Plus, brain breaks, what ‘classroom’ looks like now, being a lion researcher
|  | Sunday, September 13, 2020 | | | | |
 | | PHOTOGRAPH BY RONNIE KAUFMAN, GETTY IMAGES | | By Rachel Buchholz, KIDS AND FAMILY Editor in Chief
“Kids have the attention span of gnats.”
Those wise words came from an old editor of mine who was training me in the fine art of writing for children, long before most kids started some form of at-home learning due to COVID-19 shutdowns. Now, between virtual teaching, downloadable lessons, self-directed learning, and all the super-fun distractions from being at home, it’s no surprise that parents are seeing more wiggling, fidgeting, and lip- and nail-biting as kids struggle to pay attention.
The answer, according to experts, might be in their diet: their sensory diet, that is.
Just like a screaming ambulance can make your heart race, soothing sounds can calm one’s body. It’s all about how you process sensory information—and it can be used to put together a “sensory diet” to help children stay focused and calm as they deal with mask wearing, a decrease in seeing friends, and distance learning stressors.
“Children may be on sensory overload,” says counselor and play therapist Tracy Turner-Bumberry in this Nat Geo article about creating a sensory diet for your child. “Providing an individualized, calming, sensory diet can help kids calm this overload and self-regulate.”
For instance, wigglers might benefit from pulling on resistance bands. Frustrated kiddos can try gently bouncing on a yoga ball, or even hanging upside down (above). And here’s a DIY fidget spinner your kids can make themselves.
In the meantime, perhaps adults should test out how well these ideas work for us. To be honest, hanging upside down for awhile is looking pretty good to me right about now …
If you want to get this newsletter every week, sign up here. If you want your kids to get Nat Geo Kids magazine, subscribe here. For Nat Geo Little Kids, subscribe here.
| | | |
 | | PHOTOGRAPH BY GARETH CATTERMOLE, GETTY IMAGES/DISNEY | | Breaking tough news: With a 10-year-old son who adored Black Panther actor Chadwick Boseman, Florida mom Patricia Cook knew she had a tough job when she woke William Ryan Cook with news about his death. Like many kids in America this rough year, it took William a minute to process the news. After listening, one preoccupation that William expressed, his mom related, was about the movie’s sequel. And that’s normal, says Brittany Beattie, who owns Spring Forward Mental Health Counseling in Jacksonville, Florida. Some things kids can handle better than their parents, Beattie tells Nat Geo.
Distant learning in pictures: As school got under way this month, Edutopia asked teachers to send in images of what their “classrooms” looked like this year. Followers responded with pictures of outdoor classes, pet show-and-tells, and desk pods with clear dividers in between each desk. My favorite: a second-grade classroom, each desk equipped with tissue boxes and hand sanitizer, and a front-wall banner reading “You are so loved.”
What’s it like being a lion researcher? You have to get along with people and with nature, too, Dr. Tutilo Mudumba of Uganda tells us. It helped, he said in this accessible and fun Twitter exchange, that his parents loved nature, too. Of working to conserve land and animal species, Mudumba says: “These animals are very resilient and only need half a chance to persist into the future.”
| | | |
 | | PHOTOGRAPH BY DAVID PEARSON, ALAMY | |
DIY downward dog: For years, schools across the country have been practicing yoga in classrooms to boost kids’ strength and cardiovascular health as well as improve concentration and academic performance. But those benefits fade once children get out of the practice, which is likely happening with so many kids at home right now. A simple solution is to practice at home, even if it’s just for five minutes a day. One surefire engagement technique is to focus in on the animal poses, like downward dog and rabbit. Check out these and other animal stretches in the Nat Geo Kids book Yoga Animals.
Family discussion: At 16, Robin Lee Graham took off to sail solo around the world. Five years later, he had persisted through hurricanes, broken masts, and crushing loneliness (as well as wondrous beauty) to become the youngest person to do it. What great dream do the people around your dinner table have? To become an astronaut? To make a great discovery? To make it though this COVID-19 pandemic unscathed? Let us know!
Just for fun: How do you capture a rare image of a cheetah in the snow? Photographer Kirsten Frost had spent two days tracking the animal from its radio-collared transmitter. As a snowstorm developed, the photographer glimpsed the wildcat’s face in the falling flakes. See the photos!
| | | |
| TRY THIS: BOREDOM BUSTERS FOR KIDS | |
|
Gimme a break. Experts say that one secret to keeping kids focused is to let them take quick brain breaks throughout the day. These ideas will provide short breathers from schoolwork but still keep children educated and engaged. Offer up a 30-second moment of baby bobcat cuteness, a couple of minutes’ worth of Weird But True! facts (example: Some honeybee queens quack!), or a five-minute zap-’em-up bug game. To give kids an outdoors break, try these printable Outdoor Safari Bingo Cards.
More than just a pencil. To some, it’s just a writing instrument. But understanding the geography of the pencil can help children understand the world. How are South Africa’s forests impacted when they’re logged to create the shaft? What conditions do workers face in the Kazakhstan paint factories, used for the yellow casing? How has COVID-19 affected Thailand’s rubber industry, which produces erasers? “Geography today is about seeing the whole picture, writes Vicki Phillips, chief education officer for the National Geographic Society, in this Forbes.com post about why geography matters now. “It’s about seeing the future—and changing the future if we don’t like what we see.”
This newsletter was edited and curated by David Beard and Rachel Buchholz. Have a healthy and a sane (as possible) week ahead!
| | | |
Clicking on the Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and National Geographic Channel links will take you away from our National Geographic Partners site where different terms of use and privacy policy apply.
This email was sent to: agaogroups@gmail.com. Please do not reply to this email as this address is not monitored.
This email contains an advertisement from:
National Geographic | 1145 17th Street, N.W. | Washington, D.C. 20036
You are receiving this email because you elected to receive marketing communications from National Geographic under the terms of our Privacy Policy.
Manage all types of email preferences with National Geographic Partners.
Unsubscribe from this type of email.
If you reside in the EU/European Economic Area and wish to exercise all other data subject rights, click here.
© 2020 National Geographic Partners, LLC, All rights reserved. | | |
{Litmus Here}
0 comments:
Post a Comment