Teamwork. Friends. Healthy exercise. That's the upside of organized sports and activities for kids. But what about the downside? Loss of family time. Stress. Weekends in the car. Andrea Grazzini Walstrom decided to take action to reclaim at least part of each precious weekend. Walstrom talks about the birth of Balance4Success, the group she started in Minnesota.
Research shows that children who don't have healthy eating habits have lower test scores, increased absenteeism, difficulty concentrating and lower energy levels. School principals are key advocates in the fight for better student nutrition and wellness, but they need prodding and support from parents to make real change happen. This campaign is helping parents get active in their children's schools—starting with a letter inviting principals to join the effort to get junk food out and physical activity in schools.
Should young children be allowed to play with scary toys? What do you say when a toddler tells you daddy hurt mommy last night? Children who have experienced trauma bring their anxieties and concerns to child care. This Zero to Three guidebook helps caregivers understand the effects of trauma on children's responses and behaviors, and how to provide the kind of caring that helps children traumatized by violence, loss or natural disasters feel safe and resilient again.
The Center for Economic and Policy Research refutes the common belief that women are increasingly quitting their jobs when they have children. Rather than opting out to have children, women have been pushed out of the labor market since 2001 because of the recession and slow recovery. The early 2000s recession led to sustained job losses for all women - with and without children at home - and the labor market only just returned to its 2000 employment level in January 2005, nearly four years after the recession began.
Special Olympics is an international program of year-round sports training and athletic competition for persons with intellectual disability. The idea was born when Eunice Kennedy Shriver noticed that individuals with intellectual disability were far more capable in sports and physical activities than experts thought. In December 1968, Special Olympics was established as a nonprofit charitable organization.
About 29 percent of all new mothers in the United States are unmarried and 15 percent are not American citizens, according to a new report from the U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey, which tracks state-specific data. Compared with the national average, most states in the South, and some states in the West, had a higher percentage of unmarried mothers with a birth in the last year who were below the poverty level. Overall, nearly 8 percent of those giving birth each year are teens. Approximately 12 percent of married mothers live in poverty, compared with about half of unmarried moms.
To engage girls in the study of science and technology, educators need to convey the right message about the roles these fields play in society and the skills they require--and they also need to provide more hands-on activities that have some social value. These were the main lessons imparted during a Webcast hosted by the National Science Foundation's Information Technology Experiences for Students and Teachers program. E-School News reports.
Many of the most vulnerable residents of the states hit by Hurricane Katrina were poor children and were disproportionately African American. The National Center for Children in Poverty has an analysis.
The Hassels, husband and wife, brought their experiences as parents, education policy wonks, and consultants on management and school leadership to the job of developing this "Picky Parent Guide" to choosing an elementary school.
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