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?
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…)
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.
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.
By Nathan Sen, DVM, Wildlife Rescue Unit Manager and Chief Veterinarian
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.
By Dr. Adrienne Youdim
If 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.
By 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…)
By Carly Mentlik, Children’s Development Expert
This past year was full of big change for our kids: from stay-at-home orders, shifting to online learning and a lack of connection with friends. So, I put together some ideas to help your kids feel happy, centered and balanced during times of transition. (more…)
By Michelle Wolf
One of the best things about us, as women, is our ability to unite together as a community. Call it what you want; Boss Babes, or Girl Gang. Regardless, we can join together to help each other rise up against any adversity (big or small) that might come our way. And you all know I LOVE community, it’s one of my core values!
Becoming a Mother and having my own family is something I am deeply passionate about. Oh; how I longed to be a mom, I tried for three long hard and rewarding years to get pregnant and was devastated by the idea that one of my life-long dreams might not be fulfilled. If I look back on my life as a child the one thing I knew I wanted was to be a mom. I saw it as the most important job so much so that I chose to leave my job in marketing climbing the corporate ladder in hopes to find more balance. No matter how hard I tried to solve the mystery of fertility, it was the first time in my life no matter how hard I worked I could not control the outcome. A great lesson in life of doing vs. being. While science played a role, faith, fate and believing it led my heart to my beautiful girls.
By Raluca Schachter
We should be rolling in the dirt, gardening, wrestling with some brambles and skinning animals for supper. These are important immune system builders. -Joel Salatin, author, organic and sustainable farmer of Polyface Farms, Virginia, USA
A strong immune system is not achieved through a syringe, pill, miracle plant or supplement. Nor does it come from the use of antibacterial soaps and the creation of a sterile environment without “microbes”. In fact, considering the poor health of many people in modern society, we can say that immunity can no longer be obtained exclusively from a healthy diet and a few natural remedies. It’s not enough anymore. The epidemic of allergies, obesity, gastrointestinal problems, chronic infections, malabsorption and many others have a direct connection to an immune system that has suffered profound dysfunctions. (more…)