Mark's Health and Technology Blog

Conrad Wolfram talks about teaching kids math using technology. Click on coopcatalyst's blog to follow the fantastic thread about the above video. Tech literacy is imperative for both educators and students.



High Waist Circumference in Kids Increases Risk of Heart-Related Disorders

The six part GLOBE AND MAIL series that explores puzzling research and stastistics on boy success and failure in school.




Five reasons why boys are failing (click on image)

Matt Galloway speaks with Annie Kidder. She is executive director of People for Education .  The audio clip runs about five minutes. The discussion will provide parents with insight into what the Progress Report means for them and their children.

Click on the LISTEN clip when the web page opens.

A few tips for parents to keep in mind for Halloween.

7. Strength Training: Getting a good grip on a pencil and writing neatly and accurately requires well-developed fine-motor control, and this does not necessarily come naturally. Believe it or not, swinging on the monkey bars can help—strong shoulder muscles come before strong hand muscles. Looking for another fun activity to strengthen shoulders? Stage a wheelbarrow race.

Some great things for parents to look for when tackling their child's reading difficulties.

Reading proficiently by the end of third grade … can be a make-or-break benchmark in a child’s educational development.

Infants who get plenty of affection from their mothers cope better as adults, U.S. researchers suggest.

We can hardly be surprised, meanwhile, that music lessons improve children's IQ⁷, given that they will nourish general faculties such as memory, coordination and attentiveness.

Reading and writing are skills that you don’t learn unless you are specifically taught, like maths. This means two things: that these skills do not come naturally to people, and that you need to be mature enough to learn them.

For centuries, ginger root has been used as a folk remedy for a variety of ailments such as colds and upset stomachs. But now, researchers at the University of Georgia have found that daily ginger consumption also reduces muscle pain caused by exercise.

You may not have to cross camps off the summer agenda, however—there are ways to make it more affordable. All over the country, camps are making adjustments to meet the needs of families by lowering fees and costs. In addition, you might qualify for discounts or even be able to write camp off as a tax break!

Personally, if I had kids I would give em a mobile phone at 1, so they could download the iPhone Apps: How to change your OWN diaper App, Potty Train App, & the Go get a job already App.

Balancing on one foot with your eyes closed is not easy, particularly when reading. But in a Literacy+Exercise session, students at the Nathan Hale School in Roxbury, Mass. did exactly that.

"There isn't anything we can do about the genes we inherit, we do know that you can reduce your risk of breast cancer by maintaining a healthy weight, limiting alcohol consumption and exercising regularly "




Dr Caroline Hacker, Breakthrough Breast Cancer

The key to success is surprisingly simple: make workouts short, intense, social and ‘mindless’. Three million Canadians aged 20 to 39 are inactive, it notes, and 2.5 million are overweight or obese.

Junk food is so pervasive, and so are all the ads, merchandising tie ins from movies, and TV shows. In many cases the brands are embedded within the plot, or as part of a video game.

Play, Konner says, “combining as it does great energy expenditure and risk with apparent pointlessness, is a central paradox of evolutionary biology.” It seems to have multiple functions—exercise, learning, sharpening skills—and the positive emotions it invokes may be an adaptation that encourages us to try new things and learn with more flexibility. In fact, it may be the primary means nature has found to develop our brains.

"Kids work and live in the world," Lehmann told TechNewsDaily. "And that is a very different paradigm than what we are used to."

I enjoyed reading this article by Bill Zimmerman on the benefits of using digital comics in the classroom to engage students in the writing process. Student motvation and purpose is developed when integrating technology into a world the student understands.

Eco Child’s Play (ECP) is a blog devoted to informing and discussing “Green Parenting for Non-toxic, Healthy Homes”. ECP began in 2006 as site devoted to natural toys, but quickly realized they needed to expand to include broader issues related to green family life to fully express their interests. They are part of the Simple Earth Media environmental blog network. If you would like to contact the blog team, please email jennifer at greenoptions.com. Very informative on all aspects of living "green" with your children.