Archive for Parenting
Fun Summer Writing Boosts Fall School Success
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Summer is time for playing, having fun, relaxing . . . and yes, for learning too. Summer learning will boost school success in the fall. We just need to make sure that summer learning is relaxed and fun.
Even writing can be lots of fun.
My friend went to visit her grandkids. She took each of the girls a make-your-own scrapbook kit with stickers and cut outs, pages for pictures, pages for drawing and pages for writing.
The three girls, a 1st grader, a 3rd grader, and a 5th grader, sat down at the dining room table with their grandma, their scrapbooks, and the necessary supplies. Read More→
Kids and ADHD during Summer Vacation
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How many times during summer vacation have you heard your kids say “Hey, Mom, there’s nothing to do. I’m bored?” Sure, they can spend some time on the computer, even take it outside like this girl is doing
However, so many other really fun things are just waiting for your kids’ creative and fun-loving minds. So put the computer away and discover how to keep learning alive and boredom at bay for your kids this summer.
Tonight (Thursday, June 25 at 8:30 Eastern, 5:30 Pacific) I’ll be talking with Dr. Rory Stern about kids, summer, and ADHD. It’s one of Dr. Stern’s free TeleSeminars, and I urge you to register. We’ll be giving you lots of good suggetions for helping your kids during the summer–even if your child doesn’t have ADHD.
I also finished up my July School Success Newsletter today. It’s posted right here on the blog. Just go up to the top of the page and click on newsletters. Then select July 2009. Because we’re celebrating the 4th of July, I’ ve got a bunch of fun activities for your kids to do that will also help them learn more about 1776 and the American Revolution. Your kids won’t be memorizing boring facts history facts with these activities!
All my TeleWebcasts this summer focus on school success by learning while playing. I’ve got a whole summer’s worth of fun games and activities to help insure that you child continues to learn over the summer. You’ll want to check out these summer TeleWebcasts now. (Remember, you can listen later to the replay if you can’t make the date.)
So between Dr. Stern’s call tonight, the activities in “Dr. Linda Silbert’s School Success Newsletter,” and the “School Success with Summer Games” TeleWebcast series, there’s no reason this summer for you child to say “I’m bored.”
Mom’s Spa Two and the Strong Interest Inventory
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Mom’s Spa, Part One was a great success. Hope you made it.
My guest Alison Stowell, a registered dietitian, had some great tips for all of us.
You can listen to the recording and still pick up the handouts if you missed Session One of Mom’s Spa.
Now for the BIG news: Read More→
Mom’s Spa with Dr. Linda is Coming
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If you’ve read the post below, you know that I believe Moms must take care of themselves. It helps them take better care of their kids. And, in turn, this helps their kids succeed in school.
So with Moms in mind, I’ve designed an entire TeleWebcast series called “Mom’s Spa.” It all starts on Sunday evening, May 17, 2009, and I’m pretty excited about it. Read More→
Your Kids Succeed in School when You Succeed
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Mom, feeling special helps you succeed. Not only that, when you feel special your kids feel special. Feeling special will help them succeed in school!
So time for you to start feeling special yourself.
Sit in the most comfortable chair in your house. Be sure everything is quiet. Close your eyes. Take a deep breadth.
Visualize being at a fashionable spa surrounded by gardens. Listen to the splashing water from the fountains of mineral water. Experience the whirlpool, exercise in the exercise rooms, and calmly sit on the wooden benches in the sauna. Read More→
Work-at-Home Moms Need a Mother’s Helper
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One of the hardest decisions women have to make when they become moms is whether they go back to work and leave their children with sitters, stay home and become a full time mom, or become a work at home mom. When my children were babies, long ago, most of my fellow teachers quit teaching when they started their families.
A few of them, the more daring, went back to work and hired babysitters at home or in the sitter’s home. The lucky ones who had grandparents around left their little ones with grandma and grandpa. The first day care centers were just emerging and the concept of au pairs was on the horizon. Both were quite radical ideas at that time.
I decided to be a work at home mom. I would tutor children from my own home and write children’s books in my spare time while my little ones napped or sat quietly next to me and played. Their napping and playing would be the secret to my success. Was I delirious? Read More→
Falling Asleep during Homework
Posted by: | Comments“Jonah, Jonah,” I repeated. Jonah’s mom had dropped him off a few minutes early, and he had fallen asleep in the waiting room. I had a tough time waking him up. Jonah, like lots of kids today suffers from sleep deprivation. How about your kids?
Kids (and adults) who don’t get enough sleep can’t function properly. Sleep restores energy to the body, particularly to the brain and nervous system.
When your child doesn’t get enough sleep, she has trouble concentrating on her schoolwork and remembering what she’s learned, even controlling her temper. The amount of sleep people need varies. Read More→
Too Stressed for School Success?
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Read what Lori, a 13-year-old, said to me. Are we listening to our kids or just asking about tests, grades, and is their homework done?
“All the teachers care about is if I did my homework. They don’t even ask me about my life. My dad lost his job and my mom has cancer. Homework is the last thing on my mind.” Lori is stressed and it’s not about school.
Everyone has personal problems sometimes. Some are serious like Lori’s, others not so serious. Sometimes minor problems are blown out of proportion and appear to be more important than they are, impacting on more important things such as schoolwork. Big or small, we need to pay attention to how our children think about their lives and what’s worrying them. Read More→
The Closet, The Homework, What a Mess!
Posted by: | CommentsIt’s the third time this week he’s forgotten to bring his homework home. Then you looked in his closet and couldn’t get the door shut because of all the stuff he’s crammed in this tiny space. There’s no order whatsoever to the mess. It’s no wonder he can’t find anything! What’s a Mom to do?
It’s not just ADHD kids who are disorganized? Kids who don’t have ADHD sometimes can’t remember to bring homework home either. Can’t remember to take the homework back to school when they did bring it home. It’s not intentional. He really means to get his homework done. He just forgets.
Maybe her school materials are poorly organized. Maybe he has poor time-management skills. With all the distractions bombarding kids today, it’s not surprising that they forget so much and are so unorganized.
Without some basic organizational strategies, kids do poorly in school and their grades plummet. Some kids end up cheating or lying–whatever it takes to survive school with a minimum of criticism and punishment. Disorganization and forgetfulness get in the way of success at school.
You can teach your child how to be more organized. Maybe you’ll even find some of these tips useful around your home. Read More→
Some Smart Kids Get Bad Grades
Posted by: | CommentsA concerned Mom was telling me the other day about her daughter whose IQ is very high but whose grades are lousy. I told her that lots of other kids have the same problem and that we do have strategies that work.
Who are the underachievers?
Underachievers are kids who have a lot of potential but don’t live up to that potential in school. Underachievers span all social, economic, and ability levels. Many underachievers have very high IQ’s. Teachers and parents often accuse underachievers of being lazy, of having attitude problems, or of not caring about themselves. Sometimes these kids get into trouble at school and at home. Nobody realizes that underachievement is the issue.
How do I know if my child is an underachiever?
Sometimes it’s easy to tell. Read More→
