Spread the Word to Pre-School Parents!

There is an exciting opportunity about to start for parents of low-income 3-and-4-year-olds! A great organization is running FREE groups for parents on Tuesday evenings. Participants will receive free books and supplies, free childcare during class, gift cards, and light refreshments. The groups teach parents how to prepare their children for school success.

If you are a parent of a 3-or-4-year-old and your family qualifies for free or reduced lunch at school, call 855-332-9333 for more information about signing up for the program. The first meeting is Tuesday, February 26 at 5:30pm in the Chestnut Trace Community Center.

Or, if your church or business is looking to partner with a group for community service or charitable donations, this is a great cause! The organization is called First Teachers @ Home, and I have been very impressed with the passion and intentions of the people running it. You can call the number above if you would like to volunteer or contribute in any way!

Kindergarten Perseverance Lesson

We started a new lesson in kindergarten today! We are learning about perseverance. I like to teach this concept in K because so many things are new and difficult- learning letters and numbers, interacting with friends, enduring a full day of school, trying to make Track Club, etc. Perseverance is an important part of academic success, and lays the foundation for future goal-setting, problem-solving, and career-related skills.

In our lesson, I will introduce perseverance as a magic word that can help our students do the things they want to do. I'll define it as trying your best and not giving up, even when things are hard. We'll read the classic book The Little Engine That Could (which I love because it includes the catchy positive self-talk "I think I can! I think I can!" and it usually mesmerizes students at this age) and learn a song to help them remember what perseverance means. Finally, students will draw and write something they will be able to do if they persevere. You can look for that sheet to come home with your child. If you'd like to sing the perseverance song with them, the "lyrics" are typed on the bottom of the page! The tune is from that simple song "Are you sleeping, are you sleeping, Brother John, Brother John?"

This week I'll see D. Mitchell, Sullivan/Loper, Henry, Miller, Tindle, Henderson, and Curry. All other K classes will do the lesson next week. If you have any questions or comments about this or any other lesson, please let me know!

Thank you for reading! We are glad you are here!

Happiness Boosts Learning

 

Welcome back to school, TPS families! I hope you had an enjoyable and restful break.

 

My brother shared this speech with me, and I think it has great relevance for our families and students as well. It is only 12 minutes long, and the researcher is lighthearted and amusing. In short, he says that when we are happy, our brains learn better, have more energy, and are 30% more productive than when we feel neutral or unhappy. 30%!

 

My favorite part is how the speaker gives 5 simple, concrete actions to help our brains be happier. It only takes 21 consecutive days of these practices to significantly boost your happiness levels and start training your brain to see positives instead of negatives. I think he even says it could just take a couple of minutes each day, not a big time commitment.

 

I know I have spoken with some of you before about bedtime routines and dinner table conversations and other types of daily "traditions" or "rituals" that you encourage for your family and children. These first 3 seem like they'd be very easy to incorporate into conversation during the car ride home from school, dinner, or bedtime.

 

5 Practices to Train Your Brain to Be Happy and Boost Learning

• write down 3 things you are grateful for everyday
• journal about one positive thing that happened every 24 hours
• do an act of kindness for another person
• exercise
• meditate

Of course, this psychologist is not talking about our kids being happy because we let them do everything they want to and play video games all day. :) He is talking about training our brains to emphasize positives instead of negatives, and create a happy state of mind separate from our external circumstances and life situation.

 

I hope you like this as much as I did! I, for one, am definitely planning to start a gratitude journal. :)

 

Thanks for reading! We are glad you are here!

Success Pack Feedback?

Almost all of the Home-School Success Packs I wrote about in the Primary Bulletin went home last week, and some 2nd grade classes will send theirs home today due to the aquarium field trips. If you have any feedback on the packs themselves, what you and your child think of them, and how you're using them at home to build academic skills, we would love to hear from you! This is the first year we've created Success Packs, and your insights will help us decide whether to continue similar projects in future years. We appreciate any comments or questions you would like to share!

Thanks for reading. We are glad you are here!

Apps for Literacy & Language

Recently I was in touch with someone from the TASC (Technology Assistance for Special Consumers) center at UCP Huntsville. They gave me this huge list of apps that can make building language and literacy skills a little more fun! Of course these do not take the place of interacting with a caring adult, but they may liven up some of your learning time at home.

