Service businesses tailoring events to teach kids lessons

By TOMOEH MURAKAMI, THE PLAIN DEALER, Tuesday, October 24, 2000

©2000 THE PLAIN DEALER.  Used with permission.
 

CLEVELAND --At the Cleveland Heights Recreation Pavilion, more than a dozen homeschoolers toddle onto the ice for weekly skating lessons from city employees.      At the nearby Shaker Heights Nature Center, another group of homeschoolers study the ecosystem of a creek.  And at an archery range in Willowick, homeschoolers are trying their hand at bows and arrows under the watchful eyes of instructors.      Since taking hold in the 1980s, homeschooling has surged; about 60,000 children are homeschooled in Ohio now, according to the Ohio Department of Education.  An increasing number of institutions are responding by providing classes specifically for homeschoolers.      "Homeschooling is becoming a big part of the community.  They're willing to cut deals because there are a lot of us," said Jocelyn Thompson, a University Heights homeschooling parent.      Thompson recently approached the Hillcrest YMCA in Lyndhurst to see if it could provide gym and swim instruction.  Classes are scheduled to start next month.      Area homeschooling parents - some whose children have never learned in a traditional classroom and others who traded in the regular school schedule for a less regimented one at home - have banded together to create many of the classes.  The classes allow their children to learn in a group setting and get specialized instruction that they aren't able to provide themselves, parents say.      "Homeschooling isn't staying home and doing lessons in the house," said Denise Dehnbostel, who teaches the weekly class at the Shaker Heights Nature Center through the Cleveland Learning Cooperative, a five-year-old network of about 100 area homeschoolers and their families.  "It's utilizing the community and what's available."

Metroparks throughout Greater Cleveland are offering a range of wildlife courses for homeschoolers, and local library systems have started giving orientation tours to them.  Private facilities, such as the Auburn Ice Palace in Chagrin Falls, are providing "homeschoolers only" periods.      "At the high watermark, you'll probably have 50" families, said manager Gary daMota.  "We would definitely be open to expansion if the number was substantiated."      Don Sharp, owner of Don's Archery Shop & Range in Willowick, last month began giving weekly lessons to 16 homeschoolers at $6 per child.  His regular fee is $25.      "They're attentive.  They pay attention.  They're not different than any other kids as far as I'm concerned," he said.  "They're pretty much on time and I start the class on time.  It's just like a regular classroom here."      Stacey Allen, an instructor at North Chagrin Nature Center, said the park's homeschooling classes had been well attended since they started three years ago.      "We tried it for a few months and the response was overwhelming," Allen said.  "It was clearly something people were looking for."      Watching their daughter from rinkside during the homeschool skating session in Cleveland Heights, Donna and Jim Walker, first-year homeschooling parents from South Euclid, said they were surprised to learn about the range of classes available.      "We were prepared to do everything on our own," Jim Walker said.  "I could never teach my kids to skate or play the harmonica.  But basics like reading and social studies, we're prepared to do on our own."

 

Breast-feeding requires technique, experts say

By Bryon Okada, Staff Writer, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 3 May 1997
 

FORT WORTH -- Mother Nature's great motivator -- instinct -- can perform daily miracles, but breast-feeding is in the realm of learned behavior. "Moms and babies do not know instinctively how to breast-feed," said Denise Dehnbostel, a La Leche League leader in Fort Worth. "Babies have rooting and sucking reflexes, but breast-feeding is a learned skill." But these days, mothers and grandmothers are often not around to guide young women through life's biological experiences, such as giving birth, menopause and breast-feeding. But never fear. Yes, Virginia, there is a technique. "The mother's nipple and most of her areola needs to be completely in the baby's mouth. The baby's mouth needs to be opened wide like an O," Dehnbostel said. "Also, the baby's tongue needs to be down, out and over its gum and slightly over its lower lip. Lips need to be flanged out and not sucked in." Also, mothers should hold the baby so that its neck is not twisted while feeding, said Carrie Byers of Arlington, a certified educator in breast-feeding.  "Have the baby's ear, shoulder and hip in a straight line, along with no head turning," Byers said. "And make sure the baby's nose, cheeks and chin are all touching breast. It should be that close." Position is the key to pain-free breast-feeding, both for mother and baby. An informal sampling of breast-feeding veterans shows that some soreness the first week is inevitable until the nipple toughens to the task. For the mother's protection, the baby should be brought to the nipple, not the other way around. That reduces neck and arm strains. It also lessens the chance for sore nipples, experts say. Mothers should sit up straight. If they can afford one, they can buy or rent a nursing stool, Byers said. "Or put a pillow under your arm and hold the baby on your lap," Dehnbostel said.

Working mothers should find breast pumps that simulate a baby's suck-release-relax cycle. And, if possible, mothers should not switch back and forth from breast to bottle or pacifier; it will only confuse the baby, Byers said. It isn't just a first-time mother that may have unexpected difficulties with breast-feeding, Byers said. Because breast-feeding is learned, some babies take to it more naturally than others. Experts say skin-to-skin contact will help mothers get a sense of when babies are hungry. Certain pitched cries or a chicklike head bobbing are common. Listen and learn. Don't wait if a problem arises, Dehnbostel said. For the first six weeks, a baby should feed every two hours or more. If a baby sleeps longer than three hours at a time, it is not a sign that it is unusually well-behaved, she said. Wake the baby every two hours and get it to feed, Dehnbostel said. Call a lactation specialist or a doctor if the infant feeds less than eight times a day. North Richland Hills resident Mindy Branch, who is nine months' pregnant with her first child, has immersed herself in the literature and lore of birthing and child care, meticulously researching every detail, from itemized hospital fees to the bank of shots that her child will need. She observed her cousin's recent home birth and took childbirth classes that provided her with more technical knowledge of breast- feeding than most mothers-to-be, she said. But anxieties remain. "My biggest fear is I'll be raring to go, and the baby could just decide it doesn't want it," Branch said. "It might be disappointing if it didn't want to." And somewhere down the line -- 18 months, three years, four years -- when the baby no longer wishes to nurse, accept the fact that it's over, experts say. "It should be seen instead as a sign that they've given everything the child needs and that they've done a good job," Dehnbostel said. "Now it's time to separate."