*This information is based on the work of the Children’s Community School in Philadelphia and was written by Katrina Michie, who gave us permission to republish this on our website. Please help support their efforts by sharing and tagging the school as the source, and if you can, donate to their efforts and to any related causes.
“So you’ve realized your kids aren’t too young to talk about race, so now what? We’ve rounded up some resources for you to start. The Children’s Community School in Philidelphia did all the research and legwork on this information. We adapted it. Check out their amazing resource page.
Here is a short podcast, put together by NPR and the Sesame Street Workshop, that is a great primer as well as offers an understanding on how to talk to young children about race:”
A lifestyle writer whose work can be seen in Red Tricycle, Money.com, Livestrong.com and Redbook. When she’s not checking out new events, museums, and restaurants to keep her and her kids entertained, she can be found wandering around flea markets and thrift stores looking for cool vintage finds.
Babies change your life and toddlers change your attitude, but when it comes to seeing and expressing their worldview, nothing beats the magic and hilarity of a preschooler. When you’ve got a kid headed for preschool in your house, you’ll never see the world the same way. Read on for some of our favorite things about this age.
1. They are honest. Wondering if you should say the right thing or the polite thing? Don’t worry, your preschooler will say it for you before you get a chance to decide. Yes, this can lead to embarrassing situations, but it can also be humbling.
2. They trust. When you tell them you’re going to make something better, they believe you. When you tell them they’re the fastest runner in the world, they believe you.
3. They get excited. They show the same level of enthusiasm over a donut as they do over the prospect of going to Disneyland. All in.
4. They get it done. Try and stop a preschooler from building a rocket out of frying pans, we dare you.
5. They make friends faster than Super Glue sets. “Hi. My name is your next best friend. Let’s be princesses.” Easy.
6. They get over it. So maybe the battle is loud and the protest is intense, but when they’re over it, they’re over it. No, the shoe didn’t go on right … oh, Go-Go Squeeze? Yes!
7. They accept you as you are. You’ll never hear them compare you to someone else’s mommy or daddy. In their view, all moms let their kids jump on hotel beds but not eat cookies after 9 p.m. It’s just the way you are, mustache hair and all.
8. They have epic memory retention and can help you find missing things. Maybe it’s because they are lower to the ground, maybe it’s because they hid the missing item. Either way, when you want to find something, ask your preschooler. At least they’ll be occupied trying to help you!
9. They laugh until they get hiccups, frequently. Was it a cartoon? Was it something the baby brother did? Who knows. Who cares. A preschoolers’ laughter should be bottled for its medicinal value. It’s good for the soul.
10. They cry. When they’re sad, they cry. They don’t bottle it up. They don’t hit the freezer and wipe out a carton of Ben and Jerry’s. They cry. And they talk about it. Sometimes they talk about it while crying.
11. They want to be with you. Really, how cool is it that their numero uno desire isn’t the thing on the infomercial? It isn’t a better car or a bigger house. Preschoolers just want to hang. With you. Because they’re awesome.
12. They are helpful. Ish. Helpfulish. The will is there, even if the execution is sometimes flawed.
13. They don’t apologize for basic needs. Got to go to the bathroom? Sorry, photographer that only has two hours to nail the perfect family portrait. Tired? Don’t even bother trying to engage with him. Hungry? Unless you’ve got a cereal bar and a pack of gummies, don’t go near her. Preschoolers know about priorities.
14. They notice beauty. And they don’t have to be in a museum or in a Tiffany store to do it. The sun. A differently-sized rock. A disco ball dangling from the rear-view mirror in the car next to you at the red light. All are sacred.
15. They imagine. Try explaining to a preschooler the fundamentals of soccer, and then try telling her that she’s a Jedi knight who has to deliver the treasure to the mother ship. See which one inspires performance.
16. They ask questions. You know the old saying that you can’t teach an old dog new tricks? Maybe the old dog could do new tricks if he remembered to be interested in things. Preschoolers are interested in everything.
17.They get dirty. Let’s face it. Jumping in puddles is fun. Painting on paper is good, but painting on each other is more fun. And rolling down a muddy hill with a sprinkler on in your clothes is the absolute most fun.
18. They don’t self-deprecate. In fact, they know they’re pretty awesome. And they can tell you about it.
19. They encourage each other. Oh, to be the older kid with the knowledge to traverse the monkey bars. There is no cheerleader better than a preschool kid who’s mastered something. And you know who else they encourage? You!
20. They’re always up for an adventure. A trip to the grocery store? Not so much. A scavenger hunt at the grocery store? Money.
