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New School Year, New Homework Strategies That Work

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New School Year, New Homework Strategies That Work

written by Dr. Liz Nissim, posted on Psychology Today

Ready or not, here it comes — homework! Regardless of their age, our children, teens, and young adults will need to get through their assignments. It’s a skill, actually, a strategic skill that requires executive functioning that can make a difference between school feeling like a torture chamber or something your kid is confident they can do.

Create a Designated Space

Our kids and teens need a designated place, other than their bed, where they have space for their planner, books, notebooks, and folders. Sprawl if you wish. Keep the surface free of any other items. Place all pencils, paperclips, post-its, pens, tape, etc., inside the desk. Take out one subject at a time with its items. When done, place those items back inside the backpack, and move on to the next assignment. Your child or teen’s desk should be placed away from a window or doorway and against or between two plain walls.

A clearly designated place for homework, studying, and writing papers helps to create a boundary around the space and its purpose. It also gives a sense of control over the space and the goal that is to be accomplished while in this space. There is no time or energy spent answering the question “where am I working on my homework?” each day, and there is little time spent trying to prepare the space for an assignment. It is reset at the end of each night and is ready again for the next day.

Getting Started

At the end of the school day, our kids are spent and don’t want to work onmore schoolwork. Our kids of all ages can take some sort of movement break before starting homework, which may mean a bike ride, jumping on the trampoline, taking a walk, lifting weights, crab walks, bear crawls — something that creates physical regulation and brings attention back to the goal – homework getting done.

Now that you and your child/teen/young adult have a designated space, it’s time to get a designated start time. Initiation, or getting a task like homework (a low preference task) started, is really difficult. Our children and teens often procrastinate because the assignment seems boring, or it feels like it’s going to take a long time.

After a movement break and a snack, let’s get it started! Work on a few problems at a time, writing one paragraph at a time, reading a few pages at a time, and breaking down the assignment enough so that it’s getting done.

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Why Kids with Executive Function Challenges Have Trouble with Planning

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Why Kids with Executive Function Challenges Have Trouble with Planning

written by Kate Kelly, posted on Understood.org

Planning might seem like a natural process when you have to get something done. But for kids who have trouble with executive function, it can be a big challenge. Things often don’t get done or even started, no matter how large or small the task.

Learn more about why many kids with weak executive function skills struggle with planning.

What trouble with planning looks like

Imagine: It’s 11 p.m. and your child has a paper due in the morning. But there are only a few sentences on the screen, and panic has set in. After staring at the computer for an hour, your child quickly throws together a few paragraphs and then heads to bed.

It might be natural to chalk this behavior up to procrastination or lack of motivation. But what you might really be seeing is your child’s difficulty with planning.

Planning is the ability to set a goal, think of the steps needed to achieve it, and decide on the order of the steps. It’s a complex process that requires all three areas of executive function.

Many people have an easy time planning. But people with weak executive skills may not know where to begin, or what has to happen next in order to reach their goal. So, they don’t get through tasks, even if they’re able to do each step individually.

Trouble with planning affects all areas of life. But you may notice the impact most at school, especially as your child gets to the higher grades and has to figure out how to get work done on time.

 

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Does My Child Need a Support Plan for School?

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Does My Child Need a Support Plan for School?

written by Dr. Liz Nissim, published on Psychology Today

As a parent actively involved in your child’s education, you’ve likely become very familiar with their strengths, their challenges, and the subjects where there is resistance versus ease. You might have noticed patterns: some assignments lead to procrastinationor meltdowns, while others are tackled with independence and a sense of pride.

Many parents reach out to me when they begin to realize their child is struggling academically. The question that naturally follows is: Is this a learning disability, ADHD, anxiety, or a combination? And more importantly, Does my child need a support plan, such as a 504 Accommodation Plan or an Individualized Education Plan (IEP)?

Red Flags by Grade Level

Recognizing early signs of learning or attention challenges can make a huge difference. Below is a guide, broken down by grade level, highlighting common concerns that may indicate the need for further evaluation or support.

