How to Take Advantage of the Teaching
Moments Sports Can Offer
While getting your children involved in sports is definitely a great move for them physically, there's a lot more that you and your child can get out of their involvement in sports. Sports involvement is definitely a great way to combat the rise of obesity in America today, but even more important are some of the incredible life lessons that sports and positive parenting can bring home to your child. Allowing your child to get involved in a sport opens the door for them to learn some important lessons. Of course, it's up to you as a parent to help kids apply the lessons they learn playing sports to other areas of life. Don't let these teaching moments slip by you. Here are just a few of the lessons that you can bring home to your child through their involvement in sports.
Lesson #1 – The Strength of Working as a Team
One of the most important lessons that kids can learn when involved in sports is the strength of working as a team. Playing a sport allows kids to learn about setting team goals, team cooperation to achieve goals, how to take turns, and more. This helps kids develop socially and emotionally, and can help them prepare for times later in life where working as a team will be important. This type of development is important to how your child ends up working with others in their life, such as teachers, friends, family, and even classmates. Don't let this opportunity get by you. Find ways at home that you can continue to encourage teamwork. You can bring this home by getting kids involved in tasks at home, explaining how every person in the family is part of a team playing towards the goal of a clean home.
Lesson #2 – Everyone Brings Something to the Game
Another important lesson you can teach your child through sports is that everyone brings something to the game. Not every child performs each task well within a team. One may be great at running the bases, another great at catching, while another is excellent at strategy. Kids need to learn that while others may be better at one task than they are, everyone has something unique that they bring to the game. This is a lesson that can help your child develop more confidence and self esteem. Don't allow your child to focus on the weaknesses of others, but help them look at the strengths of others. This will help them to realize that while they have shortcomings of their own, they also have skills that come naturally and areas where they excel. As they grow older, it will be important that they are able to be confident in what they bring to the table, whether it's at school or later on the job.
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by Laura Page
Executive Director – Kids Helping Kids
www.kidzhelpingkids.org
Kids Helping Kids is a unique organization that evolved from a simple idea by a big-hearted 10 year old boy to raise $240 in order to save one Ghanaian child from the cycle of human trafficking into a fund-raising and leadership movement for global transformation.
Kids Helping Kids Leadership Academy…
Besides fund-raising for children in need locally and globally, Kids Helping Kids focuses on developing core leadership skills that not only raises their self-esteem but teaches them how to recognize behaviors that strengthen it.
Statistics show that early sexual activity, obesity, memory loss, violence, suicide and eating disorders are a direct result from low self-esteem.
Defined simply, self-esteem is the sense of being lovable and capable. When these two qualities are in sync, a child has high self-esteem. Children need first to know that they are loved and accepted for who they are. Then, with this as a basis, their natural impulse is to take that love and learn to contribute it to the world in constructive ways. It’s not hard to see that self-esteem is the best gift you can give your children.
How self-esteem is crucial to a child’s life….
• It sets the stage for one’s entire life.
• Self-esteem is built, it doesn’t come naturally
• Having good self-esteem correlates with success later in life – good grades and confidence can allow a teen to start out with scholarships and other opportunities.
• Helps teens deal with emotional stress
• Important in making good choices
Statistics on self-esteem in kids…
• 70% of girls ages 15-17 aren’t even bothering to participate in normal every day activities due to a lack of self-worth
• Obesity is the leading cause of low self esteem
• Today’s beauty ideals create appearance anxiety for 86.9% of all teenage-aged girls.
• *92% of the young women in the USA want to change some aspect of their physical appearance
Kids Helping Kids believes leadership is the foundation to strengthen self-esteem through social, emotional and educational curriculum. We focus on discovering and developing core principals to create the self-confident child by teaching integrity, honesty, self-esteem, communication, time management, conflict resolution and giving back, to name a few.
Integrity has become the backbone not only for our leadership academy but for every class and fundraiser we have. Our main focus of integrity is “doing the right thing even when no one is watching” teaching them three key elements that they can apply to their everyday thoughts and actions.
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courtesy: www.hospital.com
Every American knows that one of the most pressing issues in our country is related to the greasy hamburgers and fries that our citizens wolf down on a daily basis: obesity. Recent statistics have shown that obesity is present and continually growing in our country, with over 25% of Americans being considered obese. While more present in adults, American children are not immune to obesity. In fact, in the past 30 years, childhood obesity rates have more than tripled, from just of 5% to nearly 20% of children aged from 6-19 being characterized by obese.
