FOOD FOR THOUGHT

Thursday, February 24, 2011

Nutrition directly affects the way the brain functions. It is critical that children have well balanced meals and nutritious snacks. The food children (and adults) eat affects attention span, activity levels, and mood. Behavior and learning are directly affected by the foods children eat. We can do so much to help young children simply by providing foods that are going to support healthy brains.

I was thrilled when I connected with Kia Robertson and her wonderful work toward healthy children.  Kia is a mom and the creator of the Today I Ate A Rainbow kit; a tool that helps parents establish healthy habits by setting the goal of eating a rainbow of fruits and vegetables every day. Kia is passionate about creating tools to help parents raise healthy kids! I have posted a guest blog from Kia today. 

Parents are Role Models by Kia Robertson

One of the most important roles of parenting is feeding your child and setting them up with healthy eating habits.  You are your child's first and most important role model, especially when it comes to eating.  They are relying on you to teach them about the food they eat. 
Humans aren't the only parents with this important task! Animals also teach their young about food...they must show them the right foods to eat and which poisonous foods to avoid. They do this by role modeling to their young what foods are safe to eat and where to find them.  In the wild it's crucial young animals learn the difference; it's a matter of life or death. The young watch their parents over and over again and eventually learn how to find the right foods to eat for themselves.  Ultimately this is what we would all like for our children -- to learn what foods are right for their bodies in order to be healthy and which foods to avoid.
However unlike animals we human parents tend to also pass down our not so healthy eating habits as well.  I find it interesting how we sometimes teach our children to eat foods our bodies don’t consider safe to eat.  Our bodies don't know what to do with these highly processed "foods" and our children end up facing many health issues such as obesity, diabetes and high blood pressure.
I'm not suggesting we strive for perfection when it comes to healthy eating!  I think we need to focus on setting the habit of eating whole foods on a daily basis so our children (like the animal young) see us eating the right foods day after day.
Your children are watching you and they are little intelligent sponges so it really doesn't work to follow the "do as I say and not as I do rule"!  They will do as you do - if you eat junk food they probably will too!  On the flip side if they see you enjoying healthy food every day - they most likely will too! 







BRAIN INITIATIVE - WEEK #4

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

The excitement about the BRAIN Initiative continues to grow! It is so exciting to know that each of you are contributing to creating greater awareness for the benefit of ALL children. 

Have you sent in your nomination? 

I invite you to nominate programs, schools, organizations, or agencies that would benefit from a donated brain activity packet in either English or Spanish. The winner for the donation from Week #3 is below!

Following is the Week #4 BRAIN insight to share:

 

BRAIN 
Brains Require All Investing Now
A BRAIN Insight to share ~ Week #4
 
 
Opportunities to play and explore with real objects is the way strong brain connections and learning abilities are developed best.


Let's make this common knowledge! To share this brain fact just cut and paste or use the the share button!
  • You can simply post the insight on social network sites 
  • You can also include the fact in organizational literature or newsletters, add to your signature on your e-mail, post on a bulletin board and implement it into what you do each week.
  • Additionally each week, e-mail the BRAIN Insight to 5 people you know. Encourage each person to share it with 5 people they know. If each person shares with 5 people each week... we will finally have EVERYONE knowing this incredibly important information!  
Enjoy contributing to make this common knowledge!!
 
 Spreading Brain Development Even Further .... Click here to send the name of a program, agency, school, organization or business that will benefit from a brain development packet. I will draw a name and donate a brain activity packet in the name of the person making the recommendation each week!!
 
The WINNER for WEEK #3:

St. Anthony Preschool, Costa Rica
                             
                                             
                                                                 
A brain development packet for the age of their choice will be donated in the name of :       Laura Oreamuno



Congratulations!!
THANK YOU to all that are participating the initiative already! Tell everyone you know about the difference we can make!

 

BRAIN INITIATIVE - WEEK #3

Thursday, February 17, 2011

Wow, people are excited about the BRAIN Initiative. It is so exciting to know this information is being shared in so many ways!  There are numerous people from all over the country (and world actually) sharing the BRAIN Insight in an effort to make the importance of the early years common knowledge. It is wonderful to have received messages from so many of you already. This is exciting and I am so thrilled to have you participating! It would be great if we had a way to track how many people are sharing the information. Let me know if you have suggestions for how we can get a real idea of how many people are involved. 

I received a suggestion from a BRAIN Initiative participant to have nominations for Spanish packet donations as well as the English packets. I think this is a terrific idea. I invite you to also nominate programs, schools, organizations, or agencies that would benefit from brain activity packets in Spanish. The winner for the donation from Week #2 is below! Continue to send in your nominations.

Following is the Week #3 BRAIN insight to share. 

 

BRAIN 
Brains Require All Investing Now
A BRAIN Insight to share ~ Week #3
 
Brain pathways are wired based on repetition. The brain adapts based on either negative or positive experiences.

Let's make this common knowledge! To share this brain fact just cut and paste or use the the share button!
  • You can simply post the insight on social network sites
  • You can also include the fact in organizational literature or newsletters, add to your signature on your e-mail, post on a bulletin board and implement it into what you do each week.
  • Additionally each week, e-mail the BRAIN Insight to 5 people you know. Encourage each person to share it with 5 people they know. If each person shares with 5 people each week... we will finally have EVERYONE knowing this incredibly important information!  
Enjoy contributing to make this common knowledge!!
 
 Spreading Brain Development Even Further .... Click here to send the name of a program, agency, school, organization or business that will benefit from a brain development packet. I will draw a name and donate a brain activity packet in the name of the person making the recommendation each week!!
 
