Food

                Along with sleep, food plays a critical role in how effectively they perform at school, and how easy it is for them to learn.  If they don’t get enough sleep, they will be sleepy in class and perform poorly, but the wrong breakfast (or none at all) will make it harder for them.  Students who are poorly fed have trouble focusing because their hunger and stomach pains distract them, their lack of energy slows their thought processes down, and the lack of proper nourishment causes their muscles and brain to perform below average, not to mention they will be sleepy.  They will seem to have learning disabilities when they are actually just undernourished.

Avoid junk and fast food, food with lots of sugar, salt, or oil, heavily processed foods and late-night snacks and sweets.  This sort of food can also cause them to appear to have disorders (such as ADHD), when they actually just have too much energy from high-calorie foods, or they may even be having an allergic reaction to something.  In addition, this sort of food will cause all sorts of health problems for them.  The reason they are so cheap is because they are made using crops that are heavily subsidized (wheat, corn, soy) and people who are trying to be careful with their money fall into the trap of thinking that a $1 bag of potato chips is a better deal than one apple (it isn’t).  All you have to do is look at the nutrient information for that bag of chips and compare it to the nutrients of an apple and you start to see the quality difference.  Then, you add in that apples have long been recommended to help promote good health and, in fact, an apple can help to mitigate an asthma attack – I’ve tried it myself.  Then compare the ingredients.  The chips: artificial flavors, flavor enhancers (MSG), artificial coloring, salt, sugar, oil, stabilizer and words that you don’t know the meaning of.  Apples are all natural but, at worst, have a layer of some kind of waxy substance on the skin to keep them looking fresh longer and there may be pesticide on or in them – but you get those pesticides in the chips, too, they just don’t list them in the ingredients!  Chips make you thirsty and may upset your stomach.  Apples quench your thirst. So, choose a fruit and peel the skin after washing it carefully.

White rice has a high glycemic index (which means it has a lot of sugar in it), so it is an inappropriate grain to eat for someone who is not active, especially if they’re already getting sugar from other sources.  Processed sugars should only be added to sustenance on a limited basis and the purer the sugar is, the less you should use.  Impure sugars, such as honey, brown sugar, coconut sugar, palm sugar, etc., have other things in them that can provide enzymes, vitamins and/or minerals and are thus, at least modestly, healthier to consume; white crystal and rock sugars should be minimized.  Sugar provides us with energy, but most societies these days consume dangerous amounts of it.

Salt is a crucial mineral for our health – not consuming enough or eating too much can cause health problems, but some people are also sensitive to sodium and must be careful about high blood pressure.  This doesn’t just mean sodium chloride but also other kinds of consumed salts, like baking soda.

Stop eating fried food – it may taste good, but it is bad for you.  Some oils, when consumed without heating them, have a beneficial effect on our bodies, such as olive, canola and fish oil.  Even virgin coconut oil is good for us.  However, using it for frying food destroys most of the benefits and leaves the detrimental parts of it – the fats that can hurt us, like saturated fats and trans fat.  Cold-extracted oils are, in general, the best choice as long as you don’t subsequently heat them.

There are two main scenarios for eating, the first of which is to serve 6 small meals a day, each meal containing different varieties of food.  Although this is the ideal way to eat, this may be impractical for many people, so follow the adage: “Eat the breakfast of a king, the lunch of a prince and the dinner of a pauper.”  Breakfast should be the largest meal of the day since it has to get your child through the long, arduous hours until lunchtime, and dinner the smallest since you’ll be sleeping and don’t need energy for that. Grains should be the largest food group, followed by vegetables, then fruits, then protein sources (e.g.:  soy and certain other plants, fish, poultry and waterfowl, eggs, pork, beef, mutton and goat), and finally dairy products, with anything else being the least important and most destructive for your bodies and brains.

Grains (red/brown/black rice, oatmeal, whole wheat bread, rye, etc.) and complex carbohydrates, combined with a good source of protein make a great breakfast.  Please note that if you’re a regular white rice eater and want to switch to dark rice because of the lower sugar content, and high fiber and nutritional value, do not switch all at once unless your diet is already fairly high in fiber; a 100% switch immediately can result in too much fiber, which can create lots of gas and diarrhea.  Change the ratio of white to dark rice daily, slowly increasing the latter and decreasing the former over at least a couple of weeks’ time.  One definite benefit of more fiber in your diet is that your bowel movements will become easier; your feces will stop looking like hard balls and will become long and exit smoothly.  This is good for your bowel muscles and helps to reduce the risk of hemmorhoids as well as long-term damage to your bowels that increase the risk of intestinal diseases like diverticulitis and cancer.

