In this issue:• Learning at Family Get Togethers• A Message from Dr. Rick• Exercise Can Improve Grades

He l p i n g s t u d e n t s d e ve l o p t h e s k i l l s, h a b i t s a n d a t t i t u d e s fo r l i fe l o n g s u cc e s s

DECEMBER 2011

With toy store shelves overflowing and catalogues filled with the latest gadgets, the search for the perfect toys and games can be a daunting task for parents. Luckily, the holiday season provides a great opportunity for parents to give the gift of learning that will last throughout the year!

While toys and games are fun for children, they also help kids develop valuable skills including imagination, creativity, problem solving and confidence. When selecting educational toys and games, parents are encouraged to consider gifts that are appropriate for their children’s ages and skill levels as well as their specific interests.

Children who regularly engage in play are more likely to be emotionally, mentally and physically fit. From a very early age, infants use play to develop motor skills, recognize shapes and colors and improve hand-eye coordination. As children grow, they become more interested in formal games with rules, opponents and explicit instructions.

Here are a few suggestions to help parents identify toys that encourage active learning and make the most of play this holiday season:

Pre-School Students• Consider puzzles to help build critical thinking and reasoning skills.

• Pre-school students are beginning to recognize colors, letters, textures and sound. To encourage these skills, look for magnetic letters and numbers, flash cards or games like See ‘n Say® or A to Z Puzzles™.

• To develop motor skills, try activity mats, building blocks and Tinker Toys®. As infants become more advanced, parents should find more challenging games and activities and recognize when it’s time to retire certain toys.

• For games that help children learn to match pictures/shapes and practice counting, look for Big Deal® Slapdragon™ Card Game or Imperial™ Kids - Go Fish! Card Game.

• To spark creativity and imagination, consider arts and crafts kits and toy musical instruments. With a Kids’ Play Workshop® Itty Bitty Puppet Show™ children can have fun creating, decorating and playing with finger puppets.

• Make time for independent play to help children develop personality, foster motor skills and stimulate creativity.

• Younger children are easily overwhelmed, so parents should consider rotating toys regularly, and limiting the number of toys at playtime.

Elementary School Students• Elementary school-aged students are beginning to understand and

use strategy and probability skills. To foster these developments, look for board games and computer games, including Connect Four®, Scrabble, Monopoly® and The Game of Life®.

• Science kits, chemistry sets and telescopes help develop critical thinking skills.

• Games like Talkin’ Tango®, Blurt!® and Petcha Didn’t Know® encourage children to pay close attention and practice listening and concentration skills.

• Parents need to recognize their child’s personal learning style, strengths and weaknesses. If children struggle with math, parents can encourage math games and activities to further develop their math skills. If science is a challenge, make science fun with a chemistry set.

• To build, boost and bolster self-esteem, play The Self-Esteem Game™.

• Consider project-based toys such as model airplanes, ships or jewelry kits to help improve fine motor skills. Not only do these projects reinforce motor skills, children also learn to follow instructions and have a project they can work on for days.

• Make playtime a regular part of a child’s routine – at school and at home. Teachers make time for playtime at recess, and parents should make sure playtime is incorporated into their child’s day.

Middle and High School Students• Teenagers don’t like to think of it as playtime, but even older

children are still learning through play as they enter their high school years.

• Science kits become more advanced for older children – and provide an opportunity for children to experiment, be creative and follow directions.

• Encourage a combination of group and individual play – team sports like a baseball or soccer team and individual activities like reading, scrap booking or journal writing.

• Help children improve vocabulary skills with board games such as Dictionary Dabble® and Buzzword®.

• At this age, students may be set in their ways, so if parents want to encourage learning through play, pay close attention to their habits and hobbies. Whether it is music, reading, or painting, match toys to your children’s interests.

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Give The Gift Of LearningInspire Your Child by Choosing Toys and Games That are Fun and Educational

To kick-start learning throughout 2012 and find more educational resources visit www.SylvanLearning.com

A Message From Dr. Rick

Read the rest at DrRickBlog.com

The holiday season is here. Family get-togethers provide the perfect opportunity for kids to learn about their family’s history, of their sense of belonging to important groups – none more important than family – and of their learning lifelong values from the adults they trust.

Family get-togethers provide times for bonding, for fun, for telling stories, for sharing, and for showing acceptance, generosity, kindness, and affection. Kids need to see this, to be a part of it, and to learn what being a family member entails.

Family get-togethers don’t have to be big deals that cause stress. Instead, they can be joyful times when kids get to be with relatives they don’t get to see often enough, when their regular routines, like bedtime, are stretched a little, and when they feel involved in family fun.

Here are some things kids can do for family get-togethers. They’ll feel useful, involved, and a part of something important and lasting.

Interview relatives. A great way to learn family history. Work with kids ahead of time, and tell them who’s going to be at the event. Clarify where these folks fit in the family. Suggest some topics kids will be interested in and relatives will be comfortable talking about. For older relatives, encourage kids to ask about family stories and history.

Build relationships. Kids love to learn about how they fit in the family, their cousins, their uncles and aunts. This is especially true of adopted kids, who are curious about the folks who welcomed them into their family. Show kids how to draw a simple family tree.