I cannot vouch for any of them personally and this list may be intended for older kids as well, so of course you'll want to decide which ones you think are appropriate for your children. :)

Thanks for reading! We are glad you are here!

Apps for Language Development

Articulation
o ArtikPix
o Smarty Speech
o PCS Articulation Flash Cards
o Articulation Station
o Articulation Scenes
o Pocket Pairs (Synapse Apps)
Oral Motor
o Smart Oral Motor (Smarty Ears)
o Speech Trainer 3D
o SmallTalk Oral Motor
Listening/Following Directions

• Touch the Sound (Innovative Mobile Apps)
• Picture The Sentence
• iSay Free
• Auditory Workout

Vocabulary/Categories
o Word SLapPs Vocabulary
o Preposition Pets
o Let’s Name Things
o PCS Vocab
o Kindergarten Apps
o Name that Category!
o Opposities (Super Duper)
Sign Language
o Danny the Dragon
o PCS SignLanguage
o Sign Language Idioms (Everyday ASL)
o ASL Dictionary by Baby Sign and Learn
o Baby Sign and Learn Lite

Questions
o WhQuestions
o Question Builder
o “Wh” Questions at School

AAC (AAC Tech Connect)
o TapSpeak Button
o Sounding Board
o Core Words/Directing Activities
o Expressive (Smarty Ears)
o My Talk
o Talk to Me
o Sono Flex
o Proloquo2Go
o TouchChat
o Locabulary
o Predictable
o Verbally
o Speak It
o Go Talk Now


Apps for Literacy Development

Phonemic Awareness
o PCS Rhyming Cards
o Rhymin Words (Grasshopper)
o Words Wizard
o Interactive Alphabet
o SoundLiteracy
o Tic Tac Toe Phonics

Sight Words
o A Sight Words Read & Spell (App-Zoo)
o ABC Phonics Sight Words
o Sight Word Flash Cards
o Sight Words by Photo Touch
o Abby Sight Word Games

Stories (Comprehension/Fluency)
o StoryChimes (Princess Pea)
o Story Boy (ABC Dinosaurs)
o Scroll Motion (Mr. Tickle)
o ICDL
o SoOuat (Three Little Pigs)
o Toy Store
o Read Me Stories
o Roxie’s Doors
o Language Technologies LAZ Level __ Library
“Reading” Apps
o K12 Timed Reading
o MiniMod Details (E. Skills)
Writing/Spelling
o Sentence Maker
o Sentence Builder
o Word Magic
o My Word Wall
o Shake-A-Phrase
o Rainbow Sentences
o Simplex Spelling
o Abilipad
o Zombie Grammar Force

Word Games
o Word Slam
o Word Genius
o Words with Friends
o Scramble with Friends
o Spell Tower
o Shake Spell


Engaging Apps to Incorporate Language and Literacy Activities
• Talking Tom/Harry/Larry/Rex/Obama
• Puppet Pals
• Angry Birds

Camera
o Creato
o FaceTime
o FotoVado
Talking Photo Albums/Books
o Pictello
o Tapikeo
o Book Creator
Music/Song Apps
o Wheels on Bus
o Old MacDonald Farm
o Twinkle Little Star
o Sing & Send
o Piano Cats
o Player Piano

Drawing/Coloring
o Art of Glow
o Drawing Pad
o Kids Doodle

Play with 2 or more iPads
o Rollercoaster Extreme
o Shrek Cart


Finding More Apps

• App Store: Genius
• Pintrest (UCP Huntsville)
• www.StarTraining.org

Apps for Finding Apps:
• Autism Apps
• AppDeals
• AppStream

Websites:

http://bridgingapps.org/
http://www.geekslp.com
http://www.ihelpforspecialneeds.com
www.apple.com/education/ipad/
www.iear.org
www.appcraver.com
http://momswithapps.com/apps-for-learning/
http://a4cwsn.com
http://www.connsensebulletin.com/2011/01/apps-for-education-update/
http://www.inov8-ed.com/category/special-app-for-that/
http://www.commonsensemedia.org/app-reviews
http://www.abcya.com
http://www.ucphuntsville.org/services/t-a-s-c

Volunteer Opportunity With Local Kids

I've gotten word about a program called First Teachers @ Home that is starting next week at Chestnut Trace apartments. It sounds really cool! This is a nonprofit organization that aims to teach parents of 3 and 4-year-olds how to prepare their children for kindergarten. What a fantastic head start for those families! I can tell you without any doubt in my mind that those kinds of skills are incredibly valuable for school success over the years.

