The Pica Perspective

Digital Media & Kids

Obviously, as the author of a blog and the host of a podcast, I'm a fan of "new media." And every time I feel like cursing technology for one reason or another, I remind myself that if it weren't for technology, much of what I do these days wouldn't be possible. Does that mean I'm a fan of digital media for children? Not so much, no.

I won't get into a whole dialog concerning authentic learning versus that offered by computers, etc. For now I'd just like to point out that when a child sits in front of a computer or TV screen, even if in the company of others, there's little or no interaction taking place, meaning relationships are not being fostered. It also means fewer opportunities for speaking. As a result, a child may not as readily enunciate her words, formulate her thoughts, expand her vocabulary, or effectively express herself.

According to a new national poll from Common Sense Media and the Joan Ganz Cooney Center, American parents agreed by a wide margin that digital media skills are important to kids' success in the 21st century, but they also expressed skepticism about whether digital media could contribute to the development of skills such as communicating, working with others, and establishing civic responsibility.

To this I say "hallelujah." But the people who conducted the survey have a different take. They say, "The results suggest that tech-savvy school leaders might need to reach out to parents and demonstrate how their children's use of digital media in classrooms can contribute to these skills."

Sorry, but I'm not buying it. Yes, digital media has much to offer children. I'm even partnering with one site dedicated to the use of digital media. It's called Woogi World and, according to its founders, it's "a fun, engaging, and interactive virtual social network site that promotes balance and builds character. Through its academically sound and value-based games and activities, children are encouraged to get out of the virtual world and into the real world using their time, talents, and energies to connect with family, explore interests, engage in play, and serve in their communities." CEO Scott Dow adds, "We promote online learning and offline doing."

Did you read that last quote -- and the part about getting out of the virtual world and into the real world? That's what made me agree to work with them! They understand that there's only so much the virtual world can offer children -- that it takes getting out into the "real world" for them to succeed in life.

When children play together, they learn to navigate the two-way street that is communication. Through play, they also learn to cooperate, take turns, share, resolve conflict, handle their emotions, and take another's perspective. Children aren't born with these abilities, any more than they're born with the ability to multiply and divide.

It takes a great deal more than information to be successful. If personal and social awareness weren't necessary for success and happiness in life, only great test-takers would be triumphant. But the great test-takers don't usually end up as successful or as satisfied with their lives as those possessing great social and emotional skills. And no matter what the media companies think, social and emotional skills can't be acquired via digital means.

How soon should children begin schooling?

Like most controversial topics, the subject of universal preschool and even schooling during the first three years has supporters firmly on both sides. The good news is that everyone finally seems to understand the importance of early childhood. The bad news is that we have a tendency in this country to go overboard with our "solutions."

A recent article in the Chicago Tribune explored the topic of how early early education should begin. There are those who feel that because children's brains "change more between conception and kindergarten than at any other time," waiting to start schooling at age 4 or 5 is too late. The article cites neuroscientist Peter Huttenlocher's studies showing that connections in most brain areas peak by age three and then decline gradually as experiences mold the brain's wiring.

My question is: Just because the brain has more connections during the first three years, does that mean we have to stuff as much information as possible into it? After all, the pruning of synapses is part of nature's plan. It's about survival of the fittest. We aren't necessarily meant to have as many synapses as possible; we're supposed to have the most important, most useful synapses. (That's a rather simplistic explanation, but you get the idea.)

The article made many good points concerning the value of early intervention for infants and toddlers from low-income families. A University of Kansas study determined that children from upper-income backgrounds hear 30 million more words by age 3 than those from welfare families. So, if early intervention strategies can help low-income parents interact with and engage their children, I'd say that's money well spent. But considering how poorly we're doing with the early childhood education we currently offer, in terms of the developmentally inappropriate practice that the politicians and policy makers are demanding, the idea of "formal schooling" for children under age 4 makes me very nervous indeed.

My feeling is that as long as children have parents who interact with them -- love them, talk to them, read to them, and play with them -- they're getting all the education they need! You'll remember, too, that I'm a huge fan of what Finland is doing in terms of education; and Finnish children don't begin formal schooling until age 7. Before then they learn through play. And considering they're number-one in the world in literacy and numeracy, I'd say they're onto something.

