With Tennessee children back in school, health experts have advice on how parents can prioritize their children's well-being.
Medical professionals say routine checkups, including physicals, immunizations, eye exams and dental cleanings can keep kids healthy and ready to learn.
Dr. Kimberlee Wyche-Etheridge, public health pediatrician for Meharry Medical Group in Nashville, said respiratory illnesses become common as fall approaches. Because the viruses spread easily via droplets and contact, she suggested parents share preventive measures with their children.
"Washing your hands, often using soap and warm water when you have access," Wyche-Etheridge outlined. "If you don't have access, get out that hand sanitizer. Try to avoid touching your face and your eyes, your mouth, because that's how viruses can enter the body. Stay away from people that are sick."
Wyche-Etheridge recommended a healthy diet and exercise to boost immunity. A recent study revealed influenza outbreaks during peak flu seasons led to approximately 9,000 school closures across the country between 2011 and 2022, impacting an estimated 4 million students.
According to a 2023 poll by the Pew Research Center, nearly half of parents with teenagers are deeply concerned about their child experiencing anxiety or depression. Wyche-Etheridge emphasized it is important to discuss a child's mental well-being with their pediatrician.
"A child that is stressed, that is anxious, that is depressed, that may be feeling very overwhelmed isn't going to have the same amount of attention to focus on their schoolwork as children that don't have those extra burdens," Wyche-Etheridge explained.
Dr. Rhonda Randall, chief medical officer and executive vice president of UnitedHealthcare Employer and Individual, encouraged families to set routines, like a regular dinnertime. She also recommended limiting time spent online and ensuring kids are getting enough rest.
"Things like screen time and access to social media and putting appropriate age limits on those things," Randall suggested. "Setting a good sleep schedule. So what time is lights out?"
Randall stressed consistency helps kids feel more confident, secure and stable, and promotes their health. She added encouraging children to become more independent at home will help them establish it in other areas of their lives.
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If the election season made one thing clear, it is neither side can hear what the other is saying and one expert believes it is because most of us were not taught "active listening" in school.
Christine Miles, founder of The Listening Path Classroom program, said only about 2% of schools offer formal listening skill development programs, which can handicap our success as adults. Miles believes too many of us listen half-heartedly, keen to share our thoughts or arguments the minute the other person stops talking.
"This is not new," Miles pointed out. "Since 1957, there's been talk about the fact that there's not formal education in schools on listening, and the reason I think it hasn't been solved is because listening has been notoriously hard."
Research shows students from kindergarten through 12th grade spend 50% to 75% of their classroom time listening, yet comprehend only 25% to 50% of what they hear. According to Miles, when it comes to politics, it is rarely effective to argue someone into adopting your position.
Miles believes technology is partly to blame for poor listening. Kids spend so many hours on their electronic devices, Miles explained some develop a natural form of attention deficit disorder, even if they don't have the condition biochemically.
"What the technology has done is made our brains even more impatient and more distracted than they already were," Miles contended. "If we don't help them learn how to have conversations about things they disagree about, how will they learn how to manage that?"
Miles noted becoming an adult without good listening skills can affect both academic success and social-emotional learning. To develop better skills, experts recommended being fully present in a conversation, showing interest by practicing good eye contact, asking open-ended questions, paraphrasing and reflecting back what has been said and withholding judgment and advice.
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The early childhood development initiative "Too Small to Fail" is expanding in Pennsylvania to boost children's brain and language development, preparing them for kindergarten and beyond.
Nearly 60% of children in the United States begin kindergarten unprepared, lagging behind their peers in essential language and reading skills.
Perri Chinalai, managing director of the Too Small to Fail program for the Clinton Foundation, said her organization is partnering with the Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy and the United Way of Pennsylvania to implement 250 new early education programs over the next two years.
"We worked with laundromats and transforming laundromat spaces into literacy-rich environments, because we know that families are going to laundromats," Chinalai explained. "How can we think about really encouraging talking, reading and singing in spaces where families are?"
Chinalai added the Barbara Bush Foundation works with children in early learning all the way through school-age kids, and the Too Small to Fail focuses on children aged 0-5. The initiative has donated more than 1.4 million children's books to families in under-resourced communities.
Chinalai noted they partnered with the Department of Public Health and Office of Homeless Services to transform two health centers in Philadelphia and a homeless intake shelter. She added over the past 11 years, the program has worked with communities across the country and have launched more than 40 campaigns.
"For the first year of this project, through our partnership with the United Way location, we will be partnering with six different locations, including the Titusville region, Lycoming County, Wyoming Valley, Southern Allegheny Capital Region and Bucks County," Chinalai outlined. "To really think about how we can incorporate these strategies within the work that they're already doing for children and families."
She added they are also working with a local bookstore called Tree House Books to restock bookshelves. She emphasized the campaigns will focus on training trusted messengers, transforming learning spaces and distributing resources to families.
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Child care workers across the nation, including in Tennessee, are struggling with poverty-level wages according to a new report.
It revealed in Tennessee, the median wage for early childhood educators is less than $15 an hour.
Anna Powell, senior research and policy associate for the Center for the Study of Child Care Employment at the University of California-Berkeley, said the median wage nationally for early childhood educators is just $13.07 an hour, which has resulted in some workers relying on public assistance.
"In Tennessee, we estimate the median hourly wage to be $11.57 for a person working in early care and education," Powell reported. "Meanwhile, the living wage in that state is about $15.03, so that means there's a gap of about 23%."
The 2024 Early Childhood Workforce Index showed pay scales are insufficient for a single adult to earn a living wage in any state. Alarmingly, nearly half of child care workers rely on assistance programs, such as SNAP benefits and Medicaid, to survive.
Powell pointed out the data also show serious inequities in wages.
"While the overall wages are low, we do find evidence that Black and Latina women are earning even less on average," Powell explained. "For example, up to $8,000 less a year, regardless of their education levels."
The study suggested boosting public funding for early childhood education, as the U.S. invests only $4,000 per child annually, far less than the $14,000 in other wealthy countries.
The pandemic highlighted the critical role of educators and Powell pointed out COVID relief funds showed potential solutions are within reach.
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