Kids Focus Flash Forum November 2016

Welcome to the Kids Focus Flash Forum! Each month I’ll offer practical tips and insights for parents and teachers that can help kids improve learning and behavior. My approach will always be natural, healthy, and brain building. These tips have been tested in NM classrooms and homes, so I know firsthand how well they can work. Kids Focus Flash Forum is my blog – so if you have comments or requests for future topics, please email me at marcia.lee@kidsfocususa.com and I will share your comments in the next forum.

TOPIC #1 – How to BUILD KIDS’ CONFIDENCE
A lot of kids struggle with lack of belief in themselves and their self-worth. It’s hard to convince a kid to finish her/his homework or do well on a test when they don’t think they’re going to succeed anyway. Many of them have been labeled (e.g., ADHD, dyslexic, autistic, etc.) and that label hangs around their necks like a lifetime sentence. How can we help?

ANSWER: CHANGE “OUR” (Parents/Teachers) FOCUS!
The first thing I do is ignore all the labels. My job is to find the best in each kid. I look for what I can fall in love with inside every kid I meet. I also want to know what their challenging behavior is really asking for. In this case, what makes a kid feel confident?

Kids will try to become what we see in them. Always look for the BEST in every kid and FOCUS on her/his STRENGTH. Studies show that when we focus on kids’ negative problems or failures, only 20% improvement is possible. On the other hand, focusing on a strength can create 400% improvement.

Here’s a real-life example: A middle school student struggling with spelling. He’s bright, but spelling is tough for him and no one believes he can get it right. We talked about the weirdness of English spelling – so many words aren’t spelled the way they sound. Now he knows at least some of the challenge is not his fault! Next, I discovered that his brain is literally wired to move in order to learn ANYTHING! (More about movement in the next forum!)

Solution: He does a set of cross-lateral Kids Focus movements before he studies and walks around as he memorizes words. He’s improved his spelling AND is building a great vocabulary! Most of all, he feels like he’s in control. Now that’s confidence!
Self-mastery = Self- confidence

Reader’s Response: “. . . sometimes the labels are actually accurate and they represent important information potentially about how a person might be wired, or why certain behaviors might surface, etc. That information is important to know and to be open to considering how to fold it into the strategizing that goes into supporting the person.”

Marcia’s Comment: “I agree that labels can provide important information about behaviors. My frustration is that most people slap on a label and NEVER look deeper. Most people CONFUSE the challenge or the label with the child. I can’t tell you how many people tell me their child IS “ADHD, OCD, ODD, etc.” This is a terrible confusion. A child is a child; he or she is NOT his/her challenging behavior. A child has a personality and uniqueness, AND he/she has challenges (as do we all).

Behavior is a snapshot of what the brain is telling us about its current needs, which play out in learning and behavior. The needs are often complex, whereas labels tend to be simplistic. A label should be the beginning of an exploration into deeper causes, not the end.”Kids Focus Website

UPCOMING EVENTS:  For more Info on Kids Focus Workshops and private tutoring sessions: Call 949-468-9841 or Email me at marcia.lee@kidsfocususa.com

Next Kids Focus Workshop in ABQ, NM – June 20, 2015, Saturday

Kids Focus Workshops for Teachers, Parents, Counselors, and Mental Health Professionals
Simple Movements for Children’s Focus – Calmness – Concentration – Self-Regulation
Positive change in minutes!      
See Kids Focus in action at www.kidsfocususa.com!

June 20, 2015, Saturday in ABQ, NM –  9 AM – 4:30 PM at High Desert Center for Spiritual Living, Paradise Hills

You Can Register Now! Call Marcia Lee at 949-468-9841 or email Marcia at marcia.lee@kidsfocususa.com

Learn how to help children focus, feel calmer, concentrate, and learn to self-regulate naturally and quickly without the use of medication.

