University of Chicago study: Giving nonverbal clues can boost a child’s vocabulary

26 Jun

 

Educators have long recognized the importance of vocabulary in reading and learning. Francie Alexander writes in the Scholastic article, Understanding Vocabulary:

 

Why is vocabulary s-o-o important?

 

Vocabulary is critical to reading success for three reasons:

 

  1. Comprehension improves when you know what the words mean. Since comprehension is the ultimate goal of reading, you cannot overestimate the importance of vocabulary development.

  2. Words are the currency of communication. A robust vocabulary improves all areas of communication — listening, speaking, reading and writing.

  3. How many times have you asked your students or your own children to “use your words”? When children and adolescents improve their vocabulary, their academic and social confidence and competence improve, too. http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/article/understanding-vocabulary

 

A University of Chicago study, “Quality of early parent input predicts child vocabulary three years later,” published in the current issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences highlights the importance of parental involvement at an early stage of learning.

 

Alexandra Sifferlin writes in the Time article, Building Kids’ Vocabulary Doesn’t Have to Involve Words:

 

 

The stronger a child’s vocabulary, the more successful she tends to be in school, and new research shows that the word-building can begin before kids start talking.

 

Child development experts have long advised parents to talk to their babies, even if their infants can’t talk back. The more a parent talks to his child, the more words they are likely to learn. Now comes new work suggesting that even non-verbal cues such as pointing to objects can encourage vocabulary building regardless of socioeconomic status. It’s not just the quantity of words spoken, then, that’s important but the quality of the learning environment that may make the greatest difference.

 

To come to this conclusion, researchers from the University of Chicago videotaped the daily interactions of 50 parents and their toddlers over two 90-minute sessions when the kids were 14 months to 18 months. In order to tease apart the parents who used non-verbal cues from those who relied more on verbal communication, the researchers bleeped out a key word from 10 randomly selected 40-second clips of these recordings. They asked another 218 adults to watch these clips and guess which word the parent was saying at the beep.

 

The scientists then defined those situations in which the participants were easily able to determine the word — for example, guessing that the recorded parent was saying “book” if he said it while the child was walking to a bookshelf — as involving non-verbal cues, and classified the environments in which it was harder to guess the missing word as being primarily verbal ones.

 

Most of the parents used non-verbal cues from 5% to 38% of the time. Three years later, about the time the youngsters entered kindergarten, the researchers assessed their vocabularies and found that children with the biggest vocabularies also had parents whose beeped-out words were more easily deduced in the recording clips. Giving new words context with non-verbal cues could explain about 22% of the difference in vocabularies among children whose parents used them v. those who did not….: http://healthland.time.com/2013/06/26/building-kids-vocabulary-doesnt-have-to-involve-words/#ixzz2XOXWqAmF

 

Here is the press release from the University of Chicago:

 

Giving children non-verbal clues about words boosts vocabularies

 

By William Harms

June 24, 2013

The clues that parents give toddlers about words can make a big difference in how deep their vocabularies are when they enter school, new research at the University of Chicago shows.

By using words to reference objects in the visual environment, parents can help young children learn new words, according to the research. It also explores the difficult-to-measure quality of non-verbal clues to word meaning during interactions between parents and children learning to speak. For example, saying, “There goes the zebra” while visiting the zoo helps a child learn the word “zebra” faster than saying, “Let’s go to see the zebra.”

Differences in the quality of parents’ non-verbal clues to toddlers (what children can see when their parents are talking) explain about a quarter (22 percent) of the differences in those same children’s vocabularies when they enter kindergarten, researchers found.

The results are reported in the paper, “Quality of early parent input predicts child vocabulary three years later,” published in the current issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.         

“Children’s vocabularies vary greatly in size by the time they enter school,” said lead author Erica Cartmill, a postdoctoral scholar at UChicago. “Because preschool vocabulary is a major predictor of subsequent school success, this variability must be taken seriously and its sources understood.”

Scholars have found that the number of words youngsters hear greatly influences their vocabularies. Parents with higher socioeconomic status—those with higher income and more education—typically talk more to their children and accordingly boost their vocabularies, research has shown.

That advantage for higher-income families doesn’t show up in the quality research, however.

“What was surprising in this study was that social economic status did not have an impact on quality. Parents of lower social economic status were just as likely to provide high-quality experiences for their children as were parents of higher status,” said co-author Susan Goldin-Meadow, the Beardsley Ruml Distinguished Service Professor in Psychology at UChicago.  

Although scholars have amassed impressive evidence that the number of words children hear—the quantity of their linguistic input—has an impact on vocabulary development, measuring the quality of the verbal environment—including non-verbal clues to word meaning—has proved much more difficult.

To measure quality, the research team reviewed videotapes of everyday interactions between 50 primary caregivers, almost all mothers, and their children (14 to 18 months old). The mothers and children, from a range of social and economic backgrounds, were taped for 90-minute periods as they went about their days, playing and engaging in other activities.

The team then showed 40-second vignettes from these videotapes to 218 adults with the sound track muted. Based on the interaction between the child and parent, the adults were asked to guess what word the parent in each vignette used when a beep was sounded on the tape.

A beep might occur, for instance, in a parent’s silenced speech for the word “book” as a child approaches a bookshelf or brings a book to the mother to start storytime. In this scenario, the word was easy to guess because the mother labeled objects as the child saw and experienced them. In other tapes, viewers were unable to guess the word that was beeped during the conversation, as there were few immediate clues to the meaning of the parent’s words. Vignettes containing words that were easy to guess provided high-quality clues to word meaning.

Although there were no differences in the quality of the interactions based on parents’ backgrounds, the team did find significant individual differences among the parents studied. Some parents provided non-verbal clues about words only 5 percent of the time, while others provided clues 38 percent of the time, the study found.

The study also found that the number of words parents used was not related to the quality of the verbal exchanges. “Early quantity and quality accounted for different aspects of the variance found in the later vocabulary outcome measure,” the authors wrote. In other words, how much parents talk to their children (quantity), and how parents use words in relation to the non-verbal environment (quality) provided different kinds of input into early language development.

“However, parents who talk more are, by definition, offering their children more words, and the more words a child hears, the more likely it will be for that child to hear a particular word in a high-quality learning situation,” they added. This suggests that higher-income families’ vocabulary advantage comes from a greater quantity of input, which leads to a greater number of high-quality word-learning opportunities. Making effective use of non-verbal cues may be a good way for parents to get their children started on the road to language.

Joining Cartmill and Goldin-Meadow as authors were University of Pennsylvania scholars Lila Gleitman, professor emerita of psychology; John Trueswell, professor of psychology; Benjamin Armstrong, a research assistant; and Tamara Medina, assistant professor of psychology at Drexel University.

The work was supported by grants from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.

