I bought the book of virtues: A treasury of great moral stories years ago, back when I was a grad student and children were just a faint idea in a distant future.Cognitive learning definition wikipedia I loved this collection of classic stories, and recently as I was going through my books, I rediscovered it and thought it would be great to introduce it to my kids.Cognitive learning definition wikipedia we have started reading portions of it to the kids at night, and at mealtimes. I could go on and on about this book, and a part of me is tempted to just stop writing altogether, and just post one of the selections here every day.Cognitive learning definition wikipedia it’s that good. Read excerpts here.

This past month, we’ve started reading the following poem before every meal. Now, at first glance, I admit this poem seems a bit, how shall we say . . .Cognitive learning definition wikipedia stodgy and strict. (yes, that age-old goodie “children should be seen and heard” is from this very poem). But I like the values that it teaches about how kids should compose themselves at meals.Cognitive learning definition wikipedia now – since reading this, do my meals look like the one described here? Mwaahahahahahahah. No. But we are moving in the right direction, and the kids can now recite most of the poem, explain what it means, and THE BEST PART: catch themselves (or more likely, each other) when they are not being appropriate.Cognitive learning definition wikipedia

They boys are en route to haiti. I just talked to mark and jafta. They are all settled in to their hotel in the miami airport. Yes – in the airport, as in right next door to the gate where they landed.Cognitive learning definition wikipedia pretty cool, huh? I’m not sure why we’ve never done that before. It’s so much smarter to show up to haiti showered and rested, instead of on the tail-end of a long red eye flight.Cognitive learning definition wikipedia

Today was a hard day for me. I’ve been so consumed with getting them ready for this trip and collecting donations that I think I was in totally denial that I wasn’t actually going.Cognitive learning definition wikipedia as I dropped them off at the airport, I was so, so sad. I think it didn’t hit jafta that I wasn’t going until just then, either. He was giddy with excitement all morning at then after I said goodbye to him, mark said he was really quiet and sad for about a half hour.Cognitive learning definition wikipedia which is a pretty sharp contrast to how he has acted for the past 24 hours.

Jafta has what I like to call an “anticipatory behavior” issue. (actually, I completely stole this descriptor from christine – one very smart mama).Cognitive learning definition wikipedia when he is excited about something, he acts like a total and complete spaz until it happens. He basically becomes the tasmanian devil. Only louder.Cognitive learning definition wikipedia it is really, really annoying because he ends up driving us nuts AND getting in trouble over and over again. So much so, that I typically don’t even tell him things in advance anymore.Cognitive learning definition wikipedia if he has a playdate, I tell him 5 minutes prior. If we have a birthday party to go to, I announce it on the way there. I didn’t even tell him when it was christmas eve – he just woke up one morning, and BAM, it was christmas.Cognitive learning definition wikipedia this may sound mean, but trust me. It is better for everyone involved, including him.

Anyways, we couldn’t really hide the haiti trip. So last night, he was a whirling dervish of energy.Cognitive learning definition wikipedia we put him to bed at 8pm and he was up until 11!! This is despite numerous stern lectures from us about his need to sleep. Luckily he got a decent nap on the plane today, but I feel sorry for the people sitting in front of him.Cognitive learning definition wikipedia I have a feeling they got some decent kicks in their seat backs from my over-excited four-year-old.

Meanwhile, on the homefront, india is completely and totally bitter that she is not going to haiti.Cognitive learning definition wikipedia she was angry with me all night. She has been watching the donations come in all week, too. All she knows is that there has been a pile of bubbles, balloons, tricycles, and toys that she has not been allowed to play with because they are going to haiti.Cognitive learning definition wikipedia in her mind haiti is just an island where all the “good toys” are going, and she can’t go with them. All night tonight, she has been showing me a toy and saying, “this toy is from haiti”.Cognitive learning definition wikipedia she’s also been asking about the bubbles in haiti, and if kembert (keanan) is playing with the balloons. Such a humanitarian, that one.

By the way, here’s a picture of their luggage.Cognitive learning definition wikipedia thank you SO MUCH to all of you who dropped donations off this weekend. We fit an unbelievable amount of stuff to take for the orphanage, women’s program, and sewing program.Cognitive learning definition wikipedia mark and jafta have all their personal stuff in backpacks. We bought these big duffle bags last year just for this purpose, because they carry so much and then we can fold them up and bring them home until the next trip.Cognitive learning definition wikipedia each bag was exactly 50 pounds – lots of weighing and redistributing last night to fit it all in without having to pay the heavy bag penalty.Cognitive learning definition wikipedia it’s fun to play “mules” for the missionaries who work so hard in haiti.

