Dr. Jeff Zook

“Your well-being becomes my genuine concern”

Those words are important to me as they define the kind of doctor I want to be for you. There may be certain things in your life that you would like to change or changes in your life that you would like to talk to someone about. I would like to help.

The nail that sticks out gets hammered down

"The nail that sticks out gets hammered down"

- Japanese proverb

Paul was a kindergartener in the early 1960s. He grew up in an area of California that was on the cusp of enormous economic growth, still surrounded by numerous fruit orchards. Paul was inquisitive about the things around him- intense and full of imagination. His mother taught him how to read before he entered school. His father taught him how to use the simple tools found in their garage and how to build things out of wood and metal.

What has happened to creativity in children?

Creativity in children is declining, according to Kyung Hee Kim– professor of educational psychology at the College of William & Mary. After analyzing the scores from 300,000 Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking (TTCT) given to American children and adults, she found that the scores had been rising from 1968 until 1990, but after 1990, the scores began to decline year after year. This decline has been more pronounced over the past 10 years and most significant with children from kindergarten through sixth grade.