Teens, Sleep and School Success

Late bedtimes and difficulty waking are linked to changes in brain chemistry during adolescence. Understanding teen sleep requirements can help improve school performance. (see here)

Hi everyone

School has started and in my house we are dealing with the dreaded "Do I really have to go to bed?  I'm not tired".  It's hard to switch from the lazy summer schedule to getting up for school.  But kids need SLEEP.  Talk to your mentee- you can support them by understanding their sleep needs, letting them know why they need sleep and encouraging them to have good sleep habits now. 

 "As middle and high school students adjust to school schedules, many find it challenging to keep up with studies and activities and still get the sleep they need. Michigan State University Extension helps teens, parents and others who care about teens better understand adolescent brain development and how it influences sleep cycles.

Two changes affect sleep patterns at puberty. The brain changes the way sleep is regulated, with increased hormones that shift sleep timing to later at night and also sleeping later in the morning. Another change is the need for more sleep – teens need 8.5–9.5 hours of sleep each night.
Scientific studies by over sixty experts in the field of sleep health have researched this topic for almost 20 years and confirmed these findings. A prominent expert on adolescent sleep, Dr. Mary Carskadon, director of the Chronobiology/Sleep Research Laboratory at Bradley Hospital in East Providence, R.I. and professor at the Brown University School of Medicine, notes that teens who get the sleep they need have less likelihood of depressed moods, reduced tardiness, reduced absenteeism and better grades in school. She maintains that children and adolescents experience better learning and academic success and greater physical and mental health when their sleep is protected and supported to levels recommended by a consensus of experts. Sleep is a very productive time for the developing brain. During sleep the brain is organizing and consolidating the day’s learning.
Carskadon defends the scientific evidence in Sleep Guidance for Kids and Teens Is Based on Sound Science, and also acknowledges that there is some individual variability in sleep needs – therefore these recommendations are offered as guidelines. She encourages parents to watch for potential signs of insufficient sleep in children and teens, such as difficulty waking in the morning, daytime sleepiness and sleeping longer on weekends and school vacations.
Sleep experts say dimming the lights at night and getting lots of daylight in the morning can help. Avoiding caffeine, especially in the evening, having a routine bedtime of 10 p.m., sleeping in a cool environment and turning off music and other electronic devices will also help to reset the body clock. Allow time to catch up on sleep during the weekend, but avoid “binge-sleeping.” If a student is used to getting up at 6:30 a.m., they shouldn’t sleep until noon on the weekend, which confuses their bodies."

Article courtesy of http://msue.anr.msu.edu/news/teen_sleep_cycles_affect_school_success_habits_that_help

 

 

 

 

 

Making Friends

I think we all instinctively know we feel better after spending time with a friend. We feel energized and happier. If we share a problem with a friend, we feel less hurt. When we share our feeling and someone can empathize and say "ME TOO!!" and it often reduces feelings of isolation and the idea that we are the only one that feels this way or had this happen.  But there's also this whole new body of research showing how profoundly friendships impact our emotional and physical health. Friendships protect us from depression and anxiety. They boost our immune system.  Our memory is enhanced and we sleep more deeply. The list goes on about how spending time with friends and having close confidantes supports our health.  But it is a skill- making and keeping friends, and some kids have a harder time than others.

Here are some great ideas to share with your mentee from Pro Kinship

Keys to Making and Keeping Friends

1. Take a genuine interest in others.  Listen and talk to people you are around.

2. Be a giver, not a taker.  A good friend is better at giving and helping you than in taking from you.

3. Be loyal.  Be true to the other person and stick with them in the good, the bad, and the ugly.

4. Be a positive person.  People will want to hang around more if you laugh and have fun together.

5. Appreciate the differences in others.  We are all unique so take the time to learn from each other and what is different.

6. Build on common interests.  What brought you together in the first place is what you should focus on to keep you together.

7. Be open, honest, and real.  Be ready to hear what the other has to say and be honest with your feelings.

8. Repair mistakes.  You are familiar with your friends strengths and weaknesses, so you know how to tear them down better than any others.  No one is perfect.

9. Make time and show appreciation.  Familiarity and comfort with someone can leave us forgetting to show gratitude.  Don’t  let the  relationship become one-sided and only focused on yourself.

10. Don’t make assumptions.  Don’t assume what your friends are thinking, check it out instead.

 

  www.prokinship.org

Kids and Cooking

Cooking.  Most of us do it on a regular basis, but have you done it with your mentee? Cooking together provides many valuable lessons and keeps their brains and hands busy!!