– See more at: http://news.uchicago.edu/article/2013/06/24/giving-children-non-verbal-clues-about-words-boosts-vocabularies#sthash.V4f1L1Vb.dpuf

 

Citation:

 

Social Sciences – Psychological and Cognitive Sciences

 

  • Erica A. Cartmill,

  • Benjamin F. Armstrong III,

  • Lila R. Gleitman,

  • Susan Goldin-Meadow,

  • Tamara N. Medina,

  • and John C. Trueswell

 

Quality of early parent input predicts child vocabulary 3 years later PNAS 2013 ; published ahead of print June 24, 2013, doi:10.1073/pnas.1309518110

 

…10.1073/pnas.1309518110 Erica A. Cartmill Benjamin F. Armstrong III Lila…PDF) Supporting Information Cartmill et al. 10.1073/pnas…and working our way down until Cartmill et al. http://www.pnas.org/cgi…

 

 

Moi wrote about the importance of parental involvement in Missouri program: Parent home visits:

 

One of the mantras of this blog is that education is a partnership between the student, parent(s) or guardian(s), teacher(s), and the school. All parts of the partnership must be involved.  Many educators have long recognized that the impact of social class affects both education achievement and life chances after completion of education. There are two impacts from diversity, one is to broaden the life experience of the privileged and to raise the expectations of the disadvantaged. Social class matters in not only other societies, but this one as well. A few years back, the New York Times did a series about social class in America. That series is still relevant. Janny Scott and David Leonhardt’s overview, Shadowy Lines That Still Divide describes the challenges faced by schools trying to overcome the disparity in education. The complete series can be found at Class Matters

 

Teachers and administrators as well as many politicians if they are honest know that children arrive at school at various points on the ready to learn continuum. Teachers have to teach children at whatever point on the continuum the children are. Jay Matthews reports in the Washington Post article, Try parent visits, not parent takeovers of schools. http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/try-parent-visits-not-parent-takeovers-of-schools/2012/05/30/gJQAlDDz2U_story.html

 

The key ingredient is parental involvement. The Wisconsin Council on Children and Families (Council) has a great policy brief on parental involvement.http://www.wccf.org/pdf/parentsaspartners_ece-series.pd

 

https://drwilda.com/2012/05/30/missouri-program-parent-home-visits/

 


Related:

 

 

The importance of the skill of handwriting in the school curriculum https://drwilda.com/2012/01/24/the-importance-of-the-skill-of-handwriting-in-the-school-curriculum/

 

The slow reading movement                                                       https://drwilda.com/2012/01/31/the-slow-reading-movement/

 

Why libraries in K-12 schools are important                              https://drwilda.com/2012/12/26/why-libraries-in-k-12-schools-are-important/

 

University of Iowa study: Variation in words may help early learners read better                                                                                   https://drwilda.com/2013/01/16/university-of-iowa-study-variation-in-words-may-help-early-learners-read-better/

 

 

Where Information Leads to Hope ©     Dr. Wilda.com

 

Dr. Wilda says this about that ©

 

Blogs by Dr. Wilda:

 

COMMENTS FROM AN OLD FART©                           http://drwildaoldfart.wordpress.com/

 

Dr. Wilda Reviews ©                                                http://drwildareviews.wordpress.com/

 

Dr. Wilda ©                                                                             https://drwilda.com/

 

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The 06/26/13 Joy Jar

26 Jun

 

Moi has several in her house. You probably have several in your house. They are in the workplace, at the mall -they are everywhere. They are on the street. Sometimes people want to kick the can down the street. You really don’t notice them until you are ready to deposit garbage or trash or they have been knocked over and their contents spilled. Today’s deposit into the ‘Joy Jar’ is the garbage can.

“God helps all the children as they move into a time of life they do not understand and must struggle through with precepts they have picked from the garbage can of older people, clinging with the passion of the lost to odds and ends that will mess them up”

Lillian Hellman

“A work desk is a garbage can with drawers”

Unknown

“In Beverly Hills… they don’t throw their garbage away. They make it into television shows.”

Woody Allen

“If you put garbage in a computer nothing comes out but garbage. But this garbage, having passed through a very expensive machine, is somehow ennobled and none dare criticize it.”

Unknown

Water and air, the two essential fluids on which all life depends, have become global garbage cans.
Jacques Yves Cousteau

The lowest form of popular culture – lack of information, misinformation, disinformation, and a contempt for the truth or the reality of most people’s lives – has overrun real journalism. Today, ordinary Americans are being stuffed with garbage.
Carl Bernstein

“I lived through the garbage. I might as well dine on the caviar.”

Beverly Sills

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The 06/25/13 Joy Jar

25 Jun

 

Moi had the great pleasure of attending ’30 Years of Japanese Fashion’ at the Seattle Art Museum. It was simply a stunning show. The fact that 100 pieces of exquisite haute couture were exhibited in one place for the public to see was amazing. That is what museums do, they amaze us with things few of us could acquire and many of us would never see. Today’s deposit into the ‘Joy Jar’ are museums.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Outside museums, in noisy public squares, people look at people. Inside museums, we leave that realm and enter what might be called the group-mind, getting quiet to look at art.
Jerry Saltz

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In museums and palaces we are alternate radicals and conservatives.
Henry James

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“In poetically well built museums, formed from the heart’s compulsions, we are consoled not by finding in them old objects that we love, but by losing all sense of Time.”
Orhan Pamuk, The Museum of Innocence

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Museums have no political power, but they do have the possibility of influencing the political process. This is a complete change from their role in the early days of collecting and hoarding the world to one of using the collections as an archive for a changing world. This role is not merely scientifically important, but it is also a cultural necessity.”
Richard Fortey, Dry Store Room No. 1: The Secret Life Of The Natural History Museum

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“The Museum is not meant either for the wanderer to see by accident or for the pilgrim to see with awe. It is meant for the mere slave of a routine of self-education to stuff himself with every sort of incongruous intellectual food in one indigestible meal.” Chesterton, Gilbert K. on museums and galleries

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A painting in a museum hears more ridiculous opinions than anything else in the world.

 

Edmond De Goncourt quotes 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Give me a museum and I’ll fill it.

 

Pablo Picasso

 

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The 06/24/13 Joy Jar

24 Jun

 

Walking gives one a different perspective than riding in a car or on a bus. Walking through urban neighborhoods is particularly a fest for the eyes and the senses. One things than many urban neighborhood have is plenty of neon signs and lights. Some garish, some tasteful, but designed to make one look. Today’s deposit into the ‘Joy Jar’ are urban neon signs.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There are two kinds of light – the glow that illumines, and the glare that obscures. 

 

James Thurber

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Light gives of itself freely, filling all available space.  It does not seek anything in return; it asks not whether you are friend or foe.  It gives of itself and is not thereby diminished. 

 

Michael Strassfeld

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


In the right light, at the right time, everything is extraordinary. 

 

Aaron Rose

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Light can be gentle, dangerous, dreamlike, bare, living, dead, misty, clear, hot, dark, violet, springlike, falling, straight, sensual, limited, poisonous, calm and soft. 

