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ALSO | PREVENT DROWNINGS | NEWS ON FATIGUE | FOOD TALK | TV DADS | FAMILY NEWS BITES | This month and next, hundreds of thousands of area schoolchildren will return to campus. Are their parents ready? Here are tips to make every family’s adjustment from summertime easier: SCHOOL BELLS RING 10 simple back-to-school tips 1. Practice getting the children up early one week prior to the first day of school. 2. Pick out school clothes the night before. Involving children in the decision-making will save valuable time in the morning. 3. Prepare lunches in the evening together as a family. Children love to help out in the kitchen. 4. Limit caffeine and sugar intake after dinner. Either can have a negative effect on some children and their ability to fall asleep. 5. Reading with your children before bed is a perfect opportunity to wind down and spend quality time together while enjoying a good book. 6. Pick a designated spot in the home for doing homework. This “homework spot” should be quiet,well lit, and contain all the basic school supplies. 7. Have children do homework after school when the lessons are still fresh in their minds. Leaving homework until the evening hours can be counterproductive. 8. Offer a healthy snack before or during homework since children are most content on a full stomach. 9. Put completed homework directly into a backpack to avoid any missing assignments. 10. Use a daily planner to keep school functions and extracurricular activities organized throughout the school year. - Courtesy of familyplanner.com PREVENT DROWNINGS Important information for busy month One of the biggest tragedies surrounding childhood drownings is that 9 of 10 occur with adults in the near vicinity. With August arriving, which means pool parties and trips to the beach, it is vital that parents pay attention. With children at the pool, make certain that an adult has direct supervision at all times. No conversations, no eating, no cell phones. When taking an outing to the beach, choose hours of low tide by checking the weather page of your local newspaper. And remember, following August is September, traditionally the hottest month of the year. As the school year begins, do not let down your guard. For more information: www.ocfa.org. The Orange County Fire Authority has a convenient Safety & Education button on hits home page. Also, for a free drowning-prevention packet, call CHOC at 714.532.8887. ‘I’M TIRED’ Fatigue may mean more than lack of sleep Adolescents and young adults are often excessively sleepy, particularly as the school year begins and the lazy days of summer melt away. A new report from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and the National Center on Sleep Disorders Research (National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, NIH) says that although sleepiness is rather common in this age group, pediatricians should pay special attention to patients who exhibit evidence of excessive sleepiness. This could indicate an underlying medical or mental health condition. Sleep research data indicates that adolescents require 9 to 10 hours of sleep per night. However, the majority of adolescents aren’t getting that, which is why excessive daytime sleepiness in this population has become a widespread problem. Inadequate sleep and excessive sleepiness can have a profound negative effect on health, school performance, cognitive function and mood, and has also been associated with other serious consequences such as increased incidence of automobile crashes. According to the report, “Excessive Sleepiness in Adolescents and Young Adults: Causes, Consequences, and Treatment Strategies,” most cases of excessive sleepiness result from insufficient sleep caused by insufficient time in bed. Also, depression, obstructive sleep apnea, insomnia, narcolepsy and other sleep disorders, medications, and stimulants such as caffeine can also cause impaired sleep quality and daytime sleepiness. The report advises pediatricians to ask adolescent patients about their sleep patterns: 1. Do you have trouble falling asleep at bedtime? 2. Do you feel sleepy a lot during the day? In school? While driving? 3. Do you wake up a lot at night? 4. What time do you usually go to bed on school nights? Weekends? 5. How much sleep do you usually get? 6. Has anyone ever told you that you snore loudly at night? FOOD TALK Children understand the part about eating healthy One of the best ways to get children to eat well is to talk about the value of a healthy meal or snack, says a recent KidsHealth KidsPoll. Children ages 9-13 were asked to share their habits and attitudes about eating healthy. The survey showed that those who talk with their families about the subject on a monthly or weekly basis consume more fruits and vegetables, drink more water, and show more effort. For example, 73% of respondents who say that their families talk to them monthly about eating healthy, and 66% who say their family talks to them about this weekly, reported that they try to eat healthy “most” or “all of the time.” In contrast, 35% of children whose families never take the time to discuss healthy eating do not make the effort either ever or only once in awhile. In another finding, children tend to skip breakfast considered the most important meal of the day as they get older. Some 12% of 9-year-olds versus 31% of 12-year-olds “usually do not eat breakfast.” (For more information about school lunches, see In Shape, this issue.) KidsHealth KidsPoll is a project of the National Association of Health Education