First Teachers @ Home is looking for volunteers to either work with the children's program, or provide simple meals for the meetings (for example, a hot dog, chips, apple, and water). I thought I would let y'all know, in case you or a group/church/business you know of may want to support this cause.

You can read more about the program in this article:

http://www.tuscaloosanews.com/article/20120819/NEWS/120819774

And you can watch a video clip of a WVUA news story about it here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O85VDImKWWo

If you're interested in volunteering, you can visit the website http://www.first-teachers.org/ and contact Yolanda McKinney, the Community Partnership Director, at 951-8989.

If you live in Chestnut Trace, have a 3 or 4-year-old, and would like to participate in the program, please let me know! School counselors can make "referrals" and I am happy to do so for anyone who is interested!

Thank you for reading! We are glad you are here!

Building Self-Esteem

I was talking with a parent about self-esteem yesterday, and I thought it might be a valuable topic to post about here. Self-esteem is a big buzzword, and lots of experts have lots of different things to say about it!

One thing that I think has been counterintuitive for me is that praise and compliments do not build self-esteem. In fact, in kids with very low self-concept, those kinds of words can actually cause them to feel uncomfortable and distrust us! They do not match the child's deeply held beliefs about herself, so they sound inauthentic, false, manipulative, and upsetting.

I won't go into a whole bunch of details today, but in the Parenting with Love and Logic book, Foster Cline and Jim Fay describe what they call the "three-legged table" of self-concept. They think that three important implied messages our kids get from us are what create a strong sense of self in them.

The three messages are:
1. I am loved unconditionally by the important people in my life.
2. I have the skills I need to make it.
3. I am capable of taking control of my life.

The Love and Logic folks firmly believe that positive self-esteem comes from accomplishment, and that kids get the most out of what they accomplish for themselves... even if it isn't "right" or perfect the first time they try.

Like I said, I will try to keep my thoughts pretty brief, since obviously this is a topic that could go on for pages! If you are interested in hearing more about self-esteem, just let me know and I will do another post or two to follow- up on this one. In the meantime, I'll leave you with an email I got recently from the Love and Logic listserve.

Shaping Self-Concept, one of our most popular audios, teaches a very special type of love. It's the type that allows our kids to struggle…lets them work through their trials…and guides them toward independence instead of insecurity.

This love can be expressed daily by:

• Allowing kids to wrestle with tying their shoes…instead of automatically jumping in and doing it for them.
• Letting them dress themselves…even if the clothes they choose don't match.
• Teaching them how to talk to their teachers about problems at school…rather than always doing it for them.
• Expecting that they speak up and order meals for themselves…instead of ordering for them.
• Having them call the insurance company and arrange for their own car insurance…instead of doing it all for them.
• Letting them do most of the work required to fill out their college applications…rather than preparing all of the paperwork for them.

Remembering that the more things they learn to do for themselves, the stronger and more confident they will become!

In Shaping Self-Concept you'll hear even more tips for helping your kids develop the type of unselfish and humble confidence required to enjoy success in life. You'll also hear how this confidence dramatically increases a child's motivation to do well in school.

Isn't it ironic that our kids have to face some tough times in order to live confident, joyful lives?

Dr. Charles Fay

Thanks for reading! We are glad you are here!

Math-Science Doll Houses

I came across this article the other day about a company making doll houses that are designed to integrate math and science with typical doll play. Thought I would share here in case you are interested! Looks like children would get to design the house, build the furniture, decorate the rooms, and power lights and fans with electricity. Pretty cool! Who knows, your daughter or son may be an engineer in the making!

In case you need it, the full link is: http://www.springwise.com/education/girls-toys-designed-inspire-future-female-engineers-tech-workers/

Thanks for reading. We are glad you are here!

Playing Games Builds the Brain!

I noticed this article over the summer and saved it to share with y'all here! It is about how playing typical childhood games (like Red Light Green Light or Simon Says) strengthens the "executive functions" of children's brains.

