Patriotic Activities and Resources to Help Avoid the Summer Slide

Can it really be the start of summer? Wasn't it just yesterday that we were knee-deep in snow and longing for the wonderful warmth of a summer day? Time marches on, as they say! Before we know it, Labor Day will be looming, and children will be returning to school. For now, though, let's enjoy this great start to a new summer season and not waste a minute of it!

While we are appreciating this special time with our families, it is also a very good idea to keep in mind and help prevent what is often called the summer slide or summer slowdown, terms used to describe the loss of reading and math skills that children have learned. This loss can occur when there is a decrease or lack in stimulation of young brains during extended school vacations or other academic break times.

Though it may seem challenging to do so, it is very possible to avoid this loss of skills by working with children, using stimulating activities during those long vacation times. This holiday weekend is a perfect time to introduce these kinds of activities to help your child or grandchild avoid this learning loss with a variety of resources.

Should you choose to utilize some or all of the many resources in the link provided below here, your child or grandchild will be ahead when the new school year begins. So, keep the link handy for your use during the coming holiday weekend. You might also want to refer to it again over the the 4th of July or the Labor Day break, too. At any rate, you will be helping your child enjoy the patriotic holidays as well as enabling him to keep his mind sharp over the summer vacation period.

Yes, we can still have fun in the sun this holiday weekend and throughout the season, while at the same time, avoid the summer slide with an array of enjoyable reading activities, games and other related resources having a patriotic flare. That way, long after the holiday weekend is history, your children (or grandchildren) will be skipping around the summer slide and well on their way to gearing up for the coming school year while still having fun this Memorial Day Weekend---and beyond!

Remember to KEEP them reading and learning ALL summer long! Please let us ALSO remember our great men and women who have made the ultimate sacrifice so that we might have the freedoms we hold dear.

Have a good and safe Memorial Day Weekend with your family!

140+ Patriotic Reading Activities & Resources (Most are FREE!)
https://www.pinterest.com/brennajn2000/patriotic-games-activities-resources-for-kids/?etslf=5719&eq=Patriotic

For information about customizable tools for readers and learners of all ages, please visit: FocusandRead.com ---Tools for challenged readers of all ages!

Image courtesy of: Brennan Innovators, LLC and Pixabay

Holiday Help for ADHD, LD & Single Parents

"'Tis the season to be jolly!" is the chant of just about everyone at this time of the year. However, if you are a single parent, your holidays may be not be so jolly. Aside from your own feelings about the season, such activities as arranging for your child to have “equal time” to individually visit both parents for the holiday celebrations can be a real challenge for many single parents. Trying to allow for your child to spend time with several sets of grandparents can add to your stress. Then there is the gift-giving part of the festivities can, which in and of itself can become a duel of “one-up-manship”, each parent vying for the affection of the child. Often, this gift-giving can also become an opportunity for some children to manipulate one or both parents.

However, if you are the single parent of a child with ADHD or a learning disability (LD), the holidays can become particularly daunting and stressful for you, your child and other members of the family. Issues with hyperactivity, excitability, impulsivity and various sensory issues can enter into the plans and discussions of how to best celebrate the holidays with your child. Then there may be other issues that cause problems with your child’s other parent. The list of issues here can sometimes get pretty long. All of this might very easily exacerbate your child’s symptoms of ADHD or LD, causing you and others even more stress.

That is why this week, we have decided to provide you with some resources to help get your child AND you through the holiday season with your sanity still intact while keeping your child happy well into the New Year. To follow here are just a few tips to remember as you make celebration plans for your child and you over the next two weeks. At the end of the article, you will find some resources to give you additional guidance.

We hope that these tips and resources will help contribute to a truly enjoyable holiday season for your child, you and the other members of your family. Happy Holidays to ALL of you, especially our single parents and their children with ADHD or LD!

Holiday Tips for Single Parents of Children with ADHD/LD

• Make time for yourself during the holidays. Do at least one activity you love.
• Knit a sweater, play the piano, or go jogging---something therapeutic or soothing.
• Take advantage of offers that others give you to sit for your children.
• Ask for help when you need it.
• Find creative ways to be with the kids in a fun way.
• Don't sweat the small stuff.
• Respect the other parent as well as each other's time schedules. Promise to “get along”.
• Limit the number of items that must go back and forth between houses.
• Plan to share and volunteer.
• Give up guilt.
• If you will be alone make plans - a movie, dinner with friends, volunteer or a trip to somewhere you have never been.
• Trust your child's strengths.

