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National Center for Learning Disabilities

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November 17, 2020

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The Cupertino Union School District staff is committed to providing students with an environment that ensures learning and leads to overall academic, behavioral, and social/emotion success. All students are provided with a Free and Appropriate Public Education (FAPE).

Student Support Services

The Student Support Services Department is an important component within the Educational Services Department of the Cupertino Union School District. Programs and services managed by the Student Support Services Department include:

Special Education

School Psychologist Services

School Nurse and Health Related Programs/Services

Suspension/expulsion procedures

Student Attendance Review Board (SARB) procedures

Maintenance of pupil records

Before/after school student care partnership programs

Home/Hospital instruction

Counseling programs in partnership with non-profit community based organizations

California Healthy Kids Survey

The California Healthy Kids Survey (CHKS) is an anonymous, confidential survey of school climate and safety, student wellness, and youth resiliency. The survey is anonymous and only administered to 5th and 7th-grade students. No identifying information is connected to the answers except for the name of the school. Parents will receive electronic consent forms starting in December, and schools will be administering the survey during January or February 2020. Your school's principal will inform families when the survey will be adminsitered at your school.

2017-2018

Is a specially designed instruction plan, at no cost to the parent/guardian, that meets the unique needs of a student per federal regulations

Is an individualized education plan for eligible children with special needs

Includes all related services to meet the unique learning needs of the child, such as speech therapy or occupational therapy

Considers the student's unique learning needs and arranges the learning opportunities necessary for each child

Provides the support and services required and monitors progress so that no student with special needs is overlooked

The Cupertino Union School District is a member of the Special Education Local Plan Area (SELPA) II. SELPA II maintains a Community Advisory Committee (CAC) to provide support and information to parents. The CACis comprised of parents, educators and community members who provide input to the school districts that comprise SELPA II. Additional information regarding the CAC is available at https://www.fuhsd.org/departments/special-services/community-advisory-committee.

Additional information regarding SELPA II and the Santa Clara County Office of Education is available at www.sccoe.org/depts/selpa.

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Educational Services / Student Support Services

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The Cupertino Union School District staff is committed to providing students with an environment that ensures learning and leads to overall academic, behavioral, and social/emotion success. All students are provided with a Free and Appropriate Public Education (FAPE). Student Support Services The Student Support Services Department is an important component within the Educational Services Department of the Cupertino Union School District.

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Here it is!--Apologies for the late delivery:)

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Executive Function resources from the amazing Sarah Ward, MS, CCC-SLP

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Browse our suggested books, Frequently Asked Questions, links, tweets and videos. We hope you find these resources valuable. Gain a better understanding about Executive Function skills; start browsing our resources today.

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Grades 4 and up

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Multiple Solution Math Problems Grades 4-10

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Can you give us another good problem - one that's possible please.
This is a problem I give to my grade 1 students. The Fairy-Tale-King invites you to sit down in front of him... "design for me, a magical castle with beautiful towers." It turns out that he has enough money to pay for ten floors and tells you to distribute these ten floors any way you like between your towers. "However", he whispers, "None of the towers can be the same height!" For example, you could build three towers of height 4,5,1 but you could not build four towers of heights 1,3,5,1 because two towers are of height 1.
Well - that seems easy... 3,7 is a solution... 10 is a solution if you're allowed to build just one tower... 4,3,2,1 is a solution. That's easy - even for a grade 1 student.
Some easy problems are good problems... but the Fairy-Tale-King isn't quite finished. He wants you to find ALL of the possible solutions. That's not quite as easy. It requires your grade 1 students to get organized. Just like we want to give our students exposure to problems that have no solutions, we want to expose them to problems with multiple solutions.
This problem also has another built in feature which I like... it is ambiguous: it does not tell students if the order matters. Is 1,3,4,2 the same as 3,4,2,1? The students have to decide. It gets them into the mindset of challenging the question. If they decide that these are different and that order matters, then you probably want to be prepared to take a minute and list all 24 answers and then re-focus back on the main problem.
1,2,3,4 1,2,4,3 1,3,2,4 1,3,4,2 1,4,2,3 1,4,3,2

2,1,3,4 2,1,4,3 2,3,1,4 2,3,4,1 2,4,1,3 2,4,3,1

3,1,2,4 3,1,4,2 3,2,1,4 3,2,4,1 3,4,1,2 3,4,2,1

4,1,2,3 4,1,3,2 4,2,1,3 4,2,3,1 4,3,1,2 4,3,2,1
The same is true if they come to the decision that order matters with any set of two or three towers... Just take a moment to talk about the sub-problem and then refocus back on the main problem.
1,2,7 1,7,2 2,1,7 2,7,1 7,1,2 7,2,1
How many solutions are there if they decide that order isn't important? I'll just give you the answer, because I want you to understand the general idea rather than working on the specifics. There are 10. One group might find all 10 answers and then organize them into rows based on the height of the tallest tower (left). Another group might first think how to organize their search and then decide to organize based on the number of towers (right).
I imagine that most grade 1 students cannot organize themselves sufficiently to find all 10 answers...
That's okay. It's the process that's important. I would not prompt the students "there's just one more to go - who will find it?" Rather than prompt students towards a complete solution, just let the problem stew indefinitely. Don't think that it has to be wrapped up neatly.

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Can you give us another good problem - one that's possible please. This is a problem I give to my grade 1 students. The Fairy-Tale-King invites you to sit down in front of him... "design for me, a magical castle with beautiful towers."

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: If behavior B is of higher probability than behavior A, then behavior A can be made more probable by making behavior B contingent upon it. (Also known as " relativity theory of reinforcement ", based on the work of David Premack)

The Premack Principle is an ABA strategy that is more commonly referred to as "Grandma's Rule". The name comes from when Grandmothers (those experts of children's behavior) say to their grandchildren "You need to eat all your vegetables if you want some chocolate cake". The child sees the yummy cake, and gulps down the peas in order to access the cake. What Grandma is actually doing has a behavior analytic name, and that name is "Premack Principle".

Some professionals will also refer to this technique as "First/Then", "If/Then", or "High Probability/Low Probability". Anyone can implement the Premack Principle to gain compliance, or to increase the likelihood of a particular behavior occurring. The Premack Prinicple can be used when you want the child to do something, and they find the behavior to be undesirable. Such as eating their peas, cleaning their room, drinking their milk, putting on a coat before going outside to play, etc. To put it simply: Premack Principle makes it easier to do an unpleasant activity by putting a pleasant activity right after it.

When using the Premack Principle, you want to explain what the reinforcement is first. So if behavior B is eating chocolate cake and behavior A is eating peas, you would say "If you want a piece of cake, you need to eat all your peas". Notice the word "if". Another thing I love about the Premack Principle is that accessing the reward is contingent upon completing the task. So if the child still refuses to eat the peas, what happens? They dont get any cake. Its that simple. The child is given the power to earn, or lose the reinforcer.

A question I get asked sometimes is "Why does it matter which one I say first?" The reason you want to state the high probability behavior first is to prime the child to focus on what they are getting, and not what they are giving/what they have to do. Keep the child's focus on the reward. If you state what they must do first, all the child hears is the demand. By stating the reinforcing item or activity first, it is often much easier to get a child to comply.

Some children can handle it if you state the demand first, and for other children you must state the reward first. Typically, when I have clients who have a history of noncompliance then I am careful to state the reward first.

Many parents or professionals get in the habit of giving demands, the child balks or resists, and then the parent or professional reminds the child what they will lose. This is a common error many people make. It usually escalates into a debate or argument that looks something like this:

Parent: "Shawn, go clean your room"

Shawn: "No/I don't want to/ I'll do it later"

Parent: "If you don't clean your room right now then NO video games tonight"

What is the child focusing on right now? They are focusing on the undesirable activity (cleaning their room), and what they will lose (video games). After this exchange, the child typically becomes more and more noncompliant and possibly aggressive, as the parent becomes more and more upset and frustrated.

It's important to understand the Premack Principle in order to avoid setting yourself up for failure when you present a demand. A quick tip is if you find the words "If" or "First" coming out of your mouth as you are giving a demand, stop and think:

" Have I clearly presented the reinforcement available?"

If you have not, then what is the child working for? What does the child earn for compliance?

Don't focus on or state what the child will lose, no one likes doing things to avoid contacting something negative. We all like doing things to contact something positive. As much as possible, ensure success by being aware of how you present demands. Don't create situations where it will be likely that the child will refuse to comply. Every demand that comes out of your mouth has the potential of being followed, or being ignored. As the adults, if we are more careful of how we present demands then we can help the child be successful and contact reinforcement much more readily.

Here are a few examples of the correct way to use the Premack Principle (Remember, if the child is very noncompliant its better to state the reward first):

"We can read a story if you take a bath first."

"First you take a nap, then we're going to the park!"

"You can watch 2 DVD's tonight if you eat all your lunch at school today."

"Who wants ice cream? (child raises hand) Okay, hurry and wash the dishes so we can have ice cream!"

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If behavior B is of higher probability than behavior A, then behavior A can be made more probable by making behavior B contingent upon it. (Also known as " relativity theory of reinforcement ", based on the work of David Premack) The Premack Principle is an ABA strategy that is more commonly referred to as "Grandma's Rule".

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Thank you for attending tonight's Parent Ed Webinar. Please let us know how we did, and if you would be interested in more Parent Ed Webinar/Workshops.

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11-17-2020

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Enhancing and Practicing ExecutiveFunction Skills Infancy to Adolescence

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Enhancing and Practicing ExecutiveFunction Skills Infancy to Adolescence

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Harvard Center on the Developing Child

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If your student actually made a cheat sheet like this, they would not need the cheat sheet:)

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The process of creating a "Cheat Sheet" could assist students in remembering for tests.

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Multiply the Peanut and Add the salt on Top

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Get access to files anywhere through secure cloud storage and file backup for your photos, videos, files and more with Google Drive.

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5 Games for Teaching and Practicing Self-Control

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5 Games for Teaching and Practicing Self-Control

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5 Incredibly Fun GAMES to Teach Self-Regulation (Self-Control) | Social Emotional Learning

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Edutopia

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What's Executive Function—and Why Does it Matter?

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Executive Function

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'The Adventures of You' executive function guide – Part 2: A brainful of lasers!

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5 Activities for Developing Working Memory

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5 Activities for Developing Working Memory

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Group and partner activities

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This year I've decided I'm going to focus my bell ringer activities on building skills that I know my students need. Many of them struggle with following instructions and remembering material from day to day. So we are going to spend time each day working on activities that will help them improve their working memory.

Here are five activities using a variety of variables-letters, numbers, words, and pictures-designed to help your students improve their working memory.

1. Correct Order of Things

For these activities, students need to be able to recall information in the correct order.

Variation 1: Two minute share

Pair students up and have partner #1 share three things they did that day. Partner #2 must repeat them back to Partner #1 in order. Then they switch.

Variation 2: I'm going to the...

Have your students sit in a large circle. One student begins by saying "I'm going to the [beach, store, school, etc.] and I'm bringing [an object you would bring with you.] The next person repeats the phrase, the first item and adds an item of their own. The game continues around the circle until someone forgets an item or recalls them out of order, or until you reach your time limit.