The WINNER for WEEK #2:

English:  
                               St. Patrick Catholic School in Norfolk, VA
                                             
                                                                 
A brain development packet for the age of their choice will be donated in the name of :       Mrs. Sarah Betancourt, M.Ed

 
Spanish:
Milwaukee Health Department
Southside Health Center

A brain development packet for the age of their choice will be donated in the name of :         Jenny Lazuardi, RN, BSN


Congratulations!!
THANK YOU to all that are participating the initiative already! Tell everyone you know about the difference we can make!




A BRAIN INSIGHTS RECOGNITION

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

The braininsights Creating Great Connections Recognition is designed to bring attention to programs, schools, agencies, organizations, businesses or individuals that are making an impact on healthy brain development.


Creating Great Connections Recognition 
goes to: 

Wendy Young, LMSW, BCD Founder of


Wendy's knowledge, dedication and sincerity are reflected in all she does to support and enrich the lives of the fortunate people that benefit from her work. She conducts trainings, writes articles, supports other professionals in the field, and has developed extremely valuable materials! The greatest thing about Wendy is......her heart shines through in ALL she does. 

The focus of Kidlutions is on the behavioral and mental health concerns of childhood. Wendy is dedicated to helping caregivers and teachers with behavior management, the impact of temperament on behavior, and infant and maternal mental health. She is effective in helping adults deal more effectively with challenging and difficult behaviors. 

Wendy states in the Kidlutions mission: "We know that in life, success is not the absence of problems, but the ability to deal with them." The products she has developed are designed to contribute to this critically important mission. All of this leads to the healthy development of the highest areas of the brain, which leads to optimal learning, success, and happiness in life.

I invite you to do yourself a favor and visit her website, connect with her on social network sites, purchase her materials and invite her to speak in your community! Go to the Kidlutions website here.
 
Once you visit her site and see all the wonderful work she is doing for children and families. You will very quickly see why she deserves the Creating Great Connections Recognition. 




BRAIN INSIGHT TO SHARE

Wednesday, February 2, 2011

BRAIN 
Brains Require All Investing Now
A BRAIN Insight to share ~ Week #1 
 The brain wires based on the environment and the repeated experiences it is exposed to 
early in life.
Let's make this common knowledge! To share this brain fact just cut and paste or use the the share button!
  • You can simply post the insight on social network sites
  • You can also include the fact in organizational literature or newsletters, add to your signature on your e-mail, post on a bulletin board and implement it into what you do each week.
  • Additionally each week,e-mail the BRAIN Insight to 5 people you know. Encourage each person to share it with 5 people they know. If each person shares with 5 people each week... we will finally have EVERYONE knowing this incredibly important information! 
Spreading Brain Development Even Further .... Click here to send the name of a program, agency, school, organization or business that will benefit from a brain development packet. I will draw a name and donate a brain activity packet in the name of the person making the recommendation each week!!
I will announce the winner the following week! 
Enjoy contributing to make this common knowledge!! 
THANK YOU to all that have joined the initiative already! 



BRAIN INITIATIVE

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

BRAIN 
Brains Require All Investing Now

I am thrilled to announce a new way to promote this important initiative! This new initiative is designed to spread the incredibly valuable knowledge that.... Early Brain Development is NOT complicated and it makes an impact that affects every one of us! We can make a real difference through working together!
 
Every adult needs to know the impact early experiences have on the developing brain. When every parent, grandparent, educator, judge, medical professional, foster parent, social worker, community leader, policy maker, business owner, and voter becomes aware..... real and positive 
change can occur.  
 
It is very easy to become part of the BRAIN initiative.

What is the BRAIN Initiative?
  •  An innovative brain development awareness campaign that can make a dramatic impact!
  •  An easy way for everyone to support our children!
  • A simple way to create needed understanding!
Why Do We Need the BRAIN Initiative?
  •  Because we ALL benefit from ALL children having well developed brains.
  •  Most people do not yet know that 90% of the brain physically develops in the first 5 years, and 85% in the first 3 years.
  • The brain adapts and grows primarily based on the experiences a child has in the years before they enter school!
  • The majority of people do not realize the long range impact the early years have on the physical development of the brain and ultimately learning, relationships, and behaviors in later life.
  •  Economists have demonstrated that it is cost beneficial to develop brains optimally from the beginning rather than spending greater amounts on problems later.
  •  Due to advances in technology, scientist have gained valuable information on what developing brains need most.
  •  We can all easily contribute to making a dramatic impact simply through creating awareness and understanding.
  • We can not afford to ignore the potential of every child.
  •  Every child deserves the opportunity for healthy development!
How does the BRAIN Initiative Work?
    •  A BRAIN Insight will be posted here each week.  
    •  Each "BRAIN insight" will be a very simple and interesting piece of basic brain information for you to share.
    • You can simply post the insight on social network sites, (twitter, Linkedin, FaceBook, etc.) 
    • You can also include the fact in organizational literature or newsletters, add to your signature on your e-mail, post on a bulletin board and implement it into what you do each week.
    •  Additionally each week, you can e-mail the BRAIN Insight to 5 people you know. Encourage each person to share it with 5 people they know. If each person shares with 5 people each week... we will finally have EVERYONE knowing this incredibly important information!  
    Spreading Brain Development Even Further .... Send me the name of a program, agency, school, organization or business that will benefit from a brain development packet. I will draw a name and donate a brain activity packet in the name of the person making the recommendation each week!!

    Let's make this even more effective... simply post a comment to say you are a part of creating awareness! If you would like you could also post the ways you are promoting optimal brain development. It will be a wonderful way for you to make connections with everyone that is a part of the BRAIN initiative! 


    Tell Everyone You Know! 





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