Who is watching the children?
When Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva took the ice for her free skate were you holding your breath? rooting for her? booing her? Did you look away or leave the venue, as it’s reported the USA skating team did? Or did you stand agape like I did, watching a 15 year old child who bore […]
Give the Gift Kids Will ‘Die’ For (adult supervision discouraged)
The force is strong in these two! The force of fun, that is. You want to know their secret? NO adults told them to do it. I took this very same die (in gender-neutral lime green) into the fourth grade classroom at a local elementary school this week. The second I walked in, all heads […]
In Today’s World, Sport is No Longer Optional, It’s Essential
In the wake of the daily headlines, do sports and recreation even matter anymore? What does it matter that I teach kids to dribble, pass, and shoot? What does it matter that they learn to play the positions? What does it matter that I set a line up with starters and subs? play a system, […]
The Joy of Movement: Have You Ever Watched a Child Dance?
Early athletic success may have been the worst thing that ever happened to me. Things came easy. Classwork came easy. Grades? No problem. Even playground games were a delight because I could hit, catch and kick with minimum effort and much success. Who wouldn’t love to play games they are good at? And I did. Lots […]
Bringing Out Their Best: motivation as art and story
Once upon a time there was a little girl. She could really catch and really throw, but the thing she could do best was hit. Every time up, she swung that bat and sent the ball way into the outfield. One day, Coach said, “Wow! How do you do that?!” “I don’t know,” the girl […]
How (Not) to Raise a Narcissist
We are raising narcissists, or so a new study reports. The study, authored by Brad J. Bushman, PhD, professor of communication and psychology at the Ohio State University, asked 565 children aged 7 to 11 years – the years when kids start to compare themselves with other children – and their parents about self-esteem, parental warmth, […]
Play, the Great Leveler
Remember the carefree days of unencumbered play? When we gathered a group of friends, boys and girls, older and younger, and set out for the open field, or the hillside, or the climbing tree? There was not one right way to run or jump or roll or climb. We each just did it in our […]
Coaching is Like Parenting: your kids show you how to be better
Our kids need coaches. They need adults who will spend a couple hours a week on the fields with them and will root from the sidelines one day each weekend. It’s a lot to ask of people these days, what with families going every which way, jobs claiming more of our time, volunteer responsibilities clamoring […]
Parenting Gone Mad: We Give Kids Everything and they Come Away with Nothing
A mind is a terrible thing to lose, but I think we are are on our way to lost here in Virginia. I say this after watching a woman check out at the Container Store. She has hoisted her cart full of items up to be scanned for payment while her son and daughter contentedly […]
Movement is Natural for Healthy Children
The toddler was bee-bopping in the seat of that BJs shopping cart, perfectly in rhythm with the music piped quietly, unobtrusively, barely perceptibly through the speakers into our shopping experience. And the young mom was dancing along as they cruised down the aisle of canned goods. “Amazing how they arrive with rhythm, isn’t it?” I […]