Category: Parent Interests

By Shelly Koren

A significant element of our lives that greatly affects our ability to excel in school and focus is frequently ignored by students; this is of course food. We interact with food every day from pizza day on Tuesdays to grabbing a burger after class because food gives us energy to progress in our day.

Although we may not notice how our eating habits affect our capabilities, a new study published in the Journal of School Health maintains that your diet can significantly affect your academic performance. This study discovered that students who replaced unhealthy saturated fats with fruits and veggies were able to gain a higher average on academic assessments.

It is not surprising that the food we digest ends up affecting our energy output and so it is important to eat well especially as a student. Experts claim that the brain is an essential part of learning and it has to be healthy in order to do so. They claim that with poor nutrition or inadequate hydration the student’s ability in the classroom will decline accordingly.

University of Waterloo Health Services establish that eating healthy does not mean eliminating all food you enjoy, but balancing between the healthy and the unhealthy.

In addition to healthy eating, Philippa Norman, a writer for Healthy brain for Life has shown that it is important to eat throughout the day because food provides the body with energy. If you do not have the schedule that can accommodate consistent eating, Norman suggests that having snacks in a bag will help to stabilize blood sugar levels and prevent the student from becoming incredibly hungry and filling up on unhealthy food.  She also emphasizes the importance to eat breakfast lunch and dinner, and make sure that students eat something every four hours.

“Eating regularly and choosing healthy portions of nutritious foods means having more mental and physical energy, feeling good about yourself and enjoying better health”

 

What students eat impacts not only their behaviour and energy, but also how well they are able to succeed academically, so it is important to eat healthier foods to provide nourishment for the brain.

By Shelly Koren

It is a common problem for teens to avoid sleeping as much as they should, which ultimately takes a toll on how they behave at home, with their friends, and their ability to retain information at school. This could be for numerous reasons, for example the student may have been unable to manage their time wisely and is now scrambling to finish their assignments, or they could be using social media websites, which also happens to keep them awake.

Regardless of the reason the issue of sleep amongst students is a prevalent one, as members of the Student Health Advisory Council claim that students are one of the most sleep-deprived populations, particularly university and college students. In fact in comparison to previous generations, students go to sleep later and attain less sleep per night than ever before.

The recommended amount of sleep for an adult is about eight to ten hours in order for them to remain alert throughout the day. A study by the Journal of Adolescent Health using 1120 students found that only 30 percent of the participants slept at least eight hours a night, which is the minimum recommendation for young adults in school.

The topic of insufficient sleep is discussed by Roxanne Prichard, a psychology professor at the University of St. Thomas, claiming that, “Students underestimate the importance of sleep in their daily lives. They forgo sleep during periods of stress, not realizing that they are sabotaging their physical and mental health.”

 

She goes on to explain how not getting enough sleep can weaken your ability to concentrate and solve simple problems. Lack of sleep also serves as a dysfunction because it affects the ability to remember, therefore making it impossible to focus in class. It also becomes exceedingly difficult to memorize key points for a test.

 

Sufficient sleep is essential not only for young adults, but throughout one’s life because it allows the brain to rest, and prepare itself for the next day. It is therefore important to sleep enough from a young age in order to achieve the best work that you can.

It is difficult to accept that after grade 3 the shining comments from teachers turns into a solid grade that can determine how your child is doing in school. Any parent knows that a bad grade has the capability of altering your mood for the day, and even weaken your confidence for that subject. While a grade does not evaluate your child’s worth as an individual, it is exceedingly important to watch out for report cards, and help your child to develop any weakness that reveals itself during their time in school.

Because of the pressures that arise once the report card has been handed out, Lisa Huffman, the assistant professor of educational psychology at Ball State University establishes that it is important to remain supportive, while still incentivising good hard work. Lisa says that offering money as a reward can elevate the pressure to maintain high marks, leading to anxiety. Instead she states that it is good to surprise your children for doing well with some sort of activity to share the success.

Lisa also establishes the importance of keeping the lines of communication open with both the teachers and your child. In discussing the mark with your child you can discover what it is that is giving them a hard time, and what they can do to improve their work. Going to the teacher will allow you to hear both sides of the problem; perhaps your child forgets to do their homework, or is easily distracted in class. These are issues that your child won’t notice, and so it is important to reach out to the teachers.

Of course your child’s report card does not necessarily mean that they are not putting in all of their effort, everyone has their own strengths and weaknesses. If this is the case it is important to take action by finding the best math tutors and the best English tutors that will able to assist in those subject’s.

Lisa establishes the importance of discussing every report card, both the good and bad to show your child that it is possible that they have weaknesses that they can improve, and also that they are excelling in other subjects. Children who become obsessed with their grades may develop anxiety and establish unhealthy habits that cause them to stay up all night trying to perfect their work. As a result it is important to set realistic goals for your child so they are aware of what they are capable of in a short amount of time, and how it is imperative to not cram work into one sitting.

For further information on finding the best Math and English tutors, please contact The Tutoring Expert.

 
By Shelly Koren

Not too long ago bullying was not as complex as it is today. Once home, the victim to bullying was able to hide from the teasing that is pervasive in younger grades; this is not the generation that we live in anymore. Now if a child is being bullied there is no way to avoid it: it’s on their phones, their Facebook, their Twitter, and numerous other forms of social media. The effects of any form of bullying can drastically stunt a child’s development, as it can damage the emotional, physical, and educational environment for the bully, the victim, and the bystanders.

In 2007 Kids Help Phone directed a survey of 2,474 people who were aged 13-15. Of these children over 70% reported being bullied online and 44% claimed that they have bullied someone at least once. This study also discovered that most children were unaware of the repercussions of putting something online, since they assumed that cyberspace was personal and that the images could not be taken by someone else.

Such studies yielded similar results in both 2010 and 2011 demonstrating that the problem is yet to diminish from modern culture. In the instances of cyber bullying a majority of the participants stated that they had never told anyone about the bullying and had to experience the burden on their own.

Sapir Nergena stated that as an RA she witnesses cyber bullying quite frequently, and suggests that people do not hide if they are being bullied.“Cyber bullying is often driven by other people so as soon as it’s stopped, the sooner the problem goes away. Once more people justify the behaviour, the bullying takes its own form and spreads like wildfire. The more people condemn it and are educated as such, the better”

There are ways to be react to cyber bullying to ensure that your child is comfortable

• Make sure the principal of your child’s school is aware of any sort of cyber bullying, try to avoid contacting the parents of the bully to avoid further confrontation
• Make certain that your child is aware that bullying is unacceptable on all forms, and how rude comments may affect a child’s well-being
• Teach your child how to use electronics in a manner which avoids any sort of online confrontation
• Try to create an environment where your child open about what happens at school, so if there is a problem with bullying you will be the first to know