Thinking about the the Future

Does your mentee complain about school and homework?  Wondering why they need algebra or to be able to diagram a sentence?  My kids do too!  Sometimes it's hard to explain to them the "whys" of learning.  I found some good advice for us all...

"If you want to see [a] child succeed, you need to show them the connection between today’s planning and tomorrow’s opportunities.

As an adult, it’s easy to look back and see how your choices in school influenced where you are today. But think back to your younger days. The future impact of your daily choices probably wasn’t as obvious to you back then.

I hear students of all ages saying things like: “Hey, it’s not that serious” or “My grades aren’t that serious” or “How I act in school is just not that serious.”

Listen—it is that serious. And one of my favorite ways to challenge the students I meet is by explaining how the choices they’re making today will be a serious factor in the caliber of their future."

https://www.anthonyoneal.com/personal-development/helping-kids-think-about-the-future/

What does their future hold?  What do they see themselves doing someday?  Do they know how to dream big?  . It's never too early to start thinking about college!!
Here are some great tips:

"Prepare academically for college

It's not too early for college preparation. If you're in high school, enroll in the right classes, practice good study habits, stay organized and work on your writing skills.

* Take the right classes during high school

What are the right classes in high school? The courses required for college vary. Contact your guidance counselor to learn more, and check out these sites: 

ACT, Inc. recommendations (www.actstudent.org/college/plancourses.html) *The College Board (SAT) recommendations (www.collegeboard.com/student/plan/high-school/33.html)
U.S. Department of Education recommendations (www2.ed.gov/pubs/Prepare/pt2.html)
Colleges want students with a well-rounded education. Take the more challenging classes so you can get a better idea of what college courses may be like.

* Practice good study habits
You may not know if your study habits are up to par with college courses. Start now. Practice good study habits, so when you're in college, you'll already have some effective tools under your belt.
Tips to improve your study skills:

Stay organized by making a "To Do" list. Stick to it.
Set goals for yourself.
Prioritize! A test tomorrow is more important than an assignment due next week.
Take good notes, and then be sure to review them carefully later.
Experiment a little. Where and when do you work best? Alone or in a group, bright or dim lighting, quiet or noisy? Then study that way!

* Improve your writing skills
Effective writing conveys your thoughts into words. It's a skill you use throughout your life, and no matter what career you pursue, the ability to communicate in writing will help you succeed.
Quick tips for effective writing:
Think about your audience. For example, you would use a different tone in an essay than you would in a note to a friend.

Plan ahead.

List important points in the order you wish to make them.
Use a strong opening sentence to catch the reader's attention.
Be clear and to the point. Edit out unnecessary words and information.
Read through your writing for spelling errors and typos. Spell check programs don't catch everything!"

https://mappingyourfuture.org/successincollege/collegeplan.cfm

The bottom line is, according to Benjamin Franklin

“An investment in knowledge pays the best interest.”

New Years Resolutions and Habits

Did you make any New Year’s resolutions this year? How are you doing with them if you did? The beginning of the year is such a great time to start new habits and rhythms in our lives. But it’s also hard! Have you talked with your mentee about anything they are trying to change in their lives? Do you see an area where they could possibly begin a new habit to help them? What does it take to effectively change our habits and develop routines that work for our lives?

There is some good research out there to help us create new habits and change or modify old ones. I’m going to share some of the latest research on habit formation I have found helpful. My hope is that you’ll walk away from reading this ready to evaluate you and your mentee's habits and routines and confidently work toward improving the areas that matter most to you this year.

Here are two interesting articles on how to put into practice a new habit. Take a look and comment below, add anything you find helpful or share any resources or ideas you might have! We can all learn from each other. Thanks for reading and have a great day!!

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The 3 R’s of Habit Change: How To Start New Habits That Actually Stick
By James Clear | Behavioral Psychology, Habits Your life today is essentially the sum of your habits.
How in shape or out of shape you are? A result of your habits.

How happy or unhappy you are? A result of your habits.

How successful or unsuccessful you are? A result of your habits.

What you repeatedly do (i.e. what you spend time thinking about and doing each day) ultimately forms the person you are, the things you believe, and the personality that you portray.