 

Sven Nykvist

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“In their simplicity and directness [neon signage is] a kind of urban iconography with which we can identify on many levels. — Rudi Stern”
Philip Di Lemme, American Streamline: A Handbook Of Neon Advertising Design

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Seattle Children’s Hospital study: Parental attitudes influence children’s media choices

24 Jun

 

Some one told moi a story about a woman who wanted to introduce her 12 year old son to culture. The way she set about the introduction was to buy tickets for the entire Ring by Wagner. Perhaps, her son thoroughly enjoyed the Ring. More likely, he probably developed a hatred for opera. About the time that school starts around the beginning of September, many arts organizations begin their season. It is good to introduce your child to all types of artistic endeavors, but one should chose wisely by looking for cues as to what the child’s interests are and having an awareness of content.

 

What Types of Rating Systems Exist?

 

 

The Federal Trade Commission  (FTC) maintains a system of ratings to guide families in making appropriate entertainment choices for their children. The system describes movie ratings, many other venues such as theaters may use the system to describe their content. The Movie Ratings are: 

 

General Audience.All ages admitted. This signifies that the film rated contains nothing most parents will consider offensive for even their youngest children to see or hear. Nudity, sex scenes, and scenes of drug use are absent; violence is minimal; snippets of dialogue may go beyond polite conversation but do not go beyond common everyday expressions.

Parental Guidance Suggested.Some material may not be suitable for children. This signifies that the film rated may contain some material parents might not like to expose to their young children – material that will clearly need to be examined or inquired about before children are allowed to attend the film. Explicit sex scenes and scenes of drug use are absent; nudity, if present, is seen only briefly, horror and violence do not exceed moderate levels.

Parents Strongly Cautioned.Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13. This signifies that the film rated may be inappropriate for pre-teens. Parents should be especially careful about letting their younger children attend. Rough or persistent violence is absent; sexually-oriented nudity is generally absent; some scenes of drug use may be seen; one use of the harsher sexually derived words may be heard.

Restricted-Under 17requires accompanying parent or adult guardian (age varies in some locations). This signifies that the rating board has concluded that the film rated contains some adult material. Parents are urged to learn more about the film before taking their children to see it. An R may be assigned due to, among other things, a film’s use of language, theme, violence, sex or its portrayal of drug use.

No One 17 and Under Admitted.This signifies that the rating board believes that most American parents would feel that the film is patently adult and that children age 17 and under should not be admitted to it. The film may contain explicit sex scenes, an accumulation of sexually-oriented language, or scenes of excessive violence. The NC-17 designation does not, however, signify that the rated film is obscene or pornographic.

 

 

Information about the rating system and the history of movie ratings can be found at Film Ratings

 

 

Often parents want to look at other rating systems for content and the Entertainment Ratings Software Board (ERSB) also has a rating system.

 

 

ESRB Rating Symbols

 

EARLY CHILDHOOD
Titles rated EC (Early Childhood) have content that may be suitable for ages 3 and older. Contains no material that parents would find inappropriate.

EVERYONE
Titles rated E (Everyone) have content that may be suitable for ages 6 and older. Titles in this category may contain minimal cartoon, fantasy or mild violence and/or infrequent use of mild language.

  

EVERYONE 10+
Titles rated E10+ (Everyone 10 and older) have content that may be suitable for ages 10 and older. Titles in this category may contain more cartoon, fantasy or mild violence, mild language and/or minimal suggestive themes.

  

TEEN
Titles rated T (Teen) have content that may be suitable for ages 13 and older. Titles in this category may contain violence, suggestive themes, crude humor, minimal blood, simulated gambling, and/or infrequent use of strong language.

 

MATURE
Titles rated M (Mature) have content that may be suitable for persons ages 17 and older. Titles in this category may contain intense violence, blood and gore, sexual content and/or strong language.

  

ADULTS ONLY
Titles rated AO (Adults Only) have content that should only be played by persons 18 years and older. Titles in this category may include prolonged scenes of intense violence and/or graphic sexual content and nudity.

  

RATING PENDING
Titles listed as RP (Rating Pending) have been submitted to the ESRB and are awaiting final rating. (This symbol appears only in advertising prior to a game’s release.)

  

 

 

The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has a caution system and which is described at Parental Advisory

 

 

Mary Guiden reports in the Seattle Children’s Hospital study, Parent cultural attitudes, beliefs associated with child’s media viewing habits:

 

 

Differences in parental beliefs and attitudes regarding the effects of media on early childhood development may help explain the increasing racial/ethnic disparities in child media viewing/habits, according to a new study by Wanjiku Njoroge, MD, of Seattle Children’s Research Institute.

 

The findings support national research that preschool-aged children spend considerable time with media, a situation that brings both risks and benefits for cognitive and behavioral outcomes depending on what is watched and how it is watched. A 2006 Kaiser Family Foundation media study, for example, highlighted that ethnically/racially diverse children—specifically African American, Hispanic and Asian children—watch more television than non-Hispanic white children.

 

New study included almost 600 parents

 

A total of 596 parents of children ages three to five years completed demographic questionnaires, reported on attitudes regarding media’s risks and benefits to their children, and completed one-week media diaries in which they recorded all of the programs their children watched.

 

According to study results, children watched an average of 462 minutes of TV per week, with African American children watching more TV and DVDs per week than did children of other racial and ethnic backgrounds. The relationship between the child’s race/ethnicity and average weekly media time was no longer statistically significant, however, after controlling for socioeconomic status (parental educational attainment and reported annual family income).

 

Small study sample size may have affected results

 

“Once we took SES into account, some of the findings disappeared,” said Njoroge. “That could be due to the small numbers.” The makeup of the study sample was 409 non-Hispanic white, 41 African American, 49 Asian American/Pacific Islander/Hawaiian and 97 multiracial children. Despite this limitation, the research teams’ findings echo national survey results indicating that TV viewing differs across race/ethnicity and SES.

 

Significant differences were found between parents of ethnically/racially diverse children and parents of non-Hispanic white children regarding the perceived positive effects of TV viewing, even when parental education and family income were taken into account.

 

Future research needs larger samples of children from diverse backgrounds

 

“These findings point to an important relationship between parental attitudes and beliefs about child media use and time that could be useful for intervention,” said Njoroge. “Because of the strong relationship between SES and media exposure in our sample, future research with larger samples of children from diverse backgrounds is warranted to better understand the complexities of race/ethnicity, family SES, and parental beliefs and attitudes on child media exposure.”

 

Njoroge and colleagues have several follow-up studies in the works. “We know that media is an enduring presence in the lives of young children and families,” she said. “Therefore, we need to understand differences across parenting cultural styles, so that recommendations can be tailored to families regarding their young child’s media use.”

 

Dimitri Christakis, MD, MPH, a co-author on Njoroge’s study, released findings earlier this year about the importance of a “media diet” for children, with an emphasis on less violent programming and more educational and prosocial programs. Njoroge’s research is through the Center for Child Health, Behavior and Development at Seattle Children’s Research Institute. She is also an assistant professor of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences at the University of Washington.

