Dr Sears - excellent resource on family nutrition

Just happened upon a presentation by Dr Sears while we were in Scottsdale, AZ today and he is right on target. He is an M.D. who "gets it" about nutrition: the best health care is self care; simple things like - 'eat your fruits and veggies' and 'go outside and play'.

He is a pediatrician and has a way of explaining things so kids (and their parents, by the way) can understand... and in a way that motivates them to change the way they do things. Excellent.

Check out his new book "The Healthiest Kid in the Neighborhood" and one of his web sites on family health (the 'lean' program from the graphic).

Teens and Sleep

Check out my other blog on the connection between teens and sleep and depression.

The basics (exercise, diet and play/rest) make a huge difference in our ability to perform well.

Revolutionary Parenting

I was reintroduced to George Barna's Revolutionary Parenting. Excellent book. Affirms the importance of parenting and of being intentional.

Here is a short synopsis of the book.

Revolutionary Parenting

The Teenage Brain

Check out a post at my other blog on the teenage brain.

Family Legacy Workshop in Ann Arbor

This will be worth your time if you work with children and their parents...

The Family Life Program at Concordia University, the Family Friendly Partners Network, and the Michigan District of the LCMS invite you to a “FamilyShop” called…

Raising Spiritual Parents: Linking Church and Family to Equip the Generations
By Mike Heinz, Co-Creator of the Faith Legacy Series. I know both Mike Heinz and Ben and Jennifer Freudenburg. This day will give a great experience with folks who know and live out a great model for equipping parents to be primary faith formers in the home.

Feb 13/2010. $15 for the day, including lunch.

If you have questions, email Ben Freudenburg at freudb@cuaa.edu.

Screen Time Climbs Higher

Here is some important interpretive info from CommonSenseMedia regarding a study by Kaiser Family Foundation.

The study shows some significant increases in media use and CommonSenseMedia talks about the implications of that on our children. The 7 hours and 38 minutes of media use is more time than they spend sleeping...

Important information and excellent food for thought for parents and those who work with children and their parents. Our brains wire based on experience. More and more of what the brain experiences is media.

What are they searching for?

Wonder where kids go when the "google"?

Check out what CommonSense Media has to say. Checking your child's browser history won't tell you much - if you know how to do that, since they do and likely have cleared it out - but this gives at least a generic look at the top search topics.

It is worth some conversation time with your children... and good reason to have your computer in a very open place. Same thing holds true online... lack of supervision contributes to poor choices.

A Big Win for Babies

Here is an example of the practical and important work that MediaWise and the "Say Yes to NO" people are involved with:

Heard of "Baby Einstein"? It is from Disney. Check out a quick note about Disney reimbursing parents for their purchase because it didn't do what they promised - make kids smarter. (recent research indicates that screen babies end up with smaller vocabularies than their non-screen counterparts) It did, unfortunately, encourage many parents to put TV screens into the rooms of many (28%) of kids under age two.

Here is the link to check it out. As the article says: "Screens don't make babies smarter, caring people do".

MediaWise has changed...

Perhaps you had heard of MediaWise - a great organization equipping parents to use all forms of media wisely. They are closing down as of January 1/10 but the work they did will carry on under a variety of different organizations:

Say Yes to No - a book and parent education program to help parents raise happy, self-reliant kids... Focused on the importance of saying "NO". (Follow Dr David Walsh on Twitter @drdavidwalsh)

Common Sense Media - helping parents with age-appropriate use of media. Also some great information for educators. (Follow them on Twitter @commonsensenews or on facebook here)

Through-U - Media wise training for parents and childcare providers. (This web site may change soon so keep watching.)

Switch - about getting active, managing screen time and choosing nutritious food. "Switch what you Do, View and Chew". (This web site may also change, so keep watching.)

A broad range of help in some critical areas for 21st Century parents. Worth a bookmark and a regular visit. When they have regular email newsletters, sign up and take advantage of the helpful info and advice that comes right to you.