My son, AJ, takes his lunch to all day kindergarten everyday. He also takes two snacks and a drink. So, my job as a parent is to make sure that my home-made lunch is just what he needs to get him through the entire day, provide him with energy, help him concentration, and give him enough protein and natural sugars to prevent a hypoglycemic attack, which can easily happen with him.
So, what do I provide him?
1. One fresh fruit, either a peeled pear or apple (he has a salicylate intolerance and can not tolerate the peels although they provide the …read more

When Early Intervention works correctly it is suppose to work (and believe me, I have seen it work…just not for us). I think that our Early Intervention Coordinator thought that because AJ had been in an orphanage that he would just “snap” out of it, that he would grow into a little boy like he was supposed to.
Unfortunately, that has not been our case.
He has, for the best part, worked himself out of his Post Traumatic Stress and his Institutional Autism but he still struggles every day with SPD, auditory, visual, and communication disorders, many of these things that …read more

Jared Lisonbee, a human development professor at Washington State University recently reported that preschoolers do, in fact, have stress. And, it increases throughout the day, especially if they have larger classrooms.
Cortisol, the stress hormone, rises throughout the day in preschool children who have large classrooms, clung to the teacher, had encounters with the teacher, or did not like the teacher.
Unfortunately, high Cortisol levels affect the immune system and can raise blood pressure and the heart rate.
It has also been said that children in institutional settings at a very young age (orphanages) have high cortisol levels. These children tend to …read more

 
image: morguefile

So your kids have been back to school, eh? How are you doing so far? Schedules, homeworks, carpool, after-school, errands… OK I get it, it can be quite stressful. But school also means more time at home without the kids (and I hear an “Amen!” out there!).
The b5media Health and Wellness have been on our toes too, prepping up for the new school year. And so we offer tips, ideas, experience and anecdotes on the road to a new school year.
Mary Emma Allen, at Alzheimer’s Notes, reminisces about lunch boxes and one-room school days, something that might …read more

If you have teenagers about to head for college, I’m certain there are many things you want to tell them right before they enter that dorm room. According to this article, there is one topic parents really need to talk to their teenagers about.
Talk to your college-age kids about alcohol abuse.
It doesn’t help that some legislators and university heads want to lower the drinking age to 18 years of age, which is a stupid approach to this epidemic. But the statistics related to alcohol abuse in college are so high that our teenagers need to understand the consequences of …read more

Whether it’s your child’s first day ever, or she’s been in school for a few years now, the first day of every school year is always filled with anticipation, and sometimes scared of what the new school will be like.
From the AAP, here are some tips on making the  first day easier on our children:

Remind your child that she is not the only student who is a bit uneasy about the first day of school. Teachers know that students are anxious and will make an extra effort to make sure everyone feels as comfortable as possible.
Point out …read more

The school year is about to start in one week (and others already started). For some of us, it will be the first time your young child is stepping into that classroom all by himself. For the many veteran others, your child may have done this a couple of times and yet there is always some challenge lying ahead. However many times you do this, the first day of school is both exciting and stressful.
So here is a checklist for the first day of school:

Is your child registered? When is the first day of school? What time does …read more

In conjunction with an earlier post on students misusing stimulants to cope with stress, I found this neat video showing how students can stay awake by applying accupressure.
Researchers report that college students were more alert if they massaged or tapped areas on the back of the neck, the hands and legs — areas that acupuncturists believe can stimulate the release of endorphins.
Lightly pinching the tip of the earlobe is still another stimulation technique that students can use to reduce mental fatigue and keep them awake.
Now I am a testimonial to this technique. My mom has been doing these …read more

What student hasn’t had trouble keeping awake in class these days? With papers and projects piling up, and exams coming up, more and more students are getting stressed and lacking sleep.
Most students I know have been drinking lots of coffee and energy drinks with their late night studying. But a growing number of students – 50 to 35 per cent college / 8 to 10 per cent high school students – are using stimulants like ADHD drugs to keep up with the stress, particularly during exam time. What’s more alarming from these findings is that 25 percent of high …read more