Book Details:
Book Title: Great Kids Don't Just Happen, 5 Essentials for Raising Successful Children by Dr. Paul Smolen
Category: Adult Non-Fiction
Genre: Parenting/Family
Publisher: Torchflame Books
Release date: October 22, 2019
Tour dates: Nov 4 to Nov 29, 2019
Content Rating: G
Book Description:
Physically and emotionally healthy children are Great Kids. They are happier when young and thrive as adults.
Pediatrician Dr. Paul Smolen identifies five essential parenting elements which help develop happy and successful kids.
In Great Kids Don't Just Happen you will learn how to use those elements and nurture the children in your life.
The author's observations and advice are supported by scientific studies referenced throughout the book and personal observations from his many years of practice as a pediatrician. The five essential elements and how to apply them are made easy to understand in the warm words of one who knows, practices, and teaches from research, observation, and experience.
Learn how to provide:
- Realistic praise
- Consistent limits
- A healthy emotional environment
- Strong parental commitment
- Stability
Meet the Author:
Dr. Paul Smolen, also known as Doc Smo by his friends, is a pediatrician with 37 years of experience caring for children and families. He is a graduate of Duke University (1974), Rutgers Medical School (1978), and Wake Forest University-N.C. Baptist Hospital (1982). At Wake Forest University he completed a residency in general pediatrics, served as chief resident, and completed a fellowship in ambulatory pediatrics. Subsequently, he became board certified in the American Academy of Pediatrics (1983) and completed his recertification in 2014. For the last 37 years, he has been an Adjunct Associate Professor of Pediatrics at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, helping to train a generation of medical students and pediatric residents as well as author several research papers. He is also the author of a parenting book called, Can Doesn’t Mean Should.
With 37 years under his belt, Doc Smo is a bona-fide expert in knowing what parents want and need to know about parenting and child health. Imparting practical and useful advice is the goal of every “Pedcast”. Smiling along the way can’t hurt!
Connect with the author: Website Facebook Twitter
Dr. Paul Smolen, also known as Doc Smo by his friends, is a pediatrician with 37 years of experience caring for children and families. He is a graduate of Duke University (1974), Rutgers Medical School (1978), and Wake Forest University-N.C. Baptist Hospital (1982). At Wake Forest University he completed a residency in general pediatrics, served as chief resident, and completed a fellowship in ambulatory pediatrics. Subsequently, he became board certified in the American Academy of Pediatrics (1983) and completed his recertification in 2014. For the last 37 years, he has been an Adjunct Associate Professor of Pediatrics at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, helping to train a generation of medical students and pediatric residents as well as author several research papers. He is also the author of a parenting book called, Can Doesn’t Mean Should.
With 37 years under his belt, Doc Smo is a bona-fide expert in knowing what parents want and need to know about parenting and child health. Imparting practical and useful advice is the goal of every “Pedcast”. Smiling along the way can’t hurt!
Connect with the author: Website Facebook Twitter
GUEST POST: Are Your Children Spending Enough Time Outdoors?
By Dr. Paul Smolen
Recently, I was walking back from the tennis courts on a crisp winter day when I had a flashback to my youth. Suddenly, in that moment, I recalled the wonderful sensation of my childhood, being outdoors, free of immediate demands and responsibilities. I was just enjoying the air, the green, and the sky all around me. I could feel my mental state improve and my body and mind relax. You see, during my childhood, the only entertainment we had after school was to go outside and find things to do. My memory of childhood was outdoors, walking, experiencing whatever the weather was serving that day along with whomever I could find to play with. My walk from the courts reminded me of the joyous feeling that my experiences of youth had created. On that walk home, I began to wonder, what the children growing up today will remember as their happy place? Where will that place be that brings out the relaxation reflex in your children, twenty years from now? An interesting question and one that every parent should ponder because you have a lot to do with the kind of childhood your children have. So stay tuned, for the next edition of Portable Practical Pediatrics where we will ponder the question of where your children will recall the joy in their childhood?
In the past few years, there has been an increasing recognition that for children, being surrounded by nature, improves many aspects of their psychological functioning. And, it turns out that this is especially true for children with ADHD. Here is a list of a few ways exposure to outdoors has been found to benefit children:
-Being outside improves a child’s mood
-Being physically active outdoors reduces a child’s chance of obesity
-Being outside can often increase a child’s feeling of well being and relaxation.
-Exposure to the outdoors also has been shown to improve a child’s ability to concentrate and control impulses that need to be controlled.
-And finally, outdoor time has been shown to be restorative psychologically for children- the evidence is clear on that point.