The executive functions are super important for learning and success in life. They are a group of several different overlapping brain skills that control when and how we organize, prioritize, sequence, and use information and feedback. Executive functions were once described to me as the "conductor" who is directing the "symphony" of various brain areas, skills, and tasks. Some examples of executive functions are time management, flexibility in thought/behavior/emotion, beginning and completing activities, self-correction/monitoring, goal-setting, problem-solving, and planning.

There is a lot of research and attention focused on the significance of executive functions lately. The article mentions that one recent study showed that "a child’s ability at age 4 to pay attention and complete a task... were the greatest predictors of whether he or she finished college by age 25." Whoa!

Anyway, the article says that play is one of the most cognitively stimulating things a child can do, and that the key to making games educational is to start with a simple game and add increasingly complicated rules.

From the article:“We tend to equate learning with the content of learning, with what information children have, rather than the how of learning,” says Ellen Galinsky, a child-development researcher and author of Mind in the Making: The Seven Essential Life Skills Every Child Needs. “But focusing on the how of learning, on executive functions, gives you the skills to learn new information, which is why they tend to be so predictive of long-term success."

If you'd like more information, you can find the whole article at the link below. If you'd like me to send home a few pages I can copy from a book I have about executive functions (called Tigers Too), just let me know!

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/08/23/simon-says-dont-use-flashcards/

Thanks for reading! We are glad you are here!

2nd Grade Careers Lesson

This week, we'll start our first lesson in 2nd grade! In preparation for 2nd Grade Career Day on October 12, this lesson is about careers.

We'll first discuss that, in general, "the more you LEARN, the more you EARN." I'll explain briefly that students who complete college have more choices of careers and earn more money on average than students who finish high school or drop out of high school. I'll show the classes piles of fake money to give them a visual comparison between the average salaries of high school drop-outs (approximately $23,000 per year), high school graduates (approximately $30,000) and college graduates (approximately $52,000). (I got those numbers from a U.S. Census Bureau report.) We'll talk about how college graduates can choose any of the same jobs that high school drop-outs and graduates can choose, but choices are more limited if you don't finish high school or go to college.

Then, I will distribute a card with a career on it to every child, and they will quickly put together a brief page about that career to present to the class on "TV" (behind a cardboard TV cut-out). (If I get some good photos during a class, I'll post these soon so you can see how this ends up working!) When I made the cards, I tried to choose careers that kids would find interesting but might not know about yet, like a map-maker, marine biologist, speech writer, museum director, blacksmith, and forensic scientist. So, by the end of class, we'll have heard about 18-20 careers that might pique students' interests.

I will see Myrick, Patterson, Frith, Whitehead, Johnson, and Singley's classes this week. Next week I'll do the lesson with Dean, Horst, Phillips, Hamner, Bowlin, and Smelley.

Thanks for reading! We are glad you are here! 

Exciting Success Story/Community Resource

I've got two tidbits for you today!

First, one of our student teachers who interned with us at TPS this year is interested in tutoring kids over the summer. She is charging $25 an hour. If you would like her contact information, please let me know!

Secondly, I have a really exciting sucess story and community resource to share. A former TPS parent has recently fulfilled her dream of opening a resale and consignment shop that gives 20% of its profits back to the community. I will not go into personal details, but in brief, this is a mother who has weathered difficult times, and she and her daughter have taught me lessons about strength, people, and "doing the right thing" that remain close to my heart to this day. 

If you ever are looking for a place to donate or sell on consignment things like clothing, furniture, and household items, this is a small business that would appreciate your support! Of course, you can shop there too. It looks like they have tons of VHS tapes, DVDs, clothing, various decor items, and even some cute handpainted kids' furniture. They say their prices are so low, you will think they are crazy! It looks to me like they also rent booths in the store, so if you had lots of things to sell or know someone who does, they have spaces available for that.

You can see more pictures on the website below!

The owner would especially like to give back to our school, so she has a neat opportunity for us! It is called School Bucks. Basically it is a card that you would present when you shop at the store. Just by showing it, you will receive 5% of your purchase total in "come back" dollars for you to spend on a future shopping trip, AND she will donate another 5% of your purchase total to TPS! Isn't that amazing?! What a win-win. If you would like a card, please just let me know and I will send one home with your child.