21.They tell you when they’re angry. Really, this is a good thing. Really. Imagine if adults were that brave.
22. They crack themselves up. Because they’re old enough to understand and tell (and re-tell and re-tell) silly jokes.
23.They’re comfortable in their own skin. Have you ever seen a preschooler suck it in or even care there’s paint in their hair/face/shirt/everywhere? Nope. How awesome is that?
24. They have the most fabulous fashion sense. First and foremost, it had better not be scratchy, itchy or tight. Added points for graphic kittens or dinosaurs. Bring it home with a nice chevron stripe or lightning bolt somewhere. Pipe-cleaner glasses? Lookin’ good.
25. They dance. And they mean it. There is no yes-no-maybe at a preschool dance party. You’d better push the furniture back and pad the walls because there are preschoolers about to get down.
26. They play in a whole new way. Eavesdrop on your preschooler instrumenting a “conversation” between two or more toys and you’ll know what we mean.
27. They can turn anything into a plaything. Tree bark, brooms, rice, garbage—anything!
28. They can finally reason. Gone are the days of baby cognition and toddler tantrums (mostly).
29. They can wipe. Thank goodness they can wipe.
30. They create. Beauty, love, laughter, art, messes, happy memories, opportunities and fun. Always fun.
— Shelley Massey, Ayren Jackson-Cannady, and Amber Guetebier
New research from the University of Edinburgh found that infants may recognize combinations of words before they can speak. The study, which was published in the journal Cognition, challenges the idea that babies learn single words first and then progress to more complex multi-word phrases.
Researchers assessed the language development of 11 and 12-month-olds to learn more about how infants build communication skills. This study specifically looked at language learning behaviors in 36 babies during a series of attention tests.
The tests used recorded adult speech to explore how the babies responded to combinations of three-word sequences. Study researchers then compared the babies’ responses, measuring how long the children looked—also known as central fixation. Using central fixation times, the researchers found that some of the babies were learning their first words while simultaneously learning combinations.
According to Dr. Barbora Skarabela, of the School of Philosophy, Psychology and Languages Sciences, “Previous research has shown that young infants recognize many common words. But this is the first study that shows that infants extract and store more than just single words from everyday speech. This suggests that when children learn language, they build on linguistic units of varying sizes, including multiword sequences, and not just single words as we often assume.”
Dr. Skarabela added, “This may explain why adults learning a second language, who tend to rely on individual words, often fall short of reaching native-like proficiency in the way they string words together into phrases and sentences.”
New research from the Oregon State University revealed that dogs may synchronize their behavior with the children they live with. The study, which was published in the journal Animal Cognition, sheds light on how a canine companion may bond with their human family.
Researchers looked at interactions between 30 children from the ages of eight and 17 and their family dogs. The researchers instructed each child how to walk their dog through an empty room with color-coded tape lines on the floor.
Each child-dog pair’s walk was videotaped and analyzed for the degree of active synchrony (the amount of time each pair moved or was stationary together), proximity, and orientation/same direction of movement. The researchers found a higher level of active synchrony than they had expected—but less than what is typically found in dog-adult interactions.
Even though this research shows dogs don’t synchronize their behavior to match children to the same extent they do with their adult pet parents, the study’s results were still significant. Oregon State animal behaviorist Monique Udell, the lead author of the study said, “The great news is that this study suggests dogs are paying a lot of attention to the kids that they live with.”
Udell continued, “They are responsive to them and, in many cases, behaving in synchrony with them, indicators of positive affiliation and a foundation for building strong bonds.” The researcher added, “Sometimes we don’t give children and dogs enough credit. Our research suggests that with some guidance we can provide important and positive learning experiences for our kids and our dogs starting at a much earlier age, something that can make a world of difference to the lives of both.”
This week, to help a little with the #stayhome-induced craziness, I gave a talk to parents of preschoolers about ways to use dramatic play at home.
A hand was raised in a zoom window, and a concerned face came into focus: “All my girl wants to do is play school! She even imitates her classmates, she misses them so much. Should I encourage her to just be herself or is this ok?”
I’m so glad this mama asked that question! Since her girl can’t be in school, of course she is getting such satisfaction out of playing school. What a smart and intuitive way to cope with our new reality!
Our kids are without the routines and friends, it is totally natural—and great—that they would want to recreate them at home. Here are some ways that you can support and build on “playing school” at home. This can lead to satisfying dramatic play that can be really bonding and healing too. Even better, because these games can be scaffolded—that means that you can help set them in motion and then walk away while the independent play continues!