Teaching Your Child to Cook: 7 Surprising Benefits of Cooking with Kids

Most children have phases during childhood when baking or cooking is a keen interest. This natural curiosity provides adults with the perfect opportunity to capitalize on a great learning experience--the art and science of cooking.

 

 

Sadly, many American adults do not cook, citing lack of knowledge, not enough time to cook or shop, or having someone else in charge of cooking. In a world where home cooked meals equal healthier fare, teaching kids to cook is a critical element….

 

Not only are kids of all ages interested in what goes on in the kitchen, there are many benefits from getting involved. Here's just a short list of the wisdom that gets passed on when kids cook:

1. Math Skills: Doubling a recipe requires addition (or multiplication) skills, halving it requires division, and recipe fractions like 1/2 cup and 3/4 teaspoon bring math applications into the kitchen. Often, kids don't recognize they are practicing math!

2. Comprehension: Reading and understanding step-by-step directions, adding ingredients in sequence, and techniques such as folding and blending, are all important components to yielding the finished food product. Helping your child fine tune his reading comprehension skills at the same time doesn't hurt!

3. Real Life Science: Cooking is a science experiment. Too much salt, baking powder, not enough flour, or the wrong timing and you're likely to have a flop on your hands. Cooking provides an opportunity for kids to get hands-on experience with basic science.

4. Self-Esteem: Cooking allows kids to get instant feedback, which helps them learn and grow in self-knowledge. Learning a new skill, such as baking or cooking, is known to help grade school children with healthy self-esteem development.

5. Communication: A relaxed atmosphere in the kitchen offers an opportunity to talk, about anything! Adults can take advantage of this, especially with teens, as communication is a key element in a well-adjusted, healthy child.

6. Life Skills: Cooking is a life skill, much like driving a car, learning to read, or swimming. As children grow and get closer to adulthood, the job of feeding becomes theirs. Start the cooking lessons at a young age so the transition to adult cook is easy later on.

7. Fun! Last but not least, cooking is fun! Having fun with a child in the kitchen builds positive memories, good vibes, and good food. With all the benefits of teaching kids to cook, and no limits with starting, what are you waiting for?

(https://www.zak.com/articles-7-surprising-benefits-of-cooking-with-kidsThis post was contributed by our partner: Just the Right Byte

In addition,

Exposure to scratch cooking helps kids develop a mature palate and a taste for fresh, wholesome ingredients. The earlier kids become accustomed to nutritious foods, the less likely they will acquire a taste for processed foods.

Kids are much more likely to eat what they make. Is there anything more fun than eating your art project? Cooking creates a sense of ownership. When kids help in the kitchen there are fewer meal-time battles and more willingness to try new foods.

Meals prepared from scratch usually contain more nutrients and fewer calories, chemicals and sweeteners than pre-packaged foods and restaurant meals.

Cooking together provides a natural way to discuss nutrition and the impact that food choices have on the environment. The more educated children are about food, the more likely they will appreciate your suggestions to eat something healthy.

Spending time in the kitchen gives them confidence. Kids thrive on feeling accomplished. Cooking is an ideal way to boost self-worth and teach responsibility. There is nothing cuter than watching children proudly serving their food to others.

Preparing meals together means quality time. Cooking with children when they are young offers an opportunity to communicate with them on a regular basis. Your time chatting and cooking in the kitchen together becomes even more important as they reach the adolescent and teenage years.

What else do they learn? Science, language, counting, fractions, budgeting, weighing, sequencing, measuring, problem-solving, sharing, fine motor skills, reader, and learning about other cultures- to name just a few important things!

Excerpt from Easy Meals to Cook with Kids by Julie Negrin © 2010

 Are you curious now?  Here are some web sites with some great ideas!!

http://www.kidspot.com.au/kitchen/occasions/cooking-with-kids

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/packages/recipes-for-kids/cooking-with-kids/

https://artfulparent.com/cooking-kids-35-fun-ideas-recipes 

If you try some ideas here, be sure to send me a picture!!  

Pay it forward!!

 

As mentors you are paying forward every day. It's a BIG thing. You know that and so do I!
My own kids want to do the BIG things however; sometimes our kids always don't realize the impact of the small things. It’s often the little things that can make a difference in a life.



Coming up:
"Pay It Forward Day is a global initiative that exists to make a difference by creating a huge ripple of kindness felt across the world. We believe that small acts, when multiplied by millions of people can literally change the world for the better — and on April 28th we’ll set out to prove it! For this year’s international Pay it Forward Day (PIFD) we are aiming to inspire over 10 million acts of kindness around the world. Imagine the difference that would make! Join us in paying it forward, and help spread the word about this important day!"
Pay it forward

So what can we teach our kids to do?  What can they see US do to encourage and empower them to go forward and BE the change?  My kids and I sat down and made this list:
Buy someone a cup of coffee
Hold the door for someone
Smile and say hello to someone you do not know 
Sit by someone who is alone
Leave a kind note for a friend
Pay for the person behind you in the drive through
Donate to a cause you love


Add to this list!  Share with us what you did, it is amazing what the power of a small act of kindness is on your own soul.  

