Category: Articles

Adolescence is a critical period for brain development, a time when nutrition plays a pivotal role in shaping cognitive functions and academic performance. As teenagers navigate this crucial stage, their dietary habits can significantly impact their learning capabilities, memory retention, and overall school outcomes. This introduction sets the stage for a deeper exploration into how specific nutrients influence brain health and academic success, underscoring the importance of a balanced diet in supporting the developmental needs of adolescents.

Understanding the Adolescent Brain

The adolescent brain undergoes significant development, with changes in structure and function that affect cognitive abilities and behavior. During this period, the brain is particularly receptive to nutritional inputs, making certain nutrients essential for optimal development. Omega-3 fatty acids, iron, zinc, and vitamins A, D, and E are among the crucial nutrients that support brain function and development, influencing everything from memory and attention to mood regulation. …

In the early stages of childhood, cognitive development unfolds at a remarkable pace, influenced by a myriad of experiences and interactions. Among these, play stands out as a critical and natural mechanism through which children explore, learn, and understand the world around them. This introductory exploration delves into the pivotal role of play in facilitating early cognitive growth, highlighting its significance not just as a form of leisure but as a fundamental educational tool. It underscores the need for innovative play-based learning strategies that not only engage young minds but also enhance their developmental trajectory, setting the foundation for lifelong learning and adaptability. Through this lens, we aim to reveal how play, in its many forms, serves as a conduit for cognitive, social, and emotional development, illustrating its integral place in early childhood education.

The Science of Play and Learning

The relationship between play and learning in early …

Travel is an enriching experience. It educates, builds character and gives the traveller a greater sense of their place in the larger world. Once bitten by the travel bug, it can be hard to shake, prompting many to continue their globetrotting after becoming parents. A long flight, however, is a daunting obstacle to overcome with a baby or a toddler in tow.

The Nightmare of Flying With Kids

Anyone who has flown knows that air travel can be unpleasant. Hundreds of people, packed together like sardines in a can, sit with cramping legs and squished behinds, watching hours of ludicrous romantic comedies and inane family-friendly movies about talking dogs.

The unpleasantness is only compounded when there is a screaming child on board. It is every parent’s travel nightmare: that theirs will be the screaming child, that the annoyed glares of the other passengers will be directed their way.

It is …

It can be difficult for parents of young children to figure out how the songs, games, and stories their children enjoy at preschool can be preparing the youngsters for future academics. While it may look as though the children are “just playing,” the play is carefully designed to teach content standards.

According to Early Learning Content Standards for Ohio, three important content areas in English Language Arts are Phonological and Phonemic Awareness, Word Recognition, and Fluency.

Phonological and Phonemic Awareness in Preschool

Activities are designed to help children learn to identify matching sounds, recognize rhymes, hear sounds by isolating syllables in words, and differentiate between sounds that are the same and different.

Childrens’ literature with rollicking rhymes makes little ones laugh, but these stories also teach the concept of rhyming. Learning to identify matching sounds takes lots of practice. Children often take quite a while to understand the difference between …

First, back in the “old days” (ie., before fast food, when people ate at home) the term “brain food” referred to nourishment that was thought to boost the grey matter’s power.  Fish, primarily, as well as legumes, eggs and other lean protein sources were considered fuel for the Einstein-wannabe.  Then along came the onslaught of artificial flavors and colors, preservatives, and empty calories.  The idea that any group of food contained special nutrients that were able to improve cerebral well-being was scoffed at by the media, marketing firms, food manufacturers and even many physicians.  Soon the general public, too, bought into that notion.  Aritificial was in–brain food was out.

Now the wheel of nutritional opinion has circled back where it belongs, and hopefully, it stays this time.  The medical world has recognized the immense value of the omega-3 fatty acids, proteins and other great nutrients in certain foods such as …

Children need a healthy and safe environment for their growth. Child psychologists and pediatricians the world over advise parents to avoid smoking and drinking in the presence of their kids to prevent its ill effects on their physical well-being and mental make-up and to maintain a congenial home environment for their healthy development.

Smoking Habit in Parents

In the Eastern Mediterranean Health Journal, (vol 9),A. Hawamdeh, F.A. Kasasbeh and M.A. Ahmad presented a detailed review on, “The Effects of Passive Smoking on Children’s Health.” This study indicates that the amount of nicotine received by children whose parents smoke is equivalent to their active smoking between 60 and 150 cigarettes in a year.

Smoking habits of parents or adults at home can lead to several health ailments in children like asthma, respiratory illness, coronary heart disease, Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) and ear, nose and throat ENT problems.

Smoking during …

In our daily lives we are inundated with information – so much so that lots of it gets chucked out the window, right?  I often hear from parents that they can not find the time to get credible, easily understandable directions to help their children, who have been labelled ADD/ADHD.  They have questions that their doctors often answer with medications, with big medical degree words, leaving parents more confused than before they walked into the office.  And many parents do not want to medicate their children, a mind-view I am totally behind.  Please understand, medical doctors are great for ‘sick care’; by this, I mean that no one is better to see if you are injured, have a disease, or are just plain ol’ sick.  But brain care…that’s a different story.  And when we’re talking about ADD/ADHD, we’re talking about brain care.  And our brains – yes, even our children’s …

Toddlers are still in the process of developing their intellectual capabilities. No matter how potent a child’s mind may seem, it cannot thrive speedily on its own, and somewhat needs assistance. One of the traits that is present in many toddlers is the ability to absorb new knowledge and stimuli like a sponge. The speed of growth during this stage is quite fast; in fact, sometimes keeping up with it is difficult, at which point depositing good habits into a child at this time is an ideal goal.

As a parent or a guardian, helping a child by assisting her growth in the area of intellectual development is a must and not just an option. Although there are many ways of attaining that goal, the following are a few of the easy ways to assist a toddler’s brain development effectively.

Reading to the child

Reading aloud to a child can …

Does your child start each first day of school with a tummy ache? Does he feel fine on the last day of summer and suddenly wake up with “the worst headache in the world” the next day? If you’re like most and your child doesn’t jump out of bed full of smiles on his first day of school, here are ten tips you can use to ease the back-to-school jitters.

1. Ease in: Before school begins, form a new “back-to-school” routine.  “In mid-August we have an end of summer fun day with friends,” says Sherry Balzano, high school guidance counselor and mother of two. “Once that day has happened, the alarm clocks get set again, school supplies are purchased and bedtime moves back half an hour. This really helps to ease the transition,” she adds.
2. Basic needs: Make sure your child is eating properly, exercising, getting enough rest, and is up-to-date