What is the reality of a modern childhood today for many children? In a nutshell, the trend is striking and involves screens of all sorts, substituting for what previous generations called play. I know you probably get tired of me talking about the current generation of children as victims of digital technology and how this is changing their childhoods but I believe it is true. Sadly, the evidence is on my side. Don’t believe it, consider these current facts:
The average preteen spends six hours on entertainment technologies per day. For teens, the figure is nine hours. Digital crack.
40% percent of children have difficulty falling sleeping. a problem that has been clearly linked to screen exposure.
The average child spends only 50% of the time that their parents did outside despite the fact that the majority of parents feel outdoor time is important for their children.
I think you can see that with increasing wealth along with other factors, childhood is being fundamentally changed for the next generation. How this will work out for them, only time will tell. Before you make up your mind about the new screen reality for today’s children however, there are a few things I want to remind you about that we now understand about screen time and children:
-Screens are isolating for children. They generally draw children away from social interaction and into a lonely place of gaming.
-Screen time for children does not teach children needed social skills that real interpersonal interactions would. Like compromise, problem solving, filling boring time with inventive play, the art of conversation with peers, learning to read body language of peers, and how to be empathetic of others. All valuable lessons that they are not going to get from a screen and isolated play, no matter how great the graphics of the game are.
-All of this screen time and “virtual play” moves children away from being physically active an toward a sedentary lifestyle.
-Many of today’s children have a childhood devoid of the outdoors. They are not experiencing nearly the amount of outdoor exposure to the natural world that previous generations have enjoyed. I think it is clear that video games are designed to grab the attention of a child and evoke strong emotions from them while outdoor exposure does the opposite. Your children’s brains are wired to relax when exposed to the bright light of outdoors and sights and sounds of green vegetation and flowing water.
Doc Smo Pearl-Parents create the reality that their children experience
Many of you will be familiar with what I call a “Doc Smo pearl”-an important observation about parenting and childhood that I want you to remember. And here is one that is really important- Pearl: Parents create the reality that their children experience. That means that the parenting choices you make in your everyday interactions and activities with your children, to a large degree, create the world that your children live in. From what they eat, to how much sleep they get, to how they spend their free time, to really everything. Remember, you are the captain of that ship, especially when they are young. I wrote an entire book on the subject called Can Doesn’t Mean Should. I hope you have read it. The point is, is that if you allow your children’s childhood to be filled with video games, smart phones, and texting rather than outdoor unstructured play with friends and outdoor activities, their happy place of from their childhood is likely to be indoors, in bathed in artificial light, and involving technology of one sort or another. I think that is a shame. By one estimate, adults spend 90% of their time indoors. Are children now destined to live the same indoor fate during their childhoods as well? Will their feeling of well-being come when exposed to wonderful graphics on a screen or super sweet video game console? I truly hope not. They might miss out on the feeling that I get, to this day, when outdoors on a crisp bright day… that of relaxation and happiness.
Book Tour Schedule:
Nov 4 – Literary Flits – book spotlight / giveaway
Nov 4 - Working Mommy Journal / book spotlight / giveaway
Nov 5 – fundinmental – book spotlight
Nov 5 - Over Coffee Conversations – book spotlight / guest post / giveaway
Nov 6 – Reading Authors Network – book spotlight / giveaway
Nov 7 – Rockin’ Book Reviews – book spotlight / guest post / giveaway
Nov 8 – b for bookreview – book spotlight / author interview
Nov 11 – The Clipped Nightingale – book spotlight / giveaway
Nov 12 –Character Madness and Musings - book spotlight /
Nov 13 – To Thine Own Shelf – book spotlight / giveaway
Nov 14 – Locks, Hooks and Books – book spotlight / guest post / giveaway
Nov 18 – Momfluenster - book spotlight / author interview / giveaway
Nov 19 – Laura's Interests – book spotlight / giveaway
Nov 20 – Genuine Jenn – book spotlight / author interview / giveaway
Nov 21 – On My Bookshelf – book spotlight / guest post / giveaway
Nov 22 –From the TBR Pile - book spotlight / guest post / giveaway
Nov 26 – Bookmark and fork – book spotlight / author interview
Nov 27 – #redhead.with.book – book spotlight
Nov 28 – Library of Clean Reads – book spotlight / giveaway
Nov 29 - Celticlady's Reviews – book spotlight / giveaway
Nov 29 - Svetlana's reads and views - book spotlight / giveaway
Enter the Giveaway:
What great advice! Thank you for sharing!
ReplyDeleteThanks for giving my book and website a highlight on your website. Doc Smo
ReplyDelete