What do you think?

Speaking of your thoughts, I'm happy to announce a new feature at Body, Mind and Child. It's called "Parenting Gossip," and it's a place for you to exchange parenting tips, talk about the program guests and topics, make product recommendations, or just gossip about the ups, downs, challenges and joys of being a parent. I hope you'll visit and help get the dialog started! Just click on the above link and then on the tab marked "Parent Gossip." I look forward to the exchange!

Ready or Not, Here Come Sports

With spring here, I thought it appropriate to write about young children and sports. First up: why readiness matters.

Participation in organized sports, if developmentally appropriate, can offer children an opportunity for physical activity and social interaction -- both of which are critical to a child's development. But when the requirements and expectations of organized sports go beyond a child's level of readiness and maturation (when it's developmentally inappropriate), the experience will have more negative than positive results.

What determines readiness? Well, it's important to remember that every child develops at his or her own pace. Still, there are certain "givens" where young children are concerned. One is that they're still growing. Their bones haven't completely calcified, their muscles have not reached their peak volume, and their organs are not fully developed. Additionally, their bodies don't possess the mechanisms needed to relieve their bodies of heat; their visual perception is a long way from mature; and their eye-hand and eye-foot coordination won't be entirely developed for another several years!

In a nutshell, children are not just short adults. Among other things, expecting them to play adult games with adult rules and adult-sized equipment puts them in harm's way physically. Doctors advise against high-impact sports like hockey and football for children under the age of 8 because of the immaturity of their organs and skeletal structures. Soccer, which is thought to be safe for children of both genders, actually has a high rate of injury among young children. Even among professional players, almost one-third suffer at least one injury every season.

Where baseball and softball are concerned, the possibilities are even more frightening. These sports were recently determined to be the leading cause of sports-related eye injuries in children, with the highest incidence occurring in children between the ages of 5 and 14. Even scarier, during a seven-year period in the 1990s there were 40 baseball- or softball-related deaths of children in that same age span. The primary causes of death were blows to the head, neck, and chest.

Among the reasons for these horrific statistics are the facts that:

• young pitchers can't yet throw accurately
• young children don't possess the reaction time needed to instantly evade a fast-approaching ball
• the chest walls of young children are thinner than those of teenagers and adults
• figure-ground perception -- the ability to distinguish an object from its surroundings -- doesn't reach maturity until 8 to 12 years old
• depth perception -- the ability to judge distance in relation to oneself -- isn't usually mature until about age 12

According to the American College of Sports Medicine, more than three-quarters of a million children under the age of 14 are treated in emergency rooms for sports-related injuries each year. It's frightening and ironic, considering that concern about children's safety is one of the reasons parents enroll them in organized sports.

Then, too, there's the potential for psychological harm. Though not as devastating as the possibility of physical injury or death, it's still very real and can also be life-altering. Many adults harbor continuing feelings of inadequacy resulting from early failures in sports and other physical activities. Since children have sports-related perceptions of their ability by first grade, we can see that these beliefs persist over quite a few years.

Finally, there's another reason why readiness matters: the very real possibility that children who are asked to perform tasks for which they're not ready will develop bad habits. For example, the child who doesn't yet know how to throw correctly isn't going to learn to throw correctly because he's pitching a couple of games a week. The child who runs with his feet pronated (feet rolling in with baby toes comign up off the ground) won't learn to run correctly simply by running. Rather, the chances are that these bad habits will become more ingrained over time, making it probable that the child will be unable to continue pitching or running.

But, you're thinking, don't the coaches teach the children how to perform these skills? Unfortunately, the answer is almost never. Many well-meaning coaches, after all, are simply parent volunteers who don't know the correct mechanics of the motor skills involved. Other coaches are so intent on winning games that they focus exclusively on the skilled players, leaving the less-skilled kids to fend for themselves. Either way, it's almost always the game that matters -- not fundamental skill development.

One of the great misconceptions about youth sports is the belief that children who are enrolled in organized programs are taught the skills needed to play -- or to become physically capable people. More often than not, children are instead thrust into playing situations, given instructions that make little sense to them, and expected to go to it. It's rather like taking a child who can't yet walk and trying to teach him to skip first.