KIDS FOCUS BENEFITS:
1) supports kids’ brain and behavioral development
2) boosts academic success & improves test scores
3) builds confidence and positive attitude
4) improves behavior in the classroom and at home
5) drug-free solutions for ADD/ADHD behavior
6) natural solutions to prevent bullying

The Kids Focus Workshop includes:
~ Over 70 Safe, Easy-to-Do Movements
~ Tools for Effective Behavior Management
~ Fosters Kids’ Emotional Balance and Self-Regulation
~ Use Kids Focus with Kids from Early Childhood through High School
~ Includes enhanced Kids Focus Manual
~ Certificate of Completion for 6 ceu’s/clock hours – NM Trainer Registry

REGISTER NOW: call Marcia Lee cell: 949-468-9841 or email marcia.lee@kidsfocususa.com Marcia Lee, Educational Trainer, Reading Specialist, ADD/ADHD Consultant

Register Now! Kids Focus Workshop – April 5, 2014 – Saturday – for Parents, Teachers, Counselors, Social Workers

Experience the power and effectiveness of Kids Focus –
Simple Movements for Children’s Focus, Calmness, Concentration, and Self-Regulation!

You are invited to the KIDS FOCUS WORKSHOP for Parents, Teachers, Counselors, and Social Workers!
When: April 5, 2014, Saturday
Where: African American Performing Arts Center, 310 San Pedro, ABQ (near Central)
Time: 10 am – 4:30 pm

This workshop includes:
–  dozens of Kids Focus movements for early childhood, preschool, and elementary school
–  top strategies for children’s brain development
–  effective tools for behavior management
–  builds foundation for academic success
–  medication-free help for ADD/ADHD type behavior
– 134 page manual

Early Registration – register & pay BEFORE March 1, 2014 = $119 (Save $20)
Registration AFTER March 1, 2014 = $139

For Registration or Information, call Marcia Lee at 949-468-9841 or email: marcia.lee@kidsfocususa.com

Kids Focus supports Common Core, EPSS. ELL and Teach NM. This workshop is for adults only.
The next Kids Focus Parent-Child demonstration will be at Erna Ferguson Library on March 15, 2014 from noon – 1 pm. Call to reserve a seat for you and your child!

Kids Focus Tutoring+ – Private Sessions for Child and Parent Now Available in ABQ, NM

Private Kids Focus Tutoring+ – Sessions for child and parent are now available with Marcia Lee, Educational Trainer, Reading Specialist, ADD/ADHD Consultant. These individualized Kids Focus one-on-one sessions are designed to help children improve learning, memory, and behavior easily and naturally through the use of simple movements. Marcia provides suggestions for both home and school use.

Marcia works with ages 4 – 18 to offer help with:
– Behavior Management
– Focus and Concentration
– Calmness and Self-Regulation
– Academic Success
– Medication-free help for ADD/ADHD-type behavior
– Skills: Reading, Language, Writing, Study Skills

Parent must accompany child.

For reservations, location, and cost, call Marcia Lee at 949-468-9841 or email marcia.lee@kidsfocususa.com.

Students’ Success Stories – Kids Focus in Gallup, NM

Jackie Ramirez, a 5th grade teacher at Wingate Elementary School in the Gallup McKinley County School District, NM is using movement lots more frequently in her classroom now.

When Jackie first started using Kids Focus movements in her classroom, she got good results, but she wanted more than that for her students. My first question was: how many times a day do you ask the children to move? Her answer: a few. My answer: NOT ENOUGH!!

So Jackie increased movement in her classroom and got GREAT RESULTS. Here’s how Jackie and her 5^th graders poured on the juice.

Movement in the Classroom
Jackie says, “I’ve tried to incorporate more time to do the exercises more frequently. I allow about 10-15 minutes, 4-5 times per day. First thing in the morning, during reading block, during math block, after lunch, and in the afternoon are the usual times. I’ve also allowed for meditation and affirmations.”

Achieving Great Results
Jackie says, “My students are doing well. We’re always hearing good comments about how they can focus and complete projects. They’re better behaved in library, at recess, and in line. They’ve completed science projects and are in the process of completing a social studies project that we’re entering in the art fair. I’m so proud of them! Again, thank you for everything!”