Why It’s Cool to Play School
1. Cognition and play go together. When kids play, they gain fundamental social-emotional and executive function skills. Especially for kids ages 3-6, play is a learning tool. Far more important than drilling letters and numbers, and different than learning from a screen, the skills children are building when they “make-believe” are the skills that set them up for successful life outcomes.
2. Playing school helps with social-emotional skills. Imitation is the highest form of flattery, but also empathy! Kids learn through observing the world around them and essentially imitating. When they become a teacher, for example, they feel the power and responsibility that comes with that job and will act accordingly. By essentially trying on the characters of the other classmates, kids are experimenting with new ways of relating, listening, and learning. They are also given permission—in the safe space for play—to be extra exuberant, really shy, or incredibly goofy.
3. Empathy and school play are related. Pretending helps kids with empathy. When we step into other people’s shoes, we learn how it must feel to be them. We grow in compassion. In acting we call this, understanding a character’s “given circumstances.” When kids play school they are inhabiting a variety of “characters.” The more practice young kids get in stepping outside themselves, the more they will grow in understanding other people’s experiences.
4. Playing school can be “scaffolded.” Playing school not only exercises the imagination, but it can also be structured so that adults have an easy point-of-entry into the playing. This is a good thing—experts call this “scaffolding.” It means that we can join in with our kids playing in specific ways that support their growth, but then we can also leave and the playing will continue on in its own way.
5. Playing school is uniquely healthy during social distancing. Playing school can be healing to kids during this time of social distancing. Games with a school-focus can be a great way to create (and continue) positive associations with school. This too shall pass, and when it is time to go back to school, having built all the happy memories of school-related games, will make that transition so much easier.
Ways to Set Up Games of School for Play and Learning
Animal School: Kids can play school as different animals or characters that they love. Set up a “home” side of the room and a “school” side of the room. Kids choose an animal to be and move across the floor like that creature. When they get to school, a simple funny task—like singing the ABCs in a mouse voice or counting to 20 like a dinosaur—is the goal at school and then they can head “home” and change into another animal character!
Why I Love It:
1. Kids can explore being different characters that they love
2. They get a gross motor workout
3. This supports executive function skills since they have to plan and remember the different school activities of each character.
Silly School: You can pretend to be a school teacher, make up a name in gibberish to be extra silly. Don’t get anything right! Mix up the alphabet, insert names of vegetables when you try to count to 10, identify colors as shapes and shapes as colors. Let your kids correct and teach you! If you are familiar with the game Silly Shop, this is very similar.
Why I Love It:
1. This game also serves a sneaky academic purpose. It will allow you to see what your kids know and don’t know, depending on how they correct you.
2. Additionally, it lets them be in the driver’s seat. Especially in this chaotic time where there is very little in their control, this is a healthy and safe way for them to be in charge.
3. It’s a great gateway for goofiness and parent-child bonding.
Stuffie School: Whether your kids play this with stuffies, dinosaurs or dolls, this idea here remains the same. Even better if your kid’s school involves all these different “learners” in one class! Kids are the teachers in this game and set up a school for their toys. Each “student” has a different personality and even different ways they learn. The teacher (your kid) has to make a lesson plan for the class and structure the day for them – tailored to their needs. Young dinosaurs need hunting lessons, animal stuffies get lessons in making their sounds, dolls need to work together to build a fort, whatever your kid dreams up.
Why I Love It:
This game involves lots of independent play. Kids can even work on the “lesson plan” and collect “homework” from their students! Similarly, all the planning helps kids with executive function.
Jocelyn Greene is a Brooklyn based educator, director and mom. With her company, Child's Play NY, she teaches hundreds of kids a year and is equally joyous adapting fairytales for 4s as she is staging Shakespaere with the teens. Check out http://www.childsplayinaction.com/ for video tutorials on game-based play to do at home!
Mental fitness is just as important as physical fitness, regardless of your age. Especially as we get older, it’s crucial to do brain training in order to stay sharp and retain good cognition. Whether you want to sharpen your mind or boost your performance, it’s always a good idea to work on improving your memory. You can boost your memory by improving the health and vitality of your mind with just a few simple daily steps (and kick that forgetfull mommy-brain to the curb). If you’re able to incorporate the following activities into your daily habits, you’ll be well on your way to improving your memory and mental fitness.
1. Meditate, Meditate, Meditate. You might not instinctively think of meditation for improving memory, but studies have shown that this activity can have serious benefits, including boosted memory. It’s a simple but powerful activity you can practice daily with no special equipment.
