I am a huge advocate of summer vacation! I'm not talking about the obigatory family trek to grandmother's house or Disney World; but plain old summer vacation at home. A time without alarm clocks and long division and schedules. Children need a time to be kids. This doesn't mean that I condon a summer full of video games though. The rule in our house always was no TV, video games, or computers before 5:00 p.m. If the weather was nice...it also meant no hanging about in the house as well! My children became very adept at being children. They acquired hobbies, explored, played with friends...and, without realizing it and with a little direction from me, actually maintained skills they'd learned during the year and painlessly cultivated new interests and knowledge. Think about what your child enjoys doing and expand from there.

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There is no question that there is an epidemic of childhood obesity in this county. Nearly a third of America's kids are overweight or obese. From 1980 to 2008, childhood obesity increased from 6.5% to 19.6% for 6-11 year olds, and 5% to 18.1% for 12-19 year olds. Given the fact that 30% of our children's food consumption takes place at school; it makes sense to control what type of food is available for them to purchase there. Most parents are glad not to have soda and snack machines on school grounds. Nutritional guidelines for school lunches are a good thing too...as long as they're not taken too far. Nutritious school lunches do not do our children any good if they're not eaten and a hungry child, off of school grounds, will eat pretty much whatever food is available when they arrive home. Concentrating solely on how our children fuel their bodies while at school is naive. And, there is another side to the problem. Our children are not getting fat just because of the food that they consume, but also because they are not expending enough energy. Schools across the country have been faced with $2 billion in cuts on sports and physical education programs. Recess and physical education are quickly becoming obsolete on campuses across the country. The NASPE recommends 30 to 60 minutes a day of physical activity for children ages 5 to 12 and yet the focus seems to be wholly on food and not activity.

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In a recent Wall Street Journal article, Why Chinese Mothers Are Superior, Amy Chua discusses parts of her new and controversial book Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother. By the time I'd finished reading the first paragraph, complete with a list of things her daughters were NOT ALLOWED to do, including no sleepovers or play dates; no school plays or complaining about not being in one; not being allowed to choose extracurricular activities; and not getting a grade less than an A in all academic subjects, I was ready to fire off a scathing comment replete with phrases like child abuse and needing to be sent back to the mommy farm. Then, an image of my dapper, Yale educated grandfather came to mind as he perused my 5th grade report card and exclaimed, "Well dear...if you can get an A- in math you should be able to get an A!" He made no comment at all about any other grade...all of which were A's. That image of my own tiger grandpa gave me some instant insight into Amy Chua's point of view. You see, although I was sad that he didn't seem to be impressed, I didn't expire on the spot. I knew he loved me. And, I never forgot that conversation. There really was no reason for me not to have gotten an A. So, why am I so conflicted with her vision of effective parenting?

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Playing is so important to a child's development. It is through play that children are able to explore the world and develop their imagination by using their own creativity. Playing helps to develop a child's cognitive skills, physical skills as well as their social and emotional skills. When a child can go outside and play, then all of these benefits are increased. The simple act of playing outside can have such benefits to a child. Anyone who has children has noticed how a quick "break" from the indoor rigors of studying and homework can be so beneficial in getting children back on track and helping their brain to "focus" on their work. After being outside for a bit, a child can come back in refreshed and ready to continue their work.
On that note, it is exciting to see the city of Dallas hard at work in creating a wonderful new park for children and families to enjoy. The Park in Dallas is a 5.2 acre park being built in the heart of Dallas. This project has been underway for sometime and is projected to be completed in 2012. You can find information on the Park at www.theparkdallas.org

We have all heard the songs today, one that I especially like when working with kids is the Cha Cha Slide. This song is long, but it is a great work out for young kids. There are things that kids are learning while beebopping to the music. For example, they are learning left to right, they are learning to cross their mid line, they are learning to slide, and yes this is an important skill.

Teaching children Locomotion Skills is not only great exercise, locomotor skills are the basic ways to move, the building blocks of coordination. Help your child practice these important skills: walking, galloping, jumping, hopping, side-sliding, leaping and skipping. Start gradually with walking (the easiest) and steadily advance to skipping (the most difficult).

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