Variation 3: Instant recall

A series of pictures, words or numbers is put up on the screen and left there for a few seconds. When they are removed, students have to remember the order of the items by saying them out loud to a partner, writing them down or drawing them. To increase the difficulty, increase the number of items and decrease the amount of time they have to look at images.

2. When Did You Last?

Borrowed from When Was the Last Time?: Questions to Exercise the Mind by Matthew Welp.

Give students questions that test their power of recall. For instance- When did you last drink lemonade/ tie your shoe/ make a paper airplane/ adjust the volume on something? etc. Students can write down their answers in their journal or talk to a partner about them. All students can answer the same question or you can provide several and they can pick. Note: this could also be a good get-to-know-you activity as well.

3. Letter Unscramble

Students partner up and one person stands with their back to the board. On the board there are four sets of four letters that can form several words (for example: acer, bstu, anem.) The partner facing the board reads one set of letters to their partner. Their partner has 30 seconds to figure out what words can be made out of the letters without being able to see them. (for example: acer= acre, care, race). Each partner does this several times. Make this harder by cutting the time down or adding more letters.

Easier variation: Use numbers instead of letters. The partner facing away from the board must they repeat the multi digit numbers in order.

4. Card Recall

Students pair up with a deck of cards. Partner #1 flips five cards face up and gives Partner #2 a few seconds to look at them. Then, Partner #2 then closes his or her eyes as Partner #1 removes one of the five cards. Finally, Partner #2 opens his or her eyes and has to recall which card is missing.

5. Spot the Difference

Put two pictures that seem identical, but have a few small differences up on the board or screen. Give students a brief period of time to find as many differences as they can. For pictures like the one above, visit NeoK12.
What activities for building working memory have worked in your classroom? Share in the comments below.

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5 Activities to Help Students Improve Their Working Memory - WeAreTeachers

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This year I've decided I'm going to focus my bell ringer activities on building skills that I know my students need. Many of them struggle with following instructions and remembering material from day to day. So we are going to spend time each day working on activities that will help them improve their working memory.

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Everyone occasionally loses her keys or forgets an important date. But when it's a habit, you may be dealing with poor working memory related to ADHD. Learn how making checklists and developing routines can get you on track.

String tied around a finger belonging to an ADHD person as a memory reminder

Reviewed by ADDitude's ADHD Medical Review Panel
Losing your keys, leaving your wallet in the refrigerator, forgetting your husband's birthday, asking the store clerk to repeat the directions to the gift-wrap department. You might think that these are all examples of inattention.

After digging into working memory studies, I have realized that, while these are examples of inattention, they are mostly signs of poor working memory. Working memory deficits are a symptom of attention deficit disorder ( ADHD or ADD), autism, and learning disabilities.

What Is Working Memory?

You might be familiar with the term " short-term memory," which is used interchangeably with the term "working memory." Both refer to thoughts or information you hold temporarily in your memory, so that they are available when you need them to complete a task. Think of working memory as a shelf in your brain. Imagine you are going to the store. You need milk, eggs, and bread. While you're in the store, you suddenly remember you need cereal. You head to the cereal aisle, but as you focus on Special K, the eggs fall off your mental shelf. You arrive home with cereal, milk, and bread, but have forgotten the eggs.

The number of items you store in your working memory might not be as many as the number your best friend can accommodate on his mental shelf. Research shows that young children have limited working memory skills, being able to hold only one or two items in memory. WM continues to develop until around age 15, but not everyone develops at the same pace or has the same working memory capacity. Some people can store more information than others.

Researchers disagree about the number of information "bytes" that can be held by the brain. Some say it's as many as seven items, and others claim it's four. You can increase your working memory capacity by grouping items together. A telephone number is typically 10 digits long, but we often break the number into three groups (555-555-5555), allowing us to use only three working memory slots to remember 10 digits.
[Self-Test: Do You Have a Working Memory Deficit?]
When Do We Use Working Memory

You use working memory every day, in many situations: to read, write, plan, organize, follow a conversation, do mental math, or follow multi-step directions. It helps you stay focused on, and engaged with, a task.

Working memory is essential at school. One study, done in the United Kingdom, looked at 3,000 grade-school and junior high students and found that weak working memory was more indicative of struggles in school than was a low IQ. According to researchers, almost all the children with weak working memory scored low on reading comprehension and math tests.

The following are examples of how poor working memory affects your daily life:

You want to join in a conversation, but, by the time the other person stops talking, you forget what you wanted to say.

You consistently lose your keys, cell phone, or wallet.

You get lost easily, even when you were just given directions.

You have trouble following a conversation because you forget what the other person has just said.

You have many unfinished projects because you become distracted and forget about the first project.

You plan to do some work at home, but you forget to bring needed items with you.

You have to reread a paragraph several times to retain the information.

You miss deadlines at work because of your disorganization and inability to follow through on projects.

No matter what you do, you need your working memory to help you do it.
[Total Recall: Great Gadgets to Jog Your Memory]
There are a number of products and services, such as CogMed and Play Attention, that you may use to help train your brain and improve your working memory. Some research has shown that they can increase your working memory, but that the benefits may not last beyond the training session. Other research has shown that brain training delivers significant improvements in working memory if you commit to sticking with it.

The first step to better working memory is to understand how memory works and to accept your limitations. That doesn't mean saying, "Oh, I forgot," to excuse yourself. It means developing and using strategies to compensate for forgetting. Many people with ADHD use reminder systems to keep things in order. They might use a notepad app on their phone or tablet to keep a running to-do list or a list of items they need at the store. They might use a timer or calendar app to remind them of appointments.

How to Improve Working Memory

Break big chunks of information into small, bite-sized pieces

Focus on one or two of them before moving on to the next instruction. Suppose you are getting ready to host a party in your home. You are overwhelmed with everything that needs to get done: shopping, cooking, cleaning, and setting up for the party. Focus on one area, such as shopping. Ignore the rest of the tasks until you are done shopping.

Use checklists for tasks with multiple steps

You might create a checklist for your first hour at work. It might include: listen to messages, return calls, check and answer e-mails, review yesterday's progress, check with supervisor for important tasks to be completed immediately.

Develop routines

Create a routine when you return home from work. Place your cell phone and keys in the same place every time, as soon as you walk in the door.

Practice working memory skills

Use the brain training programs mentioned above or create your own. Write down six unrelated words. Start by trying to remember the first two words without looking at the paper, and add another word as you succeed.

Experiment with various ways of remembering information

You may remember a list more easily if you create a song or make up a rhyme. Others find that visualization helps them remember multiple items. When you are heading home from work, visualize yourself stopping at the store, picking up milk, cheese, bread, and yogurt. Imagine going to each section of the store, and see what it looks like. Because images are more powerful than words, you are apt to remember everything you need at the store as you follow your visualization.

Reduce multitasking

According to a study completed at the University of Sussex, multitasking can actually shrink certain areas of your brain, and is linked to shortened attention spans. Complete one task and then move on to the next.

Use mindfulness to minimize distractions and sharpen working memory

A study, completed at Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, found that daily mindfulness exercises increased recall and allowed participants to tune out distractions by regulating sensory input.

Add exercise to your daily routine

Some studies have shown that working memory increases with daily exercise. While the reasons for this aren't fully understood, scientists believe physical activity improves the health of brain cells. It can also indirectly affect memory by improving mood, helping you sleep better, and reducing stress - areas that can affect cognitive abilities.
[Solutions to Your Working Memory Problems]
Updated on May 7, 2020

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Improve Working Memory: Brain Training Tricks

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Everyone occasionally loses her keys or forgets an important date. But when it's a habit, you may be dealing with poor working memory related to ADHD. Learn how making checklists and developing routines can get you on track.

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Categories - Growth Mindset Blog & Newsletter

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Growth Mindset

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A brilliant student, Jonathan sailed through grade school. He completed his assignments easily and routinely earned As. Jonathan puzzled over why some of his classmates struggled, and his parents told him he had a special gift. In the seventh grade, however, Jonathan suddenly lost interest in school, refusing to do homework or study for tests. As a consequence, his grades plummeted. His parents tried to boost their son's confidence by assuring him that he was very smart. But their attempts failed to motivate Jonathan (who is a composite drawn from several children). Schoolwork, their son maintained, was boring and pointless.

Our society worships talent, and many people assume that possessing superior intelligence or ability-along with confidence in that ability-is a recipe for success. In fact, however, more than 35 years of scientific investigation suggests that an overemphasis on intellect or talent leaves people vulnerable to failure, fearful of challenges and unwilling to remedy their shortcomings.

The result plays out in children like Jonathan, who coast through the early grades under the dangerous notion that no-effort academic achievement defines them as smart or gifted. Such children hold an implicit belief that intelligence is innate and fixed, making striving to learn seem far less important than being (or looking) smart. This belief also makes them see challenges, mistakes and even the need to exert effort as threats to their ego rather than as opportunities to improve. And it causes them to lose confidence and motivation when the work is no longer easy for them.

Praising children's innate abilities, as Jonathan's parents did, reinforces this mind-set, which can also prevent young athletes or people in the workforce and even marriages from living up to their potential. On the other hand, our studies show that teaching people to have a "growth mind-set," which encourages a focus on "process" (consisting of personal effort and effective strategies) rather than on intelligence or talent, helps make them into high achievers in school and in life.

The Opportunity of Defeat
I first began to investigate the underpinnings of human motivation-and how people persevere after setbacks-as a psychology graduate student at Yale University in the 1960s. Animal experiments by psychologists Martin Seligman, Steven Maier and Richard Solomon, all then at the University of Pennsylvania, had shown that after repeated failures, most animals conclude that a situation is hopeless and beyond their control. After such an experience, the researchers found, an animal often remains passive even when it can effect change-a state they called learned helplessness.

People can learn to be helpless, too, but not everyone reacts to setbacks this way. I wondered: Why do some students give up when they encounter difficulty, whereas others who are no more skilled continue to strive and learn? One answer, I soon discovered, lay in people's beliefs about why they had failed.

In particular, attributing poor performance to a lack of ability depresses motivation more than does the belief that lack of effort is to blame. In 1972, when I taught a group of elementary and middle school children who displayed helpless behavior in school that a lack of effort (rather than lack of ability) led to their mistakes on math problems, the kids learned to keep trying when the problems got tough. They also solved many more problems even in the face of difficulty. Another group of helpless children who were simply rewarded for their success on easier problems did not improve their ability to solve hard math problems. These experiments were an early indication that a focus on effort can help resolve helplessness and engender success.

Subsequent studies revealed that the most persistent students do not ruminate about their own failure much at all but instead think of mistakes as problems to be solved. At the University of Illinois in the 1970s I, along with my then graduate student Carol Diener, asked 60 fifth graders to think out loud while they solved very difficult pattern-recognition problems. Some students reacted defensively to mistakes, denigrating their skills with comments such as "I never did have a good rememory," and their problem-solving strategies deteriorated.

Others, meanwhile, focused on fixing errors and honing their skills. One advised himself: "I should slow down and try to figure this out." Two schoolchildren were particularly inspiring. One, in the wake of difficulty, pulled up his chair, rubbed his hands together, smacked his lips and said, "I love a challenge!" The other, also confronting the hard problems, looked up at the experimenter and approvingly declared, "I was hoping this would be informative!" Predictably, the students with this attitude outperformed their cohorts in these studies.