But what if you want to improve? What if you want to form new habits? How would you go about it?

Turns out, there's a helpful framework that can make it easier to stick to new habits so that you can improve your health, your work, and your life in general.

Let's talk about that framework now…

Before we talk about how to get started, I wanted to let you know I researched and compiled science-backed ways to stick to good habits and stop procrastinating. Want to check out my insights? Download my free PDF guide “Transform Your Habits” here.
The 3 R’s of Habit Change

Every habit you have — good or bad — follows the same 3–step pattern.
Reminder (the trigger that initiates the behavior)
Routine (the behavior itself; the action you take)
Reward (the benefit you gain from doing the behavior)

I call this framework “The 3 R's of Habit Change,” but I didn't come up with this pattern on my own. It’s been proven over and over again by behavioral psychology researchers.



 
All habits form by the same 3–step process. Here's an example: the traffic light turns green, you drive through the intersection, you make it closer to your destination. Reminder, routine, reward. (Graphic based on Charles Duhigg's “Habit Loop” in The Power of Habit. Created by James Clear.) How can you use this structure to create new habits and actually stick to them?
https://jamesclear.com/three-steps-habit-change

Here is the Second Article:

How Habits Work

From the appendix to The Power of Habit:
Change might not be fast and it isn’t always easy. But with time and effort, almost any habit can be reshaped.

THE FRAMEWORK:

Identify the routine

Experiment with rewards

Isolate the cue

Have a plan


Obviously, changing some habits can be more difficult. But this framework is a place to start. Sometimes change takes a long time. Sometimes it requires repeated experiments and failures. But once you understand how a habit operates – once you diagnose the cue, the routine and the reward – you gain power over it.

http://charlesduhigg.com/how-habits-work
All Content © 2018 Charles Duhigg | Disclosure Policy | Site by Out:think

Watching Movies Together

  I like to talk to my kids about what they are watching, on TV and at the movies.  I love it when books are turned into movies so we can read it first and then watch the movie and discuss how it changed and the creative license they used to make it a movie and why.  What about the book would not have been good in a movie and what did they add to make it better?  Or was it not as good as the book?  Talking to your mentee after a movie can have great benefits!  Just read the article below!!

Mentors can help their mentees get the most out of the movies they watch

Posted by Katie Bohn, futurity.org

Children can benefit from both the positive and negative themes of a movie by watching and discussing the film with a parent or other adult, research shows.

Researchers analyzed popular children’s movies and ranked their most common positive and negative themes. While the most common positive theme was the importance of helping and protecting others, the use of guns and other weapons topped the list of negative themes.

Victoria Heasley, a medical student in the Penn State College of Medicine, says she and the other researchers wanted to highlight how children can gain powerful insights from the themes in movies with the help of coviewing, or watching and discussing the film with a parent or other adult.

(Credit: Katie Bohn/Penn State)

“Parents often want to talk about negative themes they see in movies, like drugs or violence, and they absolutely should,” Heasley says. “But it’s also important to talk about positive themes, like how the characters worked together to solve a problem. If you talk about the negative while also capitalizing on the positive, it can be a very productive discussion.”

Previous research has shown that positive messages in movies can be boost cooperation, empathy, and other traits in young viewers. But the American Academy of Pediatrics also warns that violence in the media could result in aggression and bullying, among other ill effects.

Robert Olympia, professor of emergency medicine and pediatrics in the Penn State College of Medicine, says he hoped that by getting a clearer snapshot of the themes in popular children’s movies, it would help parents make better decisions about what their kids watch while ensuring the kids also learn some valuable life lessons.

(Credit: Katie Bohn/Penn State)

The researchers narrowed the study’s focus to 45 of the top-grossing films from 2005 to 2015. They selected 15 G-rated movies, 15 PG-rated movies and 15 PG-13-rated movies before creating a list of themes they would track in each film. The researchers then analyzed each movie and ranked the results.

Across all 45 movies, the top three positive themes were the importance of helping and protecting others, collaboration, and working as a team, and standing up for what you believe in. The top three negative themes were the use of guns and other weapons, acts of violence or physical altercations, and demonstrating excessive anger.