The store is called Nu-Beginnings, and you can see their Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/nubeginningsresaleandconsignment

You'll find Nu-Beginnings at 307 Skyland Blvd. On the map, it looks to me like you would turn right onto Skyland from traveling north on 69, then you would pass Old Montgomery Hwy and 5th Ave, and look for the store on your right, in the same shopping center as the antique mall. If you pass Skyland Drive, you've gone too far. The phone number is 752-0550.

Kindergarten Careers Lesson

We're starting a new lesson in kindergarten today! We'll learn about careers. My goal is for the students to learn briefly about the wide variety of careers that are out there and to start becoming familiar with some jobs they haven't heard of yet. I also want them to start thinking about how the things they are learning in school are used in grown-up jobs.

So, we will be solving riddles about careers and playing a whole class game of tic-tac-toe. I'll divide the class into two teams and draw a tic-tac-toe board on the classroom whiteboard. Then I'll read a clue to the students on one team, like "This person builds buildings and houses. They use hammers, nails, and big machines like cranes," or "This person knows a lot about books and likes to read. They work in a place with lots and lots of books on shelves and tables." The students will have the chance to talk to their team before they decide on an answer. If they get it right, one student will come up to the board and put an X or an O on the board. Usually this also becomes a lesson in sportsmanship too!

After tic-tac-toe, the kids will play their own guessing game with partners. I have brown paper lunch sacks with a picture of a career at the bottom. Each child will take a bag, look at the career in the bottom, and give their partner clues to try to help them guess the hidden career. There are plenty of bags, so we should be able to spend some time switching them around and taking turns guessing and explaining several different jobs.

I think it will be fun and I am looking forward to the learning and excitement. I will see Aldridge, Brown, and Childers' classes this week. All other K classes will take place next week. If you have any questions, just let me know!

Thanks for reading! We are glad you are here!

Attention Problems Could Be Sleep Related

I saw this article yesterday and thought it was very interesting. The basic idea is that issues like sleep apnea, sleep deprivation, snoring, and mouth breathing could be causing children to be mistakenly diagnosed with ADHD.


I have learned from ADHD conferences in the past that difficulty sleeping soundly for the full night can be a part of ADHD, so that connection is already one piece of the puzzle. But, this article brings up the additional possibility that some children who look like they have ADHD (lack of focus, emotional instability, trouble getting along with peers, difficulty sitting still, being "wired" or obstinate, etc.) may really and truly just have a sleep issue, not ADHD at all.


Of course, I am not a medical doctor or expert in sleep or ADHD so I can't add much more to the discussion. But, from what I see, I certainly think sleep is a worthwhile concern to investigate for most all children. And, I am always interested in factors that may be part of what looks to me like an increase in behaviors resembling ADHD here at school.


If you are interested in reading more about sleep, I really enjoyed the book Sleepless in America by Mary Sheedy Kurcinka. One surprising idea in there is that kids ages 5-12 on average need 10-11 hours of sleep in every 24 hour period. Kids who resist bed and act the most wired may actually be the most overtired, too! How confusing! It is a great family-friendly book and I think you'll like it if you are looking for help with family sleep.


If you want to read the whole article about ADHD and sleep issues, it is at this website: http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/04/16/attention-problems-may-be-sleep-related/


If you are interested in health news, you may want to follow the link above and consider subscribing to that NY Times Well blog where I found this article. It usually posts a few headlines a day about various medical, health, fitness, and wellness-related topics.


Thanks for reading! We are glad you are here!

Perfectionism & Underachieving

I received this email yesterday from the Love and Logic listserve, and thought it was pretty interesting. Dr. Fay starts off talking about gifted students who are underachievers, but really I think the 4 quick tips are relevant to many children struggling with perfectionism, difficulty making mistakes, or not wanting to try. I hope you find them helpful!

Do you know any gifted kids who are super capable but just will not apply themselves in school? Some take the path of least resistance by completing only the work they find simple and easy. Others simply shut down altogether.

The common denominator with many underachieving kids is deep-seated perfectionism. That's right! As strange as it may sound, many kids who do poorly in school desire to do perfectly in school. As they grow, they become more and more imprisoned by the belief that it's better to avoid trying than to appear less than perfect in any way.

Sadly, many of these perfect underachievers are misdiagnosed as lazy or uncaring. Actually, fear…rather than apathy…drives their poor performance.

