Childhood amnesia is something that happens to all of us, no matter what. No matter how hard you try to remember, you won’t be able to remember your first birthday, your first steps, or other big moments from our early childhood. In this article we learn about how the developing brain and many other factors shape into why we don’t remember our first few years. A big point made in this article is that we begin remembering personal events only after we develop a concept of self and a rudimentary life narrative.

Learn more about this fascinating topic, Here!

Ben Solomon,

Research Assistant, UConn KIDS

Sleep is important for everyone. Waking up after a night with a few hours of sleep feels like the worst thing ever. Now imagine your baby not getting enough sleep, that will be even worse for them. A study found that infants, Children, and Adolescents who have not been getting enough sleep will be at risk for health outcomes that will prevent proper development.

It was found that in 2016-2018 one third of children aged 4 months – 17 years old were not getting enough sleep for their age. It was also found that a majority of the children not getting enough sleep were from racial and ethnic minority groups of low socioeconomic status.

This study states that doctors, teachers, and other professionals should advise parents about the importance of sleep for children and support parents in creating an environment where children can get enough sleep

Read more about this topic Here!

Ben Solomon,

Research Assistant, UConn KIDS

Self esteem is important for everyone, everyone has a thought about themselves and that affects the way they go about life. It is ESPECIALLY important for children. Kids with low self esteem criticize themselves and doubt they can do things well. Kids who feel good about themselves have confidence to try new things and even if they do fail they have the confidence to try again.

Self esteem will not only have children be willing to try more things it will also allow them to form positive relationships with their peers and adults. Parents can be a great influence on children’s self esteem. They can do this by spending more time with their children and reinforcing positive behavior as well as making their child feel proud of themselves. Other people who can build up a child’s self esteem are teachers, coaches, as well as friends.

Overall positive self esteem is crucial for children growing up and the people around them should do their best to try and make it happen.

Read more about this topic Here!

Ben Solomon,

Research Assistant, UConn KIDS

Babies cry. Every parent who is getting ready to have a kids knows that they will be losing sleep and gaining a lot of stress through this new stage in their life, but it is for the better. Babies crying and fussing may be undesirable, but it is necessary and actually good. They need our attention to survive and grow up healthy and that is the way they get it.

This TED Talk was very interesting. Sue Roffrey was very well spoken in it and was inspiring. This Ted Talk was about positive environment for development in schools. When schools promote a healthy environment for development, both children and teachers get a better experience. A positive environment fosters emotional well-being. When children feel safe, supported, and valued, they are more likely to develop healthy self-esteem and emotional resilience. This then contributes to better mental health and reduces the risk of emotional issues.

positive environments are more likely to inspire children’s intrinsic motivation to learn. When students are encouraged to explore their interests, think critically, and express themselves, they are more engaged in the learning process.

Overall this Ted Talk was very relevant with life today and is something that schools should follow immediately for the better future of our children

Watch the full Ted Talk Here!

Ben Solomon,

Research Assistant, UConn KIDS

Today’s Friday Feature is Lucie Lopez

Lucie is an Undergraduate Student Investigator is Dr. Rhiannon Smith’s Social and Emotional Development Lab. She is currently working on a project through the UConn IDEA Grant Program researching the relationship between participation in free and reduced school meal programs and sense of belonging in school, particularly among adolescents.  Her project entails a two part study: the first part is a survey that asks college – aged people to think retrospectively about their experiences receiving free and reduced meals during their K-12 education in CT and how it impacted their sense of belonging. The second part is a survey for parents/guardians and their children in high school who participated in the free and reduced meal program before and throughout the COVID-10 pandemic. She is very excited to analyze her data and see how changes from the COVID pandemic impacted sense of belonging.

