growing up with superpowers in the new milenium

Having a discussion with a parent recently, this mom of three was explaining to me how her oldest daughter was “cup stacking” in P.E. class. Not only the oldest daughter (8 years old), but also, having seen all the fun being had, the younger daughter (5 years old) as well. Skeptical of all this time playing with cups, I’m pretty sure my enthusiasm for their participation in this sport (yes, you read that right. I typed “sport”.) took her by complete surprise. Especially since our original topic was about focus, adherence, and attention.

“It's called ‘cup stacking,’ or ‘sport stacking.’ It has been written about in the Wall Street Journal and The Post-Standard (in 2004), and Newsweek has called it "the latest hot sport."

From The Post-Standard Cup stacking 'helps you use both sides of your brain'

What this article had to say was what every parent who has a child in a resource center wants to hear is achievable for their student: "With this activity, we reach all kinds of kids, including those who are not normally gifted in athletics. And this helps their development in so many ways, including eye-hand coordination, motor skills, patterning, sequencing, focus and concentration." State Street School teacher Sandy Drancsak.

Performing a little informational search on my own, I visited the Child Development Research Website, http://cdwire.net , to see where they stood on this subject matter. As an Athletic Development Coach, I was elated at what I read:

“Cup stacking is more than fun for children; it gets them using both hands equally; which helps children learn typing, playing musical instruments, and sports skills. Quick reaction time and good hand-eye coordination develop during cup stacking as well. In March, a study was published in which one group of second-graders practiced cup stacking for five weeks, and another group did not. The cup stackers had significantly improved reaction time and hand-eye coordination, compared to a group that did not stack cups.”

Child Development Research Website, http://cdwire.net.

The important distinction this study is bringing to light is that these students are using both sides of the brain through utilization and improvements in eye-hand coordination. This, while at the same time, problem solving. All of which creates a scenario that requires crossing the midline in their brain. Now we are looking at an acceptable brain-based exercise that empowers our children in the classroom, with their peers socially or competitively, and at home. (Translation, agility, coordination and ambidexterity training , that paramount in athletic competition, is equally important and transferable to the classroom!)

But how can we apply this with our children at home? To answer that, let me go back to that first initial conversation I was in with the parent who had three children, two of which were getting into cup stacking. Our topic lead us to discuss how it took asking, demanding, bribery just short of cash incentives to get her 8 year old daughter to go brush her teeth before bed. She was on the computer, watching television, playing (including cup stacking), anything but answering to her name and listening to mom. So, here was my suggestion:

I was thinking:
She has been told or heard by now and ACCEPTS that she can only pay attention for short periods of 5 minutes at a time.
How does she watch TV?
30min and 60min shows!!
Yeah every 8 minutes or so there is a break (Ohhhhhhh, so you CAN go longer than 5mins!!)
What about movies?
How attentive is she then?
Well! That’s how attentive she CAN be.

When she accepts that her brain runs like a HIGH PERFORMANCE VEHICLE (meaning like a race car or a Ferrari) she'll understand that she has an unlimited capacity to PERFORM HIGHER. But someone has to DRIVE that vehicle. Someone has to MAINTAIN that vehicle. Okay, you want to cup stack? Do A, B, and C and I'll give you 30mins of cup stacking time before having to do D & E. (Keep in mind; 5 Year olds can do this stuff too.)

These kids don’t necessarily have a deficit, they are taking in THE WHOLE PICTURE!! The devil may be in the details, but God saw EVERYTHING He made and still sees it all. If we have the ability, why shouldn’t we see what we can? Don’t tell me to stop and smell the roses if you don’t want me to notice the thorns, the other plants around, how many roses there are, can I take one?, why not?, has anyone else taken one?, hey, what’s over there? and all the extraneous thoughts that have shaped who I am and how I process my information.

That is not suggesting throwing focus out the window. I liken it to young Clark Kent learning how to harness his abilities growing up. He had to focus on each ability to appreciate how they could be understood, managed, and utilized. (Fast-Forward to the end of the story thus far, he’s turned out alright last I heard.) But these abilities were best understood when the patience and love of his parents was employed, and then a plan they all developed was practiced.