In my book, From Bad Grades to a Great Life!, I teach a variety of strategies for helping perfectionists gain the courage to achieve. Listed below are some quick hints:

Model learning from making mistakes. Kids need to see us trying new things, making mistakes, learning from these mistakes, and trying again.

Love your children for who they are. When humans feel loved and accepted for who they are, they're more likely to take the healthy risks required to become all they can be.

Respond to their mistakes with empathy…rather than anger. Obviously, it's best to avoid flying off the handle when they blow it. Remember: Empathy opens the heart and the mind to learning.

Focus on effort rather than IQ. Parents who constantly praise, "You are so smart!" often raise kids who avoid trying anything that they can't complete perfectly.

Perfectionism can be a curse. If you suffer from it, intentionally mess up at least once per week. That's right. Pick something small and mess it up. Then see if the earth stops spinning around the sun. Being a recovering perfectionist, it's been comforting to see that life goes on even when I make a mistake!

Dr. Charles Fay
Love and Logic

Thanks for reading! We are glad you are here!

1st Grade Careers Lesson

We started a new lesson in first grade today. We are learning about careers! We'll read a book called What I Do Best. The children in the story will share their talents with us, and we will guess which careers they might have when they grow up. For example, one of the characters in the book says she is good at taking care of her pets, so we will brainstorm animal-related careers like veterinarian, zookeeper, pet store employee, etc. Then the students will become the "authors" as they each write and illustrate their own page highlighting the talents they have now and careers they might like to have in the future. Look for that sheet to come home with your first grader!

One of my main goals is to help students see that there are many jobs that relate to their talents, not just one. For example, one of the characters in the book says he is good with computers, so we'll talk about not only working with computers in an office, but also fixing broken computers, manufacturing the computer parts or building things out of them, working in a computer store, designing websites, and creating computer games or software. For the character in the book who says he is good at sports, we'll talk about not only playing sports, but also coaching, writing newspaper articles about sports, being a commentator, doing math with sports statistics, and taking sports photographs or video.

My intention is for our students to start seeing that their future career goals and aspirations will likely be related to both their talents and things they like, and to get them thinking beyond the typical careers they already know about to the variety of opportunities open to them. Of course they do not have to choose a career now and they will probably change their minds many many times over the years, but it is never too early to start making the connection between their school work, talents, interests, and careers that appeal to them!

I am seeing Durrett, Payne, Henry, and Miller's classes today, and Bosch's class tomorrow. All other first grade classes will take place in the next two weeks.

Thank you for reading! We are glad you are here!

Helping Kids Focus on School

A TPS parent shared a link with me that features several ideas about how to help/motivate kids to focus on schoolwork and take it seriously. All the ideas are from real parents with real kids. I copied and pasted the information I thought was most helpful below, but if you would like to go to the actual website, the link is at the bottom of the page. Hope you think some of the strategies are useful!

I took a "Homework Survival Course" and it made such a difference in our home. When my son comes home from school at 3P we give him an hour to 'decompress' at home and enjoy time with his family. He knows at 4P it is quiet time in the house. That means the entire house is quiet, phone off the hook, no tv, no radio. My son has a study area in our kitchen. He does his homework close by so he knows we are available to ask questions and we can gauge if he's getting frustrated. We make sure all the supplies he needs for homework is close to him so he's not running around all over the house to get scissors here and crayons there. My daughter (3) colors or looks through picture books. My husband and I also read a book to show that even though we are not in school, we still regard keeping up with education and improving ourselves continuously as important. Since implementing this schedule homework time has been a breeze. I love it because I want to instill in my son that when he goes off to college that study time is study time: if you work hard you can play harder later, just give yourself that allotted time to do good now.

I always let my girls know that education is the ultimate in life. My little daughter has this big admiration for police in uniform. She always wish to be one of them,. Then I tell her getting education and especially doing her homework is the first step. Hearing this, she get down to doing her homework.

Like many Moms, I face the constant struggle between telling my children to do things and letting them make their own choices. I want my children to come home and do their homework because they want to, and I also want them to play and have fun because, after all, they are children. If we let our children run the show then we often don't get the results we want for them, but if we don't give them the freedom and respect of their own choice then it can come back to bite us when they are older and the stakes are higher.

Here are 5 tips I use to get my children to focus on their school work.

