written by Rachel Ehmke, posted on childmind.org
Executive functions are the essential self-regulating skills that we all use every day to plan, organize, make decisions, and learn from past mistakes. Kids rely on their executive functions for everything from taking a shower to packing a backpack or doing a book report.
There are many ways to help kids who struggle with executive function skills get more organized.
by Dr. Liz Matheis, published in www.attitudemag.com
Your child is in elementary school. For the last year or so, you’ve heard in parent-teacher conferences and occasional emails that your child is ‘fidgety.’ He has difficulty keeping his hands to himself. He gets up out of his seat often. This is happening consistently; no one is beating around the bush anymore: It’s time for an ADHD evaluation. But where do you go from here? With whom should you consult? Who can recognize the symptoms of ADHD in children and diagnose ADHD? And most importantly, how can you use a diagnosis to help your child?
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Mean kids aren’t just a middle-school problem. The trouble has trickled to the youngest grades. Learn how to spot it—and how to protect children of all ages from bullies at school.
Excerpt from: https://blog.planbook.com/social-skills-lessons/
Parents and teachers alike are concerned about the effect that a year of enforced social isolation has had on their kids. Younger children, in particular, need social interaction to learn behavioral norms and develop social skills that will help them throughout their lives.
Many teachers are ramping up their social skills lesson plans this year. Here are a few ideas for your classroom to help your kids connect emotionally and learn positive behaviors.
written by Kate Kelly, published on understood.org
When someone says something to you, how long does it take you to process the information and respond? You may have never even thought about it before. But that response time is the result of something called processing speed.
Learn more about processing speed, and what happens when kids take a long time to process information.
Helping our children get through remote learning.
written by Dr. Liz Matheis/ published on Psychology Today, 3/1/2021
Never did I imagine that school would look like each of my three children sitting in front of a computer. Never did I imagine that teaching would take place via video, where the teacher is trying his or her best to re-create the classroom environment. Never did I imagine that a teacher would turn the camera to the board or share her screen as she attempted to present a lesson to students.
Virtual learning has been difficult for many of our children who need a multi-sensory learning environment in the presence of a teacher and other students. Never have I appreciated the physical school space where our children are able to enter into a building, walk through the halls, sit at a desk, and travel around the building to attend different subjects and classes.
Needless to say, it’s been a struggle for us, as parents, a struggle for our teachers, and a struggle for our children.
Written by Dr. Liz Matheis/Featured in The Mighty 1/2021
The beginning of the new year usually brings hope, resolutions and plans. This January 2021, the new year feels different. More of the same. It’s been 10 months, almost one year of living through the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Our lives are the most isolated they have been given the dark, cold winter and a holiday season that was “OK” and pretty much unsatisfying for many. As we continue to parent day by day with virtual learning, working from home, video meetings and chats and limited interactions with the outside world, our stress and exhaustion level is increasing.
What a Mess!
Written by Dr. Liz Matheis/ Published 1.18.2021 on www.shieldhealthcare.com
Virtual Learning. It’s become the bane of our existence.
As parents, we are watching our children struggle while we struggle with them. Our children are having a hard time paying attention, finding assignments, completing them, and turning them in via virtual learning. It requires additional skills such as typing, navigating email, portals such as the Google Classroom and grading portals. Prior to the pandemic, many of our children entered into the classroom, were supervised during each task, had the ability to ask questions, and were provided with handouts that they were able to complete and return without forgetting to click “Turn In.”
For middle school students and high school students, it is difficult for our children to sit for hours and complete written or online work. For example, if your child has ADHD, sitting at a desk or table for several hours will likely result in lost periods of time staring out the window, chatting with friends, or even staring at the riveting ceiling fan.
For younger students, it’s difficult to cover the multiple demands of being a student with little teacher assistance through a computer. Our young children are required to type some of their responses, or even essays. How many children in kindergarten do you know who are proficient typists? Not many. That leaves parents to type their children’s answers or incomplete assignments if parents are not available.
With teaching taking place via video screen, there is plenty of room and time for our children to log on to YouTube or watch videos while appearing to be present and attentive in class. For many adolescents and young adults, they are struggling to get started on assignments and end up having multiple missed assignments which is resulting in lower grades than in past years. Low motivation and anxiety and depression are also on the rise for many of our children. They miss seeing friends, walking to school, getting on and off the bus, participating in specials and playing on the playground.
Written by Gabrielle Ferrara, MSW, LSW/ Featured in The Mighty 9/17/2020
“How do you feel?”
No, really. How do you actually feel?
Identifying our emotions can be one of the most difficult things we do on a regular basis. It’s easy to say we are feeling “good” or “happy”; even saying we’re feeling “stressed” has become normalized. However, how we are truly feeling (and why) is often much more nuanced and complicated. Luckily, various artists, authors and researchers in the field of psychology have created charts and tools to help us out. Here are five charts you may need if you have a hard time identifying your emotions.