These kinds of negative experiences can affect a child for years -- if not a lifetime -- whether we're talking about injury, perception of ability, or poor skill development. All of these possibilities are likely to produce a child who may have begun sports participation with the greatest of enthusiasm but soon is unable or unwilling to take part in any physical activity at all.

What Keeps Kids Inside

Well, I knew fear and competition from electronics were keeping kids indoors; but I never suspected flip-flops, mulch, and no coats as culprits! But that's exactly what a new study has found...

Because I want to do this study justice (it's really important that we give this issue some thought), I'm going to simply reprint the entire press release here. I'd love to get your thoughts on this!

CINCINNATI, April 30 /PRNewswire/ -- At a time when over half of US
children (aged 3-6) are in child care centers, and growing concern over
childhood obesity has led physicians to focus on whether children are
getting enough physical activity, a new study of outdoor physical activity
at child care centers, conducted by researchers at Cincinnati Children's
Hospital Medical Center, has identified some surprising reasons why the
kids may be staying inside. The study, will be presented May 5 at the
annual meeting of the Pediatric Academic Societies in Honolulu, Hawaii.

    "It's things we never expected, from flip flops, mulch near the
playground, children who come to child care without a coat on chilly days,
to teachers talking or texting on cell phones while they were supposed to
be supervising the children," according to Kristen Copeland, M.D., lead
author of the study which was funded by the National Heart, Lung and Blood
Institute. She noted that because there are so many benefits of physical
activity for children -- from prevention of obesity, to better
concentration and development of gross motor skills -- it's important to
know what barriers to physical activity may exist at child-care centers.

    "With so many American preschool-aged children in child care centers,
and previous reports that the amount of physical activity children get
varies widely across different centers, we wanted to explore what some of
the barriers to physical activity at these centers might be," said Dr.
Copeland, a physician scientist and Assistant Professor of Pediatrics in
the Division of General and Community Pediatrics at Cincinnati Children's.
According to the most recent statistics 74% of US children aged 3-6 years
are in some form of non-parental child care. 56% percent of 3-6 year old
children spend time in centers, including child care centers and
preschools. Her team began by exploring child-care center staff members'
perceptions of barriers to children's physical activity. They conducted
focus groups with 49 staff members from 34 child-care centers in the
Cincinnati area (including Montessori, Head Start and centers in the inner
city and suburban areas) as the first of several studies on this subject.

    "We found several previously unreported barriers that meant kids had to
stay inside, including inappropriate footwear such as flip flops and
inappropriate clothing for the weather," said Dr. Copeland. In some child
care centers, if one child in the group shows up without a coat on a chilly
day, she noted, that means the whole group has to stay inside. Even more
surprising to the researchers was the fact that the child-care staff
members said some parents appear to intentionally keep their children's
coats (or send children without coats) so they'd have to stay inside, which
staff attributed to parents' concerns about the child getting injured or
dirty, or a having a cold that may be exacerbated by cold weather.

    Teachers said they also felt pressure from some parents who were more
concerned with children spending time on cognitive skills, such as reading
and writing, than on the gross motor and socio-emotional skills (such as
kicking a ball or negotiating with another child for a turn on the slide)
that are best learned on the playground.

    Then there was the mulch factor. "The staff members who participated in
the groups were really concerned about mulch in the play area," said Dr.
Copeland. "Many said that the kids eat the mulch, or use it as weapons, or
it gets caught in their shoes. It also requires constant upkeep. It's
certainly not something that we had anticipated as an issue, but judging by
the amount of and intensity of the discussions among child care teachers,
it really is."

    Dr. Copeland said the child-care center staff recognized that they
themselves could sometimes serve as a barrier to children's physical
activity. "We heard reports of teachers talking or texting on cell phones
instead of interacting with the children while on the playground," said Dr.
Copeland. She continued, "We found that a staff member who doesn't like
going outside -- maybe she's not a cold-weather person, or she thinks it's
too much work to bundle up and unbundle the children on a cold day -- could
act as a gatekeeper to the playground." In some cases, staff reported that
their own issues with being overweight prevented them from encouraging
children's physical activity.