Two Views of Intelligence
Several years later I developed a broader theory of what separates the two general classes of learners-helpless versus mastery-oriented. I realized that these different types of students not only explain their failures differently, but they also hold different "theories" of intelligence. The helpless ones believe that intelligence is a fixed trait: you have only a certain amount, and that's that. I call this a "fixed mind-set." Mistakes crack their self-confidence because they attribute errors to a lack of ability, which they feel powerless to change. They avoid challenges because challenges make mistakes more likely and looking smart less so. Like Jonathan, such children shun effort in the belief that having to work hard means they are dumb.

The mastery-oriented children, on the other hand, think intelligence is malleable and can be developed through education and hard work. They want to learn above all else. After all, if you believe that you can expand your intellectual skills, you want to do just that. Because slipups stem from a lack of effort or acquirable skills, not fixed ability, they can be remedied by perseverance. Challenges are energizing rather than intimidating; they offer opportunities to learn. Students with such a growth mind-set, we predicted, were destined for greater academic success and were quite likely to outperform their counterparts.

We validated these expectations in a study published in early 2007. Psychologists Lisa Blackwell, then at Columbia University, and Kali H. Trzesniewski, then at Stanford University, and I monitored 373 students for two years during the transition to junior high school, when the work gets more difficult and the grading more stringent, to determine how their mind-sets might affect their math grades. At the beginning of seventh grade, we assessed the students' mind-sets by asking them to agree or disagree with statements such as "Your intelligence is something very basic about you that you can't really change." We then assessed their beliefs about other aspects of learning and looked to see what happened to their grades.

As we had predicted, the students with a growth mind-set felt that learning was a more important goal in school than getting good grades. In addition, they held hard work in high regard, believing that the more you labored at something, the better you would become at it. They understood that even geniuses have to work hard for their great accomplishments. Confronted by a setback such as a disappointing test grade, students with a growth mind-set said they would study harder or try a different strategy for mastering the material.

The students who held a fixed mind-set, however, were concerned about looking smart with less regard for learning. They had negative views of effort, believing that having to work hard at something was a sign of low ability. They thought that a person with talent or intelligence did not need to work hard to do well. Attributing a bad grade to their own lack of ability, those with a fixed mind-set said that they would study less in the future, try never to take that subject again and consider cheating on future tests.

Such divergent outlooks had a dramatic impact on performance. At the start of junior high, the math achievement test scores of the students with a growth mind-set were comparable to those of students who displayed a fixed mind-set. But as the work became more difficult, the students with a growth mind-set showed greater persistence. As a result, their math grades overtook those of the other students by the end of the first semester-and the gap between the two groups continued to widen during the two years we followed them.

Along with psychologist Heidi Grant Halvorson, now at Columbia, I found a similar relation between mind-set and achievement in a 2003 study of 128 Columbia freshman premed students who were enrolled in a challenging general chemistry course. Although all the students cared about grades, the ones who earned the best grades were those who placed a high premium on learning rather than on showing that they were smart in chemistry. The focus on learning strategies, effort and persistence paid off for these students.

Confronting Deficiencies
A belief in fixed intelligence also makes people less willing to admit to errors or to confront and remedy their deficiencies in school, at work and in their social relationships. In a study published in 1999 of 168 freshmen entering the University of Hong Kong, where all instruction and coursework are in English, three Hong Kong colleagues and I found that students with a growth mind-set who scored poorly on their English proficiency exam were far more inclined to take a remedial English course than were low-scoring students with a fixed mind-set. The students with a stagnant view of intelligence were presumably unwilling to admit to their deficit and thus passed up the opportunity to correct it.

A fixed mind-set can similarly hamper communication and progress in the workplace by leading managers and employees to discourage or ignore constructive criticism and advice. Research by psychologists Peter Heslin, now at the University of New South Wales in Australia, Don VandeWalle of Southern Methodist University and Gary Latham of the University of Toronto shows that managers who have a fixed mind-set are less likely to seek or welcome feedback from their employees than are managers with a growth mind-set. Presumably, managers with a growth mind-set see themselves as works-in-progress and understand that they need feedback to improve, whereas bosses with a fixed mind-set are more likely to see criticism as reflecting their underlying level of competence. Assuming that other people are not capable of changing either, executives with a fixed mind-set are also less likely to mentor their underlings. But after Heslin, VandeWalle and Latham gave managers a tutorial on the value and principles of the growth mind-set, supervisors became more willing to coach their employees and gave more useful advice.

Mind-set can affect the quality and longevity of personal relationships as well, through people's willingness-or unwillingness-to deal with difficulties. Those with a fixed mind-set are less likely than those with a growth mind-set to broach problems in their relationships and to try to solve them, according to a 2006 study I conducted with psychologist Lara Kammrath, now at Wake Forest University. After all, if you think that human personality traits are more or less fixed, relationship repair seems largely futile. Individuals who believe people can change and grow, however, are more confident that confronting concerns in their relationships will lead to resolutions.

Proper Praise
How do we transmit a growth mind-set to our children? One way is by telling stories about achievements that result from hard work. For instance, talking about mathematical geniuses who were more or less born that way puts students in a fixed mind-set, but descriptions of great mathematicians who fell in love with math and developed amazing skills engenders a growth mind-set, our studies have shown. People also communicate mind-sets through praise. Although many, if not most, parents believe that they should build up children by telling them how brilliant and talented they are, our research suggests that this is misguided.

In studies involving several hundred fifth graders published in 1998, for example, psychologist Claudia M. Mueller, now at Stanford, and I gave children questions from a nonverbal IQ test. After the first 10 problems, on which most children did fairly well, we praised them. We praised some of them for their intelligence: "Wow ... that's a really good score. You must be smart at this." We commended others for their process: "Wow ... that's a really good score. You must have worked really hard."

We found that intelligence praise encouraged a fixed mind-set more often than did pats on the back for effort. Those congratulated for their intelligence, for example, shied away from a challenging assignment-they wanted an easy one instead-far more often than the kids applauded for their process. (Most of those lauded for their hard work wanted the difficult problem set from which they would learn.) When we gave everyone hard problems anyway, those praised for being smart became discouraged, doubting their ability. And their scores, even on an easier problem set we gave them afterward, declined as compared with their previous results on equivalent problems. In contrast, students praised for their hard work did not lose confidence when faced with the harder questions, and their performance improved markedly on the easier problems that followed.

Making Up Your Mind-set
In addition to encouraging a growth mind-set through praise for effort, parents and teachers can help children by providing explicit instruction regarding the mind as a learning machine. Blackwell, Trzesniewski and I designed an eight-session workshop for 91 students whose math grades were declining in their first year of junior high. Forty-eight of the students received instruction in study skills only, whereas the others attended a combination of study skills sessions and classes in which they learned about the growth mind-set and how to apply it to schoolwork.

In the growth mind-set classes, students read and discussed an article entitled "You Can Grow Your Brain." They were taught that the brain is like a muscle that gets stronger with use and that learning prompts neurons in the brain to grow new connections. From such instruction, many students began to see themselves as agents of their own brain development. Students who had been disruptive or bored sat still and took note. One particularly unruly boy looked up during the discussion and said, "You mean I don't have to be dumb?"

As the semester progressed, the math grades of the kids who learned only study skills continued to decline, whereas those of the students given the growth-mind-set training stopped falling and began to bounce back to their former levels. Despite being unaware that there were two types of instruction, teachers reported noticing significant motivational changes in 27 percent of the children in the growth mind-set workshop as compared with only 9 percent of students in the control group. One teacher wrote: "Your workshop has already had an effect. L [our unruly male student], who never puts in any extra effort and often doesn't turn in homework on time, actually stayed up late to finish an assignment early so I could review it and give him a chance to revise it. He earned a B+. (He had been getting Cs and lower.)"

Other researchers have replicated our results. Psychologists Catherine Good, now at Baruch College, Joshua Aronson of New York University and Michael Inzlicht, now at the University of Toronto, reported in 2003 that a growth mind-set workshop raised the math and English achievement test scores of seventh graders. In a 2002 study Aronson, Good (then a graduate student at the University of Texas at Austin) and their colleagues found that college students began to enjoy their schoolwork more, value it more highly and get better grades as a result of training that fostered a growth mind-set.

We have now encapsulated such instruction in an interactive computer program called Brainology. Its five modules teach students about the brain-what it does and how to make it work better. In a virtual brain lab, users can click on brain regions to determine their functions or on nerve endings to see how connections form or strengthen when people learn. Users can also advise virtual students with problems as a way of practicing how to handle schoolwork difficulties; additionally, users keep an online journal of their study practices.

New York City seventh graders who tested Brainology told us that the program had changed their view of learning and how to promote it. One wrote: "My favorite thing from Brainology is the neurons part where when u [sic] learn something there are connections and they keep growing. I always picture them when I'm in school." A teacher said of the students who used the program: "They offer to practice, study, take notes, or pay attention to ensure that connections will be made."

Teaching children such information is not just a ploy to get them to study. People may well differ in intelligence, talent and ability. And yet research is converging on the conclusion that great accomplishment, and even what we call genius, is typically the result of years of passion and dedication and not something that flows naturally from a gift. Mozart, Edison, Curie, Darwin and Cézanne were not simply born with talent; they cultivated it through tremendous and sustained effort. Similarly, hard work and discipline contribute more to school achievement than IQ does.

Such lessons apply to almost every human endeavor. For instance, many young athletes value talent more than hard work and have consequently become unteachable. Similarly, many people accomplish little in their jobs without constant praise and encouragement to maintain their motivation. If we foster a growth mind-set in our homes and schools, however, we will give our children the tools to succeed in their pursuits and to become productive workers and citizens.
-Carol S. Dweck

A for Effort
According to a survey we conducted in the mid-1990s, 85 percent of parents believed that praising children's ability or intelligence when they perform well is important for making them feel smart. But our work shows that praising a child's intelligence makes a child fragile and defensive. So, too, does generic praise that suggests a stable trait, such as "You are a good artist." Praise can be very valuable, however, if it is carefully worded. Praise for the specific process a child used to accomplish something fosters motivation and confidence by focusing children on the actions that lead to success. Such process praise may involve commending effort, strategies, focus, persistence in the face of difficulty, and willingness to take on challenges. The following are examples of such communications:
You did a good job drawing. I like the detail you added to the people's faces. You really studied for your social studies test. You read the material over several times, outlined it and tested yourself on it. It really worked! I like the way you tried a lot of different strategies on that math problem until you finally got it. That was a hard English assignment, but you stuck with it until you got it done. You stayed at your desk and kept your concentration. That's great! I like that you took on that challenging project for your science class. It will take a lot of work-doing the research, designing the apparatus, making the parts and building it. You are going to learn a lot of great things.
Parents and teachers can also teach children to enjoy the process of learning by expressing positive views of challenges, effort and mistakes. Here are some examples:
Boy, this is hard-this is fun. Oh, sorry, that was too easy-no fun. Let's do something more challenging that you can learn from. Let's all talk about what we struggled with today and learned from. I'll go first. Mistakes are so interesting. Here's a wonderful mistake.
Let's see what we can learn from it.
-C.S.D.

