chill out! WHERE TO SPEND THE LAST DAYS OF SUMMER INDOORS THE MAGAZINE PARENTS LIVE BY IN TARRANT COUNTYTY august 2012 YOUR LIST OF MOM-APPROVED PEDIATRICIANS 90REASONS TO LOVE AUGUSTAUGUS BRAIN TIRED OF BEING TIRED what may be causing your TRAINING child’s restless nights HOW A NEW FORM OF PLAY IS MAKING BIG WAVES MEET MOM NEXT DOOR RHONDA LAYTON special advertising section: child care/ preschool & activities guide A Whole New Dental Experience Unsurpassed care & treatment in In-office a kid-friendly environment oral & IV sedation My child has a My child grinds thumb habit ... Will my child FREE her teeth ... need braces? Adult Teeth Whitening Kit iKids has the answers! when you bring your child in for a New iKids, where kids come first Patient Exam Ages 0 -18 Open Monday - Saturday Most Insurance Accepted / Medicaid/CHIP Approved ikidsdental.com ARLINGTON { 817-467-9089 } 4654 S. Cooper St., Ste. 315, Arlington, TX 76017 FORT WORTH { 817-332-0007 } 4504 Vickery Blvd., Fort Worth, TX 76107 MANSFIELD { 817-453-2800 } 1759 Broad Park Cir. S., Ste. 205, Mansfield, TX 76063 Randy W. Hamilton III, DMD © Create a legendary getaway with Shrek & Friends! DreamWorks Experience Gaylord Texan Resort Lobby DreamWorks Dragon Training Camp Summer Fun with Shrek & Friends Select weekends through September 2, 2012 Create the vacation tale of a lifetime when you meet favorite characters from DreamWorks Animation films like Shrek, Madagascar, How to Train Your Dragon and Kung Fu Panda at Gaylord Texan® Resort. Encounter a dragon and become an official Junior Dragon Trainer at DreamWorks Dragon Training Camp. Plus, enjoy a scrumptious ShrekFeast, DreamWorks-themed surprises and SummerFest fun for the entire family. Summer Fun with Shrek & Friends: It’s epic! Book your getaway today! GaylordTexan.com or call (817) 778-2000 OTHER LOCATIONS Shrek, Madagascar, Kung Fu Panda, How to Train Your Dragon and all related characters Gaylord National® Gaylord Palms® Gaylord Opryland® and properties © 2012 DreamWorks Animation L.L.C. National Harbor, MD (Washington, D.C. Area) Kissimmee, FL (Orlando Area) Nashville, TN (Music City) GT-1133-12 ND-DWSF Dallas, FtWorth, NTexasChild 8.25x10.75.indd 1 7/12/12 4:46 PM pages / AUGUST 2012 DEPARTMENTS Historical fiction: One local author uses our nation’s past to encourage kids to shoot for the moon, p. 14. NOTED 11 More Than Snoring 14 Sound Advice / Using Technology to Educate 14 Haslet’s Community Park 14 Fly Me to the Moon Is your kid always tired? See More Than Snoring, p. 11. Green equals glowing – for your skin, at least, when you FEATURES COLUMNS sip these tasty teas, p. 20. REAL MOMS FLASH MOB 6 Hello / Editor’s Note 17 Mom Next Door / Rhonda Layton words Julie Lyons 24 Can a combination of flash cards and gravity-based 20 Mother Earth physical activity be key to developing babies’ 20 Smart Tea and young kids’ brains? Former gymnast (and 58 Manifesto words Rudy Klancnik 20 Last Sounds of Summer neuroscience enthusiast) Patty Hannan thinks so. 22 Mommy Diary / Melissa Collins words Shelley Hawes Pate 28 BABY, IT’S HOT OUTSIDE The kids really don’t mind the heat – but you do. So bring them indoors and let them run loose. The North Texas area has a venue for everything under the sun – and thankfully out of the sun, too. words Carrie Steingruber chill out! 28 Get up close and personal with salt-water stars (you WHERE TO SPEND THE LAST DAYS OF might recognize this beauty from the big screen), p. 46. SUMMER INDOORS End of THE MAGAZINE PARENTS LIVE BY IN TARRANT COUNTY august 2012 49 MOM-APPROVED DOCTORS YOUR LIST OF 45 MOM-APPROVED PEDIATRICIANS 90REASONS TO LOVE AUGUST Summer 45 This Month: Pediatricians BRAIN TIRED OF BEING TIRED what may be causing your 24 TRAINING child’s restless nights 11 HOW A NEW FORM OF PLAY IS MAKING BIG WAVES KID CULTURE MEET MOM 17 NEXT DOOR issue 45 Agenda RHONDA LAYTON Places / Surf’s Up ON THE COVER: 6-year-old Luke of Grand Prairie 46 49 EveryDay special Photography: Steven Visneau Hair/Make-up: Shane advertising section: child care/ preschool & activities Monden, Wallflower Management guide fortworthchild / august 2012 5 hello / editor’s note • Low Pupil/Teacher Ratio • Non-traditional Setting for Academic Excellence • Curriculum to Promote THE Critical Thinking • Multi-grade Classrooms PIXIE OF • Summer Day Camp PLAY ABOVE / Patty Hannan, right, hosts a 30-minute PlayWisely session. layWisely is tough to describe in a few simple words. But the cutting-edge play program comes alive in the hands of former All-American gymnast + We’re Wired PPatty Hannan, unlikely creator of this new idea rooted in neuro- Can’t get enough of the science and NASA gravity studies. Hannan, an area mom – still magazine? Look for us petite and fit in middle age – pulls out a series of laminated flash- on the