“Over the last several years the focus of US education has been fixed firmly on the sciences. But research shows that the arts help children do better in all subjects and improve the likelihood that they will stay in school longer.
The Obama administration is putting this theory to the test by investing $2m (£1.3m) for arts education in eight of the most poorly performing schools across the country.
At Orchard Gardens Pilot School in Boston, the results have been dramatic. In just three years the students at the once-troubled school have improved their basic academic skills and many say the arts have changed their lives.
Jane O’Brien looks at the impact of art in education in the sixth and final instalment of the Power of Art series.”
Face to face empathic communication is essential for our health. Barbara Fredrickson, Professor of Psychology at the University of North Carolina, writes in the New York Times about the cost of instant electronic media on our well being. Technology has assisted us in communicating more rapidly – the question is how do we balance our increasing reliance on technology with time for meaningful, loving kindness interactions.
Soon to be released ‘Spontaneous Acts of Love’, Meditations and Reflections for Parents, by Jane Hanckel, part of the Eco Parenting Series, provides an invaluable resource for contemplative connected parenting.
“All around you are the keys to knowing – in nature, in the arts and crafts of the generations before us. Be open to the beauty that surrounds you. In that beauty the wonder and mystery of the Earth are revealed.”
Boy with Autism Recovers After Gluten-free Casein-free Diet
Many parents know that diet and environment can change children’s behaviour. In this video a mother and Dr Kenneth Bock discuss how a gluten and dairy free diet helped her son recover from autism.
Dr Bock recommends also that children and families avoid chemicals, pesticides and other possible contributors to autism such as phthalates in plastic.
‘Growing Greener Children’ is a great first step comprehensive resource for parents wanting to adopt a healthier lifestyle.
If you change the beginning of the story you change the whole story is the message from Dr Dimitri Christakis talking on TEDx about media and children.
Typically the age children in 1970’s started watched television regularly was 4 years, now it’s 4 months. The typical child under child of 5 years is watching 4-5 hours a day.
Dimitri’s talk clearly outlines the effects of too much television on the child’s developing brain.
… as things stand we’re all being used as guinea pigs in the great test of new product safety.”
-Mark Bittman, The Cosmetics Wars, The New York Times, Feb. 6, 2013
Mark Bittman’s article on cosmetics testing in The New York Times highlights the fact that personal care product makers don’t have to prove that the ingredients in their shampoos, toothpastes or other cosmetics are safe before you use them.
The Environmental Working Group (E.W.G.) offers a database of more than 79,000 personal care products, from soap to lip plumper ranked by level of hazard. The database is an excellent way to find out what is in you and your children’s products.
In Australia the Green Party have created a new poll to understand parents perspectives on early childhood education and care. The Green Party has said it’s time to hear what parents thought about childcare.
“For the child…it is not half so important to know as to feel. If facts are the seeds that later produce knowledge and wisdom, then the emotions and the impressions of the senses are the fertile soil in which the seeds must grow…. It is more important to pave the way for a child to want to know than to put him on a diet of facts that he is not ready to assimilate.”
Rachel Carson
“First and foremost, our job as heart-centered educators must be to understand the potential of each ‘seed’ we are nurturing. The great Spanish cellist Pablo Casals said it well: ‘The child must know that he (or she) is a miracle, that since the beginning of the world there hasn’t been, and until the end of the world there will not be, another child like him (or her).’ Supporting the miracle of each child’s uniqueness does not lend itself to standardization. It is not ‘convenient.’ It may seem easier to find a one-size-fits-all way of delivering and assessing learning, but if we pay attention, the natural world will help us realize the futility of trying to do so. Nothing in nature, including human beings, can be completely ‘standardized.’ (1)
We need to advocate for an education based on the understanding of our children’s uniqueness. This is a fundamental right of every child.
A study investigating the effect of sugar consumption on the behaviour of preschool children found that following a sugary drink the children’s performance in a structured testing situation declined. The children also demonstrated more inappropriate behaviour during free play. The differences in behaviour were most pronounced approximately 45 to 60 minutes after the drinks. (1)
One can of soft drink contains the equivalent of about 10 teaspoons of sugar according to the UK University of Bristol’s Community Based Medicine centre. (2) Their study asks how parents can become informed about the consequences and content of soft drinks. Obesity, diabetes, behavioural changes and dental decay are some of the effects of increased consumption of overladen sugary soft drinks. Harvard School of Public Health surveyed 90,000 women and found that just one 350 ml serving of a sugary drink a day increased the risk of Type 2 diabetes by 15%. Drinks surveyed included soft drinks, bottled iced tea and fruit-flavoured drinks and flavoured waters. Drinking two soft drinks a day boosted the risk by 26%. (3)
‘One drink of sugary beverage per day causes about a 60% increase in the risk of obesity in children’ says Dr. Walter Willett, Chairman of the Dept. of Nutrition at Harvard School of Public Health. Below Dr Willet talks on steps that families, government, and beverage manufacturers can take to reduce our consumption of sugary drinks.
Eco parenting is currently developing an innovative, engaging and interactive 3D ‘look inside the human body’. This 3D pilot will demonstrate a child’s wellbeing and the links to diet, lifestyle and environment. If you would like to support this project and receive a one on one consultation with Jane Hanckel and a signed copy of her book then please click here.
(1) Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology Volume 14, Number 4, 565-577, DOI: 10.1007/BF01260524diseases
Eco parenting is currently developing an innovative, engaging and interactive 3D ‘look inside the human body’. This 3D pilot will demonstrate a child’s wellbeing and the links to diet, lifestyle and environment. If you would like to support this project and receive a one on one consultation with Jane Hanckel and a signed copy of her book then please click here.
The Dalai Lama speaks about the importance of environmental awareness in this short 2 minute video.
Environmental awareness …’it is the question of our survival’ says The Dalai Lama,’ not me, not a few hundred people, but nearly 7 billion human beings survival.’
‘Eco parenting – growing greener children’ provides a comprehensive guide for parents wanting the latest up to date information about how to be environmentally aware parents.
Eco parenting is currently developing an innovative, engaging and interactive 3D ‘look inside the human body’. This 3D pilot will demonstrate a child’s wellbeing and the links to diet, lifestyle and environment. If you would like to support this project and receive a one on one consultation with Jane Hanckel and a signed copy of her book then please click here.