 

Study co-authors, funding support

 

This study was supported by a grant from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (1 R01 HD 056506-01A2) and grant R01 HD 56506 from NICHD Research Supplements to Promote Diversity in Health-Related Research (PA-08-190, Media Impact on Preschool Behavior). Study co-authors include Laura Elenbaas, BA (University of Maryland); Michelle Garrison, PhD (Seattle Children’s Research Institute); and Mon Myaing, PhD (Seattle Children’s Research Institute). http://pulse.seattlechildrens.org/parent-cultural-attitudes-beliefs-associated-with-childs-media-viewing-habits/

 

What Types of Rating Systems Exist?

 

 

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) maintains a system of ratings to guide families in making appropriate entertainment choices for their children. The system describes movie ratings, many other venues such as theaters may use the system to describe their content. The Movie Ratings are: 

 

 

General Audience.All ages admitted. This signifies that the film rated contains nothing most parents will consider offensive for even their youngest children to see or hear. Nudity, sex scenes, and scenes of drug use are absent; violence is minimal; snippets of dialogue may go beyond polite conversation but do not go beyond common everyday expressions.

Parental Guidance Suggested.Some material may not be suitable for children. This signifies that the film rated may contain some material parents might not like to expose to their young children – material that will clearly need to be examined or inquired about before children are allowed to attend the film. Explicit sex scenes and scenes of drug use are absent; nudity, if present, is seen only briefly, horror and violence do not exceed moderate levels.

Parents Strongly Cautioned.Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13. This signifies that the film rated may be inappropriate for pre-teens. Parents should be especially careful about letting their younger children attend. Rough or persistent violence is absent; sexually-oriented nudity is generally absent; some scenes of drug use may be seen; one use of the harsher sexually derived words may be heard.

Restricted-Under 17requires accompanying parent or adult guardian (age varies in some locations). This signifies that the rating board has concluded that the film rated contains some adult material. Parents are urged to learn more about the film before taking their children to see it. An R may be assigned due to, among other things, a film’s use of language, theme, violence, sex or its portrayal of drug use.

No One 17 and Under Admitted.This signifies that the rating board believes that most American parents would feel that the film is patently adult and that children age 17 and under should not be admitted to it. The film may contain explicit sex scenes, an accumulation of sexually-oriented language, or scenes of excessive violence. The NC-17 designation does not, however, signify that the rated film is obscene or pornographic.

 

Information about the rating system and the history of movie ratings can be found at Film Ratings

 

 Often parents want to look at other rating systems for content and the Entertainment RatingsSoftware Board (ERSB) also has a rating system.

 

 

ESRB Rating Symbols

 

EARLY CHILDHOOD
Titles rated EC (Early Childhood) have content that may be suitable for ages 3 and older. Contains no material that parents would find inappropriate.

EVERYONE
Titles rated E (Everyone) have content that may be suitable for ages 6 and older. Titles in this category may contain minimal cartoon, fantasy or mild violence and/or infrequent use of mild language.

EVERYONE 10+
Titles rated E10+ (Everyone 10 and older) have content that may be suitable for ages 10 and older. Titles in this category may contain more cartoon, fantasy or mild violence, mild language and/or minimal suggestive themes.

TEEN
Titles rated T (Teen) have content that may be suitable for ages 13 and older. Titles in this category may contain violence, suggestive themes, crude humor, minimal blood, simulated gambling, and/or infrequent use of strong language.

MATURE
Titles rated M (Mature) have content that may be suitable for persons ages 17 and older. Titles in this category may contain intense violence, blood and gore, sexual content and/or strong language.

ADULTS ONLY
Titles rated AO (Adults Only) have content that should only be played by persons 18 years and older. Titles in this category may include prolonged scenes of intense violence and/or graphic sexual content and nudity.

RATING PENDING
Titles listed as RP (Rating Pending) have been submitted to the ESRB and are awaiting final rating. (This symbol appears only in advertising prior to a game’s release.)

 

 

The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has a caution system and which is described at Parental Advisory

 

 

What Questions Should a Parent Ask a Venue About Content?

 

 

  1. Does a particular venue have a ratings system for content? 

 

  1. What is the model for the ratings system? Is it like film ratings or ESRB? 

 

  1. How descriptive is the rating system, does it give examples of the type of language or situation which might be problematic? 

 

  1. Where is the rating for each production listed? Is it in the descriptive brochure? Is this information on the web site? Are box office personnel familiar with the ratings? 

 

  1. If a family has concerns about a particular production, how should concerns be addressed to the venue if the family finds the production does not match the rating description? 

 

Families have different viewpoints about what is appropriate content for their child or children. Some families seek out a variety of experiences for their children while others are more restrained in what they feel is appropriate. All families need to ask questions about content to find what is appropriate for their child and their value system.

 

 

Where Information Leads to Hope ©     Dr. Wilda.com

 

Dr. Wilda says this about that ©

 

Blogs by Dr. Wilda:

 

COMMENTS FROM AN OLD FART©                           http://drwildaoldfart.wordpress.com/

 

Dr. Wilda Reviews ©                                                http://drwildareviews.wordpress.com/

 

Dr. Wilda ©                                                                             https://drwilda.com/

 

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The 06/23/13 Joy Jar

23 Jun

Moi began the ‘Joy Jar’ project right after the Mayan end of the world thing went belly-up. This was a year-long experiment to find something to be grateful for every day. The ‘Joy Jar’ is half way through and moi is learning to ‘cultivate an attitude of gratitude.’ Today’s deposit into the ‘Joy Jar’ is an attitude of gratitude.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Cultivate the habit of being grateful for every good thing that comes to you, and to give thanks continuously. And because all things have contributed to your advancement, you should include all things in your gratitude.”

Ralph Waldo Emerson

 

 

 

 

 

“In the end, though, maybe we must all give up trying to pay back the people in this world who sustain our lives. In the end, maybe it’s wiser to surrender before the miraculous scope of human generosity and to just keep saying thank you, forever and sincerely, for as long as we have voices.”

Elizabeth Gilbert, Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman’s Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Let gratitude be the pillow upon which you kneel to say your nightly prayer. And let faith be the bridge you build to overcome evil and welcome good.”

Maya Angelou, Celebrations: Rituals of Peace and Prayer

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Acknowledging the good that you already have in your life is the foundation for all abundance.”

Eckhart Tolle, A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life’s Purpose

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Walk as if you are kissing the Earth with your feet.”

Thich Nhat Hanh, Peace Is Every Step: The Path of Mindfulness in Everyday Life

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Sometimes life knocks you on your ass… get up, get up, get up!!! Happiness is not the absence of problems, it’s the ability to deal with them.”

― Steve Maraboli, Life, the Truth, and Being Free

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“To be grateful is to recognize the Love of God in everything He has given us – and He has given us everything. Every breath we draw is a gift of His love, every moment of existence is a grace, for it brings with it immense graces from Him.

