Tag Archive for ‘parents’
Where to place the kids laundry basket
Many of the disorganized kids…what a second….MOST of the disorganized kids I work with have difficulty putting their dirty clothes in the hamper. Moms complain endlessly that they haven’t seen the wood floors in their child’s room because they are coverd with clothes. When I ask if there is a hamper in the room, the moms usually chuckle, roll their eyes, and answer, ‘Yes but it’s useless.”
What is the goal of having a hamper in [...]
Study Breaks
“Ma, just 5 more minutes, the show is almost over!” Break times…moms cringe at the thoughts of bringing their child back to task after a break. Negotiating a realistic break time with your child give him a sense of responsibility in the decision making process. Here are some guidelines I use with my clients
Type of Student
Minutes / work session
Minutes/break
Elementary
15
3-5
Elementary school with learning/attention issues
10
3-5
Middle School
20-30
3-5 (a few more if needed)
Remember to chunk it!
For anxious children, breaking down the time into smaller increments allows him to see that he can actually finish his task in sufficient time. It’s not as overwhelming when you ‘chunk” the time.
Separating pile of school papers at home for the disorganized child
So many parents and students are trying to sort through piles of the scholwork papers to prepare for finals.
Buy a small open file box, similar to an open crate. Buy hanging file folders and colored file folders. Ask your child to think about what color he may see for each subject. ( I sort of went through this process in one of my previous blogs)
Select the 2 color folders for eac subject.
Label [...]
Preparing for exams- Flash Cards
For some students, final exams are here. A great way to memorize facts, names, dates and foreign language is to use index cards. I always recommend using colored index cards. For example, use pink cards for feminine words and blue cards for the masculine words when studying foreign languages. Using the colored cards will also act as another cue to recall the word. Remember to use a different color for each subject.
A great technique in [...]
Preparing kids to change tasks
Some of the children I work with, okay, ALL of the children I work with need a warning that a change in task is coming soon. If you want your child to stop playing video games and take out the garbage, it would be in your best interest to give your child a warning such as” Betty, in 10 minutes I want you to shut down you video game and take out the garbage”. Five [...]
School accommodations vs modifications
Love this explaination of the differences of school accommodations and modifications. It’s easy to understand
http://www.healthcentral.com/adhd/c/1443/36739/accommodations
The new Freedom in middle school
Last year, you couldn’t meet a more excited kid than my son Ian. He was leaving elementary school and entering middle school. According to him, he was “Free!”. What an interesting word to describe middle school- free.
Was he actually free? No. However, Ian and his fellow classmates were not bound by the hovering eye of their elementary teacher who kept close tabs on the children to ensure organization. They were now had 7 teachers [...]
Is Your child feeling overwhelmed with homework?
The disorganized child is infamous for “shutting down” when she feels overwhelmed. We’ve all heard, “Yeah I finished the science homework…oh that math….yep did that too.”, only to find out that nothing was completed. I’m certainly not saying that your child is a bad kid for lying; in her mind the work was done, only it was her version of being “done”.
In my practice and at home, I’ve learned that some children will avoid tasks [...]
Students can learn to Read Faster
The organized student focuses on getting work done quickly and well. Here’s how to teach your child to read faster.
The three tricks to faster reading are:
Stay focused, by continually asking questions.
Read different types of materials at different rates.
Pace oneself with an index card or a finger in the margin—learning to read multiple words per eye fixation.
The first trick to reading faster is to keep asking and answering questions about the material being read. This keeps [...]