Posted on August 30, 2010 by Natural Awakenings
Various factors may cause a child’s sleeplessness, so before reaching for conventional drugs and sleep medications, parents may want to first consider changing a child’s bedtime routine. For example, try turning off the television and computer a couple of hours before bedtime to avoid overstimulation. It also helps to keep the child’s bedroom as calm and stress-free as possible; aromatherapy-scented pillows, soaps and lotions that work best include lavender, sage and chamomile.
Homeopathic remedies are another option; practitioners advise that such
gentler medications are usually well tolerated by children. Choices include Kali
phosphoricum for overstimulation, Magnesium phosphoricum to calm a child and
to relieve colic, and Passiflora incarnata for a child who is too tired to go to sleep.
Another natural sleep aid is drinking an herbal tea made from chamomile, passion
flower and valerian an hour before bedtime. Before implementing any herbal remedy
for a good night’s sleep, parents should consult a certified herbalist to ensure
they are administering it correctly for the child’s age and weight.
Sources: EduBook.com, eHow.com, HerbalRemediesInfo.com
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Filed under: Health Brief | Tagged: sleep, sleep aids, childhood sleeplessness, homeopathic sleep, chamomile | Leave a Comment »
Posted on August 27, 2010 by Natural Awakenings
Families who want kids to grow up thinner and smarter do well to keep them away from the television as toddlers.
In a new study published in Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, Dr. Linda S. Pagani, a professor at the Université de Montréal and researcher at the Sainte-Justine University Hospital Research Center, concluded: “We found every additional hour of TV exposure among toddlers corresponded to a future decrease in classroom engagement and success at math, increased victimization by classmates, a more sedentary lifestyle, higher consumption of junk food and ultimately, a higher body mass index.”
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Filed under: Health Brief | Tagged: televison, toddlers, tv exposure, junk food | Leave a Comment »
Posted on August 19, 2010 by Natural Awakenings
Text-Message Giving Helps Rescue Oil-Soaked Wildlife
In a recent Cone marketing agency survey, 19 percent of Americans said that they would rather text a donation to a nonprofit than make a donation in any other way, and the method is particularly popular among youth. It’s a fundraising tool now on the radar of every major U.S. charity, according to Christian Zimmern, co-founder of the nonprofit Mobile Giving Foundation (MGF).
Zimmern notes that “we have 260 million cell phones in the United States,” while The New York Times reports that almost 90 percent of U.S. households now have a cell phone. He points out that this means that givers need not be a member of any online pay system, nor use a credit card; “You just need your phone.” MGF first qualifies charities, then facilitates a coordinated link with telecommunications carriers.
The latest pressing cause to benefit from text-message giving are rescue operations for 400 species of wildlife from the life-threatening effects of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Birds, fish, reptiles and marine mammals urgently need help. The National Wildlife Federation (nwf.org) is asking cell phone users to text “Wildlife” to 20222 to donate $10 to try to save the animals.
Source: The Christian Science Monitor. Details at NWF.org/Oil-Spill/Ways-to-Help/Mobile-Giving.aspx.
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Filed under: Global Brief | Tagged: cell phone, wildlife, gulf, fundraisers, gulf oil spill relief, gulf oil spill, bp oil spill | Leave a Comment »
Posted on August 16, 2010 by Natural Awakenings
Students Like to Pick Green Colleges
In The Princeton Review’s latest College Hopes & Worries Survey, 68 percent of students said they value having information about a college’s commitment to the
environment. From a pool of almost 700 U.S. colleges and universities, the organization identified the country’s 371 exemplary green colleges of 2010 (up from 286 in 2009). Key criteria include a healthy and sustainable quality of life on campus, preparation for employment in a world facing environmental challenges and overall commitment to environmental issues.
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Posted on August 13, 2010 by Natural Awakenings
Young people who listen to personal music players for several hours a day at high volume could be putting their hearing at risk, warns a study published online in the British Medical Journal. Researchers found that devices such as MP3 players can generate levels of sound directed at the ear in excess of 120 decibels, similar in intensity to a jet engine, especially when used with earphones inserted into the ear canal.
Use of music devices has grown faster than health experts’ ability to assess potential health consequences such as long-term hearing loss, as well as their interference with concentration and performance, especially when driving. Such findings point out that today’s ubiquitous acceptance of technology in our lives must be accompanied by vigorous efforts to understand its impacts on our health and well-being, especially among youth.
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Filed under: Health Brief | Tagged: hearing, deaf, mp3, decibels, jet engine, music devices, hearing loss | Leave a Comment »
Posted on August 11, 2010 by Natural Awakenings
An Answer to Our Education Crisis
Allowing students to think, initiate and create nurtures their natural passion for learning.
Ask Isaac Graves what seventh grade was like at The Free School in Albany, New York, and he paints a picture that would seem like a dream to many conventional middle schoolers—and a nightmare to their administrators. There were no tests, no homework and almost no schedules.
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Filed under: Featured Articles | Tagged: conventional, education, education crises, homework, tests | Leave a Comment »
Posted on August 10, 2010 by Natural Awakenings
Why Children Need to Play in School
Time for play in most public kindergartens has dwindled to the vanishing point, replaced by lengthy lessons and standardized testing, according to three recent studies released by the nonprofit Alliance for Childhood. This group of advocates for children reports that classic play materials have largely disappeared from the 268 full-day conventional classrooms studied.
Authors of the research hail from University of California, Los Angeles, Long Island University and Sarah Lawrence College, in New York. In sounding the warning about the potential intellectual, social and physical repercussions of this widespread educational policy on childhood development, they also point to the academic success associated with play-based schooling in other countries. Students in China and Japan, often heralded for their aptitudes in science, technology, engineering and math, enjoy a play-based experiential approach to school until second grade. Children in Finland, who don’t begin formal schooling until age 6, consistently achieve the highest score on international exams.
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Filed under: Global Brief | Tagged: kindergarten, play, Alliance for Childhood, childhood development, academic success | Leave a Comment »
