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Wednesday, September 1, 1999 THE OAKVILLE BEAVER C1 Hydration key element in education This year, parents should add an important - and often overlooked - item to their children's back-to-school supply list... water. Hydration, or meeting the body's need for water, is vital to everybody's health, along with good nutrition and exercise. But it's especially important for parents to encourage kids to drink water, since a child's thirst mechanism may not be as accurate as an adult's. And, studies have shown that establishing good habits during childhood pays off into adult years. Drinking water helps kids stay healthy all year. But with school doors opening shortly, we should pay extra attention to hydration in these school situations: • Athletics. Experience tells us that young athletes could die this year from hypothermia and dehydration, suffered while playing football or other competitive sports. • Studying. Contrary to what many students believe, it's better to drink water than coffee when working late to finish papers or cram for exams. • Lunch time. Parents should pack small bot­ tles of water, such as Evian natural spring water, instead of sweetened drinks in lunch boxes. Older kids should be encouraged to drink water with meals. W ater Is C ritical This fall, as students return to school, they also return to scholastic athletics. And, unfortu­ nately, every year youngsters die from heat- related illnesses, for the simple reason that they haven't consumed enough water. That's because many people don't understand it's critical for young athletes to drink water while exerting themselves. Why is drinking water so important? The human body contains more than 50 per cent water, which is essential to virtually every bod­ ily function and organ, including the brain. Water also controls body temperature, so a one or two per cent loss of body water - which can happen during an hour of exercise - creates problems controlling body temperature, which can lead to health risks and declines in athletic performance. Yet studies have shown that children drink back only 60 to 70 per cent of the water they lose while exercising. That's why wherever teams are playing, there should be a water supply and players should be instructed to make a con­ scious decision to drink water. Youngsters should drink before the ses­ sion, every 15 to 20 minutes while exercis­ ing and after the session has ended. And students should drink water all the time, not just during exercise. While studying, for example, students are better off drinking water than caffeinated bever­ ages, like coffee. Since the caf­ feine in coffee is a diuretic, it causes water loss, which leads to body fatigue and a diminished ability to concentrate. We should encourage good health habits - such as drinking water - in children. They ben­ efit children now and also pay off into adult years, keeping them feeling great and per­ forming at their peak. Technophobic parents need to plug in and boot up The three 'Rs' of education: reading, writing and 'rythmatic - may soon need to include a T for technology in that equation.... According to the Intel Homework Survey, 56 percent of the children surveyed consider the computer their most valued homework tool - twice as many as its closest competitor, the cal­ culator. The survey was conducted by The Angus Reid Group, which polled more than 1,000 Canadian families to measure the typical home­ work habits of school children aged 12-17. "School kids are finding a range of new uses for computers thanks to their increasing speed and power," says Doug Cooper, marketing man­ ager, Canada, Intel of Canada Ltd. "Educational Web sites, CD-ROM encyclopedias and presen­ tation programs are enhancing the child's ability to communicate and use ideas, while making homework a lot more fun." Students spend an average of six hours each week on homework, and more than one-third of that time is spent on a computer. This trend is expected to grow, as more than 80 percent of Canadians polled said that computers and tech­ nology have had a positive effect on children's education. "A computer has enhanced my son's ability to become task oriented, to work independently, to peer tutor and to research independently," says Helen Simpson, a resident of Penetanguishene Ontario, who responded through the Internet panel. Janet Dickson from Westville, Nova Scotia, adds, "I feel the use of the computer has been the most beneficial element in my child's education. He has been using the computer for school assignments since grade two. ... I only wish the computer had been available for his two older brothers at such an early age." Both adults and children agree that parents continue to play the most important role in help­ ing kids with homework, followed by friends, teachers and siblings. H om ew ork Facts • Do Children Influence Technology Purchases? -- Because a computer is a big tick­ et item, kids have limited influence on purchase decisions. Only 15 per cent of parents said their kids had a great deal of influence over computer purchases, but that figure shot up to 50 per cent when asked about their influence over the pur­ chase of computer games. • Which Search Engines do Kids Prefer? -- Young students spend about three hours a month on the Web surfing for homework-related infor­ mation. The most popular homework search engine was Yahoo! • What is Your Child's Favourite Subject in School -- Surprisingly, when it comes to doing homework, math ranked first in popularity, fol­ lowed by language arts and science. Art and his­ tory were the least popular. And finally, the Intel Homework Survey found that the age-old question of how much homework is enough is still a contentious issue. While half of those kids polled felt they had too much homework, less than one in 10 parents agreed. But a few regional differences exist. Parents in Alberta and Atlantic Canada tended to be a bit more lenient with their expectations (29 and 26 per cent suggest not enough homework) compared with respondents in Ontario (38 per cent) and Quebec (37 per cent). - (News Canada) S ' IX m d .u WW H IT E . OAK, o rC H E R R Y f FALL REGISTRATION H\ Register Now for our 13-week Fall Program 'Begins S ept 13th K IN D E R G Y M (ages 2-5) > m • A R T IS T IC (ages 5 and up) R H Y T H M IC (ages 6 and up) Join us for our I st Anniversary Open House S a t. S e p t . I I • I I - 2 p m T a k e a t o u r o f t h e g y m a n d m e e t t h e c o a c h in g s ta f f . 842-ELFS 220 Wyecroft Rd. 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