P.S. I Love You founder Patricia Jones will be interviewed live tomorrow during the South Bay Woman Hour radio show on healthylife.net! Tune in at approximately 12:40 to hear Patricia talk about how the foundation was built, new programs being implemented and the great things to come in 2012!

Tune in HERE

Article originally posted on: YogaJournal.com

Yoga for Kids

When presented in a child's language, yoga can help counter the stress experienced by young people living in a hurry-up world.

By Marsha Wenig

Our children live in a hurry-up world of busy parents, school pressures, incessant lessons, video games, malls, and competitive sports. We usually don't think of these influences as stressful for our kids, but often they are. The bustling pace of our children's lives can have a profound effect on their innate joy—and usually not for the better. 

I have found that yoga can help counter these pressures. When children learn techniques for self-health, relaxation, and inner fulfillment, they can navigate life's challenges with a little more ease. Yoga at an early age encourages self-esteem and body awareness with a physical activity that's noncompetitive. Fostering cooperation and compassion—instead of opposition—is a great gift to give our children...<continue reading>

Here is a 2-minute break in your day to give a little perspective and perhaps it's a message that will stick with you.

Make it a GREAT day!

P.S I Love You Foundation's 11th Annual "Adopt a Child for the Day' Day at the Beach event will be on Saturday, July 23, 2010 on the sand in Manhattan Beach, between 6th and 8th Street.  

The goal of the event is to instill encouragement within inner city youth by exposing them to a memorable day, filled with love, attention and positive community activity. Over 250 at-risk children ages 7 to 13, from local shelters and schools are paired one-on-one with adult volunteer mentors.

Through relay races, beauty camps, face painting, surf lessons, boogie boarding and swimming in the ocean, Day at the Beach fosters positive experiences for both the child and volunteer -- promoting healthy interaction, inspiration and hope!


There are lots of ways to get involved in this amazing day --

• Become a volunteer mentor        
• Join our volunteer staff team
• Sponsor a child for the day
• Donate products or services

Click HERE to learn more!

by Edutopia Staff

It's not enough to simply fill students' brains with facts.  A successful education demands that their character be developed as well.  That's where social and emotional learning comes in. SEL is the process of helping students develop the skills to manage their emotions, resolve conflict nonviolently, and make responsible decisions.  

Although family, community and society are significant factors in fostering emotional intelligence and character development, educators must create a safe, supportive learning environment and integrate SEL into the curriculum.

Research shows that promoting social and emotional skills leads to reduced violence and aggression among children, higher academic achievement, and an improved ability to function in schools and in the workplace.   Students who demonstrate respect for others and practice positive interactions, and whose respectful attitudes and productive communication skills are acknowledged and rewarded, are more likely to continue to demonstrate such behavior.  Students who feel secure and respected can better apply themselves to learning.  Students how are encouraged to practice the Golden Rule find it easier to thrive in educational environments and in the wider world.

VIDEO: Smart Hearts: Social and Emotional Learning Overview

Running Time: 13 min.

In SEL, educators (and other students) coach children in conflict resolution and model how to negotiate, how to discuss differences in opinion without resorting to personal attacks, and how to accept others when their attitudes, beliefs and values differ from one's own.  SEL strives to educate children about the effects of harassment and bullying based on social standing, ethnic origin, or sexual orientation.

Teachers must lay the groundwork for successful SEL by establishing an environment of trust and respect in the classroom.  Empathy is key.  Before children can be expected to unite to achieve academic goals, they must be taught how to work together, and so it provides them with the strategies and tools for cooperative learning. 

Such learning, successfully incorporated into project learning and other teaching styles, is easily integrated into all subject areas and can be effectively assessed with rigorous, sophisticated rubrics.  It also contributed to a productive classroom environment where students feel they can learn without concern for their emotional welfare.  

This article was originally published on 3/17/2008.

P.S. I Love You Foundation attended the United Way of Greater Los Angeles 2011 Education Summit on March 22, 2011.  It was the first and largest of its kind -- focused on education reform in Los Angeles County.  The summit, held at the Los Angeles Convention Center, was attended by over 1,200 national and local education leaders, including U.S. Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan.

The goal of the summit was to find solutions to the challenges facing schools in Los Angeles County, determine which strategies are working, and how they can be implemented.  During the summit, the United Way also released results of the Creating Pathways to Graduation, What's Working; Examining high-performing middle grades schools in Los Angeles County report, a qualitative look at six high-perfomring schools from over 303 middle schools assessed across California as part of EdSource's earlier Gaining Ground in Middle Grades study. These studies were designed to identify school and district practices that set apart high-performing schools from lower-performing schools, yielding a wealth of actionable practices associated with improved student outcomes in middle school.

Los Angeles County has seen modest gains in educational achievement over the past ten years, but further action is needed:

• 40% of L.A. County students are dropping out of school; this rate has not changed in ten years!!!
• Only one-third of schools in L.A. County have Academic Performance (API) scores of over 800; in LAUSD the figure drops to 24%
• English and Algebra proficiency is improving, but modest gains and solutions are not scaling fast enough to improve education for all students