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Children

Spring 2012

Lessons from the Forest—The anthropology of childhood

Fresh out of college in 1971, with a little money saved up, Barry Hewlett bought a one-way ticket to Europe. He trekked around Europe for a while, but eventually started to get bored. He noticed many of his fellow youthful travelers were heading for India. So he headed south, for Africa.

He found a cargo boat that was going to Alexandria, Egypt, and booked passage. And kept going, up the Nile to Khartoum in Sudan. Along the way, he says, other travelers told him, you’ve got to see the pygmy people. So he made his way to Uganda to visit pygmies.

He didn’t stay long, … » More …

Spring 2012

Video: How Feeding Styles Work

Most parents work hard to prepare nutritious, well-balanced meals for their children. But, once the children sit down to eat, what can parents do to help them learn how to eat healthy? What can parents say and do to encourage children to try new foods and to prevent them from overeating?

Research has identified three common feeding styles among parents of young children. By observing families, we have found which of these styles is the most successful in helping children eat healthy.

See how these feeding styles work—or don’t work—in common situations in the home.

 

Spring 2012

Eat your broccoli or no cookie: Feeding styles and childhood obesity

Ever try to get a child to stop munching potato chips and eat some carrots? That push toward healthier foods can sometimes contribute to familial strife, make it difficult for children to tell when they are full, and even increase the possibility of children becoming obese.

“Parents struggle all the time to get their kids to eat the right foods or to try their fruits and vegetables,” says Thomas Power, chair of Washington State University’s Department of Human Development. And a child’s innate ability to determine how much to eat can be compromised in these situations, he adds.

» More …

Summer 2011

A Home for Every Child

home

Patricia Susan Hart ’91 MA, ’97 PhD

Center for the Study of the Pacific Northwest with University of Washington, 2010

At the end of the 19th century, adoption became part of a broader movement to reform the orphanage and poor farm system in the United States. In her most recent book, Patricia Susan Hart, who teaches journalism and American studies at the University of Idaho, looks at the issue of child placement in Washington. The book … » More …

Winter 2010

Mrs. Annathena Gilly Gully From Puddle Rumple Tilly Willy

annathena

Chellis Swenson Jensen ’53
Fairwood Press, Inc., 2010

Chellis Swenson Jensen has created a quirky lady backed by her pet parrot, Maurice. Tired of the neighborhood children’s teasing, the lead character decides the solution is to change her name. Only when she recognizes that she, too, can laugh at her name and accept it does she decide to talk with the children.

The story is a collaboration amongst Chellis, her son, Paul Swenson (illustrator), … » More …

Summer 2003

Picha, Herrick, Murdock honored by WSU Alunmi Association

Washington State University created the Alumni Achievement Award in 1969 to honor alumni who have provided significant service and contributions to their profession, community, and/or WSU. In recent months, three individuals have been recognized.

Douglas T. Picha

Douglas T. Picha, founding executive director of the Children’s Hospital Foundation and the Children’s Hospital Guild Association, was honored at the November 23, 2002 Apple Cup rally on the Pullman campus.

Picha is responsible for planning, managing, and directing a comprehensive effort to attract volunteers and private financial support for Children’s Hospital in Seattle. Gifts in fiscal 2000-2001 totalled more than $36 million. The foundation has been listed … » More …

Winter 2004

Hazy, crazy days of summer… science

In the chemistry laboratory in Fuller Hall, Cougar Summer Science campers are either making bouncy balls through cross-linking polymers or figuring out the generation properties of oxygen. Tossing her laboratory-produced ball in the air, Kyleigh Kake of Spokane says that she has always wanted to be a doctor. Her lab partner, Elizabeth Perez of Grandview, Washington, attends Cougar Summer Science Camp through an award from her local science fair.

A camper from the next group, slightly less successful with his bouncy ball, says he “did some science at his house.” His description of his experiments make it clear he is better off in the hands … » More …

Fall 2004

The art of communicating by signing

Fingers flew at a rapid pace for Nancy Kikendall during the 2002-03 academic year at Gallaudet University for the deaf and hard of hearing in Washington, D.C. She was among only a few hearing students accepted into the school’s graduate program. The experience, she says, greatly improved her American Sign Language (ASL) skills.

“Anyone in the deaf community knows Gallaudet is the top of the top. It was an honor,” said Kikendall, while relaxing at her Liberty Lake home near Spokane last November. About 98 percent of Gallaudet’s 2,000 students are deaf or hard of hearing.

“Most classes are taught in sign, so you have … » More …

Fall 2004

Recycled shoes furnish Kid's Cave

FieldTurf now provides soft landings for more than 160 pre-school children playing in the “Kid’s Cave” at Washington State University. In April the 16- by-21-yard carpet was installed in the alcove beneath the WSU Children’s Center, formerly Rogers-Orton Dining Hall. The same rubberized synthetic material covers WSU’s football and baseball fields.

Judi Dunn headed the successful effort to collect 5,500 pairs of running shoes to qualify for a $20,000 grant from Nike and the National Recycling Coalition.

“I think I personally touched each shoe,” says Dunn, who is WSU’s recycling education coordinator. Rubber from the discarded shoes is chewed up and used in the FieldTurf … » More …