1. Get involved. - When my children know that they are getting positive attention and support as they work through their school work, they have more confidence in themselves and tend to get their work done quickly and easily. They are reassured because I am right by their side if they need a little extra guidance and they are so proud when they can show me that they figured something out on their own.

2. Make it fun. - Sometimes I thought that being firm, rigid and strict would help my unfocused child gain focus. This was a huge misunderstanding. The truth is the more I breathed down their necks the less focused they became. (And I remembered when my father did it to me… YUCK!) Now we brainstorm at our family meetings ways to help my children make boring or hard work fun. We work through the solution together so the results are easier and much more fun! Just using Google I have found crossword puzzles to learn spelling words, sudoku puzzles to learn math, and we have even taken a family field trip to an Animal Eco Station to do a book report. Making it fun is making it happen.

3. Give them choices. - If they aren't motivated to do their school work right away, I give my kids an outlet to clear their mind so they can move into a space of greater focus and clarity. My son is active, so we shoot hoops or walk the dogs prior to getting started with his school work. My daughter is an artist, so I encourage her to do a project before sitting to focus on homework. The more I have learned how my children operate, the more success I have had in supporting the work they need to do.

4. Turn it into a game. – The last thing I want to do is fight with my kids to get them to want to do things, so I had to figure out something that made it fun to ask. The solution: my kids LOVE GAMES! We started playing them as a family when my kids were very little (a bit of early conditioning has proven to be quite effective!). I get creative with my kids and as often as I can I make their homework into a game so they are playing rather than working. It is all in how you look at it so I make it fun.

5. Make agreements. – When I was a kid my father was great at telling me what he expected from me and rarely asked me what I thought. This demand tactic never really did much for me, so with my kids I took a different approach. I began to make agreements with them. I would share what I wanted from them and they shared what they wanted from me and we ended each conversation with the question “Do you agree to that?” Beside building trust and respect in our relationship, we know what is being asked of us and what we are asking for so we achieve results or make new promises. Making agreements for our family has reduced expectation and increased our joy and fulfillment making homework time fun time. We have all learned to interact rather than react!

A little focus on some new approaches can make homework fun work!

Good Luck from Conscious Parent Monika Zands www.consciousparents.info

Diet is absolutely an essential component of academic success, as well as enough sleep. I feed my son nutrient-rich, unprocessed foods. We have almost no processed foods in the house. We are not wealthy and I work from home, so I don't have any more time or money than anyone else. I've just made it a priority, and we do without many other things to ensure that we are as healthy as possible by using a good portion of our income to buy real food. We support a lot of local farmers and have stopped buying brand-name products, and we actually save money that way because health problems you pay for later are expensive. nourishing foods we feed our children are essential to their success, but they are also some of the only things we really have choices over.

You can read these entire responses and more at http://www.circleofmoms.com/survey_qa.php?view=1&question_id=1701110&trk=digest_featured_question&trk_info=1701110&email_enc=odWl1N2motqqzc7HytKPlqih&email_src=1331752328247d0927df81c18aa583fbb1e97eda29&template_name=digest_weekly_3&subject_id=3e39efd8990ec404b7fc6e0e6509e163%3A1&has_fb=1

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Project HELP applications are here!

Last week I received applications for Project HELP, which is a summer program for children in both city and county schools. The program addresses reading, writing, oral language, math, and social skills. It is intended to help children retain their academic and social skills over the summer and not regress during the break from school.

Project HELP runs from June 4 - June 27, Monday - Thursday, 8:00am - 12:00pm. It will be held at Sprayberry Education Center in Northport. The cost is $125 per child, which includes breakfast and a sack lunch.

If you would like me to send home an application with your child, please let me know! I also have some applications outside my office in one of the Parent Pockets on the wall to the right of my door.

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ADHD Expert Panel at UA

For a few years now, the University of Alabama has hosted a great annual conference on ADHD here in Tuscaloosa. One part of the event is an hour-long question-and-answer session with a panel of experts. I've been to this twice before, and it has been interesting and informative to hear "experts" from different professions talk about many aspects of raising, educating, and treating children and teens who have ADHD. Even if you don't have any questions, you can just listen!

In the past the panel has included researchers, medical doctors, advocates for children with disabilities, parents of children with ADHD, counselors, and educators. This year it looks like there will definitely be a researcher and a medical doctor who specializes in ADHD, and I'm not sure if there will be other panel members as well.

