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The quickest way to change your child’s behaviour is to first change your own.

Good parenting requires sacrifice. Childhood lasts for only a few brief years , but it should be given priority while it is passing before your eyes

Children today are under enormous pressures rarely experienced by their parents or grandparents. Many of today's children are being enticed to grow up too quickly and are encountering challenges for which they are totally unprepared.

The mistake that Sharon and I both made is we never set any boundaries.  (Ozzy Osbourne)

The challenge of adolescence is to balance the right of the parents to feel they are in charge with the need of the adolescent to gain independence.

Setting limits teaches your children valuable skills they will use the rest of their lives. One day, they will report to a job where their ability to follow rules will dictate their success.

"The thing that impresses me most about North America is the way parents obey their children"    (King Edward VII , 1841-1910)

Simple rules adhered to when children are young can prevent more serious problems later.

Some hope their children will be like sponges soaking up the truth and wisdom imparted by their parents. However appealing this philosophy might be, it seldom seems to catch on with their children.

"Moody" and "unpredictable" are adjectives parents will often use when referring to their teenagers.

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Brain Fact # 13

Food for Thought

 

If you were to inject a blue dye into the blood stream of an animal, tissues of the whole body would turn blue – except the brain and the spinal cord. This is due to the presence of the blood brain barrier which prevents some materials in the blood, such as bacteria, from entering the brain. The blood brain barrier works to maintain a constant environment for the brain while allowing the movement of essential molecules into it.

Two essential molecules that are allowed into the brain are oxygen and glucose. The brain’s energy requirements are far out of proportion to the 2% of the body’s total weight that it represents. The brain receives 15% of the cardiac output, and consumes 20% of total oxygen and nearly 20% of total glucose utilization. This means that  the brain extracts approximately 50% of  the oxygen and 10% of the glucose from the arterial blood. These are incredible number considering the small size of the brain.

Glucose, a form of sugar, is the brain’s source of fuel. Because brain cells cannot store glucose, they depend on the bloodstream to deliver it. Glucose in the blood comes mostly from carbohydrates, that is the starches and sugars that we ingest in the form of grains, fruits and vegetables and  dairy products. These complex carbohydrates are broken down slowly and delivered to the brain. Simple carbohydrates (most processed and sugary foods) break apart quickly and are rapidly released into the bloodstream and they rapidly raise your blood sugar level and give you a quick brain boost. The effect is short-lived however, because the hormone insulin signals cells to pull the excess glucose from the bloodstream and store it for later use. Neurons are unable to store glucose however and so they quickly deplete their fuel.

Our brains need glucose to function and there are different ways to get it with some foods (mostly natural ones) providing a better, slower and more constant source of fuel than others (processed and high sugar foods). This has important implications for brain performance as eating a healthy diet is an important factor in brain functioning.

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Workshops

+ Behaviour Management (now available online)

This full day or 2 evening workshop will introduce you […]

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+ A Parent’s Guide to the Teenage Brain

  A teenager’s brain is not just an adult brain […]

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+ Reading Rescue

A program for children with reading problems

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+ A Guided Tour of ADHD (now available online)

This workshop will present the facts, myths, misconceptions, controversy and […]

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2720 Rath Street, Putnam, Ontario
NOL 2BO

Phone: (519) 485-4678
Fax: (519) 485-0281

Email: info@rickharper.ca

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