What Helps Kids Focus Better - and Why They Need Help
by Daniel Goldman
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The other day a kid rode by, texting while riding down the street on his bike. I saw a group of kids in a fast-food joint having lunch. Instead of talking and just having fun together they were each absorbed in a tablet or smartphone. They may as well have been alone.
A middle-school teacher complains her recent crop of students haven't been able to understand the textbooks nearly as well as those in previous years.
Our tech - tablets, texts, Facebook, tweets, you name it - has changed childhood. And that has huge implications for how our kids' brains develop the ability to pay attention - and to learn.
Kids learn best when they can maintain sustained attention, whether to what a teacher is saying, their textbook, or their homework. The root of learning is keen focus; distractions kill comprehension. But the new normal for young people continually interrupts their focus with distractions.
This is particularly alarming in light of very strong research results showing that a child's ability to resist the temptation of distraction and stay focused predicts how she will fare financially and health wise in adulthood. Some call it "self-control", others "grit" or "delay of gratification." It boils down to the tenacity to keep your eyes on your goal (or schoolwork) and resist impulse and distraction.
Neuroscientists tell us this crucial mental ability hinges on the growth of a neural strip in the brain's prefrontal cortex, just behind the forehead, which connects to circuitry that helps manage both attention and unruly emotions. This circuitry grows with the rest of the brain from birth throughout childhood and the teen years.
The more a youngster can practice keeping her focus and resist distraction, the stronger and more richly connected this neural real estate becomes. By the same token, the more distracted, the less so.
This mental ability is like a muscle: it needs proper exercise to grow strong. One way to help kids: give them regular sessions of focusing time, the mental equivalent of workouts in the gym.
I've seen this done in schools, with second-graders becoming calm and concentrated with a daily session of watching their breath - the basic training in bringing a wandering mind back to a single focus. And parents who help kids do this at home will be doing them - and their prefrontal cortex - a favor.
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Reconnecting Children and Nature
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by Cheryl Charles, Education.com
Most kids today have limited direct experience with the outdoors. If they are outdoors, it is likely to be in organized sports and on playground equipment, often on asphalt play grounds. The defining experience of many of today's youth and children is indoors, at home or in school, or in a car. Shuttled from school to church to soccer to dance class to day camp, most of our children are being given a virtual, vicarious, electronic, and cocooned experience of childhood. Alternatively, some are left home alone, under what author Richard Louv calls "virtual house arrest"-by themselves for hours at a time, hooked in to an electronic umbilical cord of today's contemporary lifestyle. In 2006, I joined Richard Louv, author of Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature Deficit Disorder, and others to co-found the Children & Nature Network, a non-profit organization with the mission of building a movement to reconnect children and nature.
Fearful Parents Keep Children Indoors
A host of lifestyle changes in the past few decades has contributed to a sedentary generation of U.S. youth. According to a study conducted by the Kaiser Family Foundation (2005, 2006), kids are spending as much as 60 hours a week involved in electronic media. One of the major contributing factors is that adults fear for their children's safety. A study in 2004 found that 82 percent of mothers with children between the ages of 3 and 12 cited crime and safety concerns as one of the primary reasons they do not allow their children to play outdoors (Clements, 2004). Often children are also committed to hectic schedules that leave them with little unstructured time for natural play in the outdoors.
How Nature Relieves Stress
Research indicates that one of the best antidotes to a stressful lifestyle is to spend time in natural settings outdoors. Children who spend time outdoors are likely to be:
- happier
- healthier
- smarter
- more cooperative
- better problem solvers
- more creative
Children need leisurely, unscripted, and exploratory hours to find the wonders in their own backyards and neighborhoods, from discovering the beauty of the stars in the night sky to watching lizards on a warm summer's day.
Detrimental Outcomes of NDD
There is evidence to suggest that outcomes associated with children's disconnect from nature include
- diminished health
- obesity
- reduced cognitive, creative, and problem-solving capacities
- lower school achievement
- lower self esteem
- less self discipline
- attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)
Nature Can Improve Mental Health and Cognition
Children's cognitive flexibility and creativity are enhanced if they learn to problem-solve in natural settings rather than in highly controlled, human-dominated settings like concrete playgrounds and manicured playing fields with little ecological diversity. There are also mental health benefits to being outside. There is now a substantial body of work that indicates the simple act of going outdoors reduces stress, anxiety, depression, and attention-deficit disorders. The results are dramatic for people of all ages.
Becoming Stewards of the Environment
If we are in the outdoors often enough to watch and experience the seasonal changes, we learn about "place", natural cycles, and changes within an ecological setting. We will be far more likely to care about the health of living systems over time, more likely to make informed decisions, and more likely to effect responsible actions.
Actions We Can Each Take
- Take a child outside-and create the opportunity for your children to have unstructured time to play outdoors every day.
- Create a nature club for families and plan monthly outings with other parents and families in your community.
- Start a new kind of neighborhood watch so that children can play within sight of adults while still experiencing some of the wonder and learning inspired through free range play.
- Ride your bike or walk to school with your children and others in the neighborhood.
- Encourage nature-based, child-friendly spaces and places throughout communities.
- Make reconnecting children and nature a priority.
- Educate parents, grandparents, and other caregivers about the cognitive, physiological, and emotional benefits to children who play in the outdoors on a regular basis.
- Engage the local medical community to encourage physicians and other medical practitioners to prescribe nature-play because it is good for children.
- Educate local architects, builders, community planners, and civic leaders about the need for areas of native habitats in planned developments and existing neighborhoods, so children have places to play that foster their imagination.
