colonel@gloria.UUCP (Col. G. L. Sicherman) (03/14/85)
> Does anyone have any advice on how we can help our 5 year old son to > improve his large muscle motor skills? His (kindergarten) teacher > seems to think it is below average. I don't necessarily agree with > that assessment, but then I might not always be very objective > when it comes to my son :-). He is a bit clumsy at times, but I > have always thought that is part of the problem that growing kids > have (especially during the fast growing stages - one of which he > seems to be in now). You're right to question the teacher! What is your son supposed to have trouble _doing?_ Saluting the teacher? There's really little you can do about clumsiness by that age. It's sometimes caused by inhibited movements ("don't touch or you'll get slapped"), and sometimes by de-focused eyes - especially if he's learning to read. Reading maketh a clumsy man. -- Col. G. L. Sicherman ...{rocksvax|decvax}!sunybcs!colonel
greg@olivee.UUCP (Greg Paley) (03/21/85)
The teacher mentioned in the original article may not have given enough justification for her opinion, but is also not necessarily wrong. My wife provides day care for several children during the week. Two boys from the same family seem noticeably below others of their ages in large-motor coordination. Trying to gently bring up the subject with their mother, it came up that she (1) Never lets them play outside at home - their yard is too overgrown. (2) Never takes them to parks - she doesn't have time or energy. (3) Doesn't let them have toys they can climb on or roll around with - she prefers crafts and items that provide "intellectual stimulation". As she expressed it "I guess my kids will just be thinkers". My wife tries to encourage the kids to play outside when the weather is nice and takes them to parks frequently. The two boys mentioned seemed scared to death of swings and other playground equipment at first, and are very slowly starting to gain confidence and coordination (one of them is 4 1/2, the other 2 1/2). While I don't want to see every kid pressured to be a jock, I do think it's wrong to completely ignore the kind of activities that encourage the development of large-motor coordination. - Greg Paley
fsks@unc.UUCP (Frank Silbermann) (03/27/85)
In article <olivee.254> greg@olivee.UUCP (Greg Paley) writes: > My wife provides day care for several children during the week. > Two boys from the same family seem noticeably below others of > their ages in large-motor coordination. Trying to gently bring > up the subject with their mother, it came up that she > > (1) Never lets them play outside at home - their > yard is too overgrown. > > (2) Never takes them to parks - she doesn't have > time or energy. > > (3) Doesn't let them have toys they can climb on > or roll around with - she prefers crafts > and items that provide "intellectual > stimulation". > > As she expressed it "I guess my kids will just be thinkers". You mean this mother actually WANTS her children to become NERDS? Doesn't she realize the SOCIAL PROBLEMS she is causing for them? Unless these boys are raised in an community where intellectual skills are valued above athletic skills (uncommon), this mother is risking some severe social adjustment problems in her children. When they get to elementary school, how does she think the other boys will treat her sons, if they cannot play ball well or defend themselves in a streetfight? What will happen to their self-esteem? How will their leadership and social skills and develop, if they are not respected by their peers? Net readers beware. Don't let this happen to your children. Frank Silbermann
era@hao.UUCP (Edward R. Arnold) (04/03/85)
> You mean this mother actually WANTS her children to become NERDS? > Doesn't she realize the SOCIAL PROBLEMS she is causing for them? > > Unless these boys are raised in an community where > intellectual skills are valued above athletic skills (uncommon), > this mother is risking some severe social adjustment problems > in her children. > > When they get to elementary school, how does she think > the other boys will treat her sons, if they cannot > play ball well or defend themselves in a streetfight? > What will happen to their self-esteem? > > How will their leadership and social skills and develop, > if they are not respected by their peers? > > Net readers beware. Don't let this happen to your children. > > Frank Silbermann AMEN! And --- social skills may be the least of their problems. Read the Newsweek article of 1 Apr 85, the one about the abysmal fitness level of American kids. Can you believe: a generation of kids with arteriosclerotic deposits in their arteries by age 10, who are so lethargic that lack of physical activity is stunting their intellectual growth?? I suspect that the problem I have with my son isn't unusual: I'm five times his age, and can run rings around him. I just can't get him up off his butt; I'm beginning to think I'm going to have to buy him a leash and collar, and drag him behind me. I've tried to get him involved in "fun" sports, like soccer, but he still moves around like he's got 50 lbs. of lead in his pants. Do any readers out there have creative suggestions as to how to motivate these kids? They don't seem to understand or care that even a little exercise can make them feel better and help them avoid a triple bypass in 30 years. -- Ed Arnold NCAR/SCD (Nat'l Ctr for Atmospheric Research/Scientific Computing Div.) USPS: POB 3000, Boulder, CO 80307-3000 BELL: 303-497-1253 UUCP: {hplabs,nbires,brl-bmd,seismo,menlo70}!hao!scd-sa!era
