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

Invitation to Kids Focus Workshop Feb. 20, 2016 REGISTER NOW!

“Want Kids to Learn and Behave? Let ‘Em Move!”

FEBRUARY 20, 2016 Saturday – KIDS FOCUS WORKSHOP at African American Performing Arts Center, 9 am – 4 pm. 6 CEUs. A hands-on WORKSHOP for PARENTS, TEACHERS, COUNSELORS, SOCIAL WORKERS. Learn how to help kids improve FOCUS, CALMNESS and SELF-REGULATION – in the CLASSROOM and at HOME. The Drug-Free way to say GOOD-BYE ADHD!

Scientific studies prove that movement is one of the most effective ways to improve ADHD behavior, support child growth, increase academic success, and balance the emotions – without the use of medication! Includes movement, sleep, nutrition, and activities for ages 4 through teens. Includes Kids Focus Manual and Certificate of Completion. $119 per person. Ask me about DISCOUNTS.

REGISTER NOW Call 949-468-9841 or Email marcia.lee@kidsfocususa.com

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.

Celebrating Fantasic Children’s Brain/Body Balancing Workshops

Children’s Brain/Body Balancing – “Students have demonstrated growth!” Comment on using CBBB movements at Helen Cordero School – Pre-K – 2 grade

Thank you so much to all the parents, teachers and professionals who joined us on Saturday, September 8th in Albuquerque at the beautiful African American Performing Arts Center for the last day-long workshop in 2012 on how to use simple, controlled movements to help children focus, feel calm, concentrate and self-regulate – in under a minute. Thank you for sharing the excitement and joy that simple movement can create so quickly and easily inside you.

Children’s Brain/Body Balancing also recently inspired the dedicated EAs at East San Jose Elementary School in Albuquerque, NM, the devoted professionals at Hogares Inc. in Albuquerque, NM and the hard-working teachers at La Promesa Early Learning Center in Albuquerque, NM. Thank you all for your dedication and commitment to helping children learn and succeed using movement every day.

In spring/summer 2013 I will offer more workshops. So you too can come and learn dozens of unique and fun movements you can use with children in the classroom, at home, or on the go. You’ll also learn the Childhood Brain Science that supports movement for improving behavior and learning and hear tips on nutrition, temperament, intelligence, ADHD, and more. I look forward to meeting you next year!

Part 3 – Anderson Cooper Show on ADHD – Safe Help for ADHD Behavior

Dear Mr. Cooper,
Parents have the right to be told about safe and effective NON-MEDICATION options that really work for behavior labeled ADHD. The success rate of these options is backed by scientific studies which Dr. Jensen chose to ignore on your show on ADHD.

The options listed below are benevolent and effectively address deeper childhood issues such as temperament, environment, deprivation of movement, social and personal stress, and other contributing factors that ADHD medication never address:
– Movement and exercise
– Parental training
– Innovative teaching strategies
– Behavioral modification programs
– Improved classroom environments
– Biofeedback
– Yoga, martial arts, dance
– Meditation
– Acupuncture
– Nutrition and Vitamins
Sincerely,
Marcia Lee, Solutions Without Drugs, Children’s Brain/Body Balancing

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

School Bullying and a new Occupy Movement

I think the issue of bullying is much larger than we think. Children imitate what they see. That’s one of the most important ways they learn, particularly in the case of social behavior. Bullying cannot exist on its own in children. They learn it by imitating the adults around them who coerce them in many, many ways – at home with parental abuse, in schools with abuse by teachers, administration, and counselors (I witnessed this firsthand in the 70s and wrote an expose on it), being forced to take drugs that make them feel sick and have horrible adverse effects, and so on. Please note that I’m not objecting to setting healthy disciplinarian guidelines. I’m talking about abuse. Bullying is abuse being passed on by children who themselves have been abused in many ways and are being told that abuse is “for their own good”.

Add to this picture a world where Big Agra, Big Pharma, Big Banks, Big Oil, and Govt control so much of our lives and get away with horrible abuses. Small farms being destroyed, the right to fresh water being taken over by corporations, cars and industries that pollute the environment and cause multiple diseases, investment bank CEOs causing large scale financial destruction without being prosecuted. No wonder the Occupy Movement is growing. We want a voice. And children’s voices are the most stifled of all. No wonder children lash out at other children. They’re angry. They have a right to be. Maybe children should start an Occupy Movement in schools and demand the right to speak freely and openly, the right to be treated respectfully and with kindness, the right to the best education, and the right to be who they are and mature at their own pace without being drugged or coerced.

Parents Choose Movement, Not Ritalin – Educators and Therapists Agree!

Watch Carla Hannaford, Ph.D., biologist and educator, explain the amazing positive changes parents are seeing in their children’s behavior and learning ability using movement and Brain Gym. Dr. Hannaford explains the science behind activating children’s brains through movement and tackling learning disorders without the use of prescription drugs. She also explains the damage done by Ritalin to growing brains and offers the healthy, effective alternative of movement at home and in school. Children can experience similar positive changes in behavior and learning using Children’s Brain/Body Balancing.

Children’s Brain/Body Balancing Workshop – Level One – January 7, 2012 (Saturday) for Teachers, Parents and Professionals

January 7, 2012 (Saturday) – 9 am – 5 pm
Children’s Brain/Body Balancing Workshop – Level One
for Teachers, Parents, Professionals

Start the new year with the best teaching and parenting tool available!
Help children focus, self-regulate, feel calm, and concentrate using simple movements in the classroom and at home!
Join Marcia Lee, Educational Trainer, Reading Specialist, ADHD Consultant, for a dynamic, information-filled workshop:
Location: High Desert Center for Spiritual Living, 5621 Paradise Blvd. NW, (west of Golf Course Rd.) Albuquerque, NM
Cost: $129 per person, Eligible for 6 CEUs, Approved on NM Trainer Registry
RESERVATIONS: Call 949-468-9841 or Email solutions4kids@yahoo.com
Note: Call for info to see if you qualify for FREE admission!
Limited Space! Call NOW to reserve a space!