- Build new partnerships and support existing efforts to bring the resources of the private sector together with public agencies in bold, balanced, and conserving ways to achieve a sustainable future.
- Get other parents and the community involved-because nature-based learning is good for everyone.
Our Living Legacy
Together we can heal the separation between children and nature, by re-establishing a healthy, natural balance between technology and natural systems. We can build a movement that succeeds in reconnecting children and nature, inspiring a new generation to believe in a better future.
Resources
Children & Nature Network (C & NN), www.childrenandnature.org, is a non-profit organization co-founded by Richard Louv, Cheryl Charles, and others to build a movement to reconnect children and nature. C&NN provides news, articles, resources, and annotated bibliographies of research while encouraging grassroots leadership.Cheryl Charles, Ph.D., is an educator, author, innovator, and organizational executive, and co-founder of the Children & Nature Network, www.childrenandnature.org.
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Having Fun at Barrington in ...
COMMUNITY HELPERS WEEK
September 30th - October 4th
FALL CONFERENCES FOR
ALL NON- GA PK STUDENTS
October 14th-18th
FALL PICTURE DAY
October 22nd-23rd
HALLOWEEN PARADE & PARTY
October 31st
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Animal Myths Busted !
by Stephen Lovgren, National Geographic Kids
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Animals do some pretty strange things. Giraffes clean their eyes and ears with their tongues. Snakes see through their eyelids. Some snails can hibernate for three years. But other weird animal tales are hogwash. National Geographic Kids finds out how some of these myths started-and why they're not true.
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Myth #1
Ostriches bury their heads in the sand when they're scared or threatened.
How It Started
It's an optical illusion! Ostriches are the largest living birds, but their heads are pretty small. "If you see them picking at the ground from a distance, it may look like their heads are buried in the ground," says Glinda Cunningham of the American Ostrich Association.
Why It's Not True
Ostriches don't bury their heads in the sand-they wouldn't be able to breathe! But they do dig holes in the dirt to use as nests for their eggs. Several times a day, a bird puts her head in the hole and turns the eggs. So it really does look like the birds are burying their heads in the sand!
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Myth #2
Opossums hang by their tails.
How It Started
Opossums use their tails to grasp branches as they climb trees. So it's not surprising that people believe they also hang from branches.
Why It's Not True
A baby opossum can hang from its tail for a few seconds, but an adult is too heavy. Besides, says Paula Arms of the National Opossum Society, that wouldn't help them survive. "Why would they just hang around? That skill isn't useful-there's no point."
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Myth #3
Touching a frog or toad will give you warts.
How It Started
Many frogs and toads have bumps on their skin that look like warts. Some people think the bumps are contagious.
Why It's Not True
"Warts are caused by a human virus, not frogs or toads," says dermatologist Jerry Litt. But the wartlike bumps behind a toad's ears can be dangerous. These parotoid glands contain a nasty poison that irritates the mouths of some predators and often the skin of humans. So toads may not cause warts, but they can cause other nasties. It's best not to handle these critters-warts and all!
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Myth #4
Mother birds will reject their babies if they've been touched by humans.
How It Started
Well-meaning humans who find a chick on the ground may want to return the baby bird to the nest. But the bird is probably learning to fly and shouldn't be disturbed. The tale may have been invented to keep people from handling young birds.
Why It's Not True
"Most birds have a poorly developed sense of smell," says Michael Mace, bird curator at San Diego Zoo's Wild Animal Park. "They won't notice a human scent." One exception: vultures, who sniff out dead animals for dinner. But you wouldn't want to mess with a vulture anyway!
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Myth #5
Penguins fall backward when they look up at airplanes.
How It Started
Legend has it that British pilots buzzing around islands off South America saw penguins toppling over like dominoes when the birds looked skyward.
Why It's Not True
An experiment testing the story found that penguins are perfectly capable of maintaining their footing, even if they're watching airplanes. "But the reality isn't funny," says John Shears, who worked on the survey. "Low-flying aircraft can cause penguins to panic and leave their nests."
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FALL LEAF PROJECT:
LEAF ALPHABET
Lovely leaf collages help smooth the transition from lazy summer days outdoors to life among the ABCs. Step outside and you'll find a palette of greens, reds, purples, and golds at your feet. Pick up a leaf and try to imagine what it could become--a butterfly wing, a flickering deer tail? Or think of leaves as nature's tissue paper, and cut them into appealing shapes before arranging them on a card or poster. Alphabet leaf collages make excellent classroom projects; the letters divvy up nicely so that each student can have one to illustrate.
MATERIALS
-------------------  Leaves
Heavy paper
Glue Stick, White Glue
or Rubber Cement
DIRECTIONS
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Step 1: Collect leaves, avoiding ones with any mold or rot. Lay leaves flat between phone-book pages or layers of newspaper, then weight them with something heavy. Allow one to two weeks to fully flatten and dry. If you live in an area without many leaves (or want to enhance your collection), you can buy them online already pressed.
Step 2: Arrange leaves on a page of heavy paper. Experiment with combinations of colors and shapes. If you are stumped by a letter of the alphabet, look in the dictionary for words to illustrate. Embellish leaves by cutting notches for parts like mouths, tails, and fins. From spare leaves, cut out details like eyes, wheels, hats, etc.
Step 3: Glue leaves into place with glue stick or white glue (kids older than 12 can safely use rubber cement). Lay a clean sheet of paper on top of glued leaves and rub gently to smooth and flatten. Carefully remove the top sheet.
Step 4: Label the artwork. An adult can use a pencil to sketch in guidelines for the letters and the word; a kid can then write them in ink. When it is complete, try to keep the artwork flat, because pressed leaves can be brittle.
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