Kindergarten

  • Difficulty identifying upper- and lower-case letters
  • Trouble recognizing letter sounds
  • Struggles with number identification
  • Limited rhyming and phonemic awareness
  • Very limited sight word vocabulary
  • Avoidance of writing tasks
  • Short attention span or difficulty sitting still
  • Impulsivity or trouble following two-step directions

First Grade

  • Learns sight words during a session but quickly forgets them
  • Sight word vocabulary smaller than expected
  • Below grade-level reading (based on Fountas & Pinnell levels)
  • Avoids writing tasks
  • Struggles with basic number concepts (e.g., bigger/smaller)
  • Short attention span and impulsivity
  • Memory challenges
  • Difficulty with word problems and multi-step directions
  • Emotional responses (tears or meltdowns) during schoolwork

Second Grade

  • Letter or number reversals continue
  • Poor reading comprehension and fluency
  • Difficulty decoding unfamiliar words
  • Attention issues and impulsivity
  • Memory and recall difficulties
  • Trouble staying focused to complete tasks
  • Strong emotional responses to schoolwork
  • Difficulty following 2–3 step instructions
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10 Back-to-School Tips for Kids and Parents

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10 Back-to-School Tips for Kids and Parents

posted on The Personal

Tips for getting kids ready for back-to-school

Whatever their age, many kids are apprehensive about starting school or going back to school. The good news is there’s a lot you can do to ease their minds and help them get ready for a new school year.

1. Early to bed, early to rise

Getting back into a school sleep schedule won’t happen overnight! A few weeks before school starts, get your child into the habit of going to bed earlier. Gentle winding-down activities such as bath time and reading before bed can help your child relax.

2. Re-establish a routine

Establishing a consistent routine is important for kids. Write out the steps in the routine and rehearse them with your child. In the evening, this could include doing homework, playtime, brushing their teeth, having a bath, and reading before bed.

3. Encourage independence

Children who play an active role in preparing for back to school – such as choosing and organizing school supplies and new clothes – are more likely to get excited about going back to school, which in turn eases their jitters. Is your child old enough for chores like emptying the dishwasher or making lunches? Daily, age-appropriate tasks will help your child gain independence and confidence.

4. Choose the right backpack

Backpacks that are too heavy or worn improperly could result in muscle strain, headaches, and neck pain. Try to choose a backpack made of sturdy, lightweight fabric with wide, padded straps that will support your child’s shoulders. Watch that they don’t sling it over just one shoulder.

5. Talk about safety

Review outdoor safety rules – things like looking both ways before crossing the street, taking the same route every day if they are walking, familiarizing themselves with crosswalk rules, and being cautious in talking to strangers.

6. Establish healthy habits

Involve your children in choosing and preparing healthy lunches and snacks. Help them find physical activities they enjoy. Take them shopping for healthy snacks and lunch items they can pack themselves. Try to stick to regular meal times.

7. Limit screen time

Back to school is the perfect opportunity to re-establish screen time limits. Why not have the whole family “unplug” in the evenings before bedtime? Choose a spot where everybody can charge their devices overnight. Use an alarm clock instead of a cellphone to wake up in the mornings.

8. Map it out

If your kids are starting at a new school, practice walking or driving to the bus stop or to the school building a week or two before school starts. You could even play in the school playground before school starts. This creates fun memories associated with the school before summer vacation ends.

9. Talk about first-week jitters

Reassure your child that being nervous is natural – even for teachers. You can help your child cope with these feelings when you:

  • Let them express their fears. Perhaps you can offer stories of your own first-day jitters when you were a child.
  • Teach them to breathe deeply and slowly to calm their nerves.
  • Discuss the scenarios that worry them. For example, if they’re worried about who to sit with or talk to on the first day, help them plan a strategy and rehearse it so they’ll know what to do.

10. Celebrate the start of a new school year

If you celebrate the first day of school, your kids will see back-to-school as a transition they can really enjoy. Try a back-to-school party the day before school starts, complete with cake, balloons and educational gifts. And don’t forget to take a picture on the front step in their first-day-of-school outfits. It’s going to be a great year!

Is My Child Dyslexic?

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Is My Child Dyslexic?

written by Dr. Liz Nissim-Matheis, posted on Psychology Today

It’s March, and you’ve noticed a few things about your child’s reading and writing skills. At your last parent-teacher conference, your child’s teacher recognizes that your child is struggling with reading and writing. What can be further confusing is that your child may have made progress but is still not reading or writing at grade level. Slowly, over the school year, you’ve noticed that your child avoids reading or huffs and puffs when it’s time to sit down and write a response, a short answer, or an essay.

So now what?

We can’t ignore the elephant in the room. The COVID-19 pandemic created a gap in instruction for 1.5 years. Our children did not receive the face-to-face instruction that they needed. Many of the academic struggles that our children were experiencing went unnoticed because how can a teacher recognize reading and writing struggles when assignments are being handed in electronically. There isn’t an observation of the entire child who may have been melting down behind the screen. A great deal of teacher observations and academic instruction were lost during that time.

As our children progressed to the next grade and then the next, parents and teachers began to notice skills that were not at grade level in reading or writing. Our children began to show more behavioral signs, and the natural explanation was that our child was “behavioral” without truly understanding or investigating the underlying roots of those behaviors.