World Wide Web. cards and runs through a choreographed, rhythmic routine in 27 The Weekend Guide seconds that taxes even the eyes and brains of adults. This partic- Hand-picked events ular set of flashcards assembles a bright green frog by parts, shifts for your family to it to various corners of one’s viewing range and then deposits it enjoy every weekend. in a series of camouflaged backgrounds. Even babies learn to fol- Subscribe at low the frog, and the exercise – or so the theory goes – develops dfwchild.com. the brain’s hard-wiring so that young children grasp and nimbly Facebook adapt to new learning. facebook.com/ An impressive roster of experts has praised the science fortworthchildmagazine behind the patented PlayWisely system, including Eugene Galanter, Ph.D., an emeritus professor at Columbia University, Email Us and Carolyn Garver, Ph.D., director of Dallas’ Autism Treatment Let us know what’s Center. How in the world did Hannan get to hang with such on your mind. lofty minds? Turns out she acquired her fascination with neu- editorial@ roscience by acting as a guinea pig of sorts for NASA, which dfwchild.com. wanted to see how gravity affected a top-tier gymnast in space- like conditions. Hannan flew on the legendary “Vomit Comet,” a plane that simulates zero gravity, and participated in other The Excel Center is a specialized day studies. Along the way this inquisitive mom began adapting the treatment center helping families with principles she learned to child’s play. emotional, behavioral and substance abuse Hard to believe, but PlayWisely sessions take only 30 minutes challenges of children and adolescents once or twice a week. Can 30 minutes bring lasting benefits? ages 5-18. Transportation is provided at You might ask Garver, who’s worked with children with autism no cost. School services are provided on for 40 years. When the Autism Treatment Center began using campus by a TEA Accredited School. PlayWisely on a trial basis, the results brought this seasoned edu- Most all insurance accepted. cator to tears. Find out why in Shelley Hawes Pate’s intriguing We are here to help. Please call for a report, “Flash Mob,” starting on page 24. no cost confidential assessment. This month we launch the first installment of a labor of love: Our Mom-Approved Doctors. I know, I know – you’ve seen doctor lists before. But this one is different. Our docs didn’t make the grade by purchasing advertising space; they made it by impressing the most discriminating experts around 1220 W. Presidio St. 1011 N. Cooper St. – moms like you. Fort Worth, TX 76102 Arlington, TX 76011 817.335.6429 817.261.3121 www.excelcenterfortworth.com www.millwoodhospital.com PHOTO COURTESY OF PAUL MORGAN PAUL OF COURTESY PHOTO 6 august 2012 / fortworthchild Free Family PU BLISHER/ EDITOR- IN- CHIEF Funday Joylyn Niebes Sunday, August 12, EDITORIAL 1–4 p.m. Executive Editor Julie Lyons Arts + Culture Editor Elizabeth Smith [email protected] art-making Web Editor StorieS Carrie Steingruber Editorial Intern ice cream Nicole Jordan All of this and more ART at the Amon Carter’s Creative Director FREE afternoon of Lauren Niebes [email protected] family fun! Graphic Designer Susan Horn More details at Designer Mary Dunn cartermuseum.org. Family Fundays are made possible ADV ERTISING in part by . Sales Development Director Alison Davis [email protected] Account Executives Nancy Martin, Nancy McDaniel Dallas/North Texas Susan Hassel, Sandi McKean, Leanne Moye, Amy Ruggles, Jenn Whiddon Classified Sales Jill Kelley [email protected] PR /MARK ETING Marketing + Events Director Kirk Turner [email protected] Now through Sept. 3 ADM INISTRATIVE Explore why your body produces mushy, Operations oozy, crusty, scaly and stinky gunk in this Leah Wagner [email protected] lively exhibition based on the best-selling book of the same name. Full of hands-on experiences, challenges and just plain fun, Grossology is, well, engrossing to say the HOW TO CONTACT US: least! Don’t miss it! Address: 4275 Kellway Circle, Suite 146, Addison, Texas 75001 Get tickets and information at Phone: 800/638-4461 or 972/447-9188 Fax: 972/447-0633, 972/447-0425 fortworthmuseum.org Online: dfwchild.com FortWorthChild is published monthly by Lauren Publications, Inc. FortWorthChild is distributed free of charge, one copy per reader. Only FortWorthChild authorized distributors may deliver or pick up the magazines. Additional or back copies of FortWorthChild are available for $2 per copy at the offices of Lauren Publications, Inc. We reserve the right to Become a Member edit, reject or comment editorially on all material contributed. We cannot be responsible and see it for the return of any unsolicited material. Subscriptions are $24 per year. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to FortWorthChild.