Helping Kids Eat Better & Make Healthy Choices
If there’s any silver lining to the ongoing obesity epidemic, it’s that we’re finally coming to understand that what we eat matters – not just how much we eat but the quality of our food. Over the past decade, the conversation about this has been getting louder and...
Reducing Anxiety through Exercise
leah pritchard/Flickr Physical exercise has more than just physical benefits. For instance, as we wrote a while back, when kids exercise more, they also tend to achieve more academically. In Spark, John Ratey provides ample support for this as well as the many other...
Yoga in the Classroom Makes a Difference
One of the main questions administrators ask when the prospect of integrating yoga into the curriculum comes up is, "Why?" by which they're typically wanting to know how yoga connects with an academic mission and what the benefits of that connection are. Of course,...
Healthy Children = Healthy Planet, or “No Child Left Inside”
Health care and climate change dominate the headlines these days, but how are they related? Well, for one, through our children. In fact, no two issues will affect them more in their lifetimes – from supporting Medicare costs for us baby boomers to dealing with the...
Michelle Obama Says, “Let’s Move” – We Agree
Last month, we looked at how the distraction brought on by electronic media and multitasking can cause problems for kids - things like lower grades, mood swings and more behavioral issues. But it’s not just about mental distraction. There's a physical aspect as well....
Electronic Media and the Battle for Our Minds
When was the last time you had an hour – an hour without distractions – just to think about things? Or even a half hour? Fifteen minutes? As I write this blog, instant messages flash up on my second monitor while my printer churns out workshop handouts and my cell...
Emotional Learning and Growth
One of the things that makes Valentine's Day such a unique holiday is that it's the only one that doesn't commemorate an event or honor a person or the passage of time. It's about a feeling: love. hint of plum/Flickr And it can be a little emotionally...
The New Year, Chaos & Beauty
Update of post originally published January 12, 2009 As 2009 winds down, we look to the beginning of 2010. As with all transitions, the end of a cycle presents an interesting challenge. It’s a rich time for reflection but also a potential trap for...
School-Based Yoga & the Religion Issue
We recently ran across an interesting blog post by a mother who grew concerned when her daughter told of her class doing yoga at school - "not because I was opposed to the movement," she writes, but because the particular practice involved activities that she...
Money, Kids & Stress
Since the 2008 economic crisis, much has been discussed and written about how its effects are not just financial but psychological, as well. And as a recent New York Times article reminds us, they affect children just as much as adults. Children, especially, have...
5 Tips to Teach Kids with ADHD Better Focus & Self-Control
Recently, Good Morning America ran a segment on how - and why - more doctors are recommending yoga for young patients. One situation in which yoga is increasingly recommended is for children diagnosed with ADHD, as it is well recognized that yoga-based activities of...
Focusing that Wild Halloween Energy
Originally published October 31, 2008 Halloween can be a wonderful time for children to explore their imaginations. Or, as many teachers and parents can attest, it can be a nightmare of sugar-fueled over-excitement and big emotions. There's nothing wrong with...