It does make sense when you think about it—mindfulness and meditation not only help you to relax and reduce your stress levels but also help you to feel more focused in the present moment. By training yourself to not let your mind wander, you’ll be better able to focus on information in your daily life and remember it more effectively.
It’s very easy to get started with meditation. You just need to have a quiet place for your practice and some patience with yourself. If you’re feeling intimidated, there are lots of great apps and resources that can help you get started!
2. Work Out! (Your Mind, That Is). You have to work out your brain as well as your body. The good news is that brain “workouts” can be a lot of fun. Lots of people enjoy brain teasers and puzzles that can help the brain stay sharp. If you like activities like doing Sudoku or jigsaw puzzles, solving the crossword, or working through brain-teasers, then you’re in luck: these are all great ways to boost your brain. Try incorporating a little more fun into your everyday life for the sake of your memory and your happiness!
3. Healthy Body, Healthy Mind. All of the body’s systems are interconnected, and the health of your body will either harm or enhance the health of your mind. For this reason, it’s important to create a sustainable exercise regimen you can stick to. Your memory will thank you!
Exercise doesn’t have to be a chore. You can choose something fun, like swimming, dancing, or playing a sport, something relaxing like yoga, or just make brisk walks part of your normal routine. What’s important is that you move your body several times a week.
4. Get Social. Talking with other people can really help to boost your mood and brainpower. Social activity is key for improving and maintaining cognition, especially as a person ages. People who are isolated are even more likely to develop dementia.
If you want to improve your memory, then it may be time to make some plans with friends, attend a community social event, or call a family member. It’s important to interact with other people on a daily basis—you’ll be working on your focus and recall skills by participating in various conversations.
Sarah Daren has been a consultant for startups in industries including health and wellness, wearable technology, and education. She implements her health knowledge into every aspect of her life, including her position as a yoga instructor and raising her children. Sarah enjoys watching baseball and reading on the beach.
As a pediatrician, I know that one of the most powerful tools for ensuring the health of my patients and of all our nation’s children is nutritious food. As such, school lunch, in particular, is vital not only to their health but also their learning capacity.
The Trump administration has recently proposed changes to the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). Nearly a million students may lose automatic eligibility for free school lunches under the administration’s proposal. If this proposal goes into effect, these children—many of whom depend on school meals for daily nutrition—will be hungry at home and in school and therefore unlikely to reach their greatest potential.
For millions of Americans, particularly those in lower-income communities, access to healthy foods remains a challenge. Across the nation, many families rely on the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) and the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) to nourish their children. Without access to high-quality, healthy foods and nutrition education, children within these communities are not only unable to perform their best in the classroom but are also at high risk for preventable diseases, like diabetes and obesity.
Recent studies confirm what I see in my practice: nutritious school meals lead to improved health and academic outcomes. Access to nutrition that incorporates protein, carbohydrates, and glucose has been shown to improve students’ cognition, concentration and energy levels. And according to a recent paper published by UC Berkeley, students at schools that contract with a healthier school-lunch provider perform better on tests. Additionally, a new impact study by KKS Advisors, commissioned by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, found schools that serve Revolution Foods saw an improvement of 13.1% in English Language Arts (ELA) test results. The bottom line is students who have access to healthier food at school perform better. Luckily, companies like Revolution Foods, which serve freshly prepared, healthy meals to students in schools nationwide including right here in the Bay Area, and other mission-driven organizations across the U.S. are empowering students to make smart food and lifestyle choices.
A colleague of mine recently saw a teenage patient who just immigrated and was severely underweight. She just didn’t have access to enough food. She couldn’t eat breakfast before coming to school because she had to take care of her younger brother and get him to daycare. Without her school breakfast and lunch programs, she would have eaten only one meal each day. With the support of these incredible meal programs, she was able to attain a normal weight. When it was time to apply to high schools, she was accepted into one of the best in the city.
As a pediatrician, I cannot do all of the work required to ensure the health of our children. Most of the building blocks for health and academic success are put in place outside of my office. Sadly though, in this wealthiest of nations, many families are unable to provide the healthy food that our children need to succeed. This combined with recent government rollbacks on school nutrition standards that have already affected the quality of meals served in schools threatens the wellbeing of our youth. If the proposed changes to SNAP are enacted, it could further jeopardize the health and success of our children and our nation.
