Juggle Away School Anxiety Over Summer Vacation
With a collective sigh, millions of children are relieved that school is almost out. But by mid-July back-to-school reminders will be everywhere. September is just around the corner by that time, and just thinking about going back to school starts many kid's anxiety. The new school year may bring more of the same Monday through Friday morning frustration when your kid cries, "I don't want to go to school!"
Children who are chronically school anxious are highly stressed a good deal of the time. Their anxious symptoms such as stomachaches, headaches, shakiness, chest pain and rapid heartbeat leave them feeling helpless and exhausted. Most anxious kids have little confidence in themselves, their abilities and talents. It's hard for them to take criticism and to meet challenges. Many children with anxiety feel "weird" and isolated from peers. As the cycle of anxiety continues, it becomes difficult for these kids to develop the confidence necessary to become successful students, academically and socially.
But summer vacation is a perfect time to help your child learn new skills that will help him or her to radiate with confidence and have lots of fun too. Over the next few months I'll be writing about activities that you and your child might be interested in trying between playing with friends, swimming, and other summertime fun. The first one is juggling.
What, you might ask, does juggling have to do with helping kids overcome school anxiety? Actually, it can help kids quite a lot because of the following benefits:
1. increases concentration and focus
2. improves eye-hand coordination
3. teaches discipline
4. is an aerobic exercise
5. builds confidence
6. leads to improved behavior
7. easy to learn
8. juggling is fun, fun, fun!
An article in Education World (see link below) cites empirical data from teachers who state that teaching kids how to juggle in the classroom leads to improvements in students' academics, behavior, and social interactions.
Juggling is an inexpensive activity that the whole family can enjoy. Besides individual routines, family members can learn group routines too. I've listed a number of websites about juggling for kids, one of which tells how to make your own juggling balls and also gives free instructions for learning how to juggle. Some children start off with chiffon scarves, then move to bean bags, and graduate to balls. As a child grows into a proficient juggler, fruits and other safe objects, such as rubber chickens up the ante and the fun.
When I was a little girl my father taught my brother and me how to juggle. My dad would juggle apples and one of his tricks was to take a bite out of an apple as he juggled it—it was magical and led to great times and memories with my dad. Now I'm learning to juggle again and will use juggling in my practice to help children feel good and overcome their anxiety.
So, this summer engage your child in juggling and see his confidence soar. And when the new school year begins and classmates ask your child, "What did you do over summer vacation?" And your child answers, "I learned how to juggle." He or she will likely hear their classmates say, "Wow, that's awesome!" Or "Can you show me how to juggle?"
My next blog for helping your child "Overcome School Anxiety Over Summer Vacation" will be about: Learning Magic Tricks
The links below contain juggling information:
Children who are chronically school anxious are highly stressed a good deal of the time. Their anxious symptoms such as stomachaches, headaches, shakiness, chest pain and rapid heartbeat leave them feeling helpless and exhausted. Most anxious kids have little confidence in themselves, their abilities and talents. It's hard for them to take criticism and to meet challenges. Many children with anxiety feel "weird" and isolated from peers. As the cycle of anxiety continues, it becomes difficult for these kids to develop the confidence necessary to become successful students, academically and socially.
But summer vacation is a perfect time to help your child learn new skills that will help him or her to radiate with confidence and have lots of fun too. Over the next few months I'll be writing about activities that you and your child might be interested in trying between playing with friends, swimming, and other summertime fun. The first one is juggling.
What, you might ask, does juggling have to do with helping kids overcome school anxiety? Actually, it can help kids quite a lot because of the following benefits:
1. increases concentration and focus
2. improves eye-hand coordination
3. teaches discipline
4. is an aerobic exercise
5. builds confidence
6. leads to improved behavior
7. easy to learn
8. juggling is fun, fun, fun!
An article in Education World (see link below) cites empirical data from teachers who state that teaching kids how to juggle in the classroom leads to improvements in students' academics, behavior, and social interactions.
Juggling is an inexpensive activity that the whole family can enjoy. Besides individual routines, family members can learn group routines too. I've listed a number of websites about juggling for kids, one of which tells how to make your own juggling balls and also gives free instructions for learning how to juggle. Some children start off with chiffon scarves, then move to bean bags, and graduate to balls. As a child grows into a proficient juggler, fruits and other safe objects, such as rubber chickens up the ante and the fun.
When I was a little girl my father taught my brother and me how to juggle. My dad would juggle apples and one of his tricks was to take a bite out of an apple as he juggled it—it was magical and led to great times and memories with my dad. Now I'm learning to juggle again and will use juggling in my practice to help children feel good and overcome their anxiety.
So, this summer engage your child in juggling and see his confidence soar. And when the new school year begins and classmates ask your child, "What did you do over summer vacation?" And your child answers, "I learned how to juggle." He or she will likely hear their classmates say, "Wow, that's awesome!" Or "Can you show me how to juggle?"
My next blog for helping your child "Overcome School Anxiety Over Summer Vacation" will be about: Learning Magic Tricks
The links below contain juggling information:
Juggling Links for Kids
Take a ride through the world of Juggling. Juggling Information Service · International Jugglers Association · Juggling Festivals · Juggling Help ...
www.icanjuggle.com/kidlinks.html - 3k - Cached - Similar pages
· Education World® : Curriculum : Teachers Link Juggling to Improved ...
Mar 11, 2002 ... Goodman explains that the kids start by juggling scarves, then move on to such "stuff" as beanbags, balls, small plungers, rubber chickens, ...
www.education-world.com/a_curr/curr393.shtml - 48k - Cached - Similar pages
Juggling
Mar 23, 2009 ... SurfNetKids.com lists the top five juggling websites. Juggling entered our house last year, when my son got a set of three balls as a ...
www.surfnetkids.com/juggle.htm - 36k - Cached - Similar pages
How to juggle free with Mark Nizer world champion
Who can juggle: I have taught people as old as 80 to juggle and kids as young as 4 can juggle the basic three ball pattern. What you need: ...
active-media.com/nizer/howtojuggle.html - 14k - Cached - Similar pages
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