• Buy school supplies in triplicate
  Kids with attention problems tend to lose things. So get a set of supplies each for home, backpack, and supply cabinet. Stock up on rulers, tape, pens, and three-ring binders (they constantly break).
  Keep a checklist in your supply cabinet so your child can check off items he takes that need to be replaced.
  
  
• Create a portable office.
  It's challenging to keep a child on task if she jumps up every two seconds to sharpen her pencil. Fill a tackle box or art-supply bin with school supplies. This way your child has everything she needs, wherever she studies. There'll be fewer homework interruptions; and the box is easily packed up for tomorrow.
  
  
• Set up a backpack routine.
  Before bedtime, sign any notes and have your child pack his backpack. Every Friday or Sunday, go through the backpack to organize the past week's residual papers and prepare for the week ahead.
  

Quick Tips #3
"Fidget can help you focus?"

"Focus!" "Mind over matter!"
"You can do anything if you really want to!" "Just try harder!"

Adults and children with attention deficit disorder (ADHD) have all heard these exhortations, and have probably shared them with others struggling to concentrate at work or focus at school. The ADHD brain is indeed a powerful force for success.

But we know that relying on the brain can be frustrating and, at times, demoralizing. Our ADHD brains aren't our most reliable asset -- allowing distractions to break our focus. But what if there were strategies that could prime our brains beyond "just trying harder"?

Recent research suggests that the body affects the brain as much as the brain affects the body. In his recent book, Spark, John Ratey, M.D., shows that physical activity increases levels of the neurotransmitters dopamine and norepinephrine in the way ADHD medications do. Both chemicals play a key role in sharpening focus and increasing attention.

Sydney Zentall, Ph.D., of Purdue University, studied the factors that help ADHD children succeed in the classroom. In ADHD and Education, she notes that attention "deficit" increases with the length, familiarity, and repetitiveness of a task. In other words, you tune out when tasks get boring!

According to Zentall, an activity that uses a sense other than that required for the primary task - listening to music while reading a social studies textbook - can enhance performance in children with ADHD. Doing two things at once, she found, focuses the brain on the primary task.

Zentall calls these sensory-motor activities "distractions." We call them fidgets - mindless activities you can do while working on a primary task. We're not talking about wriggling in your seat. Fidgeting is more intentional. It's pacing or doodling while on the phone or chewing gum while taking a test.

Quick Tips #2

Reinforce & Improve Reading Skills

1. Review the Ideas:
   • Asking questions when reading encourages your child to pay close attention
   • When reading with your child, stop every few pages to ask what might happen next.
   • Suggest note-keeping as your child reads each section/chapter (use a post-it or note card)
     
     
2. Build Vocabulary:
   • Talk with your child about anything that interests him/her
   • Use a mature vocabulary in daily conversation. This will increase their vocabulary base.
     
     
3. Studying Vocabulary:
   • Use tools like puzzles, word searches (www.puzzlemaker.com) to make reinforcement fun and easier
   • Have your child type their own study guide
   • Study the words yourself and let your child challenge you to a "quiz" you to see who knows more words
     
     
4. Know the Assignment:
   • Help re-word the directions
   • Ask your child to explain the directions to see, for clarity
     

• Improve children's efficiency and daily functioning
• Offer structure that helps them feel safe and secure.
• Help your child to prepare for what is expected
• Build confidence because they know what they need to do
• Encourage your child to become more self-sufficient

 

Homework time: Discuss and form an after-school schedule with your child

• Pick a homework spot to use on a regular basis. Keep supplies (pencils, paper, calculator, etc) nearby
• Enforce a consistent start time to help your child build a homework habit. Include a break right after school for "down time" or a snack
• Estimate how much time you need each night for homework, dinner, and preparing for the next day.
• Post the after-school schedule in a common place as a visual reinforcement

Bedtime: Have your child spend 20 minutes of transition time before bed. This should include a relaxing activity, such as reading a favorite book or magazine for pleasure. The brain needs at least this much time to get ready for rest. Limit TV/computer use just before bed.

• Establish a simple evening routine: Shower, and use the bathroom BEFORE the scheduled bedtime. You don't want to hear, "Mom, I have to go to the bathroom!" five minutes after you say goodnight.
• Develop a bedtime tradition that signals to your child that it's time to rest. Tuck in, play quiet music, give him/her the reading material in bed, or just a few simple words "rest well, enjoy your quiet time" etc. Make it personal to your family!
• Talk about what you do to relax in the evening (read favorite book, listen to quiet music, etc.) and model this for them

For more information, please feel free to contact Maggie E. Dock, School Counselor
at 973-838-5250x174 or dockm@kinnelon.org





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