Found this article on ADHD, Diet and Exercise. It's about a miracle cure a young adult had of his ADHD when he improved he diet and got LOTS of exercise. He went off his meds cold turkey and is doing great, so long as he runs 3-6 miles a day.
So, is it a miracle cure? Sure, if you believe there was actually something wrong with him in the first place. From my perspective, his environment and life style were out of sync with his physical needs. When he found the balance that worked for him he didn't suddenly have an ADHD cure. He just found what he needs to be healthy.
What's sick is our modern lifestyle. Refined foods like white sugar and flour are ubiquitous. Natural and whole foods are expensive. Children are confined to small indoor spaces, made to sit quietly at desks for most of their day. Many adults are chained to desk work on a daily basis. Just to get enough exercise to maintain basic health people PAY MONEY for the right to exercise at gyms. What's up with that?!? Most of us don't spend even an hour in natural light in a day. This isn't how we evolved to live.
We evolved to move our bodies regularly, to be in the sunshine daily, and to eat foods whose origins don't have to be guessed at. Books like "The Edison Trait" and "Right Brained Children in a Left Brained World" tell us that what we call ADHD is really just another way to live in the world, a way that has served us well in the past and is still valuable today.
Let's stop calling people dysfunctional if, when you improve their environment, they are not dysfunctional. Let's notice the environmental damage that so injures these folks, and let's appreciate them for being our canaries in the coal mine of modern life.
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Homeschooling on line
I have a lot of favorite homeschooling websites. Here are a few.
There's Google of course, as in "I don't know how many vertebrae a bird has, let's Google it." (Different species of birds have different numbers of vertebrae! Who knew?) I don't even want to think about how many google searches a day we average!
When I'm helping new homeschoolers, I always point them at Home Education Magazine's website, and remind them to check out the getting started page.
Then there's the International Children's Digital Library. How cool is that?
Living Math has been a wonderful resource for us. I only wish I had a larger book allowance (both space and money) because some of the books recommended here are hard to get through our local library.
Then there's the BBC school website. My oldest (9) has enjoyed playing some of the games on this site, most notably Dance Mat Typing.
These are just a few of our favorites. What are yours?
As a little aside: I do limit the amount of time the children have to play on the computer, even if the game is educational. I find that more than ~30 min. of screen time tends to lead to poor behavior. Also, for at least one of my kids, the draw of the computer is so great that all other activities will be pushed aside and forgotten if computer time is unlimited. So much for unschooling, eh? Every family has to work out what is best for them.
There's Google of course, as in "I don't know how many vertebrae a bird has, let's Google it." (Different species of birds have different numbers of vertebrae! Who knew?) I don't even want to think about how many google searches a day we average!
When I'm helping new homeschoolers, I always point them at Home Education Magazine's website, and remind them to check out the getting started page.
Then there's the International Children's Digital Library. How cool is that?
Living Math has been a wonderful resource for us. I only wish I had a larger book allowance (both space and money) because some of the books recommended here are hard to get through our local library.
Then there's the BBC school website. My oldest (9) has enjoyed playing some of the games on this site, most notably Dance Mat Typing.
These are just a few of our favorites. What are yours?
As a little aside: I do limit the amount of time the children have to play on the computer, even if the game is educational. I find that more than ~30 min. of screen time tends to lead to poor behavior. Also, for at least one of my kids, the draw of the computer is so great that all other activities will be pushed aside and forgotten if computer time is unlimited. So much for unschooling, eh? Every family has to work out what is best for them.
Sunday, March 23, 2008
Catching up
I've been reading, but not posting. Kids, holidays, and other family stuff seem to interfere with my book and talking addiction. Sigh.... ;-)
So what I have a read recently...
I have to say that I wasted a couple of hours on the first book of the graphic novel Preacher series. It sounded interesting, and I've enjoyed comics and graphic novels before. (Check out Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi) Whatever worth there was in the story was totally overwhelmed by the graphic violence depicted in the pictures. Not for me. "Gone to Texas" is of those things I wished I'd never seen, because the images are stuck in my mind now. Which I suppose says something about the artist, and about me, but YUCK! I found it reading the online comic Unshelved. Unshelved is well worth spending some time on, and I did, which is another reason I haven't written much recently!
When I finished the most recent book in the Temaire series by Naomi Novak, I rushed to the computer to put the next book on hold. Sadly it won't be out until July of this year, and only in hardback then. While I can order it in advance from Amazon, I can't put it on hold at the library yet. Oh, the frustration!!! This is why I try never to read a series that isn't completed. If you liked Eragon and/or the Patrick O'Brian series, don't miss the writing of Naomi Novak!