If you would like to mark your calendar, the panel is scheduled for Thursday, January 26, from 7:00 to 8:00pm, at the Bryant Conference Center on the UA campus. If you'd like more information about the conference and the panel, you can go to http://training.ua.edu//adhd/.

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Signs of Dyslexia

Did you know Walt Disney, Thomas Edison, Leonardo da Vinci, Cher, Steve Jobs, Anderson Cooper, Albert Einstein, Charles Schwab, John Chambers, and John Lennon were all dyslexic? Those are just a few of the interesting names I found on the website below, and a few others.

A TPS parent introduced me to The Power of Dyslexia site. It looks like it is an organization dedicated to serving the dyslexic community by providing a free online community where dyslexics and those touched by dyslexia can post questions, provide advice, and chat with other community members. I didn't look at the forums, but the website contained several pages of clear, helpful information.

I know many people have heard the term "dyslexia" before, but are not sure what all it entails, or know a few symptoms but not the full extent of the disorder. So, in case you're wondering, here is a list of some of the signs that The Power of Dyslexia identifies for kids ages 4-12. For more information, check out the website at http://www.thepowerofdyslexia.com/.

Signs of Dyslexia in Pre-school Children (between 4 to 5 years of age)

• Constant switching from left to right hand when drawing, coloring or writing
• Inability to tie shoe laces
• Difficulty in pronouncing words that have three or more syllables
• Difficulty in uttering words that rhyme
• Difficulty in learning to write
• Problem in pronouncing ‘M’, ‘N’, ‘R’ and ‘L’
• Stuttering

Signs of Dyslexia in Elementary and Middle School Children (between 6 to 12 years of age)

• Weak in spelling and handwriting abilities
• Slow, disrupted reading and commit similar mistakes every time
• Difficulty in telling the time
• Struggles with math problems or concepts
• Find it difficult to find the right words when expressing themselves
• Mispronunciation of common words
• Untidy lockers, bedrooms and bags
• Difficulty in remembering telephone numbers or a series of numbers

The preceding information is for educational purposes only. For specific medical advice, diagnoses, and treatment, consult your doctor or a psychologist.

One of our TPS parents shared this article about motivating students to do well in school with me recently. I thought it had some unique and useful ideas, so I am passing them on to you here! Hope they're helpful!. There is a link to the entire article at the bottom of the list, in case you'd like to read more of what this website has to offer.

Make Reading Into a Game
Kara K.'s 7-year-old son has trouble reading, and he resists any efforts on her part to help. She worries that he might have a problem, but isn't sure how to tell. Gloria V. has an answer that seems to target both the resistance to intervention and to reading: Tape words around the house — to the door, onto appliances, objects, etc. Make a game out of reading! If your child can read 10 words in a row, or even five (you decide the goal), then he gets a reward. This can be particularly succesful if your child has a hard time sitting still long enough to read a book, as it allows him to be active while he reads.

Read at Home, Choosing Books Your Child Will Love
One reason kids resist reading is that they get frustrated because they are overwhelmed by new information and are asked to use skills that aren't yet fully developed. Another way to avert avoidance is to choose books with stories your child will love. Is she dinosaur-obsessed? Is he into spaceships? Chose books, at any level, whose stories themselves will compel your youngster to want to know more.

You can start by reading aloud, then hand off the responsibility to your child at any point. Or share each page, taking turns sentence by sentence. Collaboration is another way to peak interest without being overly pushy about it. The trick is to find the right mix of interest and challenge (not too much, not too little), and to praise even for small accomplishments. Once your child's reading skills develop through genuine interest, he or she will much likely become more interested in the books on offer at school.

Create a Reward System
Sabrina M.'s eight-year-old has a more general issue: lack of motivation for all things school-related. Sabrina is concerned that she can't get to the bottom of the problem, but meanwhile, several moms have offered good advice.

One suggests a reward system whereby the child earns "money" (play money with drawings of family members) that can be exchanged for specific rewards. For example, it costs $5 to go to a friend's house, but her child gets $1 back if he comes home on time. This kind of system could be very successful for school-related milestones and successes as well.

Here is a link to the entire article at the Circle of Moms website. I bet they have a lot of good advice there!
http://www.circleofmoms.com/article/5-ways-help-your-grade-schooler-do-well-school-page-1-01097
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