Movement is vital for children

Children love movement.  Regular movement activities not only help children stay healthy, also it enhances their learning abilities and sets a solid foundation upon which more complex movement skills are established.

Adult used to deal with obesity but it is now prevalent in the school age and preschool populations and is increasing at alarming rates.  Regular movement helps children decrease the chances of becoming obese and thereby avoid disease like  heart disease and Type II Diabetes.  Movement and exercise also helps them teaches them a lifestyle to stay healthy well into adulthood.

Movement is necessary to learning.  Children use movement to learn about and explore their environments and the properties of objects.  They stimulate most areas of the brain, especially the center responsible for maintaining focus and paying attention when they move.  It is in movement that their brains release neurotransmitters that enhance short-term memory.

In addition to health and learning, movement is necessary for learning new motor skills.  Through repetition a child's nervous system is changed every time they do movement activities.  Movement stimulates the nerves in the nervous system such a way that nervous impulses pass along the nerves with increasing speeds and efficiency.  The repetition allows the movements to be more automatic and the movements are further perfected with each repetition.

Movement is important to the health, education and development of children.  So, help your children to affect their future in a big way and get them moving!

Renee Madison, MA, LPC, CSAT is a licensed counselor in Colorado.  She can be reached for appointments at 303-257-7623 or 970-324-6928.

Children are the most vulnerable among us

"Approximately 25% of all children in the United States will experience at least one significant traumatic event before the age of 16, with 15% of girls and 6% of boys developing symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder.  Unintentional injury remains the leading cause of death among those aged 14 and younger, while nearly 38,000 injuries occur on a daily basis that require medical attention--nearly half-million emergency room visits annually for traumatic brain injuries.  More than 10,000 children are diagnosed with cancer every year, and the most common tumors are brain-related. Each year, somewhere between three to four million reports of childhood abuse and neglect are filed with state and local Child Protective Services (60% of all cases are under the age of 13).  Over 800,000 minors are reported missing each year (2,200 times every single day).  Minors account for 39% of the homeless population in the United State (almost half of those are under the age of five) and there are an estimated 1.3 million homeless and runaway street kids throughout the country.  (Sources: Center for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institutes of Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, FBI National Crime Information Center, National Coalition for the Homeless)

"The above statistics are staggering and can leave most people feeling overwhelmed.  Many of these trauma-orientated life experiences can create significant emotional, cognitive, behavioral and relational obstacles that children and their families must face and overcome.  However, some problems also arise, not so much as a result of certain incidents being perpetrated upon unsuspecting children, but simply due to complications during pregnancy or because of genetic and birth defects.  Nevertheless, with 46 million children under the age of 11 (15% of the total U.S. census), this demographic cannot be summarily dismissed or ignored....

"Therapeutic work with children often requires additional training and expertise due to a number of developmental factors that may be present and the need to have sufficient awareness regarding attachment theory, neuro-biological considerations, and early life experiences, as well as the various nuances within most family relationships.  When it comes to assessment, diagnostic conclusions and treatment interventions, an adept practitioner must be well-versed in systemic processes, behavioral approaches such as play therapy, and have the ability to connect and communicate with children at their level.  While it is not necessary for every therapist to be able to complete a full psychological evaluation, the ability to understand the findings and incorporate specific recommendations is for effective counseling to take place.  Albert Einstein once commented, "Play is the highest form of research." - Christian Counseling Today, vol. 20, no. 2

Children are the most vulnerable among us. Children are our most precious responsibility.  When they have emotional hurts, it is important to take care of them just as helping a physical wound heal.

Renee Madison, MA, LPC, CSAT is a counselor in Colorado.  She can be reached for appointments at 303-257-7623 or 970-324-6928.

Children break rules

"Sometimes, even without underlying issues, children break rules because they want to do what their friends are doing, or they act impulsively, without considering the potential consequences.  Children get carried away by having a good time, or they behave inappropriately to impress their friends or simply because that's what they wan to do.  They will play basketball instead of doing their homework, or they will lie about the broken lamp.  Validating discipline means respectfully giving consequences when your child's behavior needs correction.  Humiliating and shaming are not part of validating discipline.  Every child sometimes breaks rules and making shocking choices.  This behavior is not personal toward you.  Your job is to help your children learn that actions have consequences.  Sometimes you will want to berate your child in response to his actions, because you are angry or because you want him to feel bad enough to never make such a ridiculous choice again.  Your discipline will be more effective if you just consequence without judging your child's character.

