Yep. Here's the deal: If you're reading my blog, your child struggles to navigate school. His or her executive function has not yet developed the skills necessary to manage the overwhelming number of tasks that schools require in order to be "successful" academically. So keeping them in practice with routines will help in the long run. In other words, your child struggles with things like managing homework, details, planning, time management, priorities, procrastination, organization, … [Read more...]
7 Tips For Dealing With Daylight Savings & Falling Back
We fall backwards an hour on Sunday November 1. Here are some actionable tips that will help smooth the transition. Be proactive with your clock. Reset your clock the night before to set yourself up for success and make sure you are on time for your events. Set your clock ahead. While you're at it, if you're always running late, this will help you to be more on time. I often recommend 5 minutes, but you may want to do more or less depending on your needs. Beware: people are often very … [Read more...]
24 Tips for better sleep
Far too many of my students have sleep problems, yet good sleep is one of the foundations for optimizing brain function and learning. Fortunately, after talking with countless students about this issue, it's good to know that they often value the relationship between sleep and how they function emotionally, cognitively and physically. They understand that the price to pay for poor sleep is huge. But taking action is another story. What can we do to help them take action that works? First, … [Read more...]
Winter Break 101 (Video)
It's break. Everyone's more than ready to get away from the daily grind... Students, teachers, parents, admin. You deserve this break. In fact, you need it. This time is about your needs. You need time to recharge, relax, revive, rejuvenate. Self-care is critical, and is not selfish. If fact it's one of the most unselfish things you can do. Here are some ideas: 1. Chill. Don't think about school. Come up for air. Relax. Unwind. Rejuvenate. Recharge. Let go of the agenda mindset. 2. … [Read more...]
Clean Slate
New semester = clean slate. I work with a lot of students right before a semester begins so they can get a strong start. From grade school to grad school, here's what I do with many students: Backpack Empty it, clean it out. Ask what they use each pocket for. This raises awareness that they are choosing "homes" for things such as books, supplies, folders, money, etc. I don't necessarily care where they put things, I care that they have intentionally chosen the place, because it's all about … [Read more...]
"Our Natural Sleep Cycle"
Here's a short post which links to a 4 minute TED video about sleep by Jessa Gambale. As I work with families, I try to figure out how well a student is sleeping because of it's effect on his/her daily life. In this clip, Jessa refers to sleep and our internal clock as, "the most underrated force on our behavior." It certainly has a tremendous impact on a student's learning and concentration. In order to keep it simple, I usually start the sleep discussion with a question that gives me enough … [Read more...]