    "This initial qualitative research has identified a number of issues
that we will be exploring in subsequent studies," noted Dr.Copeland.
"Clearly this is a complex issue -- but finding out what the barriers are
is the first step in addressing the problem and getting more kids involved
in more much-needed physical activity."

    The PAS meeting, sponsored by the American Academy of Pediatrics, the
American Pediatric Society, the Society for Pediatric Research and the
Ambulatory Pediatric Association, is the largest international meeting to
focus on research in child health.

    Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, one of the leading
pediatric research institutions in the nation, is dedicated to changing the
outcome for children throughout the world. Cincinnati Children's ranks
second among all pediatric institutions in the United States in grants from
the National Institutes of Health. It has an established tradition of
research excellence, with discoveries including the Sabin oral polio
vaccine, the surfactant preparation that saves the lives of thousands of
premature infants each year, and a rotavirus vaccine that saves the lives
of hundreds of thousands of infants around the world each year. Current
strategic directions include the translation of basic laboratory research
into the development of novel therapeutics for the treatment of disease,
and furthering the development of personalized and predictive medicine.
Additional information can be found at http://www.cincinnatichildrens.org.

Overprotecting Children's Feelings

I've talked about children and self-esteem a few times in this blog, and this week's featured interview, with Dr. Stanley Greenspan, on "Body, Mind and Child", has got me thinking about the topic again.

Einstein said that a person who never made a mistake had never tried anything new. I really like that sentiment because, after all, we know how successful Einstein was. Obviously, then, the road to success involves mistakes. But many of today's parents worry that their children's self-esteem will suffer -- and perhaps their futures as well -- if they should have to endure failing, losing, or making a mistake, all of which have come to be equated with disaster. To avoid this, parents often make their children's decisions for them, complete their homework, resolve their conflicts, and let them win every board or backyard game.

While I was doing research for A Running Start, I came across Kimberly Swygert's blog, "Number 2 Pencil," and her story about the workforce experiences of two "coddled kids." First was the 24-year-old car salesman who didn't get his annual bonus because of his poor performance. Both of his parents arrived at the company's regional headquarters and sat outside the CEO's office, refusing to leave until the CEO met with them! Then there was the 22-year-old pharmaceutical employee who didn't get the promotion he wanted because, according to his boss, he needed to first work on his weaknesses. Because he was a Harvard graduate who had excelled at everything he'd ever done, he was devastated. His parents, however, were sure they could find a way to fix it,  as they had fixed everything for him in the past. His mother called the Human Resources Department the next day 17 times, demanding a mediation session with her, her son, his boss, and a representative from Human resources.

Yes, these are extreme examples. But they're becoming increasingly common.

At an annual meeting of the American Psychiatric Association, Harvard psychologist Jerome Kagan reported on his study of hundreds of infants whom he had followed for five years at that point. His conclusion was that parents' overprotectiveness creates anxious children. In contrast, he said, the children of parents who had imposed limits on their behavior didn't show fearfulness. At the same meeting, psychiatrist Michael Liebowitz stated that "overprotectiveness brings out the worst in kids." Liebowitz is head of Columbia University's unit on panic disorders and said that he finds that "an unusually high proportion of panic patients report having had overprotective parenting in childhood."

At the other end of the spectrum we have children who are allowed to work out conflicts on their own and to fend for themselves. They learn independence and resilience. When trusted to take responsibility -- even if that means some failure and mistakes -- kids gain the courage to make decisions and the gumption to get back up again when life knocks them down.

It's not difficult to ensure these kinds of experiences for kids. When they play on their own, they learn to solve their own problems, negotiate, resolve conflicts, and figure things out. They experiment, take calculated risks, and test themselves. They are free to discover their weaknesses, as well as their strengths, and to determine what matters enough to continue working at.

Play is the only arena in which a young child gets to be in control -- in charge! But it has to be child-directed, not adult-directed, play. That means the child freely chooses the activity and how it's to be done. There are no rules other than those she may choose to make up. And if something goes wrong (the square peg doesn't fit in the round hole, for example), let her attempt to figure it out for herself. If she turns to you for assistance, you can help her understand why, but wait for her to try before telling her it won't work and that she has to put a round peg in a round hole.