mcal@ihuxb.UUCP (Mike Clifford) (04/04/85)
> > You mean this mother actually WANTS her children to become NERDS? > > Doesn't she realize the SOCIAL PROBLEMS she is causing for them? > > Unless these boys are raised in an community where > > intellectual skills are valued above athletic skills (uncommon), > > this mother is risking some severe social adjustment problems > > in her children. > > When they get to elementary school, how does she think > > the other boys will treat her sons, if they cannot > > play ball well or defend themselves in a streetfight? > > What will happen to their self-esteem? > > How will their leadership and social skills and develop, > > if they are not respected by their peers? > > Frank Silbermann > > AMEN! And --- social skills may be the least of their > problems. Read the Newsweek article of 1 Apr 85, the one > about the abysmal fitness level of American kids. Can you > believe: a generation of kids with arteriosclerotic deposits in > their arteries by age 10, who are so lethargic that lack of > physical activity is stunting their intellectual growth?? > I suspect that the problem I have with my son isn't unusual: > I'm five times his age, and can run rings around him. I just > can't get him up off his butt; I'm beginning to think I'm going > to have to buy him a leash and collar, and drag him behind me. > I've tried to get him involved in "fun" sports, like soccer, > but he still moves around like he's got 50 lbs. of lead in his > pants. > Do any readers out there have creative suggestions as to how to > motivate these kids? They don't seem to understand or care that > even a little exercise can make them feel better and help them > avoid a triple bypass in 30 years. > -- > Ed Arnold Diet can certainly be the main factor in both the "fat" arteries that Newsweek report spoke about and in the "lethargic" behavior of your son. Be sure that his diet is VERY low in sugar, salt, caffeine, and chocolate. Also, and perhaps more importantly, keep his diet low-fat. Watch out for dairy foods, as they are loaded with milkfat. Skim or 1% milk has all the vitamins and nutrition of whole milk without the milkfat. Cheese, ice cream, etc are all high in fat. Meats, nuts, seeds and gravies are all high fat foods. You can check food items at the store to see if they're low-fat. A good rule to follow is that < 20% of the calories in one serving should come from fat. One gram of fat = 9 calories, therefore if one serving has 300 calories and contains 5 grams of fat (45 calories), then this item is low-fat, since 15% of its calories come from fat. These are similar to guidelines advocated by Nathan Pritikin. His books are available in book stores and libraries. Mike Clifford
greg@olivee.UUCP (Greg Paley) (04/06/85)
> You mean this mother actually WANTS her children to become NERDS? > Doesn't she realize the SOCIAL PROBLEMS she is causing for them? > > Unless these boys are raised in an community where > intellectual skills are valued above athletic skills (uncommon), > this mother is risking some severe social adjustment problems > in her children. > > When they get to elementary school, how does she think > the other boys will treat her sons, if they cannot > play ball well or defend themselves in a streetfight? > What will happen to their self-esteem? > > How will their leadership and social skills and develop, > if they are not respected by their peers? > > Net readers beware. Don't let this happen to your children. > > Frank Silbermann The sarcasm is unwarranted. I wasn't trying to imply that athletic skills were to be valued above intellectual development. My point was that a certain amount of physical play and activity is important and necessary. In the case I cited, these were being completely ignored. - Greg Paley
fsks@unc.UUCP (Frank Silbermann) (04/14/85)
In article <olivee.313> greg@olivee.UUCP (Greg Paley) writes: > >The sarcasm is unwarranted. I wasn't trying to imply that >athletic skills were to be valued above intellectual development. >My point was that a certain amount of physical play and activity >is important and necessary. In the case I cited, these were >being completely ignored. > > - Greg Paley I was not being sarcastic (overly dramatic, perhaps, but serious). My family did not believe that ANY level of physical fitness or athletic skill was necessary. That mother you quoted could have been my mother. I experienced all the difficulties described below. >> You mean this mother actually WANTS her children to become NERDS? >> Doesn't she realize the SOCIAL PROBLEMS she is causing for them? >> >> Unless these boys are raised in an community where >> intellectual skills are valued above athletic skills (uncommon), >> this mother is risking some severe social adjustment problems >> in her children. >> >> When they get to elementary school, how does she think >> the other boys will treat her sons, if they cannot >> play ball well or defend themselves in a streetfight? >> What will happen to their self-esteem? >> >> How will their leadership and social skills and develop, >> if they are not respected by their peers? >> >> Net readers beware. Don't let this happen to your children. >> >> Frank Silbermann