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A brilliant student, Jonathan sailed through grade school. He completed his assignments easily and routinely earned As. Jonathan puzzled over why some of his classmates struggled, and his parents told him he had a special gift. In the seventh grade, however, Jonathan suddenly lost interest in school, refusing to do homework or study for tests.

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Free Audio Books for Intellectual Exercise

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SMARTS Online Unit 3 - Cognitive Flexibility

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Unit 3: Cognitive Flexibility: Shifting and Flexible Thinking By the end of this unit students will be able to: - Understand the importance of shifting - Write according to multiple perspectives - Shift between the main ideas and details SMARTS is an online curriculum that empowers students by helping them understand their strengths and weaknesses and teaching them critically important executive function strategies.

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Some children with learning and thinking differences have trouble seeing other viewpoints and alternative ways of doing things. Use these tips to help your child practice flexible thinking, which is essential for learning and everyday life.

1. Play the Fannee Doolee game.

Fannee Doolee only likes words with double letters. Keeping this rule in mind, you and your child can come up with things Fannee likes and dislikes. For example, she likes bees, but she doesn't like bugs. She likes jelly but not jam. Thinking about the sense of the words and the spellings can help your child learn to shift gears more comfortably.

2. Tell silly jokes and make puns.

Show your child how to use different meanings of words to make people laugh. For example, you can tell him a joke: "Why are fish so smart? Because they live in schools." Then you can talk together about how the punch line uses two meanings of the word "school." Encourage your child to come up with funny wordplay, too.

Take an ordinary object like a funnel and see how many different things you and your child can pretend it is: a party hat, a trumpet, a unicorn horn. This activity encourages your child to see things in more creative ways.

4. Read "Amelia Bedelia" and other books that play with words.

Kids who have trouble with flexible thinking may find it hard to understand that words can have more than one meaning. Riddles and jokes that play with words' meanings or sounds can also be confusing. You can work on these skills together by reading books like Amelia Bedelia, whose heroine takes everything very literally. When she's asked to "draw the curtains," she uses a marker to draw spots on them. You and your child can talk about what she should have done instead.

5. Make up new rules for games.

Kids who have difficulty with flexible thinking can have trouble seeing that there's more than one way to do things. Practice seeing alternatives by helping your child make up new rules for games. Have players slide down ladders and walk up slides in Chutes and Ladders. Run the bases in reverse order in kickball. Once your child gets comfortable with simple switches like this, try combining the rules of two games to make a new game.

6. Find more than one way to do everyday things.

Your child may be used to doing things in a certain order, so making small tweaks to an everyday process can show him that there are different options. For example, try making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich by spreading the jelly before the peanut butter. If your child is old enough, ask him to help you map a new route from school to home. This can help your child work on problem-solving skills, which involve coming up with different approaches to solving a problem.

7. Teach self-talk skills.

Teach your child to talk his way through solving a problem. As he gets older, self-talk skills will become more important. Encourage him to think out loud as he solves logic puzzles and other problems. Help him learn to ask questions like: Is this similar to another problem I've solved before? Is there something different here that I haven't come across in other problems? You may also want to ask his teacher what can be done in the classroom to help him work on flexible thinking and other skills.

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Some children with learning and thinking differences have trouble seeing other viewpoints and alternative ways of doing things. Use these tips to help your child practice flexible thinking, which is essential for learning and everyday life. 1. Play the Fannee Doolee game. Fannee Doolee only likes words with double letters.

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Memory: It isn't just something, it's everything. And although scientists have pursued and puzzled over it for centuries, a definitive explanation of the actual memory process still eludes us--partly because our brain is so incredibly complex (it is made up of approximately 90 billion cells after all!).

Let's take a look at the basic neuroanatomy elements, which makes memory possible. Brain cells, called neurons are the core component of the nervous system and have the remarkable ability to communicate with each other and transfer information. They are able to accomplish through a process called synaptic transmission. Neurons release specialized proteins called neurotransmitters that travel through the space connecting each other together called synapses, and bind to specific proteins called receptors. In regards to memory, the more often neurons communicate with each other, the stronger the connection between them becomes. This process, called long-term potentiation, is thought to be the foundation of memory storage.

In order for new memory formation to occur, information needs to undergo certain processes. The first is called encoding, a process used to change information into a usable form. Second, memory is stored for later use and finally the retrieval process allows stored memories to be brought back into our awareness.

Memory can go through several different stages before it stored long-term. The first stage is called sensory memory, the shortest element of memory (up to ½ a second). Due to the vast amount of sensory information (sight, hearing, smell, taste and touch) our brain is constantly flooded with, we attend to only certain aspects of this sensory memory, filtering out most of the information. Therefore, only select information is passed into the next stage - short-term memory. This is the information we are currently thinking about and is stored for approximately 10 to 30 seconds.

Want to test your short-term memory? Take a fun memory test here!

While many of our short-term memories are quickly forgotten, making a conscious effort to retain this information allows it to continue on the next stage-- long-term memory. Other helpful techniques include repetition, patterns and imagery, using mnemonic devices and chunking. Information stored in long-term memory is largely outside of our awareness, but can be called back into working memory when needed. It can also be further divided by type including: declarative & procedural; episodic & semantic; and retrospective and prospective.

What parts of the brain are involved in these different types of memories? Find out here.

While memory fascinates our culture, the loss of it causes even greater fascination (and anxiety), in part, because we ALL experience it. For example, how many times have you been late for something because you can't remember where you left your keys? Or how many times has someone's name suddenly eluded you? Because memory loss can be very concerning-it's important to understand the underlying factors causing or contributing to it, especially if it becomes severe. Read more about additional causes of memory loss (besides those mentioned in the lesson), including: Alzheimer's Disease, Stroke and certain types of Medication.

The good news is that no matter what your age, it's never too late to take steps to prevent memory loss. A healthy lifestyle and good habits can reduce can only help to preserve and improve your memory. Find out some additional ways to give your brain a work out (for example, learning a new language) to help keep your memory sharp.

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How memories form and how we lose them - Catharine Young

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Think back to a really vivid memory. Got it? Now try to remember what you had for lunch three weeks ago. That second memory probably isn't as strong-but why not? Why do we remember some things, and not others? And why do memories eventually fade? Catharine Young gives the basics on memory and memory loss.

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"Early to bed, and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise."
-- Benjamin Franklin, 1758 (in Poor Richard's Almanac)

A third of our life is spent sleeping. How much sleep a person needs changes as one ages. A new mother needs seven hours of sleep per night, but her newborn baby needs 12-18 hours of sleep per night. In general, the older you get, the less sleep you need. This can give us an idea of why sleep is so important during childhood for both growth and brain development. Without proper sleep, we derail our biological defense from heart attacks, strokes, obesity, diabetes, mood disorders and chronic bodily aches. Visit Caltech Health Education and find out what results from sleep deprivation.

The hippocampus plays an important role in helping us to remember. Are you interested in finding out more about what happens when it is removed from someone's brain? Watch the TED-Ed lesson: What happens when you remove the hippocampus? Find out about Henry Molaison and his memory loss.

Research shows that during sleep our brain's structure is being altered. Synapses are forming during sleep. Learn what this means here. Scientists have proven that we are waking each morning with a different brain, cleansed of toxins and full of new connections from the previous day's learning.

Many studies show the remarkable role of sleep in memory. Sound interesting? Read this article. Wondering what dreaming may have to do with all this? Watch the TEDx Talk, Sleep, Memory and Dreams: Fitting the Pieces Together.

Have you ever wondered if you can learn while you are sleeping? Read the latest research here. Can't fall asleep at night? Need some sleeping tips? Visit the National Sleep Foundation, or the site, Sleep, Sleep Disorders and Biological Rhythms to find answers to those misconceptions you may have about sleep. Finally, for greater understanding of the third of our life we take for granted visit Harvard Medical School Sleep Division.

The track used in this animation is called "No Squirrel Commotion" by Chad Crouch.

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The benefits of a good night's sleep - Shai Marcu

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It's 4am, and the big test is in 8 hours. You've been studying for days, but you still don't feel ready. Should you drink another cup of coffee and spend the next few hours cramming? Or should you go to sleep?

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For a technical breakdown of the bug ("priority inversion") that caused problems with the Mars Pathfinder in 1997, see a detailed email written at the time by Pathfinder software team leader Glenn Reeves. Reeves was responding to an earlier writeup by Microsoft's Mike Jones - who was himself summarizing a talk given by David Wilner, Chief Technical Officer of Wind River Systems, about both the problem the team encountered and the fix ("priority inheritance") they implemented to solve it.

The concept of "quadratic time" is part of the broader study of time complexity in computer science. Quadratic time is often written using " Big-O notation" as " O( n 2)," indicating that the algorithm's worst-case time performance grows proportionally to the square of the size of the input. (In the inbox example, the "input" is the number of emails in the inbox.)

The Linux kernel scheduling algorithm described in the lesson is the "O(1) Scheduler" that was introduced in Linux 2.6, replacing the earlier " O( n) Scheduler." The names of these algorithms also make use of Big-O notation: O( n) is also known as "linear time" and O(1) is also known as "constant time." The O(1) Scheduler has since been replaced by the (arguably even simpler) " Completely Fair Scheduler," a part of Linux 2.6.23, which was released in 2007.

There is a great deal of psychology and cognitive science research on the costs of interruptions and context switches in human life and human job performance. See, for instance, Stephen Monsell, " Task Switching."

The 2013 battery life improvement discussed in the lesson was due in large part to Intel's Haswell chip, which offered improved low-power states that made interrupt coalescing a particularly smart idea. Microsoft began using interrupt coalescing in Windows 7, and both Windows 8 and Mac OS X Mavericks included code written specifically to take advantage of the low-power resting state of the Haswell chip and to conserve power through interrupt coalescing.

Many of the ideas in this lesson are discussed at greater length, alongside other algorithmic strategies for time management, in the book Algorithms to Live By by Brian Christian and Tom Griffiths.

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How to manage your time more effectively (according to machines) - Brian Christian

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Human beings and computers alike share the challenge of how to get as much done as possible in a limited time. Over the last fifty or so years, computer scientists have learned a lot of good strategies for managing time effectively - and they have a lot of experience with what can go wrong.

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Exact Instructions ChallengeGiving quality directions is not as easy as you think!

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Exact Instructions ChallengeGiving quality directions is not as easy as you think!

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THIS "EXACT INSTRUCTIONS CHALLENGE" IS SO HILARIOUS

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Children's book about following Directions and Listening

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The Worst Day of My Life Ever (My Story About Listening and Following Instructions...or not!)

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Host Jason Silva tests our ability to remember despite lots of distractions. ➡ Subscribe: http://bit.ly/NatGeoSubscribe About Brain Games: Using a series of experiments, illusions and man-on-the-street demonstrations, host Jason Silva and guest experts unlock the science behind the mysteries of why we say, eat, feel and act as we do with episodes on topics ranging from memory and common sense, to morality and the paranormal.