Centers, the Nemours Center for Children’s Health Media and Southern Illinois University Carbondale. Information: nahec.org/KidsPoll/ TOP TV DAD ‘Little House on the Prairie’ gets the nod For the recent Father’s Day, AARP The Magazine released a survey revealing the top TV dad of all time. Charles Ingalls, pop on “Little House on the Prairie,” topped the list with 30% of the vote. The Michael Landon character was followed by Cliff Huxtable at 25% (Bill Cosby), Ward Cleaver at 10% (Hugh Beaumont), and Ozzie Nelson at 7%. More than 1,000 Baby Boomers were surveyed. Other questions were asked. Among them: • When asked to describe the strongest emotion they felt in their relationship with their father, 41% said love, while 35% said respect. Only 36% of respondents said their father was the primary disciplinarian, compared with 41% who said mom played the heavy. • Only 28% of the respondents said they looked to their father for advice raising their own children, compared to 40% who solicited their mother’s help. • 52% felt closer to their children than their parents were to them, compared to 29% who did not. Responses from April were gleaned from 1,033 adults, ages 45-59. Information on moms, dads, grandchildren and the rest of the family: www.aarpmagazine.org/family FAMILY NEWS BITES ITALIAN LANGUAGE INSTRUCTION Children ages 2-12 can learn Italian through songs, rhymes, puppets and play. The new program, “Italian for Kids,” is offered in Irvine by the Fondazione Italia, a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting Italian culture and language instruction. The fall session begins in September. To register, visit www.fondazione-italia.org or call 310.691.8909. CHAPMAN SCHOLARSHIP Ashlee Ailene Murphy, 20, a junior in the George L. Argyros School of Business and Economics at Chapman University, recently received the “Future Women in Business” scholarship. Presented by The Waltos Group of Northwestern Mutual Financial Network in Newport Beach, the scholarship recognizes outstanding female college-level students based on academic achievement, business acumen and community involvement. CASA RECEIVES GRANT Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) of Orange County has been awarded a $41,000 grant from the National Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) Association. This funding will be used to expand mentoring and advocacy services for abused and neglected children throughout Orange County. There are more than 3,000 children who have been removed from their parents and are placed in foster care in Orange County due to abuse, abandonment and neglect. Currently, CASA is working with more than 300 of these children and has another 225 children waiting for the one-on-one attention of a CASA mentor-advocate. Information and mentorship and advocacy volunteer programs: 714.619.5155. LONG OC TRAIL A 22-mile Mountains to Sea Trail was officially completed in late May. The biking, hiking and running trail begins at Weir Canyon in Anaheim Hills (it is accessed from Irvine Regional Park) to the Back Bay in Newport Beach. Two more trails are planned, including one that will run through the El Toro base when it is developed into the Great Park. More than 50,000 acres is protected open space on the Irvine Ranch. Much of the natural land is available through docent-led groups (www.IrvineRanchLandReserve.com) and many acres will remain off-limits to protect the habitat. STUTTERING FOUNDATION The Stuttering Foundation has released a new DVD for parents and teachers about stuttering in the classroom. The DVD includes the experiences of students and expert advice from speech-language pathologists Kristin Chmela and Bill Murphy about how to respond to a child who stutters. The DVD also includes an inside look to speech therapy, and a guide for children and teachers when it comes to dealing with oral presentations, as well as teasing and bullying in school. The DVD also offered in a videotape version is offered for free to public libraries and also includes a 42-page handbook. Information: 800.992.9392, www.stutteringhelp.org, or in Spanish, www.tartamudez.org INTERVAL HOUSE Interval House, crisis shelters and centers for victims of domestic violence, is working with the family of Noy Rauv to find her a kidney. Noy Rauv, 51, is a friend, staff member and volunteer for Interval House, and she is also in her final stages of polycystic kidney disease and urgently needs a kidney transplant. Rauv is a successful entrepreneur and has recently become an adoptive parent to a child from Cambodia. A donor with blood types of O or B is needed. Information: lediya@yahoo.comor admin@intervalhouse.org IRVINE AWARD The Orange County Childcare and Development Council has awarded the city of Irvine with a certificate of outstanding childcare achievement The city also was applauded for having the most accredited childcare centers and accredited family childcare providers in all of Orange County. NEWPORT LDS TEMPLE Through Aug. 20, the Newport Beach California Temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints will be open for tours Tuesday-Saturday. A youth extravaganza including 4,000 Mormon teenagers from Orange County will be held at the Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim on Saturday, Aug. 27 with two showings. The temple will be dedicated on Aug. 28 in which only faithful members of the Church may enter. To obtain tickets for the tour please visit, www.lds.org/reservations or call 800.531.6214. Compiled and reported by OC Family Magazine staff |
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