“Although many studies have focused on negative themes associated with popular films, such as violence, drug use, and sexual activity, our study shows that top grossing films expose children to positive themes as well,” Olympia says. “It’s important to talk to children about the good and the bad.”

(Credit: Katie Bohn/Penn State)

Mentors can address negative themes by asking questions like, “Did a character bully another character? Why is bullying bad? What would you do if you saw someone bullied?” Positive themes can be addressed with such questions as, “Did a character stand up for what they believed in? What is something you believe in and would fight for?”

Olympia says that coviewing is essential to help children retain important messages and build key skills.

“This method encourages the development of critical thinking and internally regulated values, and has been shown to decrease aggressive behavior, substance use, and early sexual behavior in adolescents,” Olympia says. “While pediatric health care providers frequently recommend restriction and monitoring of media time, the promotion of coviewing and active mediation would allow parents and guardians to be involved in the development of their children.”

Heasley says coviewing can also be a way for mentors to capitalize on the positive traits of a character their mentee particularly admires.

“Sometimes coviewing helps them make that connection between a character they try to emulate and the positive messages they represent,” Heasley says. “Coviewing is really like an active discussion, and it allows a parent or other adult to pull out these positive themes and it makes the child actually think about what they saw and reinforces that positive theme.”

Bottom Line for Mentors

Going to the movies can be a great way for mentors and mentees to build up their relationship, something they both enjoy. Movies have the potential to be more than just a way to pass the time together, though. They can serve as opportunities for learning and critical reflection.

There is often a lot to unpack after a film, and, with a mentor’s guidance, mentees can draw lessons from the characters and themes of the movie and apply them to their own lives. Such conversations also serve as a useful way of connecting with your mentee in a meaningful way, helping to foster a relationship where potentially difficult topics can be discussed and problems addressed.

To access the original research, click here.

Books from 2017

Hello!!

“You know that reading is important, and you obviously want to make sure that your teenager grows into adulthood with all the skills he or she needs to succeed. The following is a list of ways that to encourage your teens to read.

1. Set an example. Let your kids see you reading for pleasure.

2. Furnish your home with a variety of reading materials. Leave books, magazines, and newspapers around. Check to see what disappears for a clue to what interests your teenager.

3. Give teens an opportunity to choose their own books. When you and your teen are out together, browse in a bookstore or library. Go your separate ways and make your own selections. A bookstore gift certificate is a nice way of saying, "You choose".

4. Build on your teens interests. Look for books and articles that feature their favorite sports teams, rock stars, hobbies, or TV shows. Give a gift subscription to a special interest magazine.

5. View pleasure reading as a value in itself. Almost anything your youngsters read--including the Sunday comics--helps build reading skills.

6. Read some books written for teens. Young adult novels can give you valuable insights into the concerns and pressures felt by teenagers. You may find that these books provide a neutral ground on which to talk about sensitive subjects.

7. Make reading aloud a natural part of family life. Share an article you clipped from the paper, a poem, a letter, or a random page from an encyclopedia--without turning it into a lesson.

8. Acknowledge your teens mature interests. Look for ways to acknowledge the emerging adult in your teens by suggesting some adult reading you think they can handle.

9. Keep the big picture in mind. For all sorts of reasons, some teenagers go through periods without showing much interest in reading. Don't panic! Time, and a few tips from this brochure, may help rekindle their interest.”

Source

Middle Grades:

ALL’S FAIRE IN MIDDLE SCHOOL. Written and illustrated by Victoria Jamieson. “I dub thee brilliant,” our reviewer, Marjorie Ingall, said of this graphic novel about a girl just starting middle school, whose family works at a Renaissance faire.

BRONZE AND SUNFLOWER. By Cao Wenxuan. Translated by Helen Wang. The great Chinese author’s moving novel—his first to be translated into English—features an unlikely pair of friends, one mute, one orphaned, who help each other through tough times in rural China.

FISH GIRL. By Donna Jo Napoli. Illustrated by David Wiesner. In this beguiling graphic novel, a girl befriends and rescues a mermaid who has been held captive and forced to perform in an aquatic show by a sinister impresario.