Gratitude therefore takes nothing for granted, is never unresponsive, is constantly awakening to new wonder and to praise of the goodness of God. For the grateful person knows that God is good, not by hearsay but by experience. And that is what makes all the difference.”

― Thomas Merton

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“If the only prayer you said was thank you, that would be enough.”

Meister Eckhart

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Dallas Independent School District develops three-year high school diploma, savings to go to prekindergarten

23 Jun

As students are prepared for functioning in a 21th century world, the role of schools is evolving. The Future of Children describes high school in the article, Purpose and Outcomes of Today’s High Schools:

Given a common structure, but distinct environments and a still separate and unequal experience for many students, what is the purpose of high school in the twenty-first century? The weight of evidence suggests a growing consensus among both the students who attend the schools and the school districts and states that organize them that regardless of the characteristics of a school or its students, the primary purpose of high school today is to prepare students for college. The secondary functions of workforce preparation, socialization, and community-building remain, but ask a student, parent, school district administrator, or state school official the purpose of high school, and by far the most common response is that the mission of high school is to prepare students for postsecondary schooling.                                                     http://futureofchildren.org/publications/journals/article/index.xml?journalid=30&articleid=35&sectionid=64

Two reports and one article by Diane Ravitch in the Washington Post, which is a reply to the report by the Center for American Progress regarding whether children are learning the skills which are necessary in the 21st-century. These papers highlight the questions of what skills are necessary for children to be successful and whether they are learning these skills in school. Moi discusses the report, Do Schools Challenge our Students? What Student Surveys Tell Us About the State of Education in the U.S. from the Center for American Progress in Report from Center for American Progress report: Kids say school is too easy. https://drwilda.wordpress.com/2012/07/10/report-from-center-for-american-progress-report-kids-say-school-is-too-easy/ In response to the report, Diane Ravitch, a research professor at New York University and author of the bestselling “The Death and Life of the Great American School System” wrote Are U.S. schools too easy?

Sarah D. Sparks has written a good synopsis of the report, Education for Life and Work: Developing Transferable Knowledge and Skills in the 21st Century in the Education Week article, Study: ’21st-Century Learning’ Demands Mix of Abilities. http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/inside-school-research/2012/07/study_deeper_learning_needs_st_1.html

Morgan Smith of The Texas Tribune writes in the article, In Dallas, 3-Year High School Diploma Would Expand Preschool which was published in the New York Times:

Dallas Independent School District, the state’s second largest, is developing a voluntary three-year high school diploma plan that is likely to start in the 2014-15 school year and would funnel cost savings to finance prekindergarten.

A bill passed in the recently concluded legislative session, sponsored by two Dallas Democrats, Representative Eric Johnson and Senator Royce West, will allow the district to use savings that occur when students in the new plan graduate early. Under current Texas law, districts get state funding on a per-pupil basis, and the Dallas I.S.D. would have lost state aid for a senior year for students who graduated early.

“It’s a way to start thinking about the system differently,” said Mike Morath, the Dallas district trustee who promoted the three-year concept. “Do we view education as schools and buildings and first grade and second grade and third grade? Or do we view education as a way to enrich the lives of young people, and do we start taking these institutional blinders off and thinking about it more creatively?”

Advocates of early childhood learning say prekindergarten programs have long-term benefits, including making students less likely to drop out, repeat grades or need remedial course work. In his State of the Union address in February, President Obama set as a priority making “high-quality preschool available to every single child in America.”

The state now pays for half-day preschool programs for children who are learning English or are from homeless, low-income, foster or military families.

In 2011, the Legislature, facing a multibillion-dollar budget shortfall, slashed more than $200 million in grant money that had helped districts extend pre-K programs to a full day. Since then, many districts have been seeking ways to keep full-day prekindergarten without state aid, including charging tuition and, in the case of San Antonio, imposing a city sales tax.

The new legislation authorizes the state to credit the Dallas district for students who graduate under the three-year plan, Mr. Morath said. The district would receive an additional year of state financing for students who finish after what would normally have been the 11th grade.

The plan will enable the district to finance full-day pre-K programs at a rate of two children for every three-year high school graduate, he said. It could also result in savings from what he called a “slightly reduced need” for high school staff members.

Because the program, which must still be approved by the state education commissioner, is in its initial stages, Ann Smisko, the Dallas school district’s chief academic officer, said the district could not predict what the demand might be.

Ms. Smisko said educators would work with middle school students to determine who would enter the new diploma plan. Under the legislation, the district is required to form partnerships with state community colleges and four-year universities to place students who graduate early in some form of postsecondary education. Parents must give their approval for students to participate.

The district is in the midst of developing curriculum requirements for the three-year diploma, which Ms. Smisko said would be geared to “college-ready” standards.

Mr. Morath said an alternative diploma plan would appeal to high-performing students as well as to those eager to start vocational training.

He said the district would determine within five years whether the program was successful. At that point, the Legislature could decide whether to expand it to other school districts in Texas.

The proposal is not intended to be a way to get rid of the senior year of high school, which for many students has value for both social and academic development, Mr. Morath said. “I don’t think anyone thinks the 12th grade is going away,” he said.                                                                            http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/21/us/in-dallas-3-year-high-school-diploma-would-expand-preschool.html?hpw

The three-year diploma is one option for completing high school.

The American Education Guide describes the types of high school programs:

High School Graduation Options

Florida students entering their first year of high school in the 2007-2008 school year
may choose from the following graduation programs:

  • The Traditional 24-credit Program

  • An International Baccalaureate Diploma Program

  • An Advanced International Certificate of Education Diploma Program

  • A three-year, 18-credit college preparatory program

  • A three-year, 18-credit career preparatory program

All of these graduation paths include opportunities to take rigorous academic courses designed to prepare students for their future academic and career choices. All students, regardless of graduation program, must still earn a specific grade point average on a 4.0 scale and achieve passing scores on the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test in order to graduate with a standard diploma. However, the two three-year programs are significantly different from the traditional 24-credit
program.

Traditional 24-Credit Program – It’s a Major Opportunity!

This program requires students to take at least 24 credits in subject areas such as English, mathematics, science, social studies, fine arts, and a physical education course to include the integration of health. Foreign language credit is not required for this program, although it is recommended for community college preparation and is required for admission to Florida’s state universities. This program offers students the chance to take eight elective credits- four credits in a major area of interest and four credits combined to allow for a second major area of interest, a minor area of interest, or elective courses. Major areas of interests will allow students to define their interests and use their high school experience to become better prepared for higher education and/or a career of their choosing.

International Baccalaureate Diploma Program

The International Baccalaureate Diploma Program is a rigorous pre-university course of study leading to internationally standardized tests. The program’s comprehensive two-year curriculum allows its graduates to fulfill requirements of many different nations’ education systems. Students completing IB courses and exams from the six subject groups are eligible for college credit. The award of credit is based on scores achieved on IB exams. Students can earn up to 30 postsecondary semester credits by participating in this program at the high school level. Approximately 45 Florida high schools participate in the IB program. Students in Florida’s public secondary schools who are enrolled in IB courses do not have to pay to take the exams. For information, visit www.ibo.org.