Naturally, I'm not a proponent of continual failure. As with most other aspects of life, there's a balance to be achieved! It's hard to watch your child do something incorrectly and resist the urge to fix it. No one wants to see their child struggle, even momentarily! But if you refrain from "fixing" everything for him, whether it's as small an issue as telling him where to put the pegs or as large an issue as doing his homework for him, he'll learn to be self-directed. Moreover, he'll be willing to try and try again. He'll become resilient, and that will serve him well.

Strength Training for the Little Ones

I briefly addressed strength training for children in my very first post on this blog, but a recent article in the Tampa Tribune got me thinking about it again.

Muscular strength and muscular endurance are two of the five health-related fitness factors we want to work to promote in young children. Muscular strength is fairly self-explanatory but is described as the ability  to exert force with a single maximum effort. Strong muscles are necessary not only for performing certain tasks, like throwing for distance, hanging and swinging, climbing, and carrying heavy books and groceries, but also for preventing injury and maintaining proper posture. An added bonus is that increasing muscle strength also increases strength in tendons, ligaments, and bones.

Strength training -- also known as resistance or weight training -- is the best way to build muscular strength. But we have to view things differently than if we were discussing strength training for adults! While there's a lot of debate over the appropriateness of involving young children in strength training, there are some points on which the experts agree.

First, it's never a good idea to modify an adult strength-training program for children. Adults' bodies are fully developed; children's are not. Adults have long attention spans and the motivation to endure the monotony of repetitive exercises; children do not. For these reasons the best "strength training" for children involves the use of their own weight in physical activities they'd be performing anyway, like jumping, playing tug-of-war, and pumping higher and higher on a swing.

The experts also agree that children under the age of 8 shouldn't be using weights or machines -- child-sized or not. The general rule of thumb is that only children mature enough to follow specific instructions and understand the risks and benefits of such training should be handling strength-training equipment. It's recommended that children wait until they're 10 or 12 to use apparatus, as before puberty children may not have the judgment necessary to use it safely.

There's a good deal of interest in children's fitness right now and plenty of programs cropping up to take advantage of that interest. These programs will heartily endorse the benefits of strength training, convincing parents that it will prevent their children from injury and improve their sports skills. And, yes, if children are participating in organized sports without the requisite strength, strength-related activities may help prevent sports-related injuries. But strength training, handled improperly, can do more harm than good, particularly in children under 6, who are most prone to injury. And the truth is, the best way for children to improve their sports skills is to learn and practice their specific sports skills.

If you're considering the pros and cons of strength training, here are some things you should know:

• Children should always begin by using the resistance of their own body weight. In addition to the examples cited earlier, this could include such formal exercises as heel raises, curl-ups, leg lifts, and wall push-ups. (But you'll have to make them fun and exciting for children...because these can be boring!)
• If your older (6- to 8-year-old) child is going to participate in some sort of formal regimen, that regimen should include a warm-up (for example, jogging lightly in place to circulate blood throughout the body) and a cooldown (gentle stretches held for 10 to 12 seconds). Stretching shouldn't be used as a warm-up because "cold" muscles shouldn't be stretched.
• Once children do begin to use apparatus, they should do so without any added weight or resistance. When a child can perform 8 to 15 repetitions of an exercise, weight can be added in small increments. Children should never lift the maximal weight!
• A knowledgeable adult should constantly monitor children participating in strength-training programs.
• Children benefit more from additional repetitions of moderate weight than from fewer repetitions of heavy weights.
• Strength training may further elevate the blood pressure in children with hypertension.
• The National Strength and Conditioning Association cites improper training techniques, lifting heavy or maximal weights, improper equipment, and lack of qualified adult supervision as the most common reason for injuries.

The American Academy of Pediatrics states that gains in strength, muscle size, and power are lost after only six weeks once strength training is stopped. So, if your child is to improve muscular strength, "strength training" must be continuous. And, honestly, the only way that's going to happen for young children is if it's part of what they naturally do -- and it's fun.

Celebrate Earth Day!

It probably won't surprise you to learn that, according to reports, fewer than 10% of U.S. children currently learn about nature from being outside. Instead, one-third of them learn about it at school, and more than one-half of them learn about it via such electronic devices as computers and television!