If your child is into athletic activities, his/her diet will need to be adjusted to support it with extra protein and carbs, but s/he will need to be taught that if s/he changes the level of their activity, s/he has to modify what and how much s/he eat.  This is also true of different life stages when our body’s nutritional needs change as we age.  For example, the older a male is, the less meat he should eat, unless he is a body-builder (they need lots of protein for their sport).  During the growth phase (which should be done by age 30), men can eat more meat but, after that age and unless he regularly donates blood, he should decrease his meat intake to no more than 1-2 portions per week, or even consider becoming a vegetarian if a nutritionist agrees that would a good idea.  Females, on the other hand, will need to consume meat more often to compensate for blood and iron loss during menstruation, at least until menopause, at which point their bodily need for meat will become low.  I have seen many athletes ruin their bodies when they stopped being athletes but didn’t adapt their diets.

Don’t give anyone food any later than 2 hours before bedtime because this can lead to obesity (and someday to diabetes, gastro-esophageal reflux disease [GERD], and other diseases) as the body converts the food into fat since the energy isn’t used.  In addition, late meals and snacks may cause them to lack an appetite or even feel nauseous in the morning, meaning that they won’t want or be able to eat a proper breakfast.  I used to suffer from GERD (indigestion that comes up your esophagus) and morning nausea due to not knowing about this.

I cannot stress this enough – the more natural, unprocessed food your child is given, the healthier, stronger, more energetic and smarter your child will be because your child gets the maximum nutritional value instead of just a portion of it.  Organic food provides even more because manmade fertilizers and pesticides damage nutritional value, and the taste is usually so much better.

There are a lot of diets out there that stress the body a great deal, or make claims that are patently false.  I’m not going to discuss them, but I want to point out that the blood-type diet is a fraud.  Humans are far too complex for something as simple as blood type to dictate what to eat.

How food is cooked plays a significant role in how much value the food has and how dangerous it is.  Frying, pressure-cooking and grilling are some of the worst ways to cook, while par-boiling, baking and steaming are among the best.

Finally, always keep in mind that different people have different nutritional needs and that a professional nutritionist should be consulted in order to determine what the best diet is for your child.  The information above is fairly standard for most people, but a small number of people need a different diet.

Sleep

                Getting enough sleep is important so that the brain can work at maximum efficiency during the day.  Staying up late to finish a project, cram for a test or just watch a movie has a serious impact on both retention and comprehension of what was learned that day, but also your child’s performance in school the next day or two.  Studies have also shown that toddlers need naps after learning in order to help them process the new information.  Even for adults, sleep (or the lack of it) can have a serious impact on learning and memory.  It’s not just workaholism that is the enemy of efficiency – persistent lack of sleep has all sorts of negative impacts on mental and physical health, emotional maturity and intellect.  It is the parents’ responsibility to teach the children how to manage their own time at home so that they get their homework done in a timely manner (teach them to focus quality results achieved within a specific, reasonable timeframe – if you’re unsure about the timeframe, ask their teacher) and can get to bed on time.  DO NOT let your child stay up late to finish what is not done.  They should either finish it in the morning, at school before the class in question, or accept the consequences of their failure to complete their work.

The younger a child is, the more sleep s/he needs, and forcing a child to stay up late just isn’t fair or helpful, no matter how important you think it is.  Sleep needs vary, and some children will need all that down time in one go at night, while others will need most of it at night, but some after school in one or more naps.  You’ll need to observe your child to know what works best for him or her (not you), and you’ll have to keep in mind that as s/he ages, the amount of hours will get lower and the need for naps will most often disappear, but even some adults need a nap.  I allow myself the luxury of a 30-minute nap when I feel sleepy; people usually go into deep sleep after more than 30 minutes, which means that waking up prior to the end of deep sleep will make you feel lethargic, unfocused and confused.  If I really feel I need extra sleep, I’ll set my alarm for 30-minutes, wake up to the alarm, and set it for another 30!

Although sleep needs vary from individual to individual, adults need 8-9 hours of sleep, on average, while teens need 8.5-9.5 hours and children need 10-11 (age dependent), but preschoolers need 11-13, toddlers 12-14, infants may need 14-16 hours, and babies can need up to 18!  Children with sleep disorders (restless leg syndrome, snoring, insomnia, sleep apnea, periodic limb movement disorder, delayed/advanced sleep phase insomnia, non-24-hour sleep-wake syndrome, narcolepsy, night terrors, sleepwalking and talking, etc.) may just need to get extra sleep or to be taught how to turn off their minds, but they may require therapy, or possibly medication or special machines like nebulizers and PAPs.  In the end, sleep needs vary from one person to the next, even though they are of the same age and gender!