I previously worked at a weight loss camp for kids, and I was shocked at what I had discovered: the camp I worked for was not providing any information to the campers–it was simply a calorie restrictive program that caused kids to lose weight rapidly (not in a healthy way), form a negative association with food, and not learn anything to help them succeed once leaving camp.Cognitive learning definition wikipedia following that experience, a camper’s father reached out to me to see if we could come up with a camp that could really help kids. We set out to build a camp where kids could feel empowered to make healthy decisions based on information and feedback.Cognitive learning definition wikipedia camp new heights is designed to give campers access to vast amounts of information and knowledge that they can take home with them and share with their families, friends, and communities.Cognitive learning definition wikipedia

Bob dylan talked about “the times they are a-changing”, but we’re at the point where the times have definitively changed. Today’s generation faces all of the same growing pains that were faced 20-30 years ago, but now there is the added pressure from social platforms that is hard to encapsulate.Cognitive learning definition wikipedia today’s kids face pressures from their peers and a whole social environment that we never knew as kids. It’s hard to not value yourself against your peers when there is a quantitative measure of likes and comments on various social channels.Cognitive learning definition wikipedia the advent of computers, phones, and social networks has allowed both kids and adults to somewhat isolate ourselves from our friends and family.Cognitive learning definition wikipedia this ability to isolate can be dangerous because it can lead to a downward spiral and removal from friends and activities that were once loved.Cognitive learning definition wikipedia the ease of use of technology has been detrimental in this regard since it’s important to stay connected with friends and family members with tangible social contact.Cognitive learning definition wikipedia the ability to decipher and interpret facial expressions, emotions, and other context clues are so important to having healthy relationships.Cognitive learning definition wikipedia the distance that technology adds to our relationships can make the ability to interpret these complex idiosyncratic behaviors a lot harder.Cognitive learning definition wikipedia

I believe that each journey towards health and wellness looks different. Due to the variability in the journey, it’s important for parents to expose their kids to a wide array of activities.Cognitive learning definition wikipedia A kid may not like the idea of running a mile, but perhaps they love sprinting for 100 meters. By providing opportunities to try and experiment with new activities, kids will be more likely to find something that they really enjoy.Cognitive learning definition wikipedia it’s important to provide positive feedback to kids attempting something for their first time. After all, there was a time when michael jordan had never held a basketball.Cognitive learning definition wikipedia

In regards to food, it’s super important to expand the palates of kids as early as possible. If kids only eat processed food that is enhanced with sugar to provide a palatable taste, the child’s taste preferences will develop around that flavor profile.Cognitive learning definition wikipedia there are so many resources available for healthy recipes for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and plenty of in-between snacks. It’s important to try new meals and foods as a family, and just because a parent doesn’t like it doesn’t mean the child will think the same thing.Cognitive learning definition wikipedia I didn’t have an avocado until I was 23 years old simply because my parents didn’t eat them. Be just as adventurous with your food as you would be with trying new activities.Cognitive learning definition wikipedia

We believe in the philosophy that no matter where you start, we can all grow. We cherish the ability to bring together groups of kids who might not cross paths while at school.Cognitive learning definition wikipedia working with these two groups concurrently allows us to highlight similar struggles and achievements. Bridging the gap between beginner and advanced is really shown in our group sports activities when we see such a wide array of skill levels that learn to work together as a team.Cognitive learning definition wikipedia the beginner and advanced groups have tons of opportunities to work together and we see some of the most positive peer reinforcement in these moments.Cognitive learning definition wikipedia

We had a camper last year who was entering his senior year of high school. This camper was a wonderful person and a natural born leader. This camper exuded confidence, but confided in the staff that he wanted to lose weight so that he could try out for his high school’s soccer team.Cognitive learning definition wikipedia we set out to give this camper the best route to go about his goals. This camper became a leader among his peers in advocating for his food choices and never gave less than his best in any workout.Cognitive learning definition wikipedia this camper never starved himself, but simply made great food choices. This camper stayed with us for the entire six week summer session and left down 40+ pounds.Cognitive learning definition wikipedia we weren’t so concerned about the number on the scale, but we were delighted to hear him comment on how comfortable he felt running, on his ability to breath easier, sleep better, and how he generally felt better doing everyday things.Cognitive learning definition wikipedia this tangible feeling for him reinforced the choices he made. I nearly cried when he sent me a message in the middle of the school year that he not only had tried out for the team, but was selected to be on the highly competitive division I school team.Cognitive learning definition wikipedia

My other camper story comes from our first year in which we had a camper join us who had no real exercise experience. This camper was not overweight and was actually underweight by traditional standards.Cognitive learning definition wikipedia this camper came in with an incredibly open mind and was just a sponge for information. The camper enthusiastically tried every camp activity she could over her four-week stay.Cognitive learning definition wikipedia the camper took the nutritional advice to heart and–much like the camper in story one–remarked on how great she felt after each meal. The camper started to put on some muscle which she was very proud to show her parents on move-out day.Cognitive learning definition wikipedia however, I haven’t even hit my favorite part of this story which comes from her decision to take the swimming class. This camper had never swam before and was actually very worried about her lack of swim experience.Cognitive learning definition wikipedia the transformation was like a fish to water. In a matter of days, this camper was doing 1:15 per 100 yards front crawl in the pool (which is quite impressive).Cognitive learning definition wikipedia this camper went from never entering a body of water to a legitimate freestyle swimmer. The camper reached out to our swim instructor a few months later to let her know that she had won her apartment complex’s swimming race.Cognitive learning definition wikipedia