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Helping a Child Follow Directions: One step at a time

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Ages and Stages: Learning to  Follow Directions

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Ages and Stages: Learning to  Follow Directions

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"I Can Do That!" by Carla Poole

"Wave bye-bye, Kate!" Kate's teacher enthusiastically calls to her as the nine-month-old leaves the center with her mom. Kate looks pensive for a moment and then smiles proudly as she shakes her dimpled arm. Kate feels good about responding to one of her first direct requests. More importantly, her expectations of the world are beginning to take root. Cooperative and satisfying interactions are an important part of her daily life.

Jacob, a lively 12-month old, is eager for his teacher to continue playing Pat-a-Cake, so he reaches over and pushes her hands back together. Feeling quite masterful, he gurgles with delight as she follows his cue and keeps on clapping. Jacob is experiencing "being heard"-a necessary precursor for following directions from others.
Starting Simple
As the junior toddler turns 18 months, her thinking skills begin to change dramatically. She understands more words and can hold onto a mental image of something even when it is out of sight. Her capacity for deferred imitation, when she remembers how an event happened in the past and purposely repeats it, is growing stronger. As a result of this mental growth spurt, she will soon be able to follow simple directions. Nineteen-month-old Julie, for example, retrieves an object from another room when her teacher asks her to. Her teacher knows not to expect Julie to fetch her coat from the hallway, however, when she's in a rush to go out. Toddlers need to assert themselves while learning to be more independent. It takes time to build partnerships that include give and take.

By 24 months, most toddlers can follow two- and three-step directions. Ellen understands when her teacher says: "Please get the doll and blanket and put them in your cubby." In reality, however, it's best to expect toddlers to respond to your request only 50% of the time at most!
Encouraging Cooperation
Thankfully, toddlers possess some characteristics that encourage cooperation, including an awareness of adult expectations: "Uh-oh!" Julie might say when she spills her juice cup. Toddlers are attracted to the grown-up world and enjoy adult approval. They seek challenges but will nevertheless shy away from doing something that seems too difficult. Sometimes what appears to be unwillingness to comply is just a toddler feeling overwhelmed by a request that is too complicated. Your tone of voice influences how toddlers respond to you. Being enthusiastic and respectful when giving directions usually works best. If an honest explanation doesn't convince Jimmy that your request is important, you may have to gently guide him through certain steps. Then express your approval of his efforts. Taking a playful approach with toddlers will help them learn that doing things with you and for you feels good.
What You Can Do

Play simple games like How Big Is Baby? So Big! in which a one-year-old lifts her arms up. Such activities help Baby to begin connecting words with actions-the first step toward following directions.

Give positive feedback. Instead of always saying "No! "-the most common directive that he hears-be sure to let a toddler know what he can do.

Make directions meaningful. When you ask a toddler to help wash vegetables or set the table for lunch, it allows her to make meaningful contributions to the group-and this will boost her self-esteem.

3 to 4
Learning by Doing by Susan A. Miller, EdD

"Anna, please put your crayons in the box. Then put the box away on the art shelf." Anna's teacher speaks directly to her and makes her directions clear and easy for the three-year-old to understand. As a result, Anna responds by happily putting her materials away. Like Anna, most three-year-olds have no trouble following a two-part direction.

By age three, preschoolers have a receptive or understood vocabulary of a little over 1,000 words, to which they add at least 50 more words each month. But children this age are still learning how to listen and pay attention to what they hear. After Keith's teacher announces to the three-year-old group, "Get your coats and line up at the door," she is surprised when she sees Keith standing at the door-without his coat! Because Keith was not focused when she first started speaking, he didn't hear or understand the complete direction. All he heard was, "Line up at the door," which is exactly what he did!
Offering Choices
Threes respond best to simple choices rather than what they perceive as being commands. Scott likes it when Mrs. Keyes asks him, "Do you want to put the blocks on the cart or place the toy trucks in their garage?" Malin enjoys making a decision when her friend Tess wants to know, "Can you diaper our baby, or are you going to fry the pancakes for the daddy?"

Fours can respond to three-part directions if they are delivered in the proper sequence. Jamal yells excitedly to his firefighter friend Owen: "Quick! Grab a hose, put out the fire, and rescue the dog from the house!" Easily able to follow these instructions, four-year-old Owen eagerly seeks approval from his friend and teacher. "Look what I did! I saved the dog!"
Watching and Doing
Some preschoolers are considered to be "field sensitive." They need directions and like to be told exactly how to do something. For example, Andrea asks: "How do I make Liza a birthday card?" She is happy when her teacher demonstrates how to fold the paper while verbally explaining each step. After observing another friend fold her card, Andrea finally feels comfortable trying it on her own.

Other young children may be more "field independent." Carlos is thrilled when he sees small paper bags, yarn, paper scraps, scissors, and glue on the table. "Puppets," he says excitedly. "I can make lions and tigers for the jungle!" Then he sits down and immediately begins to glue some yarn. Field-independent Carlos doesn't need or want directions as he jumps right into activities and explores things his way.

Preschoolers' individual learning styles also influence how they receive, understand, and follow directions. Analytic children enjoy having directions broken down into small parts step-by-step; global learners need to see or understand the whole picture. A child who learns best visually says, "Let me see how to do it," while the auditory child says, "Tell me the way to do it," and the tactile child states, "Let me do it."

It's important to give children directions that relate to their learning styles and involve open-ended questions and two-way communication.
What You Can Do

Give positive, concrete suggestions. Let children know what to do rather than telling them what not to do. For example, instead of directing, "Don't run," state, "Walk."

Make sure directions are easy to understand. Repeat them slowly or rephrase them in new ways. Remove distractions such as background noise so children can focus their listening skills.

Model good listening skills. Spend time with individual children tuning in to what they have to say and talking about their ideas. Good listening is crucial to processing and following directions.

Share control. Ask children to help think of different ways to clean up or make transitions. They might come up with creative and unique directions for unexciting but necessary tasks.

Make following directions fun. Play games like Giant Steps to sharpen listening skills. Make transitions to new activities interesting by galloping like horses or picking up Legos with lobster claws.

Share books with predictable sequences. Stories like If You Give a Mouse a Cookie (HarperCollins, 1985; paper: HarperTrophy, 1997) can help children learn to anticipate the next suggestion in a sequence.

5 to 6
Practice, Practice, Practice! by Ellen Booth Church

"Can you touch your nose, stick out your tongue, and turn around?" Ever playful Debbie is getting her friends to try different funny movements while they wait for the bus. As her teacher observes this spontaneous interplay, she notices the children who can do all three parts of Debbie's direction and those who get stuck on the first or second action. She notices, too, that some children can follow the directions after repeat tries. Best yet, they are all laughing and having fun-always good ingredients when learning new skills.
One Stop at a Time
Have you ever tried to sub your head and pat your stomach at the same time? That feeling of frustration that many of us get is akin to the experience young children have when they are learning to listen to, understand, and follow directions. It's almost as though there's a short circuit in the process that keeps them from absorbing all the information.

Happily, just like the Head-and-Stomach game, it is a skill that can be learned through conscious step-by-step practice. (Some children learn best through repetition.) And for fives and sixes, practicing steps for a new skill is fun. Children this age have learned the value of listening in life and are becoming good at it-even though it might not appear that way at times!
Learning to Listen
Gideon is calling over the immense block building he is creating with his friend Joya, who is looking slightly puzzled. "Didn't you hear what I just said?" Gideon asks. "Put the top block to the right of the cylinder and above the arch."

Listening is the core ingredient in a child's ability to follow directions. However there are many parts to the listening process. In this situation, Joya not only has to hear what is being said (auditory acuity and perception), she also has to understand the meaning of the sounds and words (auditory comprehension) and interpret them into a sequence of events she must then actuate. When looked at in this detail, it's no wonder that we have such a hard time getting children to follow our directions!
First Things First
"Don't forget to park the wagon after you pick up the toys and close the gate!" the teacher says to Matthew-who responds with a quizzical look. What do I do first? he wonders. Even though fives and sixes have developed a more sophisticated vocabulary and expanded listening skills, they still need to have the steps of a direction stated in a natural order. We cannot assume that children can transpose a direction into chronological order.

One way to be sure that children understand a direction is to ask them to recite the steps back to you in order. This not only helps them to hear the direction again, but it utilizes the skill of speaking to reinforce the process of listening and doing.
What You Can Do

Give directions in context. Directions are more meaningful when they're given while a child is trying to accomplish a task or learn a new skill. Offer instructions when he's climbing across a horizontal ladder or learning a new dance step.

Draw your directions. Instructions can be delivered visually as well as verbally. Create simple picture recipes by illustrating the steps for making butter or peanut butter "play dough" and have children follow them.

Offer movement games. Silly activities such as clothing relay games, clean-up time assembly lines, or silly songs with movements, such as "This Old Man," can make following directions fun. So can other movement games like Simon Says, Follow the Leader, and the ever popular Twister. Invite children to make up their own games using their suggestions for directions and rules.

This article originally appeared in the January, 2000 issue of Early Childhood Today.

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Ages & Stages: Learning to Follow Directions | Scholastic

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"I Can Do That!" by Carla Poole "Wave bye-bye, Kate!" Kate's teacher enthusiastically calls to her as the nine-month-old leaves the center with her mom. Kate looks pensive for a moment and then smiles proudly as she shakes her dimpled arm. Kate feels good about responding to one of her first direct requests.

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Riddles and Inspiration

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TED-Ed lessons on the subject Problem Solving. TED-Ed celebrates the ideas of teachers and students around the world. Discover hundreds of animated lessons, create customized lessons, and share your big ideas.

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Teaching problem solving: Let students get ‘stuck’ and ‘unstuck’

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Problem solving skills do not necessarily develop naturally; they need to be explicitly taught in a way that can be transferred across multiple settings and contexts.

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What NOT teaching Problem Solving Strategies Might Cause?

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What NOT teaching Problem Solving Strategies Might Cause?

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A Dad's Perspective

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10 Ways to Teach your Children to be Problem Solvers | All Pro Dad

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Problem-solving skills are invaluable. Try these ten ways to teach your children to be problem solvers.

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0 to 2 "IT WON'T WORK!" by Carla Poole

Baby Kayla's eyes sparkle as she tracks the gentle swing of a mobile. Eventually she starts to fuss, so her teacher gently picks her up. "What's wrong, Kayla? Are you bored? Hungry? Need a diaper change?" Kayla has called for help with her discomfort. Your well-timed response instills feelings of trust. She develops positive feelings about herself, her teachers, and her ability to make good things happen. She senses that problems can be solved.

Babies are born with reflexes: nature's problem solvers. If a newborn is held upright on a table, for instance, he will make stepping motions. This is an involuntary movement. Gradually, reflexes fade and muscle control develops from the trunk outward. His movements become pleasurable sensory experimentations. It's as though he is saying, "Wow, it sure feels good to kick my legs!"
Thinking and Doing
During infancy, these random movements become more purposeful. Six-month-old Daniel smiles with glee as he thrusts his legs outward. By chance, he kicks a nearby rattle, which makes an interesting sound. He is still for a moment. What was that sound? He kicks again and again, and the rattle sounds. Daniel wiggles with joy as he repeats his successful movement. The pleasurable sensation of kicking is now combined with the excitement of realizing that he can make good things happen. He is beginning to understand the concept of cause and effect.