Surely you don't need me to convince you that books and electronics offer no substitute for the real thing. Being outdoors is an experiences of the senses (which is how much of young children's learning takes place). Outside there are myriad amazing things to see: creatures in the clouds, hummingbirds hovering, and four-leaf clovers. To hear: birdsong, leaves rustling in the breeze, brooks babbling. To smell: lilacs, the rain-soaked ground, and Concord grapes (a favorite scent from my childhood; every time I smell it I'm transported back in time). To touch: the velvety softness of a petal, the fuzziness of a pussy willow, a fallen feather, the bark of a tree, or mud puddles. There are even things to taste, like a freshly picked blueberry or, in the winter, freshly fallen snow.

Do you remember how even the simplest foods taste better outside? Somehow, a peanut butter sandwich is just a sandwich when it's eaten in the kitchen. But make it part of a picnic, and suddenly it's special!

If T-ball and soccer are among your child's activities, you may believe she is indeed spending plenty of time outdoors. And while it's true she may be getting fresh air and sunshine (both important!), such organized activities don't allow for the appreciation of nature that outdoor experiences are meant to provide. When free to explore the outdoors on her own, she can lie on her back and absorb the feel of the grass against her skin, or track a caterpillar's progress. Heaven forbid she be doing either of those things during an organized game!

How about taking a "senses walk" on this Earth Day? Whether you walk around the backyard or around the block, you and your child can discover how many things you can hear, smell, or touch. How many red things can you see? How many natural things? An activity like this serves so many purposes! It stimulates the senses, provides physical activity, heightens awareness of the surrounding beauty, offers science lessons, and fosters a love of nature. Choose one sense to focus on today and then tomorrow, when it's no longer Earth Day, go outside and choose another to explore!

Electronic Exercise?

Turns out this past Wednesday was National Start! Walking Day. Who even knew there was such an event? But I'm glad for anything that calls attention to this very basic -- and wonderful -- form of exercise.

Interestingly enough, this past week two pieces about electronic games that promote physical activity also arrived in my inbox. One told the story of a physical education teacher who uses "Dance, Dance Revolution" and Sony's "Eye Toy" (the latter of which I'm not familiar with) as part of the stations in her gym. She's having such success with them that one student wrote, "It was so fun I did not even know I was working out!"

The other was a blog by a mom who's wondering if video games may be the solution to childhood obesity. She writes:

I must confess I have mixed feelings about this. On the one hand, it might be effective for getting otherwise sedentary youngsters in the habit of exercising. On the other, it seems sad that society has been reduced to using bribery, trickery and high-tech toys to get kids to engage in activities that have long been considered part of a healthy childhood.

I agree! As I wrote in the comment I posted at her blog:

Two thoughts come to mind. First, I can only hope that these video games create a lifelong love of physical activity in general. Second, I’d like to think the children are only using them when the weather is absolutely, positively too terrible for them to go outdoors — where they belong!

Video games are certainly creating an enjoyment of physical activity in the above-mentioned PE class. That's obviously a good thing. But should we be depending on them in our homes? Aren't children better served by playing the old-fashioned way?

There are so many questions parents need to answer today that never had to be posed with children of earlier generations. So many challenges that are unique to our times. I can't help but wish that kids would get their exercise by going outside and running and jumping around. I can't help but wish that families would take a daily (or almost-daily) walk together -- for the sake of both their health and their happiness. (Walking is a truly satisfying activity.) I can't help but wish that we could save the "trickery and high-tech toys" for adults who need some additional motivation to move. Children, after all, are supposed to just want to move!

Time Just to Be

The stories I hear from parents never cease to amaze me. Like the one from the mom who was feeling pressured to enroll her two-and-a-half-year-old in the local soccer program -- the local, competitive soccer program!

"Our town," she said, "is very much into pushing children to compete and succeed. And I know other parents are looking at me as though I'm failing my child, but I'm not going to give in to the pressure. I'm not enrolling her in all these programs at age two."

Good for her! Whether it's a fear that their children won't get into the college of their choice, fear that they'll never find their passions, or fear that a child who isn't constantly engaged in organized activities will become lazy and unmotivated -- too many of today's parents are responsible for their children being overscheduled, with no time just to be.