Help with the invitations. If it’s one of those family gatherings where invitations are appropriate, have the kids participate. Relatives love to get child-drawn-and-written cards from beloved nieces, nephews, and grandchildren. Let the kids design, draw, color, and write the contents. Depending on their age and handwriting, let them address the envelopes, too. If you’re inviting folks electronically, kids can play a hand here, too.

Help with the planning. Give kids simple tasks to keep them involved instead of just staying out of the way. Ask for their thoughts

and suggestions. “A cook-out would be fun, don’t you think?” Or, “What about horseshoes? Wouldn’t that be unusual?” Yes, planning is important, but if kids see you stressing out, they’ll feel it, too.

Help with the decorating. Given the right direction, kids will feel great about creating hand-made table decorations, drawings of family that can be hung around the house, and inventive signs that greet people hospitably. “Welcome to our home.” Or, “Mom made the potato salad. It’s my favorite!” Or, “Young cousins, games and toys downstairs.”

Help with the menu. Kids have their favorites, so let them suggest dishes that they think their young cousins will enjoy. Also, stretch their thinking a little with some suggestions for the older folks. If you’re really feeling adventuresome, take them to the grocery store to help you shop and look for good values.

Document in writing, photographs, video. Let the kids be the documentarians, taking pictures, videos, and notes of what’s happening. Put these together in a real-life or on-line album for everyone to share afterwards. Someone can be camera person, another narrator, another interviewer. Trade jobs periodically.

Be ready with interesting conversation. Sometimes it’s hard for kids to feel comfortable with people they haven’t seen for a long while. Help your kids – especially the shy ones – to be ready with things to talk about. School, hobbies, favorite games, interesting friends, favorite music, cool vacation memories, and fun teachers. Also, help them think up some conversation-encouraging questions to help them break the ice.

Look forward. Don’t overdo it, but let kids know how much you’re looking forward to seeing the family. Tell funny stories from your youth. Play up the positive aspects of everyone’s personalities. Share stories of the things you’ve learned – your love of learning, your religious beliefs, your moral compass, your sense of fun – from family members.

Enjoy the holiday season!

Family Get Togethers: A Learning Opportunity For Kids

Giving The Best Gifts

It’s the gift-giving season, and despite our best intentions we often find ourselves haring about at the last minute and “settling” on gifts for people we really care about and deserve better. Doesn’t make sense. Our kids see us doing this, and somehow they end up doing the same thing. Waste of time. Waste of money. Waste of a good learning opportunity. We could be spending our time in much better ways. We could certainly be spending our money in much better ways. And we could be teaching our kids about the true meaning of giving. Here, then, are a few thoughts about giving and a few suggestions of ways kids can give gifts that are truly meaningful both to the giver and the receiver. These gifts cost almost no money, and yet they’re priceless. They also reinforce a message you’ve read often in the Dr. Rick Blog – never let a day go by without being a blessing to someone.

Babysit. Older kids can offer to babysit for a certain number of hours for parents who will be grateful forever.

Pet sit. Offer to care for Fido or Fluffy while their owners are away. A discount on your usual rates for an extended time or a freebie for a one-day session.

Exercise Can Improve GradesAs reported by ConnectWithKids. com, in an effort to boost test performance, many schools are taking time away from physical education and using it for more time in class. But studies now show that rigorous physical activity can actually lead to better grades.

According to research from the Medical College of Georgia, kids who are active and play hard have higher levels of concentration, better organization skills and are less impulsive than kids who are sedentary.

“The area of the brain that’s involved in cognitive learning is the same area that’s stimulated byphysical activity, so the two seem to work hand in hand,” explains Jackie Lund, Ph.D, President of the National Association for Sport and Physical Education. Former U.S. Surgeon General, Dr. David Satcher agrees, “Children who are physically fit do better academically. They perform better on standardized examinations, they concentrate better, on the other hand, children who are obese are four times as likely to be depressed, very likely to be absent from school.”

That’s why, experts say, if your child’s school does not provide vigorous physical education, you have to speak up.

“If parents go out and demand quality physical education, where their kids are learning and they’re moving and they’re involved in activities that are going to create the next steps for a life time, then they will be heard,” says Lund.

Tips For Parents“It is helpful to think of the brain as a muscle,” Dr. John Ratey told colleagues at a conference on “Learning and the Brain” in Boston. Dr. Ratey, a clinical associate professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, says the best way to “maximize the brain” is through exercise and movement.

According to a recent article posted on ConnectWithKids.com, the National Association for Sport and Physical Education (NASPE) offers the following statistics and recommendations to support that physically active children “learn better”:

• Elementary school students should participate in a minimum of 60 minutes of moderate and vigorous activity every day.

• Middle and high school students should participate in 30 minutes of physical activity daily.

• Play is an essential part of children’s social development.

• Children learn how to cooperate, compete constructively, assume leader/follower roles and resolve conflicts by interacting in play.

• Only 25% of American children participate in any type of daily physical activity.

• More than 300,000 deaths are caused annually by a lack of exercise and a poor diet.

How much exercise does your child need? According to the American Heart Association (AHA), a “healthy level” of physical activity requires regular participation in activities that increase heart rates above resting levels. An active child plays sports, participates in physical education classes, performs regular household chores, spends recreational time outdoors and regularly travels by foot or bicycle.

For additional information and educational videos, visit

www.ConnectWithKids.com

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