PATINA. By Jason Reynolds. The second book in Reynolds’ engrossing and big-hearted series about the members of a track team focuses on a speed-demon girl who outruns challenges on the track and at home.

REFUGEE. By Alan Gratz. Gratz weaves together three separate stories of refugees on the run, finding the ingredients of a taut thriller in all of them while reminding us of the universality of refugees’ plight.
Source
 
For Teens:
Carve the Mark by Veronica Roth  
Divergent author Veronica Roth is back with a new series, this time set in another galaxy, instead of a dystopic Chicago. Roth’s talent for world-building is on display as ever; in Carve the Mark, every being develops a “currentgift,” a unique power to help them shape the future. But some gifts, like those belonging to Akos and Cyra, make their owners vulnerable to others’ control. With her talent for action-packed plots and powerful characters, Roth’s latest is sure to be much talked-about all of 2017.

City of Saints & Thieves by Natalie C. Anderson 
Gone Girl meets The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo? Say no more and let’s just predict this will be the YA release that crosses over to adult fans. This murder mystery set in Kenya follows Tina, a girl who fled the Congo only to now suspect the wealthy and powerful Kenyan family that employed her mother as a maid may have also been responsible for her death. Living on the streets with revenge on her mind, Tina makes her way back into the world of the esteemed and criminal Greyhills that, needless to say, is both dangerous and gripping.

We Are Okay by Nina LaCour

LaCour’s novels The Disenchantments and Hold Stillshould be obligatory reads for anyone struggling with the teen years. She hits all the right notes again in We Are Okay, about Marin, who fled her old life in California for college in New York without a single word to anyone who knew her… including her best friend Mabel. This quiet novel about grief and loss and escaping sadness is perfect for readers who prefer big feels to big action.

Camp So-and-So by Mary McCoy
McCoy, whose debut Dead to Me took on hard-boiled Los Angeles noir from a teen perspective, is back with another genre-busting work that ranks her high on the list of authors able to deliver on unexpected territory. In Camp So-and-So, 25 girls receive letters inviting them to a lakeside retreat in the Starveling Mountains that promises volleyball, rock-climbing, and Shakespeare beneath the stars. And, yet, at the time of the letters’ mailing, the camp does not exist. So, where are our heroines going? To a very dangerous place.

Goodbye Days by Jeff Zentner
Author of the acclaimed 2016 heartbreaker The Serpent King, Zentner’s sophomore novel looks to keep him on teens’ to-read lists. In Goodbye Days, has-it-all high-schooler Carver Briggs’s world is upended when one text while driving results in a car crash that kills his three best friends. Guilt-racked and fearing prison, Carver seems like he has no one on his side. When his friends’ families start asking for Goodbye Days — a time to share memories and say proper goodbyes — he feels even more worried and alone. Zentner’s characters are impossible not to empathize with.

The Inexplicable Logic of My Life by Benjamin Alire Sáenz
“He wrote one of my fave contemporaries of all time” is a sentiment expressed on Goodreads about Sáenz’s Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe — and more than once (in different words). In this follow-up, the author returns with a story about love, identity, and family. Sal grew up with an adoptive gay father as part of a huge Mexican-American family and with a solid best friend in Samantha. So why is he suddenly questioning his place in the world during his senior year? With warmth and humor, Sáenz asks and works to answer the kinds of questions teens and adults alike find themselves asking.

You’re Welcome, Universe by Whitney Gardner
Gardner makes her YA debut with a main character who’s not like any other out there: Julia, a deaf artist who attends a school for the hearing impaired but gets kicked out when she covers up a nasty slur about her best friend on its back wall with a beautiful (but illegal) graffiti mural. Her best friend tattles, and Julia’s punished by having to attend a suburban school, where Julia continues to tag in her quest to be the next Banksy, and becomes embroiled in a graffiti battle. Aside from its unique protagonist, You’re Welcome, Universe is loaded with beautiful interior illustrations, demonstrating Gardner’s versatile talents.