Lucie is from Avon, CT and is a senior at UConn, pursuing a dual degree in Psychological Sciences and Spanish. After completing her undergraduate education, she plans on attending graduate school to earn a Ph.D. in School Psychology. She is very passionate that more research in school psychology needs to focus on the social, emotional, and behavioral aspects of learning. With her research she hopes to inform policy allowing all schools to provide universal free meals to students. She is also a teaching assistant in the First Year Experience program, the student coordinator for the language and literacy programs in Community Outreach, and a peer research ambassador in the Office of Undergraduate Research.

Lucie loves to read, listen to music, walk outside, paint/draw, and play with her cat, Gary!

(Lucie and Rhiannon Smith at and IDEA Grant event last semester)

All children love to play. Having children who don’t get enough attention or enough play time can really effect the child’s development. It has been found that benefits that come from children being played still aren’t enough for some people as the free time for children to play has gone down tremendously in recent years.

Not only does play have a positive effect on the children but it also effects the parents and gives them an opportunity to spend positive time with their child. This study looks at the positive effects of play on both children and their parents and found very interesting pieces. It was found that play allows children to use their creativity while developing their imagination, dexterity and their physical, cognitive, and emotional strength.

As we strive to make children’s lives the best we can, it is important for parents, school systems, and other organizations to allow children to get an adamant amount of play time.

Read the full article Here!

Ben Solomon,

Research Assistant, UConn KIDS

Homework. Something all kids dread growing up. Do kids get homework for a reason or is it just to make their lives more miserable (what they probably think is the reason). In a new study it was found that elementary school children were assigned THREE times the recommended homework. It was also found in this study that homework for middle school and high school students is associated with higher scores on tests although there is no correlation for elementary school students.

A new study found in Romania found some benefits for a small amount of writing homework (20 minutes) but not math homework for elementary school students.

Why would schools give out so much homework to children just figuring out really how to live? In my opinion schools should give less written homework to elementary school students and more life lesson skills for them to work on. As a parent there are many things to do to make sure your child doesn’t get overwhelmed during their homework and there are some suggestions in this article as well.

Ben Solomon,

Research Assistant – UConn KIDS

It is a well known thing that physical activity is good for your physical health and keeping your body healthy. Most people believe children should be gettin about an hour of physical activity a day. Through the recent pandemic and also just so many more screens and time spent on screens this physical activity is much less than it should be for many kids.

Schools throughout America are implementing less and less structured physical activity for children which may cause negative issues. A study done by Manuel Hanke and Sebastian Ludyga from the university of Basel, looked at whether physical activity in children caused them to be less stressed. This study spanned for a week covering 110 children putting them in categories of low or high physical activity. The lower group got 30 minutes of activity and the higher group got 60 minutes of activity. They then would test cortisol levels in the lab. The group with higher physical had much less cortisol levels and stated mood boosts.

Although this study was just a correlational study, I think it is very important for schools throughout America to implement longer recess times and for parents to make sure their children are getting the right amount of physical activity.

Read the whole article Here

Ben Solomon

Research Assistant, UConn KIDS

Today’s Friday Feature is Ben Solomon!

Ben Solomon is a research assistant at UConn KIDS from Lexington Massachusetts. He is a junior Psychological Science major at the University of Connecticut, also in the honors community. This is Ben’s first semester working as a research assistant with UConn KIDS and is thrilled to get involved with the UConn KIDS community and learn what it is like to work at a Lab.

Ben was an active member of Best Buddies in High School which is a club that creates relationships with people with disabilities and is interested in working with that community later on in life. During the summer he spends his time as a camp counselor for Hayden Recreation Day Camp which he has enjoyed for the past four years. He has also volunteered with the special education program at Lexington high school as a teachers assistant in his home town. After graduating he plans to move on to a graduate school program dealing with mental health counseling or behavior therapy focusing on children with disabilities.

During his free time, Ben is an avid sports fan who loves all Boston sports. He also loves spending time with family especially on their trip to Iceland this summer! Spending time with friends is also important, and he loves playing basketball and lifting at the Uconn recreation center.