Psychology Help Today

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-ter...

"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 ...

"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...

"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...

"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...

"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...

"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 ...

"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...

"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 i...

"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....

"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 Dank...

"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. "Vo...

"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 d...