Fidgeting and core strength

It's amazing that something as small as a five-minute movement break can make all the difference. New research is showing that lack of core strength is prevalent among the most school aged children. Some even say that one in twelve kids lack the core strength their 1980s counterparts had. 

The same kids who used to be running around at recess and after school, are sitting for longer periods of time both in and out of school. Test scores are important, but isn't our children's ability to receive and synthesize information in a more efficient way more important than longer periods of sedentary instruction? Easier to deliver information to kids who are sitting still? Sure! It takes skill an extra planning to allow for these breaks. But nowhere near as efficient. Recess should be a right not a privilege, as should a movement break every 20 or so minutes.

I found several articles  regarding this very trend. Read on, but be sure to get out and move!

http://www.balancedandbarefoot.com/blog/the-real-reason-why-children-fidget

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/angela-hanscom/the-real-reason-why-kids-fidget_b_5586265.html

Where were you 50 years ago?

It's hard to believe that 50 years ago, President John F Kennedy was assassinated. While evidence of his assassins' identity is coming to light, I mourn for what could have been. Would we have a single payer health care system? Would the Equal Voting Rights Act have more bite? 

Of course, we wouldn't have that old question: Where were you when Kennedy was shot?

That sly old red fox

Archaeologists recently found a red fox curled up with a human at a burial site in Jordon dated to some 16,000 years ago. According to the story, this demonstrates an emotional attachment between humans and foxes, and that "...several millennia before any animals were domesticated, humans may have been making an early attempt to keep pets. Red foxes, to be precise."

So where did the pet red fox become that archenemy of gingerbread everywhere, the "Sly Old Red Fox?" Wolves, I understand. They have teeth big enough to eat red-hooded girls. But foxes?

I took a gander at my trusty Webster's 9th. After describing the mammal, the second definition is " a clever crafty person." The verb form begins with "to trick by ingenuity or cunning, to outwit." If the fox was so trusted by humans, and according to the article, are among the easiest mammal to train, how did the red fox acquire such a devious reputation? And when did it become the "sly old red fox?"

More to come.

Pirates and Holmes?

Laurie R King, of whom I've already declared my undying love, has written a new book, The Pirate King, due out September, 2011. I could hardly contain my excitement. The Pirates of Penzance is quite a nice Guilbert & Sullivan operetta; combine this with a heretofore serious heroine, and the intrigue that follows her, and there is one amazing little number.

But I digress. More from the author herself (perhaps I should write 'the literary agent') is here. It is quite interesting how serious this 'literary agent' farce has been thus far; here, the story itself finally catches up.

Challenger Anniversary

Today, in 1986, the Challenger space shuttle exploded, with social studies teacher Christa McAuliffe on board. All because of the "o-ring." Do you remember hearing for weeks about an o-ring? I'm still not sure exactly what it is.

Our gym teacher had been a finalist, a fact that she had kept silent until the school assembly later that day. We watched the explosion on TV, although it took a few days to really understand what this all meant. A summary done by one better than I can be found here.

Things are more like they are now than they ever were before.

--Dwight D. Eisenhower

The New Deal hit the ground running, only to stumble under the fear that the financial burden was too great, and once put in the check the critics stepped aside and let the New Dealer work his job-creating-crisis-averting magic. Unlike today's critics, those critical of FDR wouldn't have dared to call Roosevelt unconstitutional. (See: "Criticism of Obama Mirrors That of FDR," by Elizabeth Tandy Shermer)

When did our elected officials forsake class for talking points?

Now what?

The new Congressional session about to begin, we are reminded about those seats lost because of the changes in counted populations. The 2010 census, which determine where the numbers necessitated more or fewer representatives, was not exactly representative. Not at all, in fact, when taking into account Sarah Palin and Michelle Bachmann's call to forget to be counted. Linking census to Japanese internment camps and the FBI? Really?

One must ask, if the Census helps represent the people, giving us power, those elected officials who called for people to ignore filling out their forms, well...whom do they really wish to represent? In another ten years, are we going to have to go through the same debate, to be counted or to refuse proper repsentation?

Just a thought.