Advanced International Certificate of Education Program

The Advanced International Certificate of Education Program is an international curriculum and examination program modeled on the British pre-college curriculum and “A-Level” exams. Florida’s public community colleges and universities provide college credit for successfully passed exams. Students in Florida’s public secondary schools who are enrolled in AICE courses do not have to pay to take the exams. For information, visit www.cie.org.uk and click on “Qualifications & Diplomas.”

Three-Year, 18-Credit College Preparatory Program

This accelerated graduation program requires fewer credits than the traditional 24-credit program and does not require the student to select a major area of interest. It focuses more on academic courses, which means students take fewer elective courses. Unlike the traditional 24-credit program, the three-year college preparatory program requires students to earn two credits in a foreign language. Students must earn at least six of the 18 required credits in specified rigorous level courses and maintain a cumulative weighted grade point average of a 3.5 on a 4.0 scale with a weighted or non-weighted grade that earns at least a 3.0 or its equivalent in each of the 18 required credits for the college preparatory program. It also requires higher-level mathematics courses than does the 24-credit program and the three-year career preparatory program. The credits required by this program must satisfy the minimum standards for admission into Florida’s state universities.

Three-Year, 18-Credit Career Preparatory Program

This accelerated graduation program requires fewer credits than the traditional 24-credit program and does not require the student to select a major area of interest. It focuses more on academic courses, which means students take fewer elective courses. Unlike the 24-credit program, the three-year career preparatory program requires students to earn specific credits in a single vocational or career education program. It requires students to maintain a cumulative weighted grade point average of a 3.0 on a 4.0 scale with a weighted or non-weighted grade that earns at least a 2.0 or its equivalent in each of the 18 required credits for the career preparatory program. The requirements of the program are designed to prepare students for entrance into a technical center or community college for career preparation or for entrance into the work force.

Choosing a Program

The three-year programs are designed for students who are clear about their future goals, who are mature enough to leave high school, and who are ready to pursue their goals beyond high school in an accelerated manner. To assist students and parents with this task, each school district shall provide each student in grades 6 through 9 and their parents with information concerning the three-year and four-year high school graduation options, including the respective curriculum requirements for those options, so that the students and their parents may select the program that best fits their needs. To select a three-year graduation program, students and their parents must meet with designated school personnel to receive an explanation of the requirements, advantages, and disadvantages of each program option.
Students must also receive the written consent of their parents. Students must select a graduation program prior to the end of ninth grade. Each student and his or her family should select the graduation program that will best prepare the student for his or her postsecondary education or career plan.     http://www.americaseducationguide.com/articles/4-High-School-Graduation-Options

In moi’s opinion, a relevant of the paper is Education for Life and Work: Developing Transferable Knowledge and Skills in the 21st Century because the question of whether there is a skill-set which will help most students be successful. Is an important question. For a contra opinion, see Jay Mathews’ 2009 Washington Post article, The Latest Doomed Pedagogical Fad: 21st-Century Skills. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/04/AR2009010401532.html

Schools have to prepare students to think critically and communicate clearly, the label for the skill set is less important than the fact that students must acquire relevant knowledge.

Resources:

High School, Only Shorter: Some Students Cure ‘Senioritis’ by Graduating Early; Trading Prom for Scholarships                 http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304750404577321561583186358.html

Condensing high school to three years                                    http://www.ajc.com/weblogs/get-schooled/2013/jun/22/condensing-high-school-three-years-works-me/

Related:

What the ACT college readiness assessment means                                           https://drwilda.com/2012/08/25/what-the-act-college-readiness-assessment-means/

Study: What skills are needed for ’21st-century learning?’                                   https://drwilda.com/2012/07/11/study-what-skills-are-needed-for-21st-century-learning/

ACT to assess college readiness for 3rd-10th Grades                                        https://drwilda.com/2012/07/04/act-to-assess-college-readiness-for-3rd-10th-grades/

National Center on Education and the Economy report: High schools are not preparing students for community college                    https://drwilda.com/2013/05/14/national-center-on-education-and-the-economy-report-high-schools-are-not-preparing-students-for-community-college/

Where Information Leads to Hope ©     Dr. Wilda.com

Dr. Wilda says this about that ©

Blogs by Dr. Wilda:

COMMENTS FROM AN OLD FART©                           http://drwildaoldfart.wordpress.com/

Dr. Wilda Reviews ©                                                http://drwildareviews.wordpress.com/

Dr. Wilda ©                                                                             https://drwilda.com/

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The 06/22/13 Joy Jar

22 Jun

 

Moi went for a long walk this afternoon and when she looked at the sky she saw a clue blue sky with white puffy clouds that looked like gigantic cotton balls sprinkled across the sky. These were friendly clouds. Today’s deposit into the ‘Joy Jar’ are friendly clouds that look like gigantic cotton balls.

Clouds are God’s sneezes.

Ralph Wiggum

Celebrate your success and stand strong when adversity hits, for when the storm clouds come in, the eagles soar while the small birds take cover

Napolean Hill

God writes the Gospel not in the Bible alone, but also on trees, and in the flowers and clouds and stars.

Martin Luther

Your hopes, dreams and aspirations are legitimate. They are trying to take you airborne, above the clouds, above the storms, if you only let them

William James

A pessimist only sees the dark side of the clouds, and mopes; a philosopher sees both sides and shrugs; an optimist doesn’t see the clouds at all–he’s walking on them.

Leonard L. Levensen

Measure not God’s love and favour by your own feeling. The sun shines as clearly in the darkest day as it does in the brightest. The difference is not in the sun, but in some clouds which hinder the manifestation of the light thereof.

Richard Sibbes

To penetrate and dissipate these clouds of darkness, the general mind must be strengthened by education.
Thomas Jefferson

It is better to have your head in the clouds, and know where you are… than to breathe the clearer atmosphere below them, and think that you are in paradise.
Henry David Thoreau

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The 06/21/13 Joy Jar

21 Jun

 

Moi wants to accomplish a couple of things this summer. One a spend time writing and the other is to get healthy. Walking is not only great exercise, but it seems to stimulate one’s creativity. Today’s deposit into the ‘Joy Jar’ is the art of long walks.

Every man must decide whether he will walk in the light of creative altruism or in the darkness of destructive selfishness.
Martin Luther King, Jr.