Finished A Thomas Jefferson Education. Well worth the time, tho' I don't agree with all of it. Neither do the Objectivists, but I don't agree with them either. I did find it interesting that not only do we (accidentally) follow the authors model of mentor/student and discussion, but that I've also got a pretty good start on their adult recommended reading lists, and my boys on their kids lists. HA! Bet you didn't know you could do Classical Education with unschooling.
Also finished and want to comment on The Tipping Point, and The Average Human, which I read in tandem. Reading many books at a time often gives me some interesting (and sometimes strange) insights.
But for now that will have to wait. I'm going to go sleep off my Easter Dinner.
So what I have a read recently...
I have to say that I wasted a couple of hours on the first book of the graphic novel Preacher series. It sounded interesting, and I've enjoyed comics and graphic novels before. (Check out Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi) Whatever worth there was in the story was totally overwhelmed by the graphic violence depicted in the pictures. Not for me. "Gone to Texas" is of those things I wished I'd never seen, because the images are stuck in my mind now. Which I suppose says something about the artist, and about me, but YUCK! I found it reading the online comic Unshelved. Unshelved is well worth spending some time on, and I did, which is another reason I haven't written much recently!
When I finished the most recent book in the Temaire series by Naomi Novak, I rushed to the computer to put the next book on hold. Sadly it won't be out until July of this year, and only in hardback then. While I can order it in advance from Amazon, I can't put it on hold at the library yet. Oh, the frustration!!! This is why I try never to read a series that isn't completed. If you liked Eragon and/or the Patrick O'Brian series, don't miss the writing of Naomi Novak!
Finished A Thomas Jefferson Education. Well worth the time, tho' I don't agree with all of it. Neither do the Objectivists, but I don't agree with them either. I did find it interesting that not only do we (accidentally) follow the authors model of mentor/student and discussion, but that I've also got a pretty good start on their adult recommended reading lists, and my boys on their kids lists. HA! Bet you didn't know you could do Classical Education with unschooling.
Also finished and want to comment on The Tipping Point, and The Average Human, which I read in tandem. Reading many books at a time often gives me some interesting (and sometimes strange) insights.
But for now that will have to wait. I'm going to go sleep off my Easter Dinner.
Saturday, March 1, 2008
February's books
- The Short Bus, a Journey Beyond Normal, by Jonathan Mooney
- The Spiderwick Chronicles Book 1 The Field Guide, by DiTerlizzi and Black
- The Seven Deadly Virtues, by Forrest Church
- Kingdom of Children, by Mitchell L. Stevens
- The Abstinence Teacher, by Tom Perrota
- Devil May Cry, by Sherrilyn Kenyon
- Dark Side of the Moon, by Sherrilyn Kenyon
- The Teenage Liberation Handbook, by Grace Llewellyn
- A Thomas Jefferson Education, by Oliver Van DeMille
- The Autobiography of Eleanor Roosevelt, by Eleanor Roosevelt
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Clarification on book lists.
So, for all two of you who read this, I'm going to clarify my rules for my lists "What I'm reading" and "What's on my shelf".
See last night a certain friend told me I couldn't possibly have read or been reading all those books because she knew for a fact that one of the books on the list I didn't actually have in my possession at the time she read the list. (She knew that 'cause I was desperately begging for it, but that's another story.) The insinuation being that there might be other books on the list I wasn't actually reading, hadn't read, and, might never read. Because NOBODY, I'm told, could read all that in a month.
Actually, it's only the 19th. The month isn't over. I suspect I'll add more books before it's March. There's an extra day in February this year, after all. Also, did you check out what some of those books were? Dude, 2 hours tops for Kenyon. Vampire romances are, like, a quickie. And don't ride me about romances. There's broccoli, rice, and chicken, then there's dessert. Romances are a cheap candy bar. Sometimes you just have to have one.
Thus I see the need for clarification.
"What I'm reading this month" is a list of, wait for it, what I'm reading this month. It's either books I plan on reading, have started reading, or have finished reading. I knew that I would read this book in question because it was for a book group I attend religiously, thus it made the list, even though I didn't own the book, was 4/6 on the library wait list for it, and after hitting 4 bookstores in town had to pay $25+ for the last copy the day before book group (that's that other story, I could have bored a library copy from a friend, but... oh, it's just complicated). At the beginning of the next month I will copy the list on to a post labeled, excitingly,"February's books". If I haven't finished the book, it will also be added to the current list. If I never started the book it will NOT be included in that post but listed to the current months list, or I will list it on the "On my shelf" list, newly created for this purpose.