Gem & Dixie by Sara Zarr
The forthcoming release from National Book Award finalist Zarr should count as more than one book for teens who’ve not yet read her, because after finishing this one, they’ll surely dig into her back catalog (including the stellar Story of a Girl). In Gem & Dixie, Zarr takes on the world of sisters, and in this case, sisters from a home life that never quite feels like a comfortable place, due to a mom who’s fighting battles of her own and a father who’s gone more often than he’s there. While Gem has always done what she can to take care of her sister, on an unexpected trip, she realizes she might not be able to be Dixie’s constant forever.

Literally by Lucy Keating
In her debut Dreamology, Keating explored what happens when we fall in love with our dreams, and then they become reality. She remains as inventive as ever — maybe more so! — with this wonderfully meta follow-up in which the perfect-lifed Annabelle discovers she’s the new protagonist in the next novel from author Lucy Keating (yes, you read that right!). In Keating’s fun and whimsical voice, the book questions how much of our life we really want plotted out, and how much we’d like our story to be purely ours.
(On Sale: 4/11/17)

The Upside of Unrequited by Becky Albertalli
Author Becky Albertalli made fans nervous with her follow-up effort to the insta-YA-favorite Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda. But, they had nothing to worry about, as the early word on this one is that it has just as much to love, in a different way. In an early review on Goodreads, author Adam Silvera says of overweight, lovelorn protagonist Molly (one half of a set of twins), “Molly has such a winning voice and winning heart and I can’t wait for you all to meet her.”

The Whole Thing Together by Ann Brashares
Summertime. A beach house. A guy and a girl whose lives touch one another’s in countless ways even though they’ve never met. Sasha and Ray (her dad was once married to Ray’s mom, and they had three daughters together) are both part of blended families, neither of which wants to give up a memory-filled beach house on Long Island. Brashares, with her trademark heart, tells the tale of lives intersecting, and the ripple effect that follows. Beach reads might not get better than this.

Kill All Happies by Rachel Cohn
One half of the writing duo (with David Levithan) behind Nick and Nora’s Infinite Playlist, Cohn is back with another out-all-night party on the page — literally. Vic Navarro is graduating, and she plans to throw the most epic bash her town has ever seen (while winning the heart of her longtime crush Jake Zavala-Kim). The setting is Happies, a restaurant in town that happens to need a nice farewell before it closes its doors for good. Everything is going amazingly, until fans of Happies start appearing out of nowhere to say good-bye and whoop it up on the deserted theme park just behind the restaurant. The wild-and-crazy bash is sure to inspire envy from would-be teen party throwers and maybe some nostalgia from adult readers too.

The Love Interest by Cale Dietrich
Set within a secret organization that cultivates teen spies — each called a “Love Interest” because forging intimate bonds is the way to get the information a spy needs — Dietrich’s book is smooth and stylish on its face, but begs deeper questions. The story focuses on Caden and Dylan, two boys living outside their spy school for the first time ever, and both with sights set on the same girl, someone crucial to the mission. Whoever doesn’t get the girl will perish but the more interesting question comes when both young men experience feelings they weren’t trained to have. Dietrich’s debut is a powerful entry into the LGBTQ YA canon.

Once and For All by Sarah Dessen
YA superstar supreme Dessen’s 13th novel looks to be a lucky one. The frothy, funny tale (still brimming with Dessen’s tendency to evoke “all the feels”) centers on Louna, daughter of famous wedding planner Natalie Barrett. Louna lives in ballrooms, on beaches, and in fancy mansions, witnessing every vow and toast under the sun. But she’s also distrustful of the whole “happily-ever-after” ending, and has her own sad love story in her past. So when she meets Ambrose, a serial dater, of course she keeps a safe distance, and of course he decides that he must have her. This is definitely one romance lovers will say “I do” to.

Royal Bastards by Andrew Shvarts
Besides the catchy title, Royal Bastards looks like it will indeed catch on. Author Shvarts may be making his YA book debut but he also works and writes as a video game designer. In Bastards, we follow Tilla, an intrepid but surly cast-off of Lord Kent of the Western Province, who raised her as a baby but more or less shrugged her off once he discovered his trueborn children. But when a visiting princess chooses to sit with Tilla and other kingdom bastards at a royal dinner, everything starts to change. Especially when Tilla finds herself helping to safeguard the princess’s life as rebellion brews.