No one saves us but ourselves. No one can and no one may. We ourselves must walk the path.
Buddha

As a single footstep will not make a path on the earth, so a single thought will not make a pathway in the mind. To make a deep physical path, we walk again and again. To make a deep mental path, we must think over and over the kind of thoughts we wish to dominate our lives.
Henry David Thoreau

I’m a slow walker, but I never walk back.
Abraham Lincoln

Walking is the best possible exercise. Habituate yourself to walk very fast.
Thomas Jefferson

There is no easy walk to freedom anywhere, and many of us will have to pass through the valley of the shadow of death again and again before we reach the mountaintop of our desires.
Nelson Mandela

The soul that sees beauty may sometimes walk alone.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks.
John Muir

“All truly great thoughts are conceived while walking.”
Friedrich Nietzsche, Twilight of the Idols

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Stony Brook Medicine study: Teens need sleep to function properly and make healthy food choices

21 Jun

 

The goal of this society should be to raise healthy and happy children who will grow into concerned and involved adults who care about their fellow citizens and environment. In order to accomplish this goal, all children must receive a good basic education and in order to achieve that goal, children must arrive at school, ready to learn. One of the mantras of this blog is there should not be a one size fits all approach to education and that there should be a variety of options to achieve the goal of a good basic education for all children.

The University of Illinois Extension has some good advice for helping children with study habits. In Study Habits and Homework he University of Illinois recommends:

 

Parents can certainly play a major role in providing the encouragement, environment, and materials necessary for successful studying to take place.

Some general things adults can do, include:

  • Establish a routine for meals, bedtime and study/homework

  • Provide books, supplies, and a special place for studying

  • Encourage the child to “ready” himself for studying (refocus attention and relax)

  • Offer to study with the child periodically (call out spelling words or do flash cards)

 

Some folks claim they need as few as four hours of sleep. For most folks that is not healthy and it definitely isn’t healthy for children.

 

One study linked obesity in children to lack of sleep. Reuters reported in Too Little Sleep Raises Obesity Risk In Children

 

Children aged four and under who get less than 10 hours of sleep a night are nearly twice as likely to be overweight or obese five years later, according to a U.S. study.

 

Researchers from the University of California and University of Washington in Seattle looked at the relationship between sleep and weight in 1,930 children aged 0 to 13 years old who took part in a survey in 1997 and again five years later in 2002.

For children who were four years old or younger at the time of the first survey, sleeping for less than 10 hours a night was associated with nearly a twofold increased risk of being overweight or obese at the second survey.

For older children, sleep time at the first survey was not associated with weight status at the second survey but current short sleep time was associated with increased odds of a shift from normal weight to overweight status or from overweight or obese status at follow up. Dr. Janice F. Bell from the University of Washington said this study suggested that early childhood could be a “critical window” when nighttime sleep helps determine a child’s future weight status. According to the National Sleep Foundation, toddlers aged one to three years old should sleep for 12 to 14 hours a night; preschoolers, aged 3 to 5 years old, should sleep 11 to 13 hours, and 5- to 10-year-olds should get 10 to 11 hours. Teens should get 8.5 to 9.25 hours of sleep nightly.

Several studies have linked short sleep to excess weight in children and teens, Bell and fellow researcher Dr. Frederick Zimmerman from the University of California noted in their report.

But many of these studies have been cross-sectional, meaning they looked at a single point in time, which makes it difficult to determine whether not getting adequate sleep caused a child to become obese, or vice versa.

These findings, said the researchers, suggest there is a critical time period prior to age five when adequate nightly sleep may be important in terms of a healthy weight later on.

 

Children need proper nutrition and sleep not only to be healthy and happy, but to be ready to learn.

 

Science Daily reported about teens need for sleep in the article, Study Reveals Link Between Sleep Deprivation in Teens and Poor Dietary Choices:

 

 

Well-rested teenagers tend to make more healthful food choices than their sleep-deprived peers, according to a study led by Lauren Hale, PhD, Associate Professor of Preventive Medicine at Stony Brook University School of Medicine. The finding, presented at SLEEP 2013, the annual meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies, may be key to understanding the link between sleep and obesity….

 

The study, which was supported by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, examined the association between sleep duration and food choices in a national representative sample of 13,284 teenagers in the second wave of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health. The data were collected in 1996 when the interview subjects had a mean age of 16 years.

 

The authors found that those teens who reported sleeping fewer than seven hours per night — 18 percent of respondents — were more likely to consume fast food two or more times per week and less likely to eat healthful food such as fruits and vegetables. The results took into account factors such as age, gender, race and ethnicity, socioeconomic status, physical activity and family structure, and found that short sleep duration had an independent effect on both healthy and unhealthy food choices.

 

The respondents fell into one of three categories: short sleepers, who received fewer than seven hours per night; mid-range sleepers, who had seven to eight hours per night; and recommended sleepers, who received more than eight hours per night. The American Academy of Pediatrics currently recommends that adolescents get between nine and 10 hours of sleep per night. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/06/130620162746.htm#.UcN9_iGkjBA.email

 

Here is the press release from Stony Brook Medicine:

 

 

Research based on data from interviews with 13,284 adolescents nationwide

 

STONY BROOK, NY, June 20, 2013 – Well-rested teenagers tend to make more healthful food choices than their sleep-deprived peers, according to a study led by Lauren Hale, PhD, Associate Professor of Preventive Medicine at Stony Brook University School of Medicine. The finding, presented at SLEEP 2013, the annual meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies, may be key to understanding the link between sleep and obesity. 

 

“Not only do sleepy teens on average eat more food that’s bad for them, they also eat less food that is good for them,” said Dr. Hale, speaking about the study results. “While we already know that sleep duration is associated with a range of health consequences, this study speaks to some of the mechanisms, i.e., nutrition and decision making, through which health outcomes are affected.” 

 

The study, which was supported by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, examined the association between sleep duration and food choices in a national representative sample of 13,284 teenagers in the second wave of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health. The data were collected in 1996 when the interview subjects had a mean age of 16 years. 

 

The authors found that those teens who reported sleeping fewer than seven hours per night — 18 percent of respondents — were more likely to consume fast food two or more times per week and less likely to eat healthful food such as fruits and vegetables. The results took into account factors such as age, gender, race and ethnicity, socioeconomic status, physical activity and family structure, and found that short sleep duration had an independent effect on both healthy and unhealthy food choices. 

 

The respondents fell into one of three categories: short sleepers, who received fewer than seven hours per night; mid-range sleepers, who had seven to eight hours per night; and recommended sleepers, who received more than eight hours per night. The American Academy of Pediatrics currently recommends that adolescents get between nine and 10 hours of sleep per night. 

 

“We are interested in the association between sleep duration and food choices in teenagers because adolescence is a critical developmental period between childhood and adulthood,” said the first author of the study, Allison Kruger, MPH, a community health worker at Stony Brook University Hospital. “Teenagers have a fair amount of control over their food and sleep, and the habits they form in adolescence can strongly impact their habits as adults.” 

 

The research team — which included co-authors Eric N. Reither, PhD, Utah State University; Patrick Krueger, PhD, University of Colorado at Denver; and Paul E. Peppard, PhD, University of Wisconsin-Madison — concluded that addressing sleep deficiency may be a novel and effective way to improve obesity prevention and health promotion interventions. 

 

Dr. Hale said that one of the next steps in the research will be to explore whether the association between sleep duration and food choices is causal. 

 

“If we determine that there is a causal link between chronic sleep and poor dietary choices, then we need to start thinking about how to more actively incorporate sleep hygiene education into obesity prevention and health promotion interventions,” she said. 