The "On my shelf list" is literally a list of books I have waiting for me, but that I don't currently have any other relationship to. It includes books from the library that I may not give a thorough read, and books that I don't read per se, but do reference or browse on occasion. There's a few that I started, haven't finished, aren't actively trying to finish, but haven't quite given up on yet. It also includes, at the moment, some lovely thick Charles de Lint that I got from my sweet heart for my birthday months ago, but have been too busy to let myself indulge in. (Those I do seem to be evolving a relationship with, but I'm a little ambiguous about where we're going.) Also, having lived with this list for only a few minutes, I'm not sure what I'll do about those books that never seem to want to move on to some other list. I'm not into punishment. What would be a natural consequence for a book that refused to be read? I'll work on that.
I have to say, so far, my list of books is what I like most about this blog. I started it just to figure out blogging. I've done a couple of posts to help with that problem I have. (You know, where my mouth runs, but not much comes out, then later I think of something brilliant at 3 am? Please let me think I'm brilliant at 3 am, I've pretty much proved I'm not at any other hour.) But the list of books, (loving sigh here) the list of books. ... it's like putting my memory somewhere where outside my head. It's a list of friends and acquaintances I might otherwise forget the name of at a party, only to embarrass myself "Oh, we have met before". I can look at that title and remember the gentle midnight caress, the rough repartee, the hands held walking in the rain. I can be reminded of how great it was to start a book and discover that I loved it.
Or not, as the case may be.
The only thing better than an ongoing list of my book-affairs, would be a Netflix-like list for books. I would love to have an ever-increasing list of books I'm interested in, that I could place in order of my current enthusiasm, and have delivered when I'm done with what I'm working on right now. Wow, I'm melting at the thought.
See last night a certain friend told me I couldn't possibly have read or been reading all those books because she knew for a fact that one of the books on the list I didn't actually have in my possession at the time she read the list. (She knew that 'cause I was desperately begging for it, but that's another story.) The insinuation being that there might be other books on the list I wasn't actually reading, hadn't read, and, might never read. Because NOBODY, I'm told, could read all that in a month.
Actually, it's only the 19th. The month isn't over. I suspect I'll add more books before it's March. There's an extra day in February this year, after all. Also, did you check out what some of those books were? Dude, 2 hours tops for Kenyon. Vampire romances are, like, a quickie. And don't ride me about romances. There's broccoli, rice, and chicken, then there's dessert. Romances are a cheap candy bar. Sometimes you just have to have one.
Thus I see the need for clarification.
"What I'm reading this month" is a list of, wait for it, what I'm reading this month. It's either books I plan on reading, have started reading, or have finished reading. I knew that I would read this book in question because it was for a book group I attend religiously, thus it made the list, even though I didn't own the book, was 4/6 on the library wait list for it, and after hitting 4 bookstores in town had to pay $25+ for the last copy the day before book group (that's that other story, I could have bored a library copy from a friend, but... oh, it's just complicated). At the beginning of the next month I will copy the list on to a post labeled, excitingly,"February's books". If I haven't finished the book, it will also be added to the current list. If I never started the book it will NOT be included in that post but listed to the current months list, or I will list it on the "On my shelf" list, newly created for this purpose.
The "On my shelf list" is literally a list of books I have waiting for me, but that I don't currently have any other relationship to. It includes books from the library that I may not give a thorough read, and books that I don't read per se, but do reference or browse on occasion. There's a few that I started, haven't finished, aren't actively trying to finish, but haven't quite given up on yet. It also includes, at the moment, some lovely thick Charles de Lint that I got from my sweet heart for my birthday months ago, but have been too busy to let myself indulge in. (Those I do seem to be evolving a relationship with, but I'm a little ambiguous about where we're going.) Also, having lived with this list for only a few minutes, I'm not sure what I'll do about those books that never seem to want to move on to some other list. I'm not into punishment. What would be a natural consequence for a book that refused to be read? I'll work on that.
I have to say, so far, my list of books is what I like most about this blog. I started it just to figure out blogging. I've done a couple of posts to help with that problem I have. (You know, where my mouth runs, but not much comes out, then later I think of something brilliant at 3 am? Please let me think I'm brilliant at 3 am, I've pretty much proved I'm not at any other hour.) But the list of books, (loving sigh here) the list of books. ... it's like putting my memory somewhere where outside my head. It's a list of friends and acquaintances I might otherwise forget the name of at a party, only to embarrass myself "Oh, we have met before". I can look at that title and remember the gentle midnight caress, the rough repartee, the hands held walking in the rain. I can be reminded of how great it was to start a book and discover that I loved it.
Or not, as the case may be.
The only thing better than an ongoing list of my book-affairs, would be a Netflix-like list for books. I would love to have an ever-increasing list of books I'm interested in, that I could place in order of my current enthusiasm, and have delivered when I'm done with what I'm working on right now. Wow, I'm melting at the thought.
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