Source: List adapted from To Merry, Unmarried Holidays: Help for Single Parents of Children with LD and/or ADHD over the Holiday Season---From LD Online---Article by Kathleen Ross Kidder
http://www.ldonline.org/article/5803/?utm_source=Twitter&utm_medium=Hootsuite&utm_campaign=LDSocialMedia

ADHD/LD Holiday Resources for Single Parents

To Merry, Unmarried Holidays: Help for Single Parents of Children with LD and/or ADHD over the Holiday Season---Article by Kathleen Ross Kidder--- Give yourself and your child the gift of enjoying the holiday season.
http://www.ldonline.org/article/5803/?utm_source=Twitter&utm_medium=Hootsuite&utm_campaign=LDSocialMedia

Avoid Holiday Havoc: Help for ADHD Children---Article by Carol Brady, Ph.D.---from ADDitude Magazine
Six ways for parents to help their ADHD children enjoy holiday celebrations without behavior problems, family conflict, or ADD symptom flare-ups.
http://www.additudemag.com/adhd/article/900.html

ADHD Holiday Survival Guide---FREE downloadable ADHD handout from ADDitude Magazine
10 organization, planning, and relaxation tips designed to make this holiday season more jolly for the whole family
http://www.additudemag.com/RCLP/sub/4624.html

Keeping the Peace at Family Gatherings---Article by Larry Silver, M.D.--- from ADDitude Magazine
Sometimes having a child with ADHD can make get-togethers stressful. Follow these strategies for peaceful celebrations
http://www.additudemag.com/adhd/article/2065.html

Ten tips for surviving Christmas with ADHD---Article by Chris Churchill---from Examiner.com's ADHD and Holidays
http://www.examiner.com/article/ten-tips-for-surviving-christmas-with-adhd

For more information:
www.FocusandRead.com Tools for struggling readers of all ages!
www.BrennanInnovators.com Info & support for struggling readers
314-892-3897

Image: http://www.examiner.com/article/ten-tips-for-surviving-christmas-with-adhd

"Do You Hear What I Hear?"--- Better Listening Skills with ADHD

It’s that time of year when everything is hustling and bustling---it's the holidays! Whether you are celebrating a Happy Hannukah, Kwanza or a Merry Christmas, this is a busy, busy season. If you, your child or your students are challenged with ADHD, then the season may be more chaotic than busy. In some cases, organizational skills may be lacking more than usual, focus and attention could be more significantly diminished, and the ability to listen well might be even more compromised with all the sounds of the season and the activities that accompany them.

So what is a parent, teacher or adult with ADHD to do during this busiest season of all when it comes to helping yourself or others properly attend to conversations, effectively listen to a discussion or absorb instructions for an activity? At other times of the year, these tasks may already be a struggle for those with attention deficiencies, but right now, those challenges can be intensified with the excitement and busy-ness of the holidays.

During the past week, one of our Facebook fans wrote to us and requested tips for listening and remembering facts in a conversation when one is challenged with ADHD symptoms. This same fan inspired us to write this blog article that we thought might help her and other readers during the busiest season of all. We have included some resources here to help ALL readers who experience these listening issues, especially for those children and adults with ADHD or Asperger’s.

Learn to LISTEN so that YOU can experience success---in the classroom, in relationships, on the job and in life! Happy Holidays and Happy Listening, everyone!

Listening Resources for ADHD

Not Paying Attention? Improve Listening Skills in ADHD Children at Home and School
Article from ADDitude Magazine
http://www.additudemag.com/adhd/article/5934.html

Advice for ADHD Wigglebottoms
Blog article from ADDitude Magazine
Book review of selection written by Howard Binkow for ADHD preschoolers, who don't have to sit still to enjoy some basic listening lessons.
http://www.additudemag.com/adhdblogs/4/4929.html

Improving your Child's Poor Listening Skills
Learn the best ways to help your child improve poor listening skills, attention and memory with positive behavior supports.
http://www.child-behavior-guide.com/listening-skills.html

Pay-Attention Tips for ADHD Adults
by Lynn Weiss, Ph.D---Article from ADDitude Magazine
http://www.additudemag.com/adhd/article/5716.html

Listen Up: 9 Ways to Help ADHD Kids Follow Directions
by Sandra Rief--- Article from ADDitude Magazine
http://www.additudemag.com/adhd/article/5152.html

10 Rules of Listening
by Linda Eve Diamond (excerpts from Linda's book, Rule #1: Stop Talking: A Guide to Listening (LP, 2007)
http://www.1000advices.com/guru/listening_10rules_led.html

For more information:
www.FocusandRead.com Tools for struggling readers of all ages!
www.BrennanInnovators.com Info & support for struggling readers
314-892-3897

Image courtesy of: http://www.additudemag.com/adhd/article/5934.html