What happens when a child's time is scheduled and programmed -- directed by someone else -- from morning 'til night, day after day? As one mother wrote to me: "If the parents work a full day and the children are in a traditional school, the child goes to care before school at around 7:30 AM, then goes to school, then goes to after-school care until around 5:30 PM. Then they have two hours of homework. If you add in one sport per season, they have two hours of practice/games once or twice a week. So the child's 'workday' is more than twelve hours!"

In addition to the stress is causes, an overscheduled, overprogrammed life at an early age assures that the child will never be able to entertain herself. Will never be able to live inside her own head. To deal with solitude or quiet time. She may not get much of it as an adult, but for her sake I hope there will be some. And when there is, it would be awfully sad if she felt panicked at the idea of having to keep herself amused. If she felt she absolutely had to be in the company of others.

If parents want their children to grow up to be resourceful, they have to make sure their kids start practicing now. That means they have to ensure their children have plenty of unstructured time -- preferably in big, uninterrupted chunks.

Rebecca Isbell, early childhood educator and author, says that the chunks of time children need for uninterrupted play will vary according to their level of development. Toddlers, she maintains, require a minimum of 30 minutes to remain in play activities that interest them. Preschoolers need 45 to 60 minutes. And early elementary children who are focused on their play may need an hour or more to bring their work to a conclusion.

Here are some questions excerpted from my book, A Running Start:

• If children begin living like adults in childhood, what will they have to look forward to?
• What's to ensure they won't be burned out from all the pushing and pressure before they've even reached puberty?
• If we've caused them to miss the magic of childhood, what will kids later draw upon to cope with the trials and tribulations of adulthood?
• What will become of the childlike nature adults call on when they need reminding of the delight found in simple things -- when they need to bring out the playfulness that makes life worth living?
• What joy will our children find as adults if striving to "succeed" becomes life's sole purpose?

A Potpourri

• According to a new Harvard Medical School study, infants who sleep fewer than 12 hours a day are at greater risk of becoming overweight in preschool. The researchers found that 586 of the 915 babies involved slept an average of 12 hours or more a day, and 329 of the babies slept less than that. Among the babies who slept longer, seven percent were obese at age 3. The short   sleepers fared worse. Twelve percent of them became obese 3-year-olds. Adding TV to the picture, 17 percent of those who slept less than 12   hours a day and watched two or more hours of television a day were   obese by the time they were 3. Researchers suggested that hormones may be the issue. In previous studies, sleep-deprived adults produced more   ghrelin, a hormone that promotes hunger, and less leptin, a hormone   that signals fullness. For more information, go to the Time article on the study.



• Next week, April 13-19, is Week of the Young Child. This year's theme is "Bring Communities Together for Children/Children Bring Communities Together."  According to the website of the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC): 
  

  The purpose of the Week of the Young Child is to focus public attention on the needs of young children and their families and to recognize the early childhood programs and services that meet those needs.

  NAEYC first established the Week of the Young Child in 1971, recognizing that the early childhood years (birth through age 8) lay the foundation for children's success in school and later life. The Week of the Young Child is a time to plan how we--as citizens of a community, of a state, and of a nation--will better meet the needs of all young children and their families.
  
  For activity ideas and resources, including an event planning booklet, click on the link above.
  

• This week's featured interview on Body, Mind and Child is with Nancy Carlsson-Paige on protecting children from media violence. Nancy is the author of the new parenting book, Taking Back Childhood, which I've blogged about before. She's been a "student" of media violence for many of the 30 years she's been involved in early childhood education and has been a fierce advocate for the protection of children. Here's an excerpt from her book.
  
  Violent media are particularly detrimental for young children because during the early years, as child development theory explains, children don't clearly distinguish between fantasy and reality. They cannot be sure what they see on the screen won't really happen to them -- that the monster or the bad guy leering at them won't come right off that screen, if now now, then maybe later. According to the American Medical Association's Physician's Guide to Media Violence, published in 1996, media violence causes seriously increased levels of fearfulness and mistrust in children. A random national survey conducted in 1999 reported that 65% of parents with children between the ages of two and seventeen said that their child had been frightened by something they saw in a TV program or movie, and this fear, according to other studies, can last for days, months, or even years.
  
  Nancy spoke passionately on the topic. To listen to her interview, click here.