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Has your child started to withdraw from friends and family? Does he spend a lot of time on his own, seemingly uninterested in activities he once enjoyed? Have you noticed changes in his behavior, sleep, or eating habits? If you answered “Yes�� to any of these, your child could be depressed. Many people think of depression and other mental health issues as adult problems, but the truth is that they can affect young adults and children as well.

Mental health problems are nothing to scoff at and they certainly shouldn’t be ignored. Childhood mental illness can affect the rest of your child’s life, depending on whether he gets treatment at a young age or not. Every child experiences mental illness differently so it is your job as a parent to know your child well enough to identify the signs and to take the initiative in seeking treatment. Keep reading to learn more about mental illness in children and to receive tips for supporting your child.

Mental Health Issues in ��������s

According to the CDC, as many as one in five kids in the United States will exhibit signs of mental illness in any given year. This means that in a typical classroom of 25 students, as many as five of them will be struggling with anxiety, depression, ADHD, or other forms of mental illness. Unfortunately, about 80% of children who suffer from mental illness don’t get the treatment or support that they need which ultimately leads

Participating in extracurricular events is important for students of all ages but for middle schoolers, it is even more so. Your child’s middle school years can be challenging, with puberty being thrown into the mix along with standardized testing and more challenging academic standards. Student sports can be a great benefit to your middle schooler during this time, though there are also some drawbacks to consider. Keep reading to learn about the pros and cons of sports for middle schoolers and to learn how you, as a parent, can support your student-athlete.

This video from TheHealthyState presents Bonita Springs Middle School students and their physical education teacher sharing their thoughts on P.E. in schools. They speak in light of Florida House Bill 4057, which proposes removing the state mandate for P.E.

What Are the Benefits of Sports for Middle Schoolers?

Regular exercise is important for your child’s health and wellbeing, and sports are a great way to ensure that your child gets some exercise. Aside from the physical benefits of playing sports, there are some other benefits to consider. For example, a recent study has shown a link between physical activity and improved academic performance. The University of Kansas looked at the performance of students compared to their participation in athletics �� the results of the study showed that student-athletes had higher GPAs and a 10% higher rate of graduating high school. It is

Being a teacher is one of the most difficult careers out there �� it may also be one of the most thankless. Though there are certainly teachers out there who make the minimum amount of effort to keep their jobs, there are also plenty of teachers who take their roles as educators very seriously and who make it their life’s mission to improve the lives of their students. Regardless, there is no denying that teaching is a challenging job and the challenges seem to change with each passing year. Keep reading to learn about the top ten challenges facing public school teachers this year.

Top 10 Challenges for �������� Teachers in 2017

Though it is difficult to be a teacher in any capacity, public school teachers face an entirely different set of challenges than private school teachers. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, there are more than 50 million students enrolled in the public school system in the United States each year. Public schools typically have larger class sizes and less flexibility in regard to the curriculum than private schools �� plus, they are subject to more rules and regulations than private schools. All of these things combine to create a unique set of challenges �� here are the top ten:

1. Technology

Technology is rapidly improving and it has begun to proliferate every aspect of the average person’s daily life, including his education. Though technology can do some wonderful things, some teachers find

Education is constantly evolving and being reformed. Over the centuries, as the world has changed, so has the focus of childhood education. Today, early childhood education is aimed at introducing key subjects and core concepts that will be developed later in the child’s educational career but there is always debate about which educational methods are the best. Keep reading to learn about some of the top current trends in elementary school education.

Trend #1: Promoting Inquiry-Based Learning to Develop a Love for Science

No matter where you send your child to school, you are probably familiar with STEM education. STEM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics, and is it an active style of education that focuses particularly on creating a student-centered learning environment. As part of STEM education, students engage in hands-on activities that use and develop their skills for questioning, problem-solving, and teamwork all the while addressing relevant real-life issues. In a STEM educational environment, teachers fill the role of a classroom facilitator �� they act as a guide to students, helping them through the problem-solving process and creating lessons and projects that guide students toward proficiency in the content of the curriculum. The goal of STEM education is to develop students into becoming effective communicators and logical thinkers �� they should also be proficient and literate in science, mathematics, and technology.

This video explains inquiry-based learning.

There is a great deal of

A recent survey shows that as many as 11% of children aged 4 to 17 years old have attention deficit hyperactivity disorder or ADHD. This is a condition defined by an ongoing pattern of inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity that can interfere with the child’s development and daily function. Some of the most common signs of ADHD like hyperactivity and impulsivity are easy to identify, but there is another category of symptoms that is often less clear �� inattention.

Inattention is more than just having trouble staying on task, however, it has lately been defined more broadly as a pattern of difficulties known as executive function disorder (EFD). Keep reading to learn more about executive functioning issues and how to manage them.

This video explains how to bolster executive functioning in middle and high school-age students.

What is Executive Functioning Disorder?

If you think of the human brain as a big company, the executive function of the brain is the CEO. Around the time your child hits puberty, the frontal part in the cortex of his brain matures enough to allow him to perform higher-level tasks �� things that the chief executive officer of a company might do. This includes actions like:

• Analyzing a particular task
• Planning the steps to complete the task
• Organizing those steps as needed
• Developing timeline to complete the task
• Adjusting or changing the steps as needed to complete the task
• Completing the task in a