 

Citation:

 

 

Stony Brook Medicine (2013, June 20). Sleep deprivation in teens linked to poor dietary choices. ScienceDaily. Retrieved June 21, 2013, from http://www.sciencedaily.com­ /releases/2013/06/130620162746.htm#.UcN9_iGkjBA.email

 

 

Lauran Neergaard, AP medical writer wrote about a teen sleep study which was reprinted at Boston.Com. In Study: Lack of Early Light Upsets Teen Clock

 

 

Sit by the window in school? Lack of the right light each morning to reset the body’s natural sleep clock might play a role in teenagers’ out-of-whack sleep, a small but provocative school experiment suggests.

 

Specialists say too few teens get the recommended nine hours of shut-eye a night. They’re often unable to fall asleep until late and struggle to awaken for early classes. Sleep patterns start changing in adolescence for numerous reasons, including hormonal changes and more school, work and social demands….

 

From waking until school ended, 11 students donned special orange goggles that block short-wavelength “blue light,” but not other wavelengths necessary for proper vision. Blocking that light for five days upset the students’ internal body clocks – delaying by half an hour their evening surge of a hormone called melatonin that helps induce sleep, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute researchers reported Tuesday.

 

Teens who trudge to the bus stop before dawn or spend their days in mostly windowless schools probably suffer the same effect, as daylight is the best source of those short-wavelength rays, said lead researcher Mariana Figueiro of Rensselaer’s Lighting Research Center in Troy, N.Y.

 

“If you have this morning light, that is a benefit to the teenagers,” Figueiro said.

 

If children do not receive the appropriate amount of sleep, they will not be ready to learn when they arrive at school.

 

Why Do Teens Need Sleep?

 

The National Sleep Foundation has a Teens and Sleep Fact Sheet:

 

Sleep is vital to your well-being, as important as the air you breathe, the water you drink and the food you eat. It can even help you to eat better and manage the stress of being a teen.

 

  • Biological sleep patterns shift toward later times for both sleeping and waking during adolescence — meaning it is natural to not be able to fall asleep before 11:00 pm.

  • Teens need about 9 1/4 hours of sleep each night to function best (for some, 8 1/2 hours is enough). Most teens do not get enough sleep — one study found that only 15% reported sleeping 8 1/2 hours on school nights.

  • Teens tend to have irregular sleep patterns across the week — they typically stay up late and sleep in late on the weekends, which can affect their biological clocks and hurt the quality of their sleep.

  • Many teens suffer from treatable sleep disorders, such as narcolepsy, insomnia, restless legs syndrome or sleep apnea.

 

CONSEQUENCES:

 

Not getting enough sleep or having sleep difficulties can:

 

  • Limit your ability to learn, listen, concentrate and solve problems. You may even forget important information like names, numbers, your homework or a date with a special person in your life;

  • Make you more prone to pimples. Lack of sleep can contribute to acne and other skin problems;

  • Lead to aggressive or inappropriate behavior such as yelling at your friends or being impatient with your teachers or family members;

  • Cause you to eat too much or eat unhealthy foods like sweets and fried foods that lead to weight gain;

  • Heighten the effects of alcohol and possibly increase use of caffeine and nicotine; and

  • Contribute to illness, not using equipment safely or driving drowsy.

 

Parents should be alert to signs of sleep deprivation in their children.

 

How Can You Help Your Teen Get Enough Sleep?

 

The National Sleep Foundation has the following suggestions for improving sleep

 

Make sleep a priority. Review Teen Time in this toolkit and keep the Teen Sleep Diary. Decide what you need to change to get enough sleep to stay healthy, happy, and smart!

 

  • Naps can help pick you up and make you work more efficiently, if you plan them right. Naps that are too long or too close to bedtime can interfere with your regular sleep.

  • Make your room a sleep haven. Keep it cool, quiet and dark. If you need to, get eyeshades or blackout curtains. Let in bright light in the morning to signal your body to wake up.

  • No pills, vitamins or drinks can replace good sleep. Consuming caffeine close to bedtime can hurt your sleep, so avoid coffee, tea, soda/pop and chocolate late in the day so you can get to sleep at night. Nicotine and alcohol will also interfere with your sleep.

  • When you are sleep deprived, you are as impaired as driving with a blood alcohol content of .08%, which is illegal for drivers in many states. Drowsy driving causes over 100,000 crashes each year. Recognize sleep deprivation and call someone else for a ride. Only sleep can save you!

  • Establish a bed and wake-time and stick to it, coming as close as you can on the weekends. A consistent sleep schedule will help you feel less tired since it allows your body to get in sync with its natural patterns. You will find that it’s easier to fall asleep at bedtime with this type of routine.

  • Don’t eat, drink, or exercise within a few hours of your bedtime. Don’t leave your homework for the last minute. Try to avoid the TV, computer and telephone in the hour before you go to bed. Stick to quiet, calm activities, and you’ll fall asleep much more easily!

  • If you do the same things every night before you go to sleep, you teach your body the signals that it’s time for bed. Try taking a bath or shower (this will leave you extra time in the morning), or reading a book.

  • Try keeping a diary or to-do lists. If you jot notes down before you go to sleep, you’ll be less likely to stay awake worrying or stressing.

  • When you hear your friends talking about their all-nighters, tell them how good you feel after getting enough sleep.

  • Most teens experience changes in their sleep schedules. Their internal body clocks can cause them to fall asleep and wake up later. You can’t change this, but you can participate in interactive activities and classes to help counteract your sleepiness. Make sure your activities at night are calming to counteract your already heightened alertness.

 

If teens need about 9 1/4 hours of sleep to do their best and naturally go to sleep around 11:00 pm, one way to get more sleep is to start school later.     http://www.sleepfoundation.org/article/sleep-topics/teens-and-sleep

 

These suggestions point to establishing a regular routine for your teen and setting a time for all activities to cease each evening.

 

Education is a partnership between the student, parent(s) or guardian(s), teachers(s), and school. The students must arrive at school ready to learn and that includes being rested. Parent(s) and guardian(s) must ensure their child is properly nourished and rested as well as providing a home environment which is conducive to learning. Teachers must have strong subject matter knowledge and strong pedagogic skills. Schools must enforce discipline and provide safe places to learn. For more information on preparing your child for high school, see the U.S. Department of Education’s Tools for Success

 

Resources

 

  1. National Sleep Foundation’s Teens and Sleep
  2. Teen Health’s Common Sleep Problems
  3. CBS Morning News’ Sleep Deprived Kids and Their Disturbing Thoughts
  4. Psychology Today’s Sleepless in America
  5. National Association of State Board’s of Education Fit, Healthy and Ready to Learn
  6. U.S. Department of Education’s Tools for Success

 

Related:

 

Another study: Sleep problems can lead to behavior problems in children                                                                                 https://drwilda.com/2013/03/30/another-study-sleep-problems-can-lead-to-behavior-problems-in-children/

 

 

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