The Pica Perspective

In Honor of Recess Week

Next week -- March 2-6 -- is National Recess Week! So Tara Parker-Pope's article, "The 3 R's? A Fourth is Crucial, Too: Recess," is perfectly timed.

Major points in the article include the following:

• A study published this month in the journal Pediatrics studied the links between recess and classroom behavior among about 11,000 children age 8 and 9. Those who had more than 15 minutes of recess a day showed better behavior in class than those who had little or none. Although disadvantaged children were more likely to be denied recess, the association between better behavior and recess time held up even after researchers controlled for a number of variables, including sex, ethnicity, public or private school and class size.
• Harvard researchers reported in The Journal of School Health last month that the more physical fitness tests children passed, the better they did on academic tests. The study, of 1,800 middle school students, suggests that children can benefit academically from physical activity during gym class and recess.
• A small study of children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder last year found that walks outdoors appeared to improve scores on tests of attention and concentration. Notably, children who took walks in natural settings did better than those who walked in urban areas, according to the report, published online in August in The Journal of Attention Disorders. The researchers found that a dose of nature worked as well as a dose of medication to improve concentration, or even better.
• Other research suggests that all children, not just those with attention problems, can benefit from spending time in nature during the school day. In another study of children who live in public housing, girls who had access to green courtyards scored better on concentration tests than those who did not.

Dr. Romina M. Barros, a pediatrician and an assistant clinical professor at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine and lead researcher in the the first study cited above, is quoted in Parker-Pope's article as saying, “Sometimes you need data published for people at the educational level to start believing it has an impact,” she said. “We should understand that kids need that break because the brain needs that break.”

Since we have research going back as far as 1885 showing that the brain needs breaks in order to be productive, I can't help but wonder just how much data it's going to take. But until every elementary school has at least one recess a day, we should be grateful for all the data we can get. And we should use every bit of it to fight back!

And for more info to use in the fight, listen to what Olga Jarrett, president of the American Association for the Child's Right to Play, had to say about recess in this week's featured interview on Body, Mind and Child!

Slipping Behind

A documentary examining the cost of today's educational choices to our children and our future:

Thursday, March 5, 2009

&

Friday, March 6, 2009

Dolby Laboratories

Lobby level

1350 Avenue of the

Americas

between 54th & 55th Streets

New York City

7:00 PM

 Screenings followed by facilitated conversation with

Director, Vicki Abeles

&

 Sara Bennett, Co-Author of The Case Against Homework

RSVP to julie@reellinkfilms.com - Space is limited!

 

SLIPPING BEHIND is a close-up look at the pressures on today’s students, offering an intimate view of lives packed with activities, leaving little room for down-time or family time.    Parents today are expected to raise high-achieving children, who are good at everything: academics, sports, the arts, community-service. The film tackles the tragic side of our often achievement-obsessed culture, with interviews that explore the hidden world of over-burdened schedules, student suicide, academic cheating, young people who have checked out.

SLIPPING BEHIND asks the question: Are the young people of today prepared to step fully and productively into their future?

 We hear from students who feel they are being pushed to the brink, educators who worry students aren't learning anything substantive, and college professors and business leaders, concerned their incoming employees lack the skills needed to succeed in the business world: passion, creativity, and internal motivation.  The filmmakers take viewers to schools across the country to talk to teachers, parents, students, and experts including:

 

Denise Clark Pope, author of Doing School: How We Are Creating a Generation of Stressed Out, Materialistic, and Mis-educated Students

 

Madeline Levine, author of the best-seller, The Price of Privilege: How Parental Pressure and Material Advantage are Creating a Generation of Materialistic and Unhappy Kids

 

Deborah Stipek, Dean and Professor of Education at Stanford

 

Dr. Kenneth Ginsburg, an adolescent medicine specialist at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and author of an American Academy of Pediatrics report on the importance of play; and

 

Sara Bennett, founder of Stop Homework and co-author of The Case Against Homework: How Homework Is Hurting Our Children and What We Can Do About It.

 

Wendy Mogel, author of the best-seller, The Blessing Of A Skinned Knee: Using Jewish Teachings to Raise Self-Reliant Children

 

SLIPPING BEHIND is a call to families, educators, experts, state and national leaders to examine current assumptions on how to best prepare the youth of

America

to become the healthy, bright, contributing and leading citizens we need.

If you don't live in the NYC area take a look at the film web site to see where else it will be showing and/or to make arrangements to show the film at your school, in your home, at your PTA meeting, at your film festival, etc.

