Empower Children through Education!

In Costa Rica, children stopped attending schools from March 16, a measure of the Ministry of Public Education that was extended indefinitely in the distance education from home modality.

The pediatric neuropsychologist, Dr. Castro, affirms that, to maintain the mental health of minors, there are six fundamental points:
1. If the parents or legal guardians do not have a correct management of their stress, this is transmitted to the child or adolescent.
2. Good nutrition helps good brain development in children and adolescents.
3. Sedentary lifestyle has a significant impact on the development of neurogenesis, which is the ability to create new neurons and, therefore, new learning, according to the psychologist.
4. It has always been said that getting enough and adequate sleep is essential for everyone, including the little ones in the house.
5. The abuse of technology, including television, cell phones, tablets, consoles and any electronic device, affects the mental stability of minors.
6. When the adult figures in the child's home convey security and protection, this is how the minor will feel.

All these factors have been verified in the day-to-day life of the Lifting Hands Foundation, which puts into practice each of the professional's recommendations and notes how each of the girls, boys and adolescents become more disciplined, calm, healthy and happy.

Mental health is part of the Neuro-puentes project of the Lifting Hands Foundation and Dr. Castro, as it is an initiative that allows children to enjoy reading, regardless of their social status, for the development of their brain . The objective is to close the inequality gap, equipping children with greater capacities and skills through story reading.

Science has been forceful in the multiple benefits of reading stories from the first months of life, but today, in Costa Rica, there are children without stories and parents who cannot read.

“I started in Lifting Hands in the year 2013 approximately. The first group in which I taught was English for first grade and the age of the students was around 6 years. Since then I have worked with groups of students of small ages, between 4 and 7 years of age.

It has been a wonderful and enriching experience, and I even remember that at the beginning the boys received classes in the kitchen because the house was very small. Lifting Hands is something that floods me with love and I love the family that has become, a great example to follow as something that started as a small idea, has become a role model with great strength and desire to generate a change in society.

I am currently giving classes to boys and girls between 4 and 5 years old. The class is very playful and the main objective is to teach them that through the game you can learn many things. Without planning it this way, it has become a very experimental class and every week we do different experiments. This is how I approach them to various areas of science in general through play and awareness; This is because breathing exercises are also done that are very useful for the purpose of the class. It has become so natural that even the students themselves ask for spaces to raise awareness of what is being worked on. An experience of which I feel full and happy to be a participant! ”