Jackie’s students’ favorite Kids Focus movements are cross-crawls, lazy eights, “focused” breathing, meditating, and affirmations. And Jackie has dozens more Kids Focus movements to choose from, to keep her students on their toes. The photo shows one of Jackie’s students’ many projects.

Kids Focus Can Help Your Students Succeed! Thanks for the inspiration, Jackie. You and your students are proof positive that simple controlled movements used in the classroom throughout the day before any learning activity can help improve students’ focus, concentration, positive attitude, and overall success.

Contact Marcia Lee at solutions4kids@yahoo.com to find out how to bring a Kids Focus Teachers’ Workshop to your school. Let movement inspire your students to achieve and succeed!</p>

Celebrating our New Name – KIDS FOCUS ~ Brain-Body-Balancing for Young Learners

We have a new name! Children’s Brain/Body/Balancing is now KIDS FOCUS – Brain-Body-Balancing for Young Learners.

We’re celebrating the new year with fresh ideas, new movements, and more in-depth information on how to help children focus, feel calmer, concentrate, and self-regulate through simple movements. Check our website kidsfocus.co for information on upcoming workshops and lectures.

Can Movement Help Your Baby or Child? YES!

The NASPE (National Association for Sport and Physical Education) Guidelines for movement for children are designed to support the health and well-being of children throughout the United States. The guidelines state that “All children from birth to age 5 should engage in daily physical activity that promotes movement skillfulness and foundations of health-related fitness.” Here’s what that really means.

Infants – “Caregivers should place infants in settings that encourage and stimulate movement experiences and active play for short periods of time several times each day.” “You can encourage your infant to be active from the time he or she is born.” For example, offer your infant small challenges like placing a toy just outside their reach, so that the infant crosses the midline of the body to reach and grasp.

Toddlers – “Toddlers should engage in a total of at least 30 minutes of structured physical activity each day.” PLUS at least 60 minutes – and up to several hours – per day of unstructured physical activity and “should NOT be sedentary for more than 60 minutes at a time, except when sleeping.” Encourage moving by modeling and example. Try out simple, safe movements together from baby yoga programs.

Preschoolers – “Preschoolers should accumulate at least 60 minutes of structured physical activity each day.” PLUS at least 60 minutes – and up to several hours – of unstructured activity each day and “should NOT be sedentary for more than 60 minutes at a time, except when sleeping.” Preschoolers love to move. Doing simple, cross-lateral movements like cross crawls before any learning activity helps switch on the brain, encourage focus, and just makes kids feel happy!

When you encourage movement, along with great nutrition and lots of love, you give your baby an important opportunity to avoid ADHD-like behaviors and other challenges later on. We can’t control the ups and downs of life, but movement promotes brain cell development and enhancement, and has been shown to even help children better handle life’s difficulties.

Sadly, most of our schools and day care centers are not meeting the NASPE movement guidelines. And our children’s brains, intelligence, and well-being suffer.

I started the Children’s Brain Body Balancing program to bring simple movements right into the classroom and day care center and give parents tools to help their children focus, feel calm and learn to self-regulate. For more information, check my website – solutionswithoutdrugs.com.

Helen Cordero Primary School Hits a Home Run! Movement in the Classroom Improves Everything!

Helen Cordero Primary School in Albuquerque, NM participated in a recent Children’s Brain/Body Balancing study. The preliminary results of offering Children’s Brain/Body Balancing in half the classrooms are now in. And everyone is celebrating!

 Ellen Griffiths, the principal, and 20 teachers took the Children’s Brain/Body Balancing training in March, 2012. In less than two months, the following amazing improvements were observed in eighteen classrooms, from pre-k through 2^nd grade. Imagine what the improvements could be when Children’s Brain/Body Balancing is practiced in the classrooms year round!

