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

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.

Kids Focus Success in ABQ Schools – Mission Avenue and Mitchell Elementary

Thank you so much to the amazing staff at Mission Avenue and Mitchell Elementary Schools in Albuquerque, NM for supporting Kids Focus, helping children focus and self-regulate using simple movements in the classroom.

I recently gave two powerful workshops at Mission Avenue Elementary and Mitchell Elementary in Albuquerque, NM. What a joy to meet so many dedicated, talented teachers, educational assistants, and counselors!

Imagine your students starting the school year with enthusiasm, focus, concentration and self-regulation! Kids Focus gives teachers the competitive edge in helping children succeed with advanced brain and behavioral development and academic success. And Kids Focus helps implement the rubrics in NM TEACH and supports the Nurtured Heart Approach.

Your students can share the success. Start the school year with one of the most effective programs for student achievement. Contact Marcia Lee at 949-468-9841 to book a Kids Focus Teachers’ Workshop or schedule a free Kids Focus demonstration at your school.

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!