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ADHD and School

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ADHD and School

written by Jeanne Segal, Ph.D. and Melinda Smith, M.A., posted on Help Guide

School can be a challenge for students with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder—but here’s how you can help your child or teen succeed in the classroom.

Setting up your child for school success

The classroom environment can pose challenges for a child with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD or ADD). The very tasks these students find the most difficult—sitting still, listening quietly, concentrating—are the ones they are required to do all day long. Perhaps most frustrating of all is that most of these children want to be able to learn and behave like their unaffected peers. Neurological deficits, not unwillingness, keep kids with attention deficit disorder from learning in traditional ways.

As a parent, you can help your child cope with these deficits and overcome the challenges school creates. You can work with your child to implement practical strategies for learning both inside and out of the classroom and communicate with teachers about how your child learns best. With consistent support, the following strategies can help your child enjoy learning, meet educational challenges—and experience success at school and beyond.

Tips for working with teachers

Remember that your child’s teacher has a full plate: in addition to managing a group of children with distinct personalities and learning styles, they can also expect to have at least one student with ADHD. Teachers may try their best to help your child with attention deficit disorder learn effectively, but parental involvement can dramatically improve your child’s education. You have the power to optimize your child’s chances for success by supporting the steps taken in the classroom. If you can work with and support your child’s teacher, you can directly affect the experience of your child with ADHD at school.

There are a number of ways you can work with teachers to keep your child on track at school. Together you can help your child learn to find their feet in the classroom and work effectively through the challenges of the school day. As a parent, you are your child’s advocate. For your child to succeed in the classroom, it is vital that you communicate their needs to the adults at school. It is equally important for you to listen to what the teachers and other school officials have to say.

You can ensure that communication with your child’s school is constructive and productive. Try to keep in mind that your mutual purpose is finding out how to best help your child succeed in school. Whether you talk over the phone, email, or meet in person, make an effort to be calm, specific, and above all positive—a good attitude can go a long way when communicating with the school.

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To Test or Not to Test Privately?

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To Test or Not To Test Privately?

written by Dr. Liz Matheis, published on Psychology Today

You know your child is struggling academically, whether he’s not reading at the same level as the other kids in his grade or she’s struggling to write her thoughts on paper.

You’ve spoken to your child’s teacher, who is on board with you and confirms what you see and know. With that said, what’s the next step?

The natural next step is to reach out to the child study team (CST) of your school. From my experience during the last three years, there is often redirection back to the general education arena for an intervention and referral services plan (IRSP), which includes the accommodations to be implemented for 4-6 weeks.

Teachers are asked to offer more differentiated instruction and try more strategies before the child can be referred for a child study team evaluation.

Where does this leave our struggling child? Waiting. Waiting for intervention while more time in the school year passes by. During that time, the gap widens, and remediation opportunities are lost.

I speak from both personal and professional experience. This means that both you and your child are frustrated and flailing.

What’s another option? The private psycho-educational evaluation.

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Is My Child or Teen Anxious?

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Is My Child or Teen Anxious?

written by Dr. Liz Matheis, posted on Psychology Today

Does my child have a gastrointestinal issue? Is he an insomniac? Why is she struggling to get to school each day?

It’s not always easy to understand or identify when your child is struggling with anxiety. Sometimes it looks like a crabby kid, a kid who is melting down because he didn’t get “his way,” or a teen who is being disrespectful.

Sometimes, it’s even easy to mistake anxiety for a learning disability or an attention deficit disorder. For example, your child may think that he’s not good at math. Each day when it’s time for the math lesson, your child may complain of a stomachache in anticipation. He may ask to go to the school nurse. He is then missing the lesson and will struggle to complete the worksheet that is now being sent home for homework. Sometimes anxiety can look like your child is struggling with that particular subject but it is the thought that he can’t do math that leads to losing out on instruction rather than a true learning disability.

Being preoccupied with thoughts can also look like a focus issue because anxiety draws our kid’s attention inward. That is, your child or teen may be internally distracted because she is worrying about her safety or your safety. He may be nervous about being called on in class and not having the right answer or not being able to produce an answer quickly enough. Your child may also be worrying about another child who excludes him or makes fun of his hair or sneakers.

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Build Your Child’s Executive Functioning Skills

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Build Your Child’s Executive Functioning Skills

written by Dr. Liz Matheis, posted on Psychology Today

As parents, we want to give our children the tools they need so they can be successful. Unfortunately, when our children enter late elementary or middle school, there isn’t a class to teach them how to organize their materials and plan ahead for their assignments, projects, and tests.