The problem should be of utmost interest to parents of young children. In a society where obesity is seemingly the natural progression of growth, parents are becoming more and more aware that the responsibility lies on their shoulders to encourage their children to live a healthy, active lifestyle. While many children have no interest in sports or exercise, there are many other ways to keep your children active and healthy. For example, children playing with their peers on a playground get enough exercise for their growing bodies. Exercise, like the aerobic workout of playing tag, can help children develop stronger muscles and bones, decrease the risk of type 2 diabetes, lower blood pressure, and prevent obesity.READ More on Keeping your Kids Active
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Happy New Years! A new year is upon us. It's a time when we all look back on the past year and start making resolutions for the new year. While you are probably going to make some personal resolutions for yourself, you may want to consider making resolutions as a family this year. Sure, times are tough this year, with the economic difficulties, but there are some great resolutions you can make with the entire family that will help to bring your family even closer together in 2010. Here's a look at some great ideas for family resolutions that will keep your family bond strong.
Spending More Time Together
One great family resolution that you can make as a family is to spend more time together. By time I mean quality time where family members are actively involved in one other. Our Family should be our main focus, and as we make this resolution, we will be teaching our kids about the things that really matter in life – family! Resolve together as a family that you'll make more time for each other. It's easy to get busy in life, busy with friends, mom and dad busy with work, and each of the family members rushing around here and there. It can be so easy to drift apart. Even if it's once a week or once a month, set aside some time to be together. Plan family nights and activities that you'll all enjoy or plan a family "date" night when you all set everything aside and enjoy time with each other. In the end, if you keep this resolution, you'll build your family ties and make them stronger.READ More on Family Resolutions – Making 2010 The Year of the Family!
Filed under Family, Holidays, Kids Activities by
Alone and Hungry
This is a very straight forward, no hold barred article. I have not sugar coated anything. The words are plain and simple and often blunt. The reason, this is a very important issue. One that we as a society tend to overlook when it comes to the children of our country. America is a wonderful place and we are the first to be there to save the day if people or children are in strife anywhere in the world. However, we sometimes forget to look in our backyard. I hope that this piece motivates you and your family to take action, and help save the life of a child that your child probably knows.
This is a very straight forward, no hold barred article. I have not sugar coated anything. The words are plain and simple and often blunt. The reason, this is a very important issue. One that we as a society tend to overlook when it comes to the children of our country. America is a wonderful place and we are the first to be there to save the day if people or children are in strife anywhere in the world. However, we sometimes forget to look in our backyard. I hope that this piece motivates you and your family to take action, and help save the life of a child that your child probably knows.
In our world today it is not uncommon to see chubby and overweight children everywhere you go. Childhood obesity has become a problem, especially in the United States, but its often unthought-of of opposite, childhood starvation, is still a grievous and devastating problem for millions of children all over the world. For every over weight child we see, we must remember that there are probably hundreds of children going to bed without dinner because there was simply not enough money for food that night.
Where are children starving?
Starvation is not prejudice and affects children everywhere. Although, children living in more poverty stricken areas or countries will more frequently feel the effects of hunger. In our world today, nearly 16,000 children die every day because of starvation, which is essentially one child every five seconds. So count to five and somewhere a child is now dead, by the time you reach 60 a dozen children will have died from hunger. These children are dying because some of their most basic needs are not being met. Either the family is too poor or they are suffering as a result of maltreatment. 2006 saw the deaths of 9.7 million children before their fifth birthday. Nearly all the deaths occurred in developing countries, especially sub-Sahara Africa and South Asia. According to a report done in 2007 by The U.S. Department of Agriculture 36.2 million people were part of households that did not have enough food; 12.4 million of those people were children. In 2007, in the United States, the ten states that rank the highest in malnutrition were Mississippi, New Mexico, Texas, Arkansas, Maine, South Carolina, Georgia, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Missouri. So, no matter where you live, chances are there is a hungry child nearby. It is true that hunger and starvation are often seen among children and families with little or no income, whether they live in the Americas, Europe, Asia or Africa. It can be easy to shut your eyes to this problem, especially when you have happy healthy children of your own, but for just a moment think of how the other parent may feel. They too love and care for their child but for some reason they are not able to give them enough food. They may feel ashamed and embarrassed as yet another day passes with little food. The pain and sadness they feel is probably equally to the hunger pains their child feels every time a meal is skipped.READ More on No one Deserves to Go Hungry, Especially Children
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Many teens in high school want to try out for sports. A lot of them try because they think it will make them popular or get them more dates. While this may seem like a silly reason, there are lots of other benefits to sports that your child may overlook. Here are some reasons that you’ll find comforting.READ More on Advantages Of Sports And Teens
Is your child getting enough exercise? If she isn’t exercising at all, you should take steps to change that today. Exercise is important to your children’s health. Here are more reasons why your child benefits from a regular exercise routine:
1. Exercise reduces the risk of obesity. If your child participates in a regular exercise program, her chances of becoming obese are dramatically reduced. An active child means a healthier child. READ More on Benefits Of Exercise And Your Child
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