Improvements in the classrooms include:

Focus/Concentration – improved in 83% of the classrooms

Calmness – improved in 100% of the classrooms

Self-regulation – improved in 83% of the classrooms 

Follow directions – improved in 95% of the classrooms

Attention – improved in  95% of the classrooms

Attitude – improved in 88% of the classrooms

Effect on Learning – improved in 83% of the classrooms

Effect on Testing – improved in 100% of the classrooms           

I want to express my deepest appreciation to the principal, teachers and staff for your dedication and hard work with the children at Helen Cordero Primary School. The results of the study and the success stories are about your efforts. You make Children’s Brain/Body Balancing come alive and I am deeply grateful. Working with all of you is an honor and an inspiration!

Part 2 – Anderson Cooper Show on ADHD – ADHD Medications’ Adverse Effects

Dear Mr. Cooper,
Parents need to know the following crucial scientific facts on ADHD and ADHD medications that were not addressed on your recent show.
ADHD medications have:
– Wide range of serious adverse effects such as suicide, aggression, sudden death, as well as lifelong reactions such as tardive dyskinesia
– Brain disabling effects, including brain shrinkage and reduced blood flow to the brain
– Negative impact on hormones that affect all organs in the body and weaken the immune system
– Long-term research on the effects of ADHD medication on children does NOT exist. We do not know what potential damage will occur as our children age after taking ADHD medication.
– ADHD is NOT like diabetes. There is no chemical test or blood test for ADHD. There is no scientific proof that ADHD exists. All assessments of ADHD are subjective, not scientific.
– ADHD medications create OCD in children, forcing the brain to focus whether it is biologically safe to do so or not.
– ADHD medications are gateway drugs, with the potential for even more serious drug addiction.
– Scientific studies show that medication-free options with no side effects are three times MORE effective than ADHD medications in helping children change their behavior and self-regulate.
– Brain scans show normal developmental differences in children with behavior labeled ADHD. The normal wiring of a child’s brain that produces self-regulation requires time to develop.
– Majority of research on ADHD medications is performed directly by the pharmaceutical companies, even when it is contracted by the FDA.
– ADHD drugs were part of the medication cocktails used by high school shooters in the U.S.
– ADHD medications can delay the normal maturational cycle of behavior.
– ADHD medications may convince a child that he or she is incapable of self-control without a pill, turning them into lifelong patients.

Sincerely,
Marcia Lee, Solutions Without Drugs, Children’s Brain/Body Balancing

Part 1 – Anderson Cooper Show on ADHD – Not a Fair Fight

Dear Mr. Cooper,
Parents deserve to hear important facts about ADHD medications that were not addressed recently on your show about ADHD. The lives and health of millions of American children are at stake. We do not want our children to have to pay the terrible price of our ignorance.

ADHD medications are neurotoxic and brain-disabling. This is the real science that Dr. Jensen intentionally did not address. Nor did Dr. Jensen address the fact that psychiatry is trying to make us believe that age-appropriate childhood behavior is an illness. Dr. Jensen’s calm, soothing tones were an act designed to hide bad medicine. His description of children losing their “sparkle” is a far cry from the reality of children drugged into submission like zombies.

Since the 1980s the FDA has warned repeatedly about the seriousness and overuse of psycho-stimulants (ADHD medication) on children. These are the same drugs that were banned from the American market years ago as diet pills and the chemical cousins to the street drugs we DON’T want our children to use. These drugs have been repackaged as ADHD medication, but a nice ad campaign cannot hide the deadly facts.

You need to fight fair, Mr. Cooper, and ask a doctor of similar status and medical background to appear on your show, such as David Stein or Peter Breggin, who can explain the very real and frightening effects of ADHD medications and give parents healthy options for helping their children grow and mature safely. For this to be a fair debate, you also need to produce a show that invites parents of children who died or were permanently impaired because of ADHD medication. Give parents a chance to experience the other side.

Parents can check online at solutionswithoutdrugs.com, psychintegrity.org, and toxicpsychiatry.com for accurate and complete information on ADHD and ADHD medication.

Sincerely,
Marcia Lee, Solutions Without Drugs, Children’s Brain/Body Balancing