Search Results for: blog focus on the olympics new series

Did the Olympics Inspire You?

While the Olympic games may be behind us now (at least until the Summer Games in 2012), the Olympic spirit may stick with you long after the Closing Ceremonies. And you don’t have to be an Olympic-level athlete to let the Games inspire you to better health! Olympic Inspiration Number One: introduction to new sports. It seems like they add new sports to the Games each year — one I’d never seen or heard of before this year was ski cross. But it sure looked like fun: four athletes side-by-side on a course that includes turns, jumps, and fast-paced passes. … Continue reading →

Celebrities Unveil New Projects: Olympic Bound Beckham and Animated Lucas

From the soccer field to the roof of one of London’s red double-decker buses, David Beckham will be kicking the closing ceremony of the Beijing Olympics into high gear this Sunday. According to British newspapers, the international soccer star is on his way to China right now to practice his part in the closing ceremony. When the Games end at Beijing’s National Stadium, the distinction of hosting the Summer Olympics transfers to London in 2012 and Beckham will reportedly be included in the handover segment, which features a surprise finale. The L.A. Galaxy player (and hubby to his spicy wife … Continue reading →

Focus on the Olympics: Donny Robinson (2008 Cycling Hopeful)

Posted on by

Welcome to our Focus on the Olympics articles that introduces you to our Olympic athletes and hopefuls that will be competing in Beijing this summer. This is a great way to educate our kids and ourselves on the sports, the competitors and the dream of Olympic Gold that for many of these athletes began many years ago and will culminate this August in Beijing. Meet Donny Robinson Donny first competed in BMX at age 6. That same year, he started his eight-year training in gymnastics, and he credits the tumbling maneuvers he learned to being injured less when flying or … Continue reading →

Focus on the Olympics: Sarah Hammer (Cycling Hopeful)

Posted on by

Welcome to our first Focus on the Olympics article that introduces you to our Olympic athletes and hopefuls that will be competing in Beijing this summer. Up first, we’re going to look at cycling. This is a sport many of us are familiar with or as parents have taught to our kids. Meet Sarah Hammer Sarah’s pursuit for perfection seems to go well beyond the number 1 world ranking she owns within the sport of cycling. She strives to live an all-around life. Hammer spends time developing her off the bike gifts as she diligently works to excel in her … Continue reading →

Focus on the Olympics: New Series

Posted on by

With the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing just around the corner, we’re going to be spending some time over the next few days talking about the Olympic hopefuls. In an age of commercial and reality television, I feel like the Olympics have become overlooked in the United States as one of the most profound statements on physical fitness. History of the Olympics Legend states that Heracles founded the ancient Olympic Games. According to written record, the first games were held in 776 BCE (though it is commonly accepted that the Games had occurred for many years previous to that date). … Continue reading →

Special Needs Podcast Roundup – Week of March 19, 2012

Posted on by

Once a week, the Special Needs Podcast Roundup brings you brand new episodes of podcasts that discuss topics that are relevant to parents of children who have special needs. Certain podcasts are consistently focused on a particular special need. Others are not always about special needs topics, but will do an episode on it once in a while. Hope Saves the Day released episode number 109 on March 8, 2012. This episode is called “Interview with Director Jamie Grover of Autism on the Seas”. Jamie Grover is the Director of Group Development for “Autism on the Seas”, which is the … Continue reading →

Special Needs Podcast Roundup – Week of August 9, 2011

Posted on by

This week’s Special Needs Podcast Roundup includes a variety of informative podcasts. There are episodes about resources that help learning disabilities, differences between ADD and ADHD, a personal view of parenting a child who has autism, addiction to video games, depression, and more! The Coffee Klatch has an episode that was released on August 3, 2011. The episode is called “Diane Kissner – Language Based Learning Disabilities”. The episode features an interview with Diane Kissner, who is the director of Out Placement at the Windward School. She discusses specific educational programs that help kids with language based learning disabilities. Drew … Continue reading →

Do Athletes Sleep Better than Non-Athletes?

Having trouble sleeping? If you tend to be an object at rest more often than an object in motion, that might be part of the problem. A study from the University of Basel in Switzerland looked specifically at teen athletes in their study on exercise and sleep. More than four hundred teens (the average age of study participants was seventeen) kept logs of activity and sleep patterns for a week. More than half of the participants were members of the “Swiss Olympic Classes“; the rest were more sedentary. The 258 student athletes exercised an average of seventeen and a half … Continue reading →

Book Review: After the Morning Calm

After the Morning Calm is another anthology of works by Korean adoptees. It is edited by Nancy Fox, adoptive mother, founder of the adoption agency Americans for Internation al Aid and Adoption and past president of the Joint Council on International Children’s Services; and by Sook Wilkinson, PhD, a Korean-American psychotherapist who has worked with adopted Korean children. She is the author of Birth is More than Once: The Inner World of Adopted Korean Children, which you can read my review of here. The editors acknowledge their debit to Voices from Another Place (see yesterday’s blog for a review), which … Continue reading →

The Fitness Week in Review for Week Ending June 6

Posted on by

What a week! Can you believe that it’s the first week of June and that we’re at the halfway point in the year? Intellectually I know time has passed, but it feels like yesterday that my daughter entered 1st grade and all of a sudden she was officially passing the 1st grade and is now a 2nd grader. It’s more than enough to make a mom weep, but more on that at another time. Right now, let’s take a look at our fitness week in review. Focus on the Olympics In our continuing series that focuses on the Olympic athletes … Continue reading →