When my son and daughter started middle school, they were overwhelmed with how many responsibilities their teachers now expected them to juggle. They weren’t prepared to handle the demands of each class with a different teacher, a locker, so many notebooks to carry, and the weekly array of quizzes, tests, journals, and so on. Throw in a pandemic, and the result is that many kids lost out on building these skills during a critical time.

For children and teens with ADHD, it’s OK if parents need to coach and mentor with a more hands-on approach. Many parents even continue to coach their young adult children while in college, and that’s OK. Keep in mind that each child’s journey is going to be unique. The goal is to make progress without the pressure (on you and your child) to achieve a certain goal by a specific age. That will only serve to frustrate the both of you.

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"The various psycho-educational testing Dr. Liz conducted on our son gave us critical clues about where his learning strengths and weaknesses lie so that his needs could be better addressed at home and school. Moreover, because of their warm, kindhearted personalities, both Dr. Liz and her associate, Stephanie, formed an immediate bond with my son. He eagerly looks forward to his weekly therapy sessions. We are so lucky Dr. Liz came into our family's lives when she did! For stressed-out families trying to help their children as best they can, she is a calming voice of reason!"
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"Dr. Matheis has a remarkable ability to understand the unique needs of her patients and address them constructively. She builds strong, meaningful relationships with patients and their families, encouraging trust and collaboration. When working with my son who struggles with autism-related anxiety, she created an environment in which he was able to calm down and open up to her in ways I had not seen before. She was able to reach him and helped him work through his crisis/problem. Most importantly, she empowered him to move forward."
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"Dr. Matheis has an amazing ability to read kids and connect with them. She has been an invaluable resource for our family over the past several years and has helped us with everything from educational consulting, to uncovering diagnoses as well as family therapy. Working with Dr. Matheis never feels clinical and most importantly, our children love and trust her. We can not thank you enough Dr. Liz!"
- Anonymous
"My teenage son had been seeing Dr. Matheis through his senior year of high school, as he was only diagnosed with ADHD at 16 years old.  Dr. Matheis came highly recommended from our pediatrician and she has done wonders for our son as well as our family, navigating new ways for him to deal with his diagnosis without the use of medication.  She taught him ways to organize himself and even when something did not work for him, she patiently continued teaching him new ways to keep himself on track.  She has also helped us as parents to understand how his mind works so that we did not continue to blame his lack of focus on him, rather on his unique way of thinking.  Thank you Dr. Matheis!!!!"
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"Dr. Liz is the best! Our family was directed to her by our Pediatrician to assist with figuring out severe mood changes, severe anxiety, strange new fears and food aversion that had come onto one of our children literally overnight. After just a couple of visits, she suggested that the issues may actually be rooted in a physical issue and suggested we immediately take our child to be swabbed for strep, because Dr. Liz suspected PANDAS (a pediatric autoimmune disorder brought on by strep). The same Pediatrician that suggested Dr. Liz would not do the swab (they do not believe in PANDAS and we no longer go there) but I took my child to my doctor who did the swab and it was positive for strep. When our child went on antibiotics, within 24 hours all symptoms went away and our child was back :-) Dr. Liz then recommended a PANDAS specialist who helped us and our child is in complete remission and is happy and healthy. We are incredibly grateful to Dr. Liz for her knowledge of all things, even the most remote and unusual and for helping us so much! Thank you!"
- Anonymous
"The various psycho-educational testing Dr. Liz conducted on our son gave us critical clues about where his learning strengths and weaknesses lie so that his needs could be better addressed at home and school. Moreover, because of their warm, kindhearted personalities, both Dr. Liz and her associate, Stephanie, formed an immediate bond with my son. He eagerly looks forward to his weekly therapy sessions. We are so lucky Dr. Liz came into our family's lives when she did! For stressed-out families trying to help their children as best they can, she is a calming voice of reason!"
- Anonymous
"Thank you, Dr. Liz. Although we have told you countless times, it will never feel enough. You have listened when J could barely speak and continued to listen when he was sad, angry and confused. You've challenged him and directed us in our roles as parents. You've helped J face his fears while the list evolved and changed, and yet you've stayed committed to 'the course.' We pray that your children realize that time away from them is spent helping children learn and that vulnerability is a sign of strength and bravery."
- June I
"My son was admitted to an Ivy League school when only 2 years ago, you assessed him and saw his struggles, his Dyslexia. We are grateful that he no longer has to carry that deep feeling of inadequacy or shame that must have kept him so self conscious and from reaching his potential. He has the PERFECT program for him. He has A's in high math and economics. He became a Merit Scholar, a Boys State legislature, the HEAD captain of the football team and help a job ALL while studying and managing his classes and disability. I am PROUD of you, a young doctor, who knows and sees the vulnerability of children and helps them recognize "it's NO big deal" God bless."
- Anonymous

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