|
If you like this newsletter, please click on the following to send it
to a friend:
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Develop Your Child’s Genius
Weekly Newsletter
Contents
Welcome
and Update
ADD
and ADHD - the New Epidemic
The
Use of Modeling in Your Child's Education
Questions
and Answers
Welcome
and Update
It's April! The beginning of spring, and a time many cultures celebrate the
spring celebrations. If you celebrate, I hope you had a wonderful Easter or
Passover. If you celebrate a different holiday at this time of the year, I
hope you had a wonderful celebration.
This time I have 2 very informational articles for you. One is about a very
actual topic, an epidemic spreading very fast amount our children, ADD and
ADHD (Attention Deficit Disorder, and Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity
Disorder). Is it really spreading so fast - or is there more than meets the
eye here?
The second article provides an idea for a project you can do with your
child, that in addition to being fun also arms your child with a tool for
developing excellence in an area of her choice.
I am certain you will find these articles helpful.
If you'd like to find out more information about the development of your child's
genius, please take a look at "The
Manual Your Child Should Have Come With - How to Develop Your Child's Genius".
Enjoy!
As
usual, you are invited to email to me with any questions, thoughts, comments
and input. I always go to great length to answer each email personally, so
you can expect to get a personal reply. Email me at esther@all-gifted-children.com
Esther Andrews
http://www.all-gifted-children.com
ADD and ADHD - a New Epidemic?
Until recently (just one or two decades) we haven't
heard of ADD and ADHD as often as we do now. Now, suddenly these two disorders are household
terms, known to just about every parent and educator. What happened?
The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) estimates that 3% to 5% of
children have ADHD. Some experts, though, says ADHD may occurs in 8% to 10%
of school age children. Experts also question whether kids really outgrow
ADHD. What that means is that this disorder may be more common in adults
than previously thought.
Children with ADHD generally have problems paying attention or
concentrating. They can't seem to follow directions and are easily bored or
frustrated with tasks. They also tend to move constantly and are impulsive,
not stopping to think before they act. These behaviors are generally common
in children. But they occur more often than usual and are more severe in a
child with ADHD.
ADD and ADHD seem to be the new epidemic in children.
I am not going to claim that ADD doesn't exist. Some children do suffer
from the syndrome and can benefit from medical attention. However, the
following scenario happens too often: a child who's mind is naturally
active, maybe even a gifted child, starts his studies at school.
The progress in school is ways too slow for him. He already knows most of
the material taught, and feels helplessly bored and unchallenged. He
actively participates in class, sometimes even corrects the teacher or asks
questions that are way above the learned material. He might even ask
questions the teacher doesn't know the answers for. Gradually this child
demands more of the teacher's attention. The teacher can't allocate more
time to one student, he has 30 or more students in his class, and starts
considering this child as a problematic child.
Soon the parents are called in for a conversation with the teacher. The
teacher recommends testing the child for ADD or ADHD. From here the progress
is clear. The child is taken to be tested, the doctor can't find any
physical problem, and recommends medication.
So what is the solution? How can we prevent this horrible scenario from
happening to our children?
The key is to prevent boredom in the classroom. I have been through this
myself, as a child. Actually, I started school very early, at 5. My mother
understood that it is unacceptable to leave my twin sister and myself for
another school year in kindergarten, and arranged for us (after some
meetings, conversations and arguments) to start school early.
However, the teaching in school was too slow for me, and I remember being
tortured with boredom. If you think that a child who is disciplined should
be able to cope with this quietly, you are sorely mistaken. Day after day of
sitting in the classroom, listening to lectures about subjects one already
knows, doing repetitive activities like answering questions, writing
summaries and drawing pictures on that subject, add up to finally a
situation that is beyond a child's handling ability.
AVOID BORING YOUR CHILD!
Some things you can do, is making sure your child is included in the
gifted and talented groups. Talking with the teacher and asking to provide
more challenging activities and instruction for your child. Taking your
child to adequate extra curricular activities.
The best thing to do, is provide ample of creative activities for your
child. The arts are a fantastically satisfying activity for a child who
might be bored at school. Crafts also belong to this category. Some children
who like writing can be challenged by writing poetry or short stories. Some
children can be stimulated by journalistic classes and activities. Blogging
is now such a widespread activity and children can research topics and start
a blog of their own. Of course, physical activity is a great thing for a
child who is forced through hours of slower than need be instruction in
school. A child that is frustrated and bored will find some relief in the
sports.
When you stimulate the creativity of a child, you achieve at least 2
goals at the same time. Not only you provide for a child a way to express
himself at his own level, you also train the child for success. Creativity
is one of the main identifiers of giftedness in children. It is needed for
creative problem solving, for inventions, for "thinking outside of the
box". It is well worth your efforts.
One option that was recently recommended by a group of researchers is
moving the child to a higher class. Age should not matter as much as a child
abilities and interests. If appropriate, talk to the school administrators
and see if they will move the child up to a higher grade. Schools still
don't like to do that, so you might have to be assertive and not back down.