With healthy meal programs at a crossroads, it’s crucial for lawmakers and parents to recognize the great strides we are making as a culture by providing greater access to healthy foods, such as enlisting the support of healthy school and community meal providers. After all, growing healthy minds begins with fueling healthy bodies. We can build a brighter future for our nation’s youth and families by challenging our government when they take away food supports and water down nutritional guidelines, and by impelling schools to ensure that the school lunches they do provide are as nutritious as possible.
I'm a pediatrician, the President of the San Francisco Marin Medical Society, and Associate Clinical Professor at University of California San Francisco.
The advantages of being fluent in multiple languages are pretty obvious, but knew research has uncovered some surprising advantages for kids who grow up in a bilingual home.
A new study conducted by York University’s Faculty of Health has found that the advantages of learning more than one language can start as early as six months old. It’s not just academics and future careers that can benefit from being raised in a bilingual home. As it turns out, infants who are exposed to more than one language show better attentional control.
The study involved the use of eye trackers to assess attention and learning. The researchers found that babies who were raised in bilingual homes were more adaptable to change, showing that language can influence the development of the attentional system.
“By studying infants—a population that does not yet speak any language—we discovered that the real difference between monolingual and bilingual individuals later in life is not in the language itself, but rather, in the attention system used to focus on language,” says Bialystok, co-senior author of the study.
“This study tells us that from the very earliest stage of development, the networks that are the basis for developing attention are forming differently in infants who are being raised in a bilingual environment. Why is that important? It’s because attention is the basis for all cognition,” Bialystok added.
Yet another study weighs in on the topic of screen time. This researchers examined the following questions: how much screen time do kids really get—and is it too much?
Screens are ubiquitous in our now digital society and at some point all kids will be exposed to them, no matter what you do. The question remains: does the amount of exposure matter? A new study published in JAMA Pediatrics found a link between excessive screen use in kids and delays in development. The study concludes, “When young children are observing screens, they may be missing important opportunities to practice and master interpersonal, motor, and communication skills.”
The study included 3388 moms and kids tracking their stages and screen use at 24, 36, and 60 months. On average, kids aged 24, 36, and 60 months in the study were watching approximately 17, 25, and 11 hours of television per week, “which amounts to approximately 2.4, 3.6, and 1.6 hours of screen time per day.”
So how much is too much? A recent study conducted by the National Institutes of Health suggests that kids should have no more than two hours of screen time per day to avoid impacted kids’ cognition. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that kids under 24 months should have no screen time other than video chatting, while those ages two to five-years-old should be limited to no more than one hour of quality screen time per day.
With so many different studies and recommendations it can be hard for families to know what to do, but ultimately it’s up to parents to decide what is best for their own kids.
From sitting in a classroom all day to screen time after school, chances are most kids might not be spending as much time moving as they should. So how much exercise should kids get? Here’s what experts have to say about new guidelines.
According to theJournal of the American Medical Association, newly updated guidelines from the Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans, 2nd edition recommend kids six years old and up need at least one hour of exercise per day. Meanwhile, kids ages three to five should have at least three hours of exercise daily.
The new guidelines cover people of all ages—including pregnant women—but kids have their own section with specific recommendations. The report states that kids and adolescents aged six through 17 years should do “60 minutes or more of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity daily.” Exercise for kids in this age range can improve cardiorespiratory and muscular fitness, cardiometabolic health and cognition, as well as reduce the risk of depression.
For kids three years and up, in addition to these same benefits, getting enough daily exercise can also improve bone health and maintain healthy weight. “Children younger than 6 years undergo periods of rapid growth and development. Physical activity can enhance growth and development and teach important movement skills,” the report notes.
While a set standard for physical activity hasn’t been determined for kids ages three to five, the guidelines suggest that kids at this age should be physically active throughout the day to enhance growth and development. Parents should encourage kids to be active through play. The guidelines say “a reasonable target may be three hours per day of activity of all intensities: light, moderate or vigorous.”
For kids six to 17, the guidelines break down the types of physical activities that they should engage in during their daily 60 minutes of exercise:
Aerobic: Most of the 60 minutes or more per day should be either moderate- or vigorous-intensity aerobic physical activity and should include vigorous-intensity physical activity on at least three days a week.
Muscle-strengthening: As part of their 60 minutes or more of daily physical activity, children and adolescents should include muscle-strengthening physical activity on at least three days a week.
Bone-strengthening: As part of their 60 minutes or more of daily physical activity, children and adolescents should include bone-strengthening physical activity on at least three days a week.
The guidelines state that establishing routine exercise early on not only helps kids develop life-long healthy habits, but it can lower the likelihood that kids will develop risk factors that lead to certain chronic illness and diseases as adults.