Toward the end of the first year, babies begin to realize that people and things mostly stay the same, and continue to exist, even when out of sight. This early object permanence, coupled with developing memory, helps babies use "tools" to problem solve. They might pull on a string attached to a toy that is out of reach, or push a toy with a stick to make it move.
Using Their Senses
Toddlers are experts at gathering information by using their bodies. They use all of their senses while finding out what things can do, as well as what they can do to things. These sensory experiences create learning pathways in the child's brain. So toddlers need lots of time to create their own "science projects." Sometimes, behavior that seems to be challenging you is really important exploration: What happens when I pour water on the floor? Or poke my friend?

Let toddlers choose from a wide variety of sensory activities involving different textures, sounds, shapes, and colors. Like all of us, toddlers are more motivated to stick with a problem when they have chosen it.
Making Plans
After 18 months, the toddler gradually begins to remember more and to make plans using his past experiences. For example, a 20-month-old watches closely as his teacher uses the edge of a table to pry apart some nesting cups that are stuck together. A few hours later, he tries the same technique with some DUPLO® blocks. Honor this remarkable thinking and describe what he is doing. If he gets stuck, make a suggestion or demonstrate another possible solution. Timing is everything, especially with toddlers. Helping too soon might stop the process, yet wait too long and feelings of frustration can overwhelm the toddler. Help him to manage his emotions so he can keep thinking about the challenge at hand.
Talking Helps
Since toddlers learn how to problem solve by watching and imitating others, be sure to talk through simple problems you face. You might explain, for instance, that you need to step on the stool to reach something on the top shelf. Help them make connections between similar situations.

Two-year-olds are curious and creative-and they don't like to be told what to do, so they encounter lots of problems. Fortunately, their thinking and language skills are growing. They are better "mental manipulators" and use order and sequence to solve problems. Riley, a lively 2 frac12;-year-old, wants to go outside right "now!" He runs to get his coat and proudly waits by the door. He knows this is the sequence of events that will resolve his situation.
Building Confidence
Riley's positive sense of self and his loving relationships make his complex thinking possible. Social/emotional development and thinking skills are like strands of yarn that spiral around one another as the child grows. The doubling of the "yarn" makes the child's development stronger and richer.

Nothing is more inspiring than the look of joy on a toddler's face when she makes something work, or the focus of a toddler who is paying full attention to what is going on in the moment. Form a partnership with your hardworking investigators; everyone will benefit from the hard work and fun.
What You Can Do:

Celebrate explorations! Positive feedback that is not overdone increases pleasure in learning.

Avoid helping too much. Even young babies enjoy the workout they get from finally grabbing a toy that is just out of reach.

Ask open-ended questions when problems occur. "The ball is stuck! What can we do?"

3 to 4 "THAT WORKS!" by Susan A. Miller, Ed.D.

When 3-year-old Abby tries to play with the play dough she helped to make with flour, salt, and water earlier in the week, it sticks to her fingers. However, she remembers seeing her friend, Diane, pour dry sand over her hands and rub them together to get the damp sand mixture off. Abby decides to try to solve her sticky problem by sprinkling sand from the nearby sandbox onto the dough on her fingers. "This looks yucky," Abby says, as she pours on more sand and rubs her hands. She goes to wash her hands, when her teacher asks, "What might happen if you mix the dough with a spoon?" After trying this, Abby flashes a big smile as she acknowledges, "It works!"

How do 3-year-olds like Abby become problem solvers? Young children think in a way that is qualitatively different from the way adults think. Abby's teacher would have instinctively added more flour to keep the dough from sticking to her hands. However, Abby sees the problem in the immediate moment. She relies on her senses for things she can see and touch-the sand is easily observable in her immediate environment, whereas the flour is in a cabinet, out of sight and reach. And she saw how Diane used the sand successfully on her hands. Her thinking and problem-solving-skills are very much based on action and perception.
Learning Through Experimentation
Three-year-olds enjoy experimenting with a wide variety of materials and they develop their problem-solving skills through trial and error. This is reflected in Abby's actions-sprinkling and pouring sand on her hands, then finally mixing it all together to eliminate the stickiness. Sometimes children this age become frustrated when an idea doesn't appear to work, as evidenced by Abby's "yucky." They may even walk away from their project, just as Abby started to do. They frequently become focused on one particular solution, which may or may not work. However, they can be encouraged to rise to a higher level of problem-solving when given support by an adult. The adult may give hints or ask questions in ways that will leave the actual solution up to the children.
Brainstorming Solutions
A small group of exuberant 4-year-old boys decides to create a gigantic dinosaur out of cardboard boxes. However, they are not sure how to keep the boxes together. Using a problem-solving approach, they brainstorm suggestions for attaching the boxes and then try out some ideas. The glue from the glue sticks doesn't hold. Doug finally suggests wrapping tape strips around the boxes like his dad does when he mails a package at the post office. The boys agree with this solution. They get busy tearing masking tape and wrapping it around the boxes-and so their dinosaur grows!
Working Together
Now more able to see things from the perspective of others, 4-year-olds listen to their friends' ideas and enjoy solving problems and working together cooperatively. Possessing more patience, they are willing to discuss and pursue multiple solutions to problems until they find one that seems to work. With their increased vocabulary, fours are able to negotiate materials and actions needed for problem-solving. They have developed the language to enthusiastically summarize and share their ventures and predictions. Using more complex thinking skills, 4-year-olds are able to think about events, people, and objects that are no longer in their immediate physical environment.
What You Can Do:

Promote brainstorming. Use lots of open-ended questions that begin with "What if...?" or "What can you do with a...?" to foster critical and creative thinking.

Invite children to use materials in new ways. For example, a blanket can become a cave, a superhero's cape, a baby's cover, a picnic cloth, or a floor map. You might try adding a basket of intriguingly colored ribbons to the block area to stimulate creative thinking. Rotate materials to keep choices exciting.

Turn mistakes into learning experiences. Help your children analyze why a solution did not work out. Encourage them to find other alternatives.

5 to 6 "FIX IT THIS WAY!" by Ellen Booth Church

"This book is ripped!" Terese and Niko exclaim as they rush to show the teacher a ripped book they found in the library corner. "Look what someone did to our book," says Niko. "That is bad. Now we have to throw it away!" The teacher, seeing a teachable moment, jumps in with a suggestion: "Maybe we can find a way to save the book. What do you think we could do to fix it?" Immediately, the children begin to brainstorm different possibilities and suggest looking in the art area for materials they can use. After discussing the various ideas, they choose one to try, and soon the book is repaired.
Natural Problem Solvers
Children are natural problem solvers. They explore the world with a curiosity that generates thinking and understanding, one problem at a time. From their earliest days, children are experimenting with problem-solving. In the crib, a baby might be trying to find a way to reach a mobile with his foot. A toddler might be trying to figure out how to get from here to there without falling down. Problems in the preschool years may be related to how to build with toys or how to share.

By the age of 5 or 6, children are already experienced problem solvers. They bring years of trial and error to each new problem. This allows them to tackle more sophisticated dilemmas, not only on a concrete level, but on an abstract-thinking level as well. At this stage, children can think about how to solve problems without actually needing to manipulate, or "do," something. For example, children can think about a problem that a storybook character is having and come up with different solutions. They can also visualize a problem, such as having a leak in a boat, and suggest several ways of fixing it before actually trying them out. But they still need to experience the process of testing out their solutions in a hands-on way. This ability to think abstractly is a skill that will grow over the next few years. It will allow children to be able to tackle everything from difficulties with social interactions to math problems.
Keen Observers
One of the strongest skills that 5- and 6-year-olds bring to problem-solving is their ability to use deductive reasoning. They do this by interpreting clues. Children are keen observers and are learning how to apply what they observe. Fives and sixes love being "thinking detectives," as they try to put together pieces of information to solve a problem. That is why they love "I'm thinking of something" games, riddles, magic bags, and treasure hunts. All these activities invite children to use information they receive though observation and to interpret it through problem-solving.
A Sense of Wonder
Problem-solving often comes from a state of wonder. What does a kindergartner wonder about? They wonder about how things work, how they go together, and how to take them apart. They think about where things come from and how they grow and change. They're curious about what they can do with their bodies and with their imaginations. Each of these wonderments leads to problem-solving adventures that help children construct their own knowledge about how the world works. Our role as adults is to create a state of wonder in the classroom by asking good questions. For instance, while taking a walk outside you might say, "I wonder how the leaves change colors. What do you think?" Then it is important to accept all of the children's ideas before actively exploring the leaves with a science experiment. Accepting children's suggestions, no matter how odd they may seem, will set a tone for the creative thinking and brainstorming that is needed for children to feel comfortable taking risks with their thinking.
Application Is Key
The key to developing the 5- and 6-year-olds' problem-solving skills is application. Once children have learned to solve a problem in one situation, it is essential for them to later apply what they have learned to a new situation. For example, if children are exploring which objects work for making crayon rubbings at the art table, it is important for them to then look around the room for other items to rub. What will make a similar design? What other bumpy or rough things can they find? Eventually, children can take the problem solving outside to find additional objects to rub.

At the age of 5 or 6, children's verbal ability (and their sense of self) has grown to the level where they can begin to receive and communicate ideas with other children. They can have real problem-solving discussions within a group and can begin to work collaboratively. This is a huge developmental step, indicating that they are more interested in working with the problem than in being "right." When children experience the joy of problem-solving without the fear of being "wrong," they are motivated to experiment with ideas and to work collectively.
What You Can Do:

Practice deduction with inference games. (Inference is the ability to reach logical conclusions from given or assumed evidence.) Use feely bags, riddles, mysteries, and treasure hunts to explore the use of deduction skills.

Create a safe environment for brainstorming and problem-solving. Welcome all ideas. Help children learn how to work together with the goal of solving a problem collectively. If a problem occurs in the classroom, explore it with the group for processing.

Invite children to expand their understanding. Whenever children experiment with an idea or problem, suggest that they test out their solutions in different settings.

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Ages & Stages: How Children Learn to Solve Problems | Scholastic

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0 to 2 "IT WON'T WORK!" by Carla Poole Baby Kayla's eyes sparkle as she tracks the gentle swing of a mobile. Eventually she starts to fuss, so her teacher gently picks her up. "What's wrong, Kayla? Are you bored? Hungry? Need a diaper change?" Kayla has called for help with her discomfort.

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Teach a problem solving procedure (see picture below) by teaching children the steps to solve social problems: 1) Identify what the problem is; 2) Think about solutions; 3) Think about what will happen if I do this and how the other child will feel if I do this?; and 4) Try the solution.

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Ideas for Teaching Problem Solving by Age Group

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Ideas for Teaching Problem Solving by Age Group

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4 Tips on Teaching Problem Solving (From a Student)

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A student shares her insights into the most important skill you can teach. (Hint: It’s not perseverance.)

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13 Mind-Blowing Tips To Increase Concentration Power In Kids

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"Can't you just stop fidgeting and finish your homework?" I'm sure we've all asked our children this at least a few dozen times while they're studying. I know I have! As a mother of a vibrant, fun-loving, talkative eight-year-old girl, it is often a challenge for me to get her to sit in one place, teach her...

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Play is the work of children! Games with rules or a little structure have the added bonus of helping children practice important self-regulation skills such as working memory, inhibitory control, and cognitive flexibility. Children need to listen and remember instructions, pay attention to the adult leading the game and, in some games, resist the natural inclinations to stop/go/run or shout out. The key to successfully strengthening children's ability to self-regulate is to start the games in a simple way and then gradually build in complexity with rules, variations or extra challenges.

All of these games have a physical activity component and can be adapted for a classroom, a gymnasium or be played outside.

1. Red Light - Green Light

An adult is the "traffic light" and stands at the opposite end of the room or field from the children.

Hold up different colors to represent stop and go. Start with with known cues of red and green but then - to challenge thinking -try different colors, such as purple for "go" and orange for "stop". Try the opposite (red means go) or switch to using shapes or sounds to represent the actions.

When someone "goes" when they should stop, simply have them go back to the starting line.

Give children a turn being the traffic light.

2. Freeze!

Everybody dance and when the music stops - freeze!

Use a selection of both slow and fast songs and have children dance slowly to slow songs and quickly to fast songs.

Challenge children by having them dance to opposite cues: dance quickly to the slow songs and slowly to the fast songs.

3. Conducting an Orchestra.

Every child uses a musical instrument (real or improvised) and the "orchestra leader" uses a conducting baton. When the baton is up and waving, the children play their instruments. When the conductor puts the baton down, children stop.

Increase the complexity and attention required by having children play their instruments quickly when the baton moves quickly and slowly when the baton moves slowly. Try the opposite cues too.

4. Elephant Stampede

The teacher puts a hand to their ear and says "What's that I hear?" The children responds by saying "Elephant Stampede!" The teacher then says where are the elephants? I can barely hear them!" The class responds with "Far away!" and begins quietly stamping their feet on the floor to mimic the sound of elephants in the distance.

The teacher repeats the process, adjusting for how close the elephants are, until the herd "arrives" in the classroom. Students now make elephant trumpeting sounds and stamp their feet as hard as they can until the teacher begins to quiet them down by saying "Oh good, they're going away!" The children respond by stamping their feet more softly. They continue to respond to the teacher until the elephant herd has left the building.

Embrace a more complex cacophony by giving groups of students different animal sounds to make and giving different instructions to different animals at the same time. "The elephants are getting closer but the monkeys are going away."

5. Drum Beats

Use drum beats to represent different actions that children can do while sitting (e.g. clapping or stomping) or while moving around the room (e.g. walking or dancing). For example, children walk quickly to fast drumming, slowly to slow drumming, and freeze when the drumming stops.

Request children to respond to opposite cues (walk slowly to fast drum beats and quickly to slow drum beats). Or add in different actions with specific drum cues. For example, slow drumming means stomping feet and fast drumming means jumping jacks.

6. Simon Says and Follow the Leader

In either version of this game, a leader models different actions to be imitated. This builds impulse control, observation, imitation skills, and emotional regulation.

With Simon Says, children must listening carefully because when Simon "does" an action but doesn't say it, they shouldn't follow!

Up the ante by introducing actions that have multiple steps.

Try having two groups going on at the same time, with two Simon's or "leaders." When a child gets mixed up with their actions, they simply join the other group and follow a new leader (instead of being "out").

7. Melting snowman

The Melting Snowman game focuses on children's self-awareness.

Start by asking the children to stand tall like a snowman.

Children then either relax or tense their bodies based on cues the adult provides. When the sun is coming out, children relax or begin to melt. When the snow clouds roll back in and it gets cold, children tense or freeze.

8. Go Bananas

Children learn actions based on the Banana Chant.

"Grow bananas, grow, grow bananas." - Raise one arm slowly until overhead. Repeat the phrase and raise the other arm overhead.

"Peel bananas, peel, peel bananas." - Slowly lower 1 arm. Repeat the phrase and lower the other arm.

"Mash bananas, mash, mash bananas." - Stomp on the floor and repeat.

"Go bananas, go, go bananas!" - Jump up and down and go bananas! Repeat.

Make the game more challenging by adding in speed elements (how quickly can we go?) and noise elements (how quietly can we "go bananas"?).

9. Head-Shoulders-Knees-& Toes

This classic activity requires children to work on their self-regulation skills by overriding automatic responses as the song is changed.

Begin by having students point to their head, shoulders, knees and toes while singing the song.

Challenge them by omitting body parts in the sequence and/or by asking students to point to incongruent body parts. For example, tell students "when I say to touch your head, touch your TOES!!" or "When I say touch your tummy, touch your EARS."

10. Peanut Butter Jelly Game

Sitting on the floor in a large circle, have one ball represent the peanut butter and the other ball represent the jelly. The object of the game is to always throw the peanut butter ball and roll the jelly ball.

The child holding the peanut butter ball throws it to anyone in the circle, and the child holding the jelly ball rolls it to anyone in the circle. Whoever receives the peanut butter ball must continue to throw it to someone else, whereas the jelly ball must be rolled.

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Play is the work of children! Games with rules or a little structure have the added bonus of helping children practice important self-regulation skills such as working memory, inhibitory control, and cognitive flexibility. Children need to listen and remember instructions, pay attention to the adult leading the game and, in some games, resist the natural inclinations to stop/go/run or shout out.

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9 GREAT TIPS to Improve CONCENTRATION for Kids | Kreative Leadership

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Short film for middle grade and higher about perspective taking and how actions or inactions can be misinterpreted.

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DIFFERENT | Award Winning Short Film by Tahneek Rahman

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In this short film, a fisherman and his dog, Joy, are on an early morning fishing trip when they encounter a curious Heron. Heron attempts to help herself to the fisherman's delicious bait but Joy successfully defends it. But once Joy understands why Heron wanted the bait, Joy has a change of heart.

This film is excellent in showing characters with different goals and perspectives. And how it is okay to change how they think and feel about each other. Thought Sheet

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CGI Animated Short Film "Joy and Heron" by Passion Pictures | CGMeetup

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This film is about a girl on a mission to win the top prize at an arcade. She runs into several challenges brought on by an unexpected culprit, but is unrelenting. After several more classic arcade games, the one who feels the most victorious is the one with a change of heart.

This is one of the most beautiful stories I've seen in less than 3 minutes. No dialogue is needed as actions speak the loudest here! This is also an excellent film to show characters with different goals and perspective. And how we can be surprised by what changes our minds. Thought Sheet

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CGI Animated Short Film: "Game Changer" by Aviv Mano | CGMeetup

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Summary - In this short film, a grandmother obtains the last remaining bag of cookies from a train station vending machine. While she waits for the train, she sits on a bench shared with a young man. As she attempts to satisfy her hunger, she finds the young man generously helping himself to her cookies. The grandmother confronts the young man but he continues to help himself, even to the last crumb. The train arrives before the grandmother can have a word with the young man. And it is after she boards the train that we learn there is always two sides to every story.

This short film is full of surprises and perspective taking. Besides what each character perceives in the film, there is a lot to learn about our own perspective as we watch the film. The use of perspective is so significant, that watching it the second time may provide a different experience! Thought Sheet

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Perspective Taking-Theory of Mind Development

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Perspective Taking-Theory of Mind Development

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False-Belief Test

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Perspective taking activities

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Perspective Taking Activities for Kids | Examples and Lessons

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What is Perspective Taking? A child's inability to understand a situation from another person's point of view is called "perspective taking". Perspective taking allows us to feel what it would be like to be in the other person's shoes during a situation.

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The importance of trust and reliability on being able to demonstrate self-control.

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The importance of trust and reliability on being able to demonstrate self-control.

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The Marshmallow Test and Teaching Self-Control

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The Marshmallow Test and Teaching Self-Control

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Resisting the marshmallow and the success of self-control

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Short video that describes the importance of self-control, keys to self-control (energy is one!), and 4 ideas for increasing self-control.

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Self Control: Teaching Students About Their Greatest Inner Strength with Nathan DeWall

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Sesame Street: The Waiting Game with Guy Smiley!

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Quick Cups
Age 6+, 2-6 players, 15 mins.

This is a “fast response” game. The object is to match the order of colors on the card either vertically or horizontally with your stack of cups. The first one to finish rings the bell. A quick-paced, fun, and challenging family game.

This game requires cognitive flexibility at a quick pace — you have to change how you stack based on the direction of the card. This is a hard skill for kids to master and truly fun for the whole family.

Skills Practiced: Attention, cognitive flexibility, quick decision making, inhibition, taking turns, competition, and working memory.

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by Karen Young

The need for self-control can feel like a tease at times and a bit of a pity, but its influence is spectacularly powerful. A landmark study conducted over three decades has found that the level of self-control children have as five-year olds, is one of the greatest predictors of their health, wealth and success as adults. Knowing how to increase self-control in children can help them on a path that sees them thrive.

The Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development Study, a New Zealand study, has received international praise for the treasure trove of data that has emerged out of it. Researchers followed 1000 children from when they were born to the age of 32. Children who had higher levels of self-control at age five were more likely as adults to be healthier, wealthier, and less likely to have an addiction or a criminal conviction.

A little bit about the study. (Because it's fascinating.)

The research has given us remarkable insight into the behaviours and qualities in childhood that will influence the course of a child's life. The effect of self-control was profound.

By the time the children were adults, children with the lowest self-control (compared to children with the highest self-control) were more likely to:

have multiple health problems (27% compared to 11% of their less impulsive peers);

earn a low income of less than $20,000 per year (32% compared with 10%);

have a criminal record (43% compared to 13%).

have an addiction to multiple substances (10% compared to 3%).

And then there are marshmallows.

The findings on self-control from the Dunedin study are in line with the famous Stanford marshmallow study - an ingenious little test of self-control that was put to a group of 4-year olds in the late 1960s.

One by one, the children were told they could eat one marshmallow right away, or wait for fifteen minutes and have two. Fifteen minutes is like for ever in four year old time, but as all small children know, two is infinitely better than one when it comes to delicious things. They tried all sorts of tricks to stop themselves from eating the marshmallow before the fifteen minutes was up. The most successful children distracted themselves - they looked away, played with something else, talked quietly to themselves, sang, and made up games with their hands and feet. Some even tried to fall asleep.

Follow-up studies over the course of their lives revealed that the children who were able to avoid temptation were healthier, had greater success at school and then in their careers, and had stronger relationships.

So tell me, exactly what is self-control?

Self control is about being able to manage behaviours and emotions to get to a longer-term goal. This means delaying gratification, controlling impulses, pushing through frustration, persevering with a challenge, waiting patiently for their turn, and controlling emotional outbursts. Most children seem to master self-control by the time they are ten-years old.

Why does it matter?

Children who lack self-control don't lack intelligence. People who are impulsive and quick to take risks have wonderful strengths. They are often the ones who become our adventurers, discoverers, entrepreneurs, or inventors. They can also land themselves in a lot of trouble.

Self-control feeds directly into decision-making. A shortage of self-control during childhood might lead to a bit too much fun food at the party, more time gaming than homeworking, or a few too many tantrums. In the short term, the fallout from these decisions might seem fairly benign. Nobody's world ever has ever fallen apart from a belly-full of cake on a Sunday afternoon. During adolescence though, the consequences of poor decisions and a lack of self-control, could be disastrous, both in the short and long term.

Adolescents who lack self-control are more likely to make decisions that close down opportunities and set them on a path to a more harmful lifestyle. These include decisions around their health (drinking, smoking, diet, sleep), money (gambling, irresponsible spending, choosing play over work) and behaviour (relationships, work, study, addiction, sex, leaving school early, unplanned pregnancy).

When adolescence hits, the experiences our children expose themselves to will largely be out of our hands. This is where they start to discover who they are and where they fit into the world. Their level of self-control at this stage is critical. It will play a huge part in driving their decisions, their experiences and the way their brain develops as they move into adulthood. Self-control in childhood, sets up self-control in adolescence, which sets up a brain for life.

Can self-control be changed?

Building Self-Control in Children. Let's talk about how.

Encourage a regular mindfulness practice.

Mindfulness strengthens the pre-frontal cortex, which is the part of the brain that gets involved in problem-solving, planning, resisting impulses - all of which are an important part of self-control.Mindfulness can strengthen self-control by building their capacity to let thoughts and feelings come and go without acting on them.

* Sleeping, sleeping - all the children are sleeping.

* Conducting an orchestra.

And finally ...

All children will get frustrated and impulsive from time to time. This is all part of them growing up and finding their place in the world. Self-control is built over time, and there's no hurry for them to become experts. It is a quality that can be strengthened, whatever their age. Building small humans into healthy, capable, bigger ones takes time. The important thing is to provide the opportunities that will nurture them along beautifully, and guide them to be the remarkable humans they are all capable of being.

You might also like ...

'Hey Warrior' is the book I've written for children to help them understand anxiety and to find their 'brave'. It explains why anxiety feels the way it does, and it will teach them how they can 'be the boss of their brains' during anxiety, to feel calm. It's not always enough to tell kids what to do - they need to understand why it works. Hey Warrior does this, giving explanations in a fun, simple, way that helps things make sense in a, 'Oh so that's how that works!' kind of way, alongside gorgeous illustrations.

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How to Increase Self-Control in Children - And Why It's So Important for Their Success - Hey Sigmund

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by Karen Young The need for self-control can feel like a tease at times and a bit of a pity, but its influence is spectacularly powerful. A landmark study conducted over three decades has found that the level of self-control children have as five-year olds, is one of the greatest predictors of their health, wealth and success as adults.

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Simple Ways to Help Develop Self-Control

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The first five years of life are a period of significant brain development, but some regions of the brain mature more slowly than others. The prefrontal cortex, which is the home base of executive function, is one such region, which explains why impulse and emotional control can be difficult for young children.

Still, aspects of executive function, including the ability to focus attention and working memory and to self-regulate actions, can be improved with explicit teaching, support, and practice, even among preschoolers. And there is good reason for parents and early childhood educators to work with young children to help them develop these abilities. Several major longitudinal studies show that preschoolers who exhibit self-regulatory behaviors go on to experience more success in school and are more likely to avoid risky behaviors in adolescence than their peers who have a hard time with self-control.

Green Light for Self-Regulation

Many children make big gains in their ability to take charge of their behavior and emotions between the ages of 3 and 7. Adults can help preschoolers make the most of their developing brains by serving as "cognitive coaches," driving home the message that kids can become better listeners, learn to focus their attention, persist in learning tasks, and interact in more positive ways with peers if they think about and aim to control their actions.

Adopting these strategies can help young children develop their self-regulatory abilities:

Talk clearly, simply, and often about behaviors that matter. "Reading time is quiet time." "Take turns with favorite toys." "Now is the time to listen and follow directions." "Being helpful can make you and others feel happy." Keep rules and expectations simple, and remind children often when it's time to follow them.

Establish routines. Young children may not be able to tell time, but they do become accustomed to the cadence of a regular schedule. When they know that story time will be followed by outdoor play, active children may be more able to sit quietly while their teacher reads.

Build in time for happy movement throughout the day. Acknowledge that young children have limited attention spans by alternating learning activities that require quiet, focused attention with opportunities for independent play and learning activities that include movement.

Call attention to attention. The ability to focus attention on learning tasks is a crucial executive function for future school success. Newborns are drawn to the stimulus that is most noticeable in their environment. In the course of normal development, infants begin focusing their attention on specific stimuli emphasized by parents and other caregivers. Toddlers and preschoolers at times have seemingly endless attention for activities they enjoy-building with blocks, creating art, or participating in favorite playground games. The challenge is presenting other learning activities in ways that elicit that same level of engagement-reading with emotion and enthusiasm, developing playful, hands-on lesson activities, and providing individual attention and support to get and keep children involved.

Make a game out of it. Computer games and concentration-style card games can help young children develop their working memory. More active games like Red Light Green Light and Freeze, in which children dance while music plays and freeze when it stops, require participants to exert self-control. During music time, the teacher can guide students to play rhythm instruments or kazoos faster or slower in time with a beat he or she establishes. A wide variety of games and activities give children opportunities to take charge of their bodies, voices, and minds-and they think they're just having fun.

Encourage prosocial behaviors. Another form of gaining self-control is learning to take others' feelings and welfare into account. By doing so, children interact in more positive ways with peers. Prosocial behavior is defined as voluntary interactions with the aim of helping others. An essential attribute in its own right, prosocial competence also correlates with academic and social-emotional skills. Parents and early childhood educators can encourage young children to adopt prosocial behaviors by setting clear expectations frequently for sharing and helping others, by modeling those actions themselves, and by giving each child individual, positive attention. Emphasize the message that when we help others, we feel happy-and so do they.

Of course, like all of us, young children have their ups and downs. Positive attention from caring adults when they're feeling sad or angry can help young children begin to understand that they can take charge of their feelings. Acknowledge when children feel angry or left out, talk with them about their emotions without being dismissive, and explore how they might cope with those feelings in ways that make them feel better without hurting others.

Building their working memory can help young children make the leap from prereader to reader and enhance their problem-solving abilities by enabling them to hold key information in their minds as they calculate answers. Attending to learning tasks, remembering and observing class rules, and engaging with classmates in positive ways are other aspects of executive function that increase the likelihood that children will flourish as they begin school and throughout their years in the classroom.

For Further Reading

Donna Wilson & Marcus Conyers, Flourishing in the First Five Years: Connecting Implications From Mind, Brain, and Education Research to the Development of Young Children.

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Simple Ways to Help Young Kids Develop Self-Control

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The first five years of life are a period of significant brain development, but some regions of the brain mature more slowly than others. The prefrontal cortex, which is the home base of executive function, is one such region, which explains why impulse and emotional control can be difficult for young children.

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8 Steps!

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" What we're really measuring with the marshmallows isn't will power...It's much more important than that. This task forces kids to find a way to make the situation work for them. They want the second marshmallow, but how can they get it?"
-Walter Mischel

We can think of self-discipline as the ability to manage ourselves to reach our goals. In Walter Mischel's Marshmallow experiments, he tests how long a child can resist eating a treat, if it means she will then get two treats that she really wants. In other words, does the child have the self-discipline to control her impulses to meet her goal?

The bad news is that our self-control as a four year old seems to predict not only our self-discipline later in life, but our happiness as well. (If you haven't read it yet, you'll want to start with our last post: Does It Matter If Your Child Has Self Control?)

The good news is that about 30% of four year olds can already manage their emotions, anxiety and impulses well enough to resist the temptation, at least some of the time. The even better news is that there are ways for children to practice building that self control, by having early experiences that help them WANT to do so.

Alfie Kohn, with whom I agree about most parenting issues, questions whether "self discipline" is even a desirable trait to encourage. He defines it very differently than I do, however: "marshalling one's willpower to accomplish things that are generally regarded as desirable." That's not "SELF" discipline as I define it because the goals come from outside of us. The part that's interesting about the marshmallow experiment to me is that the four year olds who could control themselves to not eat the treat IF they trusted the experimenter and IF they wanted another treat grew into happier adults.

I think that's because these children could manage their impulses to meet their goals. Our ability to manage our emotions, anxiety and impulses is essential if we want to meet our goals, from getting along on the playground to holding a job. And adults who repeatedly fail to realize their aspirations in life are certainly less happy. To clarify this, we might want to think of this trait as "emotional regulation" rather than "self-discipline."

By the way, there's a common misconception, popularized by Pam Druckerman in Bringing Up Bébé; that kids in France learn better self-control than American kids because they're trained early to wait for their parents' attention and to follow rigid schedules. But there's zero evidence of this. Walter Mischel has never conducted the Marshmallow test with French kids, so there's no evidence that they'd do better on it than American kids. And there are no studies asserting that French adults are more self-disciplined than American adults, so the whole idea is clearly suspect! But I do think Druckerman has a point about waiting, which I'll explain in #7 below.

Let's look at the steps to developing self-control.
1. The foundation of self-control is trust.
Parents who are responsive to children's needs foster trust. When the hungry infant wakes up crying and the parent picks him up and feeds him, he learns to trust that food will come. Every time he's soothed, his brain strengthens the neural pathways to soothe anxiety and regulate emotions, which will eventually allow him to soothe himself.

Eventually, this child will trust that he will indeed get the marshmallow eventually, so he doesn't have to eat it this minute. And he'll be able to soothe his own impatience and worry to manage himself in any situation. Parents help their children reach this relatively mature stage faster every time they soothe anxiety and foster a feeling of safety and acceptance.

Not surprisingly, when the Marshmallow test is manipulated so that the child has more trust in the experimenter, the child is able to wait longer to eat the marshmallow. When the child has less trust in the experimenter, he eats the marshmallow sooner. Wouldn't you?
2. Children learn emotional regulation from our modeling.
When parents can't manage their own emotions and react angrily, or take their child's challenging behavior personally, the child gets a clear message that life is full of emergencies. This handicaps the child in learning to soothe his own upsets, which makes it difficult for him to control his emotions or behavior. So the most important thing you can do to help your child learn self-control is probably to regulate your own emotions so you can stay calm and compassionate with your child.
3. Little ones take their cues about anxiety from us.
When your toddler climbs too high, gets frightened, and wants to come down, how do you respond? If you can "guide" her down, talking soothingly so she can stay calm, you're teaching self-control. She's creating the brain pathways to talk herself through difficult situations in the future. But if you let her anxiety rattle you so that you swoop in to grab her down, she not only learns that she's incompetent, but that anxiety can't be tolerated, so she has to rush in and take action, rather than regulating herself to make rational decisions. That rushing tendency comes from anxiety and sabotages the building of the neural pathways she needs to stay calm.
4. Self control is made possible by the developing the brain.
Toddlers don't have the ability to resist a treat left available to them, while 30% of four year olds and virtually all adults do. What makes the difference? The prefrontal cortex, which is barely developed in a two year old and reaches maturity around the age of 25. How do you strengthen the prefrontal cortex? Practice! Some people have theorized that children who are "smarter" are the ones who are able to wait. But "smartness" is not static, and it is not just innate ability. It depends on being able to control your anxiety and your impulses, which we know is strengthened every time the child CHOOSES to do so. Why would any child choose to overcome her impulse to do something? Because there is something she wants more than her fixation