Playing Outside!!

Remember when you were growing up?  Playing outside all day until someone called  "DINNER"?  Days spent at the soccer field, climbing trees, camping, playing kick the can or perhaps exploring your hometown parks? Kids and outdoor play are a natural combination, but, they are memories that many of today’s kids will not have without guidance.

"A typical U.S. child spends mere minutes a day on unstructured outdoor play versus more than seven hours in front of an electronic screen, according to the National Wildlife Federation. Research shows that spending time outdoors has a host of mental and physical health benefits, including:

• Decreased stress
• Improved physical fitness
• Better distance vision
• Reduced symptoms of ADHD" 

https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/minding-the-body/201308/helping-kids-connect-nature

So what can we do? How do we get them outside and off those screens and excited about nature? One idea that has been fun for us is Geocaching. It combines technology and the outdoor in a way kids will LOVE!!

According to the website  Geocaching 101
Geocaching is a real-world, outdoor treasure hunting game using GPS-enabled devices. Participants navigate to a specific set of GPS coordinates and then attempt to find the geocache (container) hidden at that location.

WANT TO START?  YOU CAN! RIGHT HERE IN DAKOTA COUNTY!! 
Go to this link
(www.co.dakota.mn.us/parks/Activities/Geocaching/Pages/default.aspx)

Here you will find coordinates for cache locations throughout Dakota County Parks. Once you have the coordinates for a cache, visit the park and try to find the cache using your GPS.

Do you want to read about great stories first? Here's a story from The Geocaching Blog:

Sometimes history sneaks up on you… while you’re trying to preserve the future. It happened to a group of geocachers clearing garbage from a roadside marshland just west of Calgary, Alberta. The geocaching event is called a CITO (Cache in Trash Out). The group cleans up geocaching friendly locations. They had already found and removed a room-sized carpet, a fractured row boat and a steel rope. The location they chose to help cleanup is a wild space frequented by migratory birds. Jean-Francois Cianci (known in the Geocaching word as Monkeyturtle) was headed back to the meeting area when his team decided to clean up one more patch of land

Go here to finish the story!!

Happy Geocaching and please comment here or send me an email (mgkinship@aol.com) if you do go and send PICTURES too!!

 

 

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February Fun!!

Hi all you lovely mentors!! 

Are you ever stuck for something to talk about?  Need some conversation starters? When you ask your mentee how their day was do they say "fine"  or when you ask  what they did today, do they reply with "nothing".  I get that a lot as a mom of 4 kids ages 9-17. 

A great idea we have at our house is the question jar.  I find questions and I cut them in strips and either we go around and everyone gets to answer the same question OR everyone picks their own.  

Here are some great ideas:

1. Tell me the 5 best things about you?

2. If you could have the following superpower, which one would you pick? The ability to fly, have super strength or be able to turn invisible?

3. If you were trapped on a deserted island & could pick a famous person to be with, who would it be?

4. If you could never be served two vegetables again, which would you choose?

5. Who do you think your family would prefer you to become: An NBA ballplayer, the mayor, a famous explorer, or a movie star? Why? Which would you prefer?

6. Which of your friends do you like the most? Why?

7. If a genie could grant you any 3 wishes, what would they be?

8. What profession do you want to be when you’re older?

9. Who was the best teacher you ever had? Tell me why?
 

10.What would the ideal teacher be like?

11.What college would you like to attend?

12.How much privacy would you like? What time of the day would like to be alone, and why?

13.What is your favorite meal?

14.Do you believe men and women are equally smart? Why or why not?

15.Do you ever have a dream that comes back over and over? If so, what is it like?

16.Is there anything you pretend you understand, but you really don’t? What is it?

17.Which of the following choices do you think would be best, and why?

 Dinner with everyone at the table and the TV on with your favorite program.

 Dinner in which everybody took what they wanted and no one had the same thing.

 Dinner with the whole family together and no TV on. 

18. .If you had to have a disability, which one of these would you pick, and why? Blindness or Deafness? Why?

19.Are you afraid to fly?

20.Tell me who you think are the 3 greatest musicians in the world? Why?

Try it and let me know how it goes!  And if you have other great questions- please share!!

 

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