"Validating discipline is not about what disciple strategies you choose to use; it's about the tone of your discipline and the way you interact with your child.  Being angry about your child's choices and behavior is okay--but invalidating your child is not okay.

"Validating parenting means recognizing that your child means well most of the time and the misbehavior usually happens for a reason.  When the misbehavior is repetitive, the child may be struggling with situations that are difficult for her and for which she may not be developmentally ready.  Recognizing this fact and that there are many other reasons why a child might misbahave are part of validating parenting." - Karyn D. Hall, Ph.D. and Melissa H. Cook, LPC in The Power of Validation

Children break rules for many reasons.  How parents discipline must take into account the feelings that are behind the rule breaking.

www.The-Wind-Project.com

Overwhelmed children

"Children do not plot ways to stress out their parents, break all the rules, and wreak havoc.  They do not wish to be aggressive, lie, break things, or make you totally miserable--at least not unless they are really angry with you!  They would like to have a peaceful, safe family life in which they feel loved.  Often their behavior is about feeling unloved, unaccepted, or unsafe.  'Safe,' for children, often means feeling solidly connected to their parents or caregivers (securely attached).

"Sometime children's tears, temper tantrums, and aggression are the result of being overwhelmed with feelings that they don't know how to manage.  For a child who is neurologically sensitive, physical sensations can be overwhelming.  The idea of have to endure socks that itch or a bothersome seam all day can be unbearable, and when others don't understand, the child is torn between her own experience and the impressions of others.  Sometimes children can't label their feelings, perhaps because they are too overwhelmed to think clearly or are still learning how to name their feelings. 

"Validating discipline takes these factors into considerations.  When you validate a child's feelings, perhaps especially when they make no sense to you, the child is more likely to let you know what makes him feel less loved, less accepted, less important, or otherwise unsafe.  Then you have an opportunity to deal with the real issue."  - Karyn D. Hall, Ph.D. and Melissa H Cook, LPC in The Power of Validation

Overwhelmed children, like some adults, don't act rationally.  Understanding what is underneath their acting out is important.  What is the feeling under the acting out behavior?  Anger itself is a secondary feeling, the first sometimes to come out but not the core feeling.  Taking care of the core feeling is  what is necessary to deal with. 

www.The-Wind-Project.com

Juveniles and drugs

"Although recent trends in youth drug use have shown the first significant downturn in usage level, they remain at high levels, and it has been shown that the earlier drug use is initiated, the more likely a person is to develop drug problems later in life.

"Youth substance abuse can lead to many other problems, including the development of delinquent behavior, antisocial attitudes and health-related issues.  These problems not only affect the child, but can also influence the child's family, community and ultimately society.

"Recent trends in youth drug use have shown a significant downturn in usage levels.  However, reducing youth drug use remains a key component of the President's National Drug Control Strategy because studies have demonstrated that the earlier drug use is initiated, the more likely a person is to develop drug problems later in life.

"According to the 2008 Monitoring the Future study, 19.6 percent of eighth graders, 34.1 percent of 10th graders and 47.4 percent of 12th graders reported using any illicit drug within their lifetimes....

"Persistent substance abuse by young people often leads to academic difficulties, health-related problems (including mental health), poor peer relationships and involvement with the juvenile justice system.  Additionally, there are consequences for family members, the community and entire society.

"Mental health problems, including depression, developmental lags, apathy, withdrawal and other psychosocial dysfunctions, are frequently linked to substance abuse among adolescents.  Substance-abusing youth are at higher risk than nonusers for mental health problems, including depression, conduct problems, personality disorders, suicidal thoughts, attempted suicide and suicide.  Marijuana use, which is prevalent among youth, has been shown to interfere with short-term memory, learning and psychomotor skills.  Motivation and psychosexual/emotional development also may be influenced." - Elite Continuing Education

Juveniles playing /experimenting with illicit drugs does impact their live.  The increase of usage the more problems in their lives and emotions, the correlations are being found true in studies.

www.The-Wind-Project.com

Experiences or Toys

"A study conducted by Ryan Howell, an assistant professor of psychology at San Francisco State University, and presented at the 2009 annual meeting of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, showed that people are made happier by experiences than by things.  So, I suppose, if you are going to spend like you are rich, at least do it on social interactions that will actually make you happy, such as taking vacations or going to the theater.  As an added bonus, Ryan's study indicated that cost is not important; just have a life experience--one that has the added benefit of enhancing the lives of loved ones and friends around you.

