Published June 2 on MotheringintheMiddle.com, the blog for new midlife mothers and fathers

The arrival of summer and the unleashing of cooped-up young bodies always bring me back to my child-rearing-roots. Only a few days have passed since the carpool line, the packing of lunches, and the buzzing of early alarm clocks stopped and I am already thinking, “How can I keep them away from the TV and feed their bodies and minds?” With sensory smart activities of course! Read more

Published January 7 in The Washington Post.

Children have long regarded recess as a highlight of the school day. Last week, unstructured play breaks got an endorsement from the American Academy of Pediatrics.

“We all feel so much better after we have moved purposefully and vigorously,” said Carol Kranowitz of Bethesda, who co-authored Growing an In-Sync Child with Joye Newman. “Children will have a better appetite for lunch, be more alert throughout the school day and be infinitely more cheerful if they have frequent recesses.”

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Published March 31 in The Gazette, Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

During Carol Kranowitz’s 25 years as a preschool teacher, she realized there were certain children in her classes that seemed “out-of-sync.”

“They refused to participate in art projects or music projects,” she said, explaining that these kids often didn’t like touching gooey or sticky things like paint. “I really wanted every child to have fun at school.”

Kranowitz began looking into reasons why these children experienced things differently than others. That’s when she discovered SPD — a disorder where the nervous system receives sensory signals but does not organize them into appropriate responses, often resulting in motor and behavioral problems.

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