Your teenager may need more sleep than you think

You’ve seen that sleepy teen waiting at the bus stop with bleary eyes and shoulders slumped, looking as though she’s just been yanked out of bed. An extra hour in the sack would be a luxury, but lack of sleep goes much deeper than that. Sleep deprivation in teens is a serious issue.

“Sleep deprivation is one of the biggest issues facing teens and teen functioning,” says Tanya Gesek, Ph.D., a clinical psychologist and professor at Syracuse University in the psychology department. “Many teens are misdiagnosed with significant mental health disorders such as anxiety, depression, ADHD and others, when the culprit is simply a lack of sleep. Sleep deprivation impacts attention and arousal, two key components in academic engagement, which is important for overall achievement.”

Sleep Habits

Dr. Gesek says teens on average require 8 to 10 hours of sleep, much more than adults. This is because brains do not stop developing until we are in our mid 20s, and sleep helps that process along.

My good friend just found out she is pregnant with a boy. It is her first child, and instead of celebrating the good news, she cried during her ultrasound.

That’s because she really wanted a girl.

Good mothers are supposed to say they are happy with a boy or a girl, as long as the baby is healthy. But gender disappointment is a very real and heartbreaking issue that affects many pregnant women.

East Chicago Central High School history teacher Gale Carter was chosen, along with 19 other teachers, to participate in a 21-day study tour in China, administered by the National Consortium for Teaching about Asia (NCTA) and the Indiana University East Asia Studies Center. The 3-week tour included six cities (Beijing, Xi’an, Kunming, Dali, Lijiang, Shangri-La and Shanghai), three boat cruises, a midnight train ride, a ride in a rickshaw, and an unforgettable ride on a yak in the mountains of Shangri-La.

The group toured traditional sights such as the Great Well, the Terra Cotta Warriors, the Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square, as well as newer sights like the 2008 Olympic Bird’s Nest stadium and the Water Bubble. They also observed time-honored crafts like calligraphy and silk-, pottery- and noodle-making. Evenings were spent at cultural events like acrobatic performances, the opera and the symphony.

Sibling rivalry across the generations

My sister Cindy and I are only a year apart, and we were sworn enemies.

We competed against each other for every conceivable thing with a knock-down drag-out winner-take-all mentality that was nothing short of blood sport, the winner taunting over the lifeless body of the vanquished opponent until he or she yelled, “Mooooom!”

Now that I’m a dad myself, of course, I’m being given my karmic rewards. My two youngest sons fight every day. And listening to that constant bickering is like being stabbed in the ears repeatedly. I can only imagine what my mother went through in the 1970s. My fights with my sister weren’t as physical, but they were certainly as loud. And they were probably even more emotionally vicious.

Public schools see decline in enrollment as charter schools grow

Fifth-grader He' Shawn Hicks works on math problems in Laura Charpentier's class at Charter School of the Dunes in Gary. The school and Thea Bowman Leadership Academy are up for renewal this year. (Photography by Heather Eidson.)

Over time, charter schools can perform just as well, if not better, than traditional public schools, proponents of charter schools said. Charter schools operate with more freedom from regulations than their traditional counterparts, and most follow a particular educational vision or charter.

There is high demand for these schools in urban areas where there is a perception that traditional public schools are not as successful. In the state, charter schools are clustered in Indianapolis, Fort Wayne and Gary. But Indiana Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Bennett said it should not be a question of better or worse.

There are sales and then there are price cuts.

Meijer says it is offering more of each this holiday season.

And in doing so, the Midwest retailer plans to hold its own against the country’s biggest retailers, Walmart and Target, in a holiday price war.

On Wednesday, Grand Rapids-based Meijer Inc. announced it has dropped prices up to 30 percent on more than 400 popular toys from Barbie to Star Wars Legos.

NWI Parent Blog—We’ve all gotta eat-might as well have some fun in the kitchen! Check here for recipes, cooking with kids, food finds, and more.

With Thanksgiving just around the corner, I thought I’d share a couple of our favorite Thanksgiving traditions. One involves food and the other is placed in the kitchen for all to see.

Each year we make a Thanksgiving tree. Nothing Martha Stewart-y mind you. I take a large piece of construction paper, draw a tree on it and hang it on the kitchen wall. Then I cut a variety of leaves out of colored paper and the kids (with a few contributions from mom & dad) write things we are thankful for on the leaves, glue them on the tree and voila! A Thanksgiving decoration and a snapshot of what is in our hearts that year. I think made-up traditions are so important for kids and this one has become one of our favorites.

Continue reading Barb’s latest post here on her “Food with a Dash of Fun” blog.

NWI Parent Blog—Photographer and writer mom of two, Beth always brings a new twist to the suburban mundane.

I am having a difficult time during the day, when the house is quiet, the kids are at school, Brian is at work and it’s just me…all alone.

I know there are many Moms out there that would love this opportunity but it’s just not for me. I MISS my kids and the life of being a stay at home Mom. I have spent a lot of time thinking about getting a temporary job, but I realize that not many people would be interested in hiring a woman who is five months pregnant and also, I know that the best thing I can do during this pregnancy is relax.

Continue reading Beth’s latest post here on her “Laptops to Countertops” blog.

Sledding and ice-skating in Northwest Indiana

As a thin layer of frost makes its way across the glass and the walls creak and groan against the assault of the elements, the temptation grows. Birds do it. Bees do it. So why shouldn’t we all take the forbidding winter weather as a cue to snuggle in and reacquaint ourselves with the warm, cozy joys of the great indoors? It seems clear, after all, that Mother Nature is not terribly interested in playing with us, so perhaps it’s best to simply respect her wishes and check back in March or April when she might be feeling a bit more reasonable.

The pull of hibernation, of course, only seems to grow as we get older. A workweek spent battling the snow and ice in the course of our daily grind only serves to breed a general lack of patience with the season, making the bunker of hearth and home that much more attractive an option by the time Saturday rolls around. But here, as is so often the case, kids tend to provide the necessary sense of perspective that adults seem to lose with the passage of time.

Teachers can ‘progress monitor’ skills on daily basis

Hand-held devices and a connection to a database are allowing East Porter County kindergarten through second-grade teachers to offer students quicker help in reading and mathematics.

The East Porter County School Corp. board heard a report on mCLASS, a diagnostic assessment program developed by the Wireless Generation company, from Morgan Township Elementary School teachers last Monday. The technology allows teachers to “progress monitor” students with quick assessments on the student Palm Pilots, intervention specialist Jeanne Akins told the board. Teachers can see results instantaneously, and the ongoing data can help target instruction and remediation by indicating what has been working and what hasn’t. The data allows quick groupings of students and even suggests interventions, Akins said.