The film is a great way to start a discussion at your school.

To pre-order the film and join the conversation on the bulletin board: www.reellinkfilms.com

The Serious Need for Play/The Less-Than-Serious Need for Statins

Thanks to ExchangeEveryDay for calling my attention to this article!Titled "The Serious Need for Play," the article appears in Scientific American, which certainly lends credibility to the fact that children must play!

Here are the article's key concepts:

• Childhood play is crucial for social, emotional and cognitive ­development.
• Imaginative and rambunctious “free play,” as opposed to games or structured activities, is the most essential type.
• Kids and animals that do not play when they are young may grow into anxious, socially maladjusted adults.

Read the article. (It makes a great advocacy piece, should you need to promote the value of play to administrators, policy makers, etc.) Then listen to my interview with Stuart Brown, who's  quoted prominently in it.

 

In other news, if you've had questions or concerns about the AAP's recommendation that statins (cholesterol-lowering drugs) be prescribed to children as young as 8 deemed "at risk," see this piece titled "Not Many U.S. Kids Need Statins." Then listen to my interview with Dr. John Abramson, author of Overdosed America. As far as I'm concerned, Dr. Abramson -- along with the title of his book -- says it all!

Who Says It's Too Cold Outside?

I heard somewhere that children in Alaska go outside as long as the temperature doesn't dip below 20-below! I've also heard, as I'm sure you have, that a picture is worth a thousand words. With those two statements in mind, I've decided simply to present the following five pictures of my little friend Jake (and mom and brother). You'll get the hint!

And the Winner Is...

On January 23rd, I told you that, in response to the toy industry's annual Toy of The Year (TOTY) award, to be presented this year on February 15th, the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood had decided to grant an annual award of its own. They're calling it the TOADY (Toys Oppressive And Destructive to Young Children), and they asked the public to choose from among five possibilities: a do-it-all baby doll, a Batman video game, a kid-sized Cadillac, an electronic stationary bike, and a Barbie Dallas Cowboys cheerleader doll.

Here's part of CCFC's e-mail announcing the winner:

More than 6,000 votes were cast in CCFC's inaugural competition for the TOADY (Toys Oppressive And Destructive to Young Children) Award for the worst toy of the year. With 40% of the vote, Barbie sailed to victory over the Power Wheels Cadillac Escalade (21%), the Smart Cycle by Fisher Price (19%), Baby Alive Goes Potty (10%), and the Lego Batman Video Game (10%). The people have spoken. 

Mattel didn't respond to our request for comment, but reached at her home in Irvine, Texas, Dallas Cowboy Cheerleader Barbie said, "Take that, Bratz! I beat out a $350 toy gas guzzler and a stationary trike hooked up to a TV. Thanks to all my friends at Mattel - I wouldn't be here without them."

For fifty years since her launch, Barbie has promoted the worst gender stereotypes to young children ("Math class is tough!" and "Lets go shopping!"), but the Barbie Dallas Cowboy Cheerleader Doll sunk to new depths. Rated appropriate for age six and up, the doll comes with the shortest of short shorts, stiletto boots, and a revealing halter top. The preposterously skimpy outfit allows children to get a better view of Barbie's dangerously thin body supported by impossibly long legs. The co-branded doll sends a clear message that they belong on the sideline, not in the game.

As I mentioned in my original post, I was torn between two. Knowing my feelings about physical activity for children, you may be surprised to learn that I did not vote for either the electronic exer-cycle or the Cadillac Escalade but for the Barbie doll! Here's my reasoning: I found the Barbie doll repulsive!

Yes, as Wendy Z. wrote, I'd rather have children on real bicycles -- outside in the fresh air and sunshine! But here's where a parent's judgment comes into play. If allowed to use a toy like this only when it's not possible to go outside (when it's pouring out or 20 degrees below zero!), I think it's acceptable. If a child can't go outside and is going to play with an electronic game (and what kid isn't these days?), it may as well be one that promotes physical activity! Of course, parents also need to ensure balance here: If a child has to be indoors, she or he should be encouraged to play with a balance of toys, some of which should definitely be non-electronic!

The Cadillac Escalade came in second for me. This toy I see no reason for whatsoever. In addition to its ridiculous cost and the fact that it promotes the worst in consumption, it discourages physical activity!

Still, even as appalling as I found the Cadillac, I could not get past what the Barbie doll represents: success via sexualization, "participation" from the sidelines, and anorexia! Let's hope that parents' good judment keeps this one on the toy shelves...and soon to the warehouse where they store the results of ideas they never should have had!

