Education

Back to School

Subhead: How to Help Your Children Survive and Thrive.

By Cindy Chanin

It is no surprise that parents and students are anxious about the beginning of in-person school as the 2021-2022 academic year commences. While many harbor concerns about the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic such as breakthrough transmission, controversy and inconsistency about messaging around mask wearing, and personal safety at school and events, there’s also concern about whether students are academically prepared for the upcoming year. Most importantly, social and emotional readiness are in question for families and educators. Despite the uncertainty, you and your students can do plenty to get ready for this imminent milestone. Some of the advice circulating is familiar, while some is brand new.

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Health

Empty Nester’s Reality

By Marni Battista, MAEd, CPC

There is the sound a door makes when it closes. To the ear it can be heard simply as one sound, a final beat of the drum, but what I hear in my mind is not so much that singular noise. When really listening, I hear the door closing in slow mo. If that is even a thing, hearing, in slow mo.

I can feel it too, of course, that final closure. I have known it was coming, after all. I may have heard it before it, possibly anticipating the weightiness, the sweeping dramatic finality, labeled and categorized as a phase of life: The Empty Nest. The motion of the door swinging shut leaves me with what feels like the breeze of the Maui wind coming in off the ocean on my salty skin just before sunset when the air has an imprint of heat on it. I hear, too, the series of staccato beats as it hits the frame, the metallic click, the sound it makes just before the air is pushed out as the door seals. An era over. Sealed. Shut. (more…)

Education

Tips to Set Your Student Up for Success

By Nathalie Kunin

Back to School 2021 has a completely new meaning for students and parents alike. Once again, we will be pivoting to the new normal. Since we do not know exactly what school will look like, it is natural to feel a little unsettled. However, there are some things about Back to School which never change – its time to return to the routine, even though the routine might require some flexibility.

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Education

Rekindle Your Child’s Love of Learning

Janis Adams

By Janis Adams
Summer Projects

It’s been a tough year and online learning may have taken its toll. Your children may be numb, zoomed out, and possibly dulled to learning. Now the summer stretches before us and we plan to fill the time with summer school, camps, maybe dance lessons. All great ideas. But the question remains: What will rekindle your child’s love of learning?

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Food

Is Your Child Overweight? Tips for healthy eating habits.

Dr. Adrienne Youdim

As an internal medicine physician, I treat adults, but on occasion a parent will drag in their adolescent or young adult child so that I can talk to them about weight loss. As a parent, I can understand the fear and worry that comes with noticeable weight gain. We worry about their health, but if we are honest, we are often worried about the social consequences they may experience from excess weight. More often than not, weight gain in a child will invariably bring up our own emotions and biases as well as any difficult relationships we may have with food or our own bodies. As a mother and a physician, I know we want to help our children but the truth is that trying to motivate them, much less dragging them into my office, will not only not help but it may even backfire.

There are two types of motivation, intrinsic vs extrinsic. Intrinsic motivation is the kind that comes from within the person themselves while extrinsic motivation comes from outside oneself, such as a parent or a spouse. External motivation can be positive and take the form of a reward or can be negative as in a punishment or threat, either way, positive or negative, extrinsic motivation does not work. (more…)

Health, Health & Beauty

I have been teaching private swimming lessons at people’s homes, training lifeguards around the world and certifying the general public in CPR and first aid for the last 18yrs.

By KatieHarker

At the beginning of every swim season, parents and prospective clients usually ask the same questions. When should children learn to swim? What are the pros and cons for group vs private lessons? What are different teaching methods depending on the age of the swimmer?
The answers to these questions are dependent on a child’s personality, the client’s budget and their access to a private pool vs a public pool. My goal is to provide clients with as much information as possible so they can make the best decision for them and feel confident with their choice.

Babies as young as 10 months can start taking mommy and me lessons.Babies have a natural epiglottal reaction to close their mouths underwater and lose that reaction by 12 months, so it’s a good idea to start teaching them as soon as possible. In addition,studies show that gentle movements engaged through swimming teaches babies to engage both sides of their body simultaneously. This bilateral movement not only helps develop and maintain muscle memory, it also increases brain development. Classes for babies last 15-20 min whether they are at a public pool or private pool. Find a friend who has a heated pool, bring in 4-6 parents and get a private instructor. This will lower the cost and be a fun little social event.

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Education

Learning meets fun for kids with ClicBot, an advanced STEM Robot

By Chen Zang

Keyi Tech, one of the leading robotics companies is launching its latest STEM robot, ClicBot, in the US. Bringing their industry expertise in building robots, Keyitech created ClicBot with an aim to provide hands-on learning for kids between the age groups 5-10 and 10-15.

The ClicBot has been designed to provide kids with an easy-to-use robot that educates them while letting them use their creativity. This robot lets your kids’ education run wild thanks to its modular design that will allow your kids to build their own robots by rearranging the pieces out of the package per their liking.

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Education

Your Next Food or Cosmetic Purchase May Help these Wildlife Rescue Conservationists Save an Elephant

By Nathan Sen, DVM, Wildlife Rescue Unit Manager and Chief Veterinarian

Nathan Sen

As Malaysians were in total lockdown from the COVID-19 pandemic, a sweet-natured baby elephant named Sahabat was found wandering near an oil palm plantation. In Malaysia’s Sabah state, our Wildlife Rescue Unit (WRU) answered an emergency call and swooped in to rescue her.

Veterinarians discovered that the Sahabat was nearly blind from severe eye infections in both eyes. This is likely why she was separated from her family. Field medical treatment was given to the infected eyes and preparations were made to transport her to Lok Kawi Wildlife Park for proper medical treatment. A special holding crate was made overnight by workers to make a quick transport possible.

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Health, Health & Beauty

What are Functional Ingredients?

How eating these foods can prevent disease.

By Dr. Adrienne YoudimAdrienneIf we have learned anything from 2020, it is that prevention matters! Prevention for coronavirus means wearing a mask, washing our hands and maintaining physical distance. But what about long term strategies to maintain good health? Long after this pandemic is over (and yes it will be over!) we can still make small changes that have a big impact on our health and wellbeing. As an internist and a physician nutrition specialist, I see every day how small changes in our diet and nutrition has a big impact on our health and wellbeing. I define diet broadly to include not only nutrition but also movement, nature, sleep and play. All of these factors play an important role in your health.

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Education

Life Skills – Do Our Kids Even Have Them?

By Cyndi BuckleyBy Cyndi Buckley

Gone are the days where high school students have Home Ec, the in-school class that teaches how to cook, sew on a button, tie a tie, prep a budget, and other necessary life skills taught by people other than your parents. Today, young adults are grinding their lives with hectic schedules, including school demands, after-school activities, and test prep, with the added pressure to do well in all of these areas. This lifestyle has created fried and fragile people as they head out into the world independently for the first time. They find themselves in an environment where making a small decision becomes impossible. (more…)