What to Say Next by Julie Buxbaum
Buxbaum, whose Tell Me Three Things earned her comparisons to Rainbow Rowell, shows she’s her own brand of heartfelt reading with her second YA novel. The story centers on an unlikely friendship, one borne of as simple a thing as popular Kit Lowell deciding, after her father’s death, to sit somewhere new at lunch: with socially isolated David Drucker. David’s blunt, Kit asks a lot of questions, and together the two of them take on finding out the mysteries of her father’s car accident.

The Gatlon School for Vigilantes by Marissa Meyer
This new trilogy from Meyer (The Lunar Chronicles) promises to be the best of all possible doozies. It centers on a town with two schools: The slightly uppity Morris Academy, where superheroes are bred, and the less impressive Gatlon School for the Gifted, which seems to turn out minions and sidekicks. The early excitement for this one on Goodreads includes lots of all caps: “SUPERHEROES. VIGILANTES. VILLAINS. CRIME!” (The accompanying GIF reactions are harder to explain, but many include ecstatic screaming.)

Source
                                             Happy reading!!

Multi-tasking? Or Not.

"Get off your phone (or iPad)!"
"How long have you been on there?"
"I can't talk to you when you are looking at your phone"
"You can't do two things at once and do them well!"

Are you in my house? Those are things that I say on a daily basis to my children and honestly, my husband too. Do you say those things to your mentee? Do they get in the car and immediately pull out their phone to check their texts or social media? Or even worse- start snapping pictures on Snapchat? Those goofy pictures that make no sense to me? All while trying to carry on a conversation with you?

What do we do? What is good for them? Can we effectively do two things at once? One that is physical and one that’s cognitive? Or do two cognitive things at once?

There is some research out there that may be helpful. I always hear people say they are good at multi-tasking. Is this true? “Multi-tasking is the concurrent operation by one central processing unit of two or more processes.” (https://incident-prevention.com/ip-articles/multitasking-vs-switch-tasking-what-s-the-difference). If you are doing a physical task that you have done very, very often and you are very good at, then you can do that physical task while you are doing a mental task. So if you have learned to walk then you can walk and talk at the same time. However, [cognitive] multi-tasking reduces your efficiency and performance because your conscious brain can only focus on one thing at a time. When you try to do two things at once, your brain lacks the capacity to perform both tasks successfully. (http://mass-plc.com/blog/419/multitasking-vs-task-switching)

Most of the time what we call multi-tasking is really task switching, not multi-tasking -- The term multi-tasking is actually a misnomer. People can't actually do more than one task at a time. Instead we switch tasks. By definition, “Task switching is an executive function that involves the ability to unconsciously shift attention between one task and another” (https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/brain-wise/201209/the-true-cost-multi-tasking)

Task switching is "expensive" -- There has been a lot of research on task switching. Here's what we know from the research:
*It takes more time to get tasks completed if you switch between them than if you do them one at a time.
*You make more errors when you switch than if you do one task at a time. If the tasks are complex then these time and error penalties increase.
(https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/brain-wise/201209/the-true-cost-multi-tasking)
 
“Ultimately, it’s that frantic switching of gears (and not truly doing two things at once) that raises so many warning bells for psychologists and productivity experts. Every time you switch, it uses up time and glucose in the brain,” explains Weinschenk. Glucose is the brain’s main source of energy—it’s what keeps us alert and focused.(https://blog.trello.com )

So what can we do when our mentee picks up their phone while we are talking to them?

Some ideas I have found helpful are:
1. TALK to your mentee. Talk about how they are not giving you their real attention when they are looking at their phone while trying to talk.

2. Stop talking and just wait when they start using their phone. Tell them you will wait until they are done.

3. Make a cell phone free zone or time. At our house we have a basket- your phone goes in it at dinner or for a family meeting

4. Set a time for checking texts or social media; for example if you chat for a while and catch up and then give your mentee 10 minutes for phone time, then put it away.

What do you do? Share here any ideas you have!!!
Happy weekend!!

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.

 

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