Discouraging News

As reported in the January/February issue of Child Development, a recent study has determined that children ages 3 to 5 aren't nearly active enough -- even when they're playing!

A University of South Carolina study looked at 539 children in 24 community-based preschool settings and found that 89% of the children's so-called "physical activity" was sedentary. Even when the children played outside, 56% of the activity was sedentary, 27% was light physical activity, and only 17% was moderate-to-vigorous physical activity.

This falls far short of what's recommended for preschool children. National Association for Sport and Physical Education (NASPE) guidelines suggest that children ages 3 to 5 accumulate a minimum of 60 minutes a day of structured physical activity, and engage in at least 60 minutes and up to several hours daily of unstructured physical activity. These guidelines further state that preschoolers should not be sedentary for more than 60 minutes at a time except when sleeping.

There were two other findings with this study: The preschool teachers did little to encourage physical activity, and children tended to be more active when balls and other items were made available to them, especially when outdoors and when open space for play was available.

I'd say the solutions are pretty clear. Wouldn't you?

Children's Fitness Books

Thanks to Kara Thom for permission to reprint this post from her blog!

Three Good Children's Fitness Books We read a lot at our house. Olivia, Suess, Fancy Nancy and Skippy John Jones are always at the top of the heap. Fortunately these books are enjoyable for both parents and children. Is there anything worse than having to read a book you despise? And then getting called out when you try to skip over a page or two?

A few of our other favorites are fitness books. As I go about preaching fitness as a family value, they're the books that drive home the message right before drifting off to dream land, where yoga poses and fun runs dance through their heads. 

The Busy Body Book, by Lizzy Rockwell. There aren't many books out there that show kids getting fit or kids engaged in fitness. Very little exists beyond your standard hare and tortoise story. The Busy Body Book, however, covers kids fitness without ever mentioning the word "exercise." The book explains why it's important to move your body, and then what happens inside your body when you're busy and why good nutrition, hydration and rest are important, too. My kids love the anatomy lesson and all the pictures in the back that depict kids engaged in various physical activity. 

My Daddy is a Pretzel, by Baron Baptiste. If your children have ever watched you practicing yoga at home, or better, if they've tried to join you in various poses, then I highly recommend this book. It's a cute story with the explanation and illustrations for nine different kid-friendly yoga poses. My girls now know the names for each pose and how to do them, without the assistance of the book. Besides, doing a little yoga before bedtime is never a bad idea, and if you haven't managed to squeeze in your workout yet, then join them and let that count!

See Mom Run, by Kara Douglass Thom. Oh, right... that's me! What are blogs for if not for a little shameless self-promotion? The truth is, I wrote this book before becoming a mom. But you know what? I wouldn't change the story one bit. Penny's a little girl who "helps" her mom train for a marathon. Her mom becomes that role model I believe is so important for young kids to have if they're going to grow up being fit, too. And, by books end, Penny is running in a fun run with her mommy. My twins were three before I included this book in their personal library and I didn't bother explaining that mommy wrote the book (even if they did understand, would they care?) and I'm delighted to say that I don't ever have to pick the story out for them--they choose it on their own (thank goodness or my dreams of making it as a writer would be crushed).

Those are our favorite children's fitness books. You have any to share, too?

How Much Homework Is Too Much?

Do today's kids have too much homework? What constitutes "too much?" Should elementary-school students even have homework at all? What about preschoolers?

Homework is the subject of much debate across the country. According to a new survey, reported last week in the Washington Post, children aren't the only ones who dislike homework; parents aren't crazy about it either. In fact, parents and teachers don't always agree on why homework is assigned -- or how involved parents should be in helping their kids get it done.

There is very little evidence showing that homework helps elementary-aged children learn. According to the experts, young kids should not get homework in areas that haven't been completely explained in school. Despite this, many of the parents surveyed felt teachers give homework to kids on subjects they haven't learned well while in school. Sixty-eight percent of the parents surveyed said that teachers use homework to cover material they haven't had time to teach in class.

If this is an issue for you and your children, I highly recommend The Case Against Homework: How Homework Is Hurting Children and What Parents Can Do About It by Sara Bennett and Nancy Kalish. Two other resources to check out:

• Sara Bennett's website: Stop Homework
• My interview with Sara Bennett for Body, Mind and Child

And if you'd like to weigh in on the debate, go to the Edutopia poll and cast your vote!