"One of the things that set wealthy apart from others is that they have a wise variety of interests and activities.  In fact, there is a substantial correlation between the number of interests and activities that people are involved in and their level of financial wealth.  Some wealthy people feel that owning a vacation home, for instance, would restrict them by obligating them to spend time at that property; if they didn't spend the time there, then the dollars spent on the property would be underutilized.  Millionaires value their time.  The allocation of their dollars flows accordingly, almost as second nature.

"Life experiences, preferable positive ones, will not only enhance your bottom line but will also steer you clear of another problem:  your children.  The experiences we have as children, the experiences we give children, teach them a lesson they hold for life. Today's children get an average of 70 new toys a year.  We may inadvertently be providing the next generation with a foundation for permanent financial dependence and dissatisfaction with life." - Thomas J. Stanley, Ph.D. in Stop Acting Rich: and start living like a real millionaire.

As I read the above, I thought of my childhood.  I remember some of my toys but most of the fun experiences, especially the unique times.  Planning out our experiences gives us the opportunities to think of what we want to do.

www.The-Wind-Project.com

Children's diets are unhealthy

"The most recent scientific evidence is both overwhelming and shocking--what we feed (or don't feed) our children as they grow from birth to early adulthood has a greater total contributory effect on the dietary contribution to cancers than dietary intake over the next fifty years.  American children and most children in developed countries eat less than 2 percent of their diet from natural plant foods such as fruits and vegetables.  American children move into adulthood eating 90 percent of their caloric intake from dairy products, white flour, sugar, and oil.  Amazingly, about 25 percent of toddlers between ages one and two eat no fruits and vegetables at all.  By fifteen months, french fries are the most common vegetable consumed in America!

"Childhood diets are unhealthy, but the issue goes beyond simple nutrition.  Recent, compelling, scientific evidence over the past two decades has shown links between precise dietary factors and autoimmune illnesses such as Crohn's disease and lupus, as well as later-life cancers.  This means that we now know what helps to create an environment in our bodies that is favorable for cancers to emerge later in life, and we understand how what they eat now can prevent cancer in our children's future.  While the scientific evidence is in, parents haven't been informed that what their children eat during their growth years has such a profound effect on their later health and that the first ten years may be the most critical.  Unfortunately, many parents are unwittingly feeding their children dangerous, cancer-provoking diets.  My goal is to inform parents so that they can give their children the greatest gift of all: the opportunity for a long and healthy life." -Joel Fuhrman, M.D. in Disease - Proof Your Child

It is good that there is more evidence about the food we need to eat.  We need the nutrition to live healthy.  Children need it for a life of healthiness.

www.The-Wind-Project.com

What children don't eat can cause illness

"Childhood diets create adult cancers.  When our children eat junk food instead of fruits and vegetables, the groundwork is being laid for cancer and other diseases to occur down the road.

"Additionally, many children today are very often recurrently sick with ear infections and allergies,  and then, later in life, may develop autoimmune illnesses such as lupus, ulcerative colitis, and rheumatoid arthritis.  The major contributor to the development of these illness is suboptimal nutrition.  Kids become ill not because they just naturally pass around germs or have bad genes, but because their diets are inadequate.  Medications cannot prevent these problems--only a diet of nutritional excellence can." Joel Fuhrman, M.D. in Disease-Proof Your Child

Children need the proper nutrition to fight off the illness that are in and around their bodies.  What we give them to eat for their bodies can affect their lives years later.  More information around nutrition is being found out and we need to listen to it so our children can have healthy lives.

www.The-Wind-Project.com

Childhood diets are unhealthy

"The most recent scientific evidence is both overwhelming and shocking--what we feed (or don't feed) our children as they grow from birth to early adulthood has a greater total contributory effect on the dietary contribution to cancers than dietary intake over the next fifty years.  American children and most children in developed countries eat less than 2 percent of their diet from natural plant foods such as fruits and vegetables.  American children move into adulthood eating 90 percent of their caloric intake from dairy products, white flour, sugar, and oil.  Amazingly, about 25 percent of toddlers between ages one and two eat no fruits and vegetables at all.  By fifteen months, french fries are the most common vegetable consumed in America!
"Childhood diets are unhealthy, but the issue goes beyond simple nutrition.  Recent, compelling, scientific evidence over the past two decades has shown links between precise dietary factors and autoimmune illnesses such as Crohn's disease and lupus, as well as later-life cancers.  This means that we now know what helps to create an environment in our bodies that is favorable for cancers to emerge later in life, and we understand how what they eat now can prevent cancer in our children's future.  While the scientific evidence is in, parents haven't been informed that what their children eat during their growth years has such a profound effect on their later health and that the first ten years may be the most critical.  Unfortunately, many parents are unwittingly feeding their children dangerous, cancer-provoking diets.  My goal is to inform parents so that they can give their children the greatest gift of all: the opportunity for a long and healthy life." -Joel Fuhrman, M.D. in Disease - Proof Your Child

It is good that there is more evidence about the food we need to eat.  We need the nutrition to live healthy.  Children need it for a life of healthiness.

Renee Madison, MA, LPC, CSAT is a counselor in Colorado.  She can be reached for appointments at 303-257-7623 or 970-324-6928

What Normal Kids Eat Today

"As parents, we want what is best for our children.  We would never intentionally harm them--in fact, we make sure to get them the best possible care, read to them, play with them, and ensure their safety at home, at school, and at play.  But when it comes to feeding them, somehow we don't know what's best.  Our kids seem finicky and eat nothing but cheese and pasta or chicken fingers or milk and cookies, and we let them.  At the same time, we notice that they are frequently ill--they suffer from recurring ear infections, runny noses, stomachaches, and headaches.  We take them to the doctor, who prescribes yet another round of antibiotics.  We assume, because we also see it happening with friends and family, that it is par for the course when bringing up children.  It doesn't have to be so.
"This scenario may be "normal" for kids today, but it is not normal for humans or any other species of animal that eats nutrient-rich natural foods.  Scientific research has demonstrated that humans have a powerful immune system, even stronger than that of other animals, that makes our body a self-repairing, self-defending organism with the innate ability to defend itself against microbes and prevent chronic illness.  The system operates at its best only if we give it the correct raw materials to work with.  When a young body doesn't receive its nutritional requirements, bizarre diseases occur.  Of late, there has been an increase in cancers that were unheard of in prior human history.  Most of these can be linked to improper nutrition.
"Despite our very best intentions, today there are health risks that well-meaning parents inflict on their children without being aware of it.   Every day in small ways, we may well be causing harm to their precious little bodies through the choices we make about what we decide to feed them." Joel Fuhrman, M.D. in Disease-Proof Your Child

The culture works against kids for choosing healthy foods.  The fast food, the quick and easy processed food all attribute to children developing tastes and attitudes around food.  For example, some kids don't know what real chicken tastes like, they think chicken nuggets are the natural form and taste.

Renee Madison, MA, LPC, CSAT is a counselor in Colorado.  She can be reached for appointments at 303-257-7623 or 970-324-6928

Children and Savings

"When kids grow up on a farm, the value of savings is much easier to comprehend than in an urban environment.  If a farmer sells or consumes all of corn that he harvests, the following year he will have nothing to plant and as a result, have no income.  The smart farmer knows that some of what he harvests is to feed his family, some is to sell, and some is to be saved for seed.  Teaching the concept of holding some of what is harvested (earned) as seed (savings) for the future is something every farmer’s child understands.
“Unfortunately, most of us aren’t farm savvy.  But at your dinner table you could use examples from any farm-grown vegetable that has seeds.  Explaining that one kernel of corn produced a stalk with several ears and that each ear produced hundreds of kernels, can teach many principles; planning ahead, sowing and reaping, and compounded interest.
“Years ago we read the book Millionaire Next Door by Thomas Stanley and William Danko.  The book gives great insight into the habits of hardworking, wealthy families.  Of the many interesting statistics that the authors shared, one stood out to us: the average millionaire saves 15 to 20 percent of what he or she earns.  If it’s good enough for them, it’s good enough for our kids and us.” – Steve & Annette Economides in the MoneySmart family system

Children are not accustomed to saving.  They want what they want and want it now.  I like the farmers idea  as a way to teach children that saving is important.

http://www.The-Wind-Project.com

Children and Giving

"We've heard of parents who give their children money on Sunday morning to put in the offering plate.  While donating money is a commendable thing, when children give what isn't theirs, the joy of giving is usually missed.  We've always encouraged our kids to give their own possessions, time, or money to those in need.
"... Sometimes the best solution has been to use our organizational skills to help raise money, rather than simply giving it.  Working with our kids, we've taught them to organize, promote, and host fund-raising garage sales for our Boy Scout troop and drama group.  We've also hosted several silent auctions, with the kids helping collect donations, label item, and administrate the auction.  They'll never forget the time and effort they put forth.  But more importantly, they'll always remember the fun and success they had as hundreds of people came to the events and hundreds or thousands of dollars were raised.
"Volunteering as a family is a fun and important way to give to others.  Everyone, no matter how young, can play a small part." - Steve & Annette Economides in the MoneySmart family system

It is important to teach and talk about children to give they don't follow after their pattern of self focus.  An ability to see others in need and help as they can will make them healthier people in touch with the world around them.

www.The-Wind-Project.com

Social Wiring

"As I've stated, our social wiring is set at an early age.  Whether we grow up feeling basically secure or basically insecure to determined by how our parents or caregivers relate to us and to the world.  Parents who put a high value on relationship tend to do more to protect their loved ones than do parents who value other things more.  They tend to spend more face-to-face and skin-to-skin time with their child; be more curious about and interested in their child's mind; be more focused, attentive, and attuned to their child's needs; and generally be more motivated to quickly correct errors or injuries, because they want to restore the goodness of the relationship.  In these ways, they create a secure environment for the child.
"The dynamics of this early relationship leave their mark at a physiological level.  Neuroscientists have observed that children who receive lots of positive attention from adults then to develop more neural networks than do children deprived of social interaction with adult brains.  The primitives and ambassadors of secure children ten to be well integrated, and so these children generally are able to handle their emotions and impulses.  Their amygdalae aren't overcharged and their hypothalamus conducts normal operations and feedback communication with the pituitary and adrenal glands, the other cogs in the threat and stress wheel, turning that system on and off when appropriate.  Their dumb vagus and smart vagus are well balanced.
"Because of good relationships early in life, secure children tend to have a well-developed right brain and insula, so they are adept at reading faces, voices, emotions, and body sensations, and at getting the overall gist of things.  In particular, their orbitofrontal cortex is well developed, with neural connections that provide feedback to their other ambassadors and their primitives.  Compared with insecure children, they tend to have more empathy, better moral judgment, grater control over impulses, and more consistent management of frustration.  In general, secure children are more resilient to the slings and arrows of social-emotional stress and do far better in social situation.
"A secure relationship is characterized by playfulness, interaction, flexibility, and sensitivity.  Good feelings predominate because any bad feelings are quickly soothed.  It's a great place to be!  It's a place where we can expect fun and excitement and novelty, but also relief and comfort and shelter.  When we experience this kind of secure foundation as a child, we carry it forth into adulthood....
"However, not all of us had relationships in early childhood that felt secure.  Perhaps we had several rotating caregivers, without one who was consistently available or dependable.  Or perhaps we had one or more caregivers who primarily valued something else more than relationship, such as self-preservation, beauty, youth, performance, intelligence, talent, money or reputation.  Maybe one or more caregivers emphasized loyalty, privacy, independence, and self-sufficiency over relationship fidelity.  Almost anything can supplant the value of relationship, and often when this occurs, it is not by choice.  A caregiver's mental or physical illness, unresolved trauma or loss, immaturity, and the like can interfere with a child's sense of security.  If this happens to us, then as adults we come to relationships with an underlying insecurity.  That can lead us to keep to ourselves as an island in the ocean of humanity.  Or it can lead to ambivalence about connecting with others, in which case we become more like a wave." - Stan Tatkin, Psy.D. in Wired for Love

It is so important that as parents and caregivers we connect with our children.  Addictions of all kinds are just one of the things that can interfere with the emotional care that children need.

Renee Madison, MA, LPC, CSAT is a counselor in Colorado.  She can be reached for appointments at 303-257-7623 or 970-324-6928