too often results in the children who suffer from it being misunderstood, it's an important topic for both educators and parents. Watch for Christy's interview to go live on BAM Radio. In the meantime, I highly recommend her wonderful book on the subject!

Are You Too Tired to Play with Your Kids?

According to a study published this week, almost half of the parents in the United Kingdom say they don't have the energy to play with their children. Here's the rest of what the study reported:

• Parents who spend time doing physical activity with their under 10 year olds sleep better, are less likely to feel stressed, and have better behaved children.

• Almost half (46%) of parents questioned said that the stresses of everyday life left them sapped of any energy to play actively with their children.

•   On average, almost two thirds (64%) of UK parents spend less than an hour each day in energetic activity with their child.

• Of the parents interviewed, more than a quarter (26%) said they spent less than 20 minutes a day exercising with their children.

• Just over half (51%) of parents who exercised with their children for less than 20 minutes a day described their home life as "unhappy".

• In contrast, of the 36% of parents who spend more than an hour every day exercising with their children, more than three quarters (79%) described their home life as "happy."

•   Exercise levels have a significant bearing on parents' moods towards their children.

•   Of the least active parents, 72% confessed they get irritated by their offspring's behavior.

• In comparison, 65% of parents who spend an hour or more exercising with their children each day said they did not often find their child's behavior irritating.

  The study also revealed that modern parents admit to a number of avoidance tactics to get them out of physical activity.

• More than half (51%) confess to using the television as an "electronic babysitter" to avoid strenuous activities.
   
• 62% say that when they take their children out to play, they are more likely to choose parks with cafes or supervised soft play areas where they can rest instead of playing with their children.
  
  
• As well as being too exhausted for play, almost one in five (18%) parents said they found playing with their children boring.

So, what do you think? Is the situation the same for American parents? On what points do you identify? Disagree? Let me know!

What Causes Childhood Obesity?

As I may have mentioned before, I've signed up to receive Google alerts on topics that are of interest to me. "Childhood obesity" is one such topic, and it's certainly the one for which I receive the most alerts!

Every day there are stories from all around the world about the problems associated with and the causes of this epidemic. But today I found it particularly interesting because, in one e-mail, there were stories pointing in two different directions. One study has determined that children who get the least sleep have a 92 percent higher chance of being overweight or obese than children who sleep enough, while another determined that children who get fat tend to do so because they have a genetic predisposition towards obesity. In other words, the first study pointed toward "nurture" as the culprit and the other pointed toward "nature."

So what's the truth? What really causes childhood overweight and obesity? I don't think anybody can say for sure! But here's what I think:

• It only makes sense that heredity would play a role in a child's weight. My concern is that news of this study may convince some parents that they have no control over the situation. That they're relieved of the responsibility of ensuring their children eat right and get the appropriate amount of physical activity. The truth is, every child needs to eat right and be physically active in order to achieve optimal health. Weight shouldn't be the only motivation!
• Whether or not it plays a role in an individual's weight, children need a lot of sleep -- and often much more than they're currently getting! Children from birth to age four require 12 to 15 hours of sleep in a 24-hour period! Children ages 5 to 12 need 10 to 11 hours of sleep. According to the National Sleep Foundation, sleep is especially important for children as it directly impacts mental and physical development.

Yes, these studies are important; I don't think we as a society should ever stop looking for answers and solutions. But for every problem there will surely be conflicting answers and solutions. Our only choice, therefore, is to use common sense -- and common sense, as it regards children's health, is that kids need to eat right, move often, and get enough rest.

The Case Against Homework

Homework, much like recess, is a real hot-button topic these days. And, as is the case with recess, the research says one thing and the schools are doing another.

Yesterday I interviewed Sara Bennett, co-author of The Case Against Homework: How Homework Is Hurting Children and What Parents Can Do About It. I must admit that, although aware that kids were getting a lot more homework these days (what seemed like too much homework to me), I had no idea how bad things had gotten -- or how severe the consequences were.

What I learned was that guidelines from the National Education Association and the National Parent Teacher Association specify that children in kindergarten through grade 2 should be assigned no more than 10 to 20 minutes of homework per night. Some experts recommend less. But according to a 2006 Associated Press- America Online poll of 1,085 parents, elementary school children average 78 minutes of homework per night! But perhaps most disturbing is this fact: there is no correlation between homework and academic success in elementary school!

Homework, it seems, has more downsides than upsides. Among them:

• no time to play
• no time to do nothing
• the disruption of family time
• nightly battles between parents and kids
• stress, stress, and more stress, which impacts children's health
• the creation of "homework potatoes" (time spent on homework, in addition to that spent watching TV, is contributing to childhood overweight and obesity and a tendency toward sedentary living)
• a distaste -- sometimes even a hatred -- for learning

For more information, including suggestions as to what you can do to fight this trend, visit Sara's website: Stop Homework.

"Accelerating" a Child's Development

While researching material for A Running Start: How Play, Physical Activity & Free Time Create a Successful Child, I heard and came across a number of startling stories. Among them: one mother told me she was being pressured to enroll her daughter, who was 2-1/2, in the local competitive soccer program (!); and my editor told me a friend had enrolled her 9-month-old daughter in "preschool prep" (whatever the heck that is!).

Situations like these arise from the related myths that "earlier is better" and that it's possible to "accelerate" a child's development. The truth is that neither of these is true, and Marcy Guddemi, executive director of The Gesell Institute for Human Development, whom I interviewed this morning for Body, Mind and Child, confirmed it. The Gesell Institute is a pioneer in the field of child growth and development, so they should know. Marcy told me that children go through the exact same stages of development in the same order but at varying rates -- each child at his or her own pace -- and that there is nothing a parent can do to hurry that pace!

In other words, all the educational toys, computer software, and organized programs in the world will not help a child be more ready for school or sports. In fact, according to Marcy, the only thing children need to be ready for the world is attentive parents and caregivers who talk to them, read to them, and play with them.

Here are a couple of quotes on the subject from two other experts whom I've had the pleasure of interviewing:

• From David Elkind, author of The Hurried Child: "Hurrying children into adulthood violates the sanctity of life by giving one period priority over another."
• From Joan Almon, president of the Alliance for Childhood: "Children are not machines. You cannot simply add more fuel and speed them up. They are governed by internal processes that are sometimes called 'the laws of child development.' We cannot ignore these natural developmental timetables without doing serious harm to children."

In other news, here's a report of a study showing that parent training programs can't stop toddler tantrums. And just a few days after I blogged about testing and No Child Left Behind, I came across a fabulous posting on NCLB. It's at Elizabeth Wahl's blog, Springs to Mind.