One of the greatest problems of most societies is that we are never taught that it is not necessary to think non-stop every day for our entire lives.  Not only do most people never stop thinking, but their thinking is uncontrolled and often destructive and disempowering.  In fact, we spend so much of our time remorsing over the past and worrying about the future that many of us miss the present moment, which is what life is really about!  This tendency to think too much has a bad effect on sleep.  Sometimes, the problem is as simple as the child is too worked up feeling emotions or thinking about something, especially if they’ve just finished watching something exciting or playing enervating video games.  Even reading a book or listening to music can cause trouble.  In fact, there should not be a TV in your child’s bedroom, and it is best if the bedroom is quiet, dark and cool.  Small sleeping chambers and larger rooms for play and possessions is a good choice.  It is best if they have a period of quiet time without play and stimulation to calm down at least 30 minutes before sleep (an hour is best).  Be sure to not give them sweets any time before bedtime, even if that means no dessert with dinner, because that will get turned into sugar and may irritate the stomach (indigestion) or be turned into fat (both of which happened to me), not to mention the possibility of diseases like diabetes.  If they DO eat sweets, they will need to exercise as soon as is practical to burn it off before bed but, remember, exercise immediately before bed may make it harder for them to sleep. One excellent idea, especially for pre-primary students, is to read them a nice story before bedtime – and be patient if they ask questions, don’t seem to pay attention, tell the story their own way, or seem distracted.  This quality time develops imagination and an interest in reading, which will be critical in later life, and strengthens the bonds with you.

Follow this up by doing specific exercises to calm their mind.  There are many techniques and you will have to discover what works best for your child (not you): abdominal breathing techniques (a meditational form of this is the Chinese Qi Gong), visual imagery to remove thoughts and emotions from their minds, praying, stretching exercises that use all the muscles of the body to release tension, telling the mind to be quiet, meditation, singing or chanting quietly the same song, or something else that helps them turn off their thoughts and feelings.  Routine is an effective way to develop this habit so sleep comes quickly, and it will also give the children a sense of security.

For those who have never heard of abdominal breathing and how to do it, I already posted a short article. Abdominal breathing for relaxation

Studying

Studying is important, especially for areas in which the student is struggling, but too much studying is a bad thing.  Cramming, for example, is one of the most inefficient and unproductive study methods around, and it creates a great deal of stress in your child that can cause them to perform poorly at school, especially during tests and exams.  Teach your child to spend 30-60 minutes a day reviewing materials from the previous weeks and months; by doing this, your child will develop efficient study habits and avoid last-minute preparations, like cramming for tests.

The process to cement information into your brain is simple!

1.       Maintain a positive attitude no matter how challenging it seems to be.  NEVER say destructive things like “It’s too difficult!”, “I can’t understand this!” or “I’m not smart enough!”  Expressions of frustration have a nasty way of becoming hindrances to learning, so keep it constructive (“With time and effort, I will succeed!”)

2.       Immediately review what you learned.  This sends a signal to your brain saying “This is important!”

3.       Rewrite it.  This is very effective because it stimulates different parts of the brain than reading and listening, and makes it “personal”.

4.       It is best if your child reviews materials learned after 1-2 days, again after a week, and once more after a month.  Infrequent reviews after that can’t hurt.

5.       Creative memorization techniques can be used to make memorizing interesting and easier, and most schools don’t teach this. Here are some tips on that: http://www.wikihow.com/Memorize or search www.TED.com or YouTube for “Memory Masters” videos so you can learn more.

It is not how much time they spend on this that is important – it is the refreshing of the memories of what they’ve learned and most especially what they’re struggling with that does the trick.  If your child develops the habit of a small amount of review each day, s/he will be able to cope with the increasing demands of school as s/he gets older.  Read more details here: https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newISS_05.htm

The same rule applies to long-term projects.  Often, large projects (or so they seem!) appear very daunting to children and they will put them off as long as they possibly can because they cannot process the scope of it or how to accomplish it.  Teach them how to analyze and identify the discrete tasks of the project so that the mountainous task becomes a series of little ones, and then show them how to prioritize and schedule everything over the time they have.  They should be given a goal of a certain amount of time spent each day on the project, a date by which the first draft of the project will be finished, followed by a period of editing and improvement before handing it in.  As they get older, they should be encouraged to set their own goals for studying and projects so that they can learn to accurately gauge their needs.  Goal-setting, deconstructing large tasks into a series of smaller ones, and scheduling are critical skills that every child must learn in order to be effective in school and life.

Another important aspect of studying is to take breaks so that your brain gets time to relax and process what you learned.  Feeling tired, dizzy or having a headache are indications that you’ve added a lot of information and also used up a lot energy and nutrients in the process of increasing your knowledge and expanding your neural network.  Take a 5-10 minute break, have a snack to give yourself energy and relax your mind, then get back to it.  It is probably best for a child to have a break every 30 minutes and a teen or adult every hour.  However, if you feel excited about what you’re learning and/or are “in the zone/flow”, it’s okay if you wait a bit longer to take a break.  Sometimes however, because of excitement or flow the learner will completely lose track of time, so you’ll need to tell your child to stop if it’s been a long time, or they’re clearly struggling.

In addition, it is critical that your child is never forced to stay up late to complete work or study.  If they didn’t finish, they need to finish it in the morning before they leave (without getting up early or skipping breakfast) or at school.  If that is not possible, they will simply have to accept the consequences; but, remember, you are the parent and you are also responsible.  In addition, forcing your child can result in undue stress, which has a deleterious effect on both the body and the brain.  Studying all night for a test is not only a bad habit to develop, it can lead to poor results and problems in the future.