In conclusion, many of the children who are diagnosed with ADHD are
simply children who suffer from boredom in school as a result of slow
instruction and the lack of challenging activities. Don't hurry to medicate your child.
Instead, try to avoid boring your child by looking for a way to provide
challenging activities. Provide lots of creative activities like the arts,
crafts and hobbies. Provide opportunity to participate in sports and
physical activity. These might make a huge difference in your child's life.
The Use of Modeling in
Your Child's Education
What is Modeling?
"Modeling" is a known term taken from NLP
(Neuro-Linguistic Programming). In a nutshell, a person chooses a
"model" who is successful in the area desired, and duplicates his
behavior in order to achieve the desired success.
How can you use this method for your child's advantage?
This will take some effort on your part, but oh what a
reward you will get! You will learn so much out of this and improve your own
skills as you are contributing to your child's success in school and in
life.
Choose a Model
Choose an area you'd like to instigate improvement in your
child. This of course depends on your child's age and level of development.
You will de well to choose a realistic goal for your child.
For example, lets take self confidence. If you'd like to
improve your child's confidence - choose a model, a person that you know of,
who is an example of self confidence. It could be a famous person, a person
who has public presence, or a person who has autobiographies or biographies
written about him. It could be one of your friends, a family member. It
should be someone whom you can watch, or about whom you can learn from
literature, and should not be someone too close, someone who the child might
feel being compared to (a brother or a close friend).
Observation and Info Gathering Phase
Turn it into a project. Gather information about your model,
and write down everything that you think is evidence of this person's
confidence. Find out about achievements, observe behavior, appearance,
habits.
Does this person give public presentations? Does he teach?
Does he sing or is he active in the performing arts? Note all these. Think -
what is it about this person that exudes self confidence? Why did you choose
this person as a model?
All these things should be written down as you observe them
with your child and process the information. Discuss all that with your
child at their level. This method can be used at almost any age, if you can
adapt it to your child's level. The younger children can benefit from it, as
well as high school children and everything in between.
Modeling Phase
After the observation and documentation phase is completed,
or even during the observation phase, you can start choosing behaviors to
duplicate. For example, of your child has to give a presentation in front of
her classroom and feels some fear of public speaking, and you chose a famous
public speaker to model, and you have observed how this person behaves and
looks during his presentation, now have your child duplicate this behavior.
What is typical behavior of this person that makes him successful at public
speaking? Does he stand straight? Does he keep eye contact with his
audience? Have your child practice these behaviors as she is practicing
giving her presentation.
Pitfalls and things to be careful of
No child likes to be compared to others. Avoid comparing
your child with the model. Make sure your child doesn't feel
"inferior". Make sure your child doesn't feel as if you are doing
this project because he made a mistake, he has a shortcoming, or the model
is "better" in some way.
To avoid this pit fall, handle this as an educational
project, and not as a personal improvement job.
It is important for a child to develop his own personality.
We don't want the child to learn that all he has to do is imitate other
people - model them and copy other's behaviors.
In order to avoid this pit fall, it is important to stress
to the child that this is done as a method of improving one specific skill.
The goal is to acquire the skill the model has developed and already
demonstrated success in this field. It is not the goal of this project to
model the personal traits, character and personality of the model.
Conclusion
A project like this, in addition to improving your child's
skill in a specific area, will also arm your child with a method, a tool to
achieve fast excellence in a field of her choice. Your child will be able to
use this tool in many areas and throughout his life.
Questions
and Answers
Questions:
Dear Esther, I am enjoying your information and newsletter, and putting them
to good use. However, there is something the worries me in my older child's
behavior: he doesn't seem to be self motivated, and I find myself having to
remind him of his homework and make sure he completes all his assignments on
time.
Thanks,
Dina (fictitious name)
Answer:
Dear Dina, thanks for your question, it's an excellent one.
Since your child is still very young (3rd grade), there is no reason for
worry yet. Many children at this age are not yet self driven, and will
develop this trait later.
What you
can do, is encourage and motivate using various methods.
You can
praise lavishly every time you see any attempt to complete assignments on
his own. Don't look for perfection. Every attempt, every baby step in the
right direction, notice and praise with enthusiasm. You will see rapid
results.
Another
thing you can do is create a chart. Write down every repetitive assignment,
like homework, preparation of the schoolbag, and so forth. Give your child a
sticker for each day your child completes the assignment without being
reminded of it. At the end of the week, if he earned a sticker every day of
the week, you can provide an award. The award can be anything you find
appropriate and is within your means. Try to find something that will be
valued by your son, and that will make him feel rewarded appropriately for
his efforts.
Additional
ideas for motivating your child, you can find in The
Manual Your Child Should Have Come With - How to Develop Your Child's
Genius".
I wish you
good luck, and please let me know how things are going!
Esther
To send feedback, e-mail to: esther@all-gifted-children.com
If you like this newsletter, please click on the following to send it
to a friend:
You may copy the article in whole but
not in part,
including a credit and a link to this site— for use with people
whom you care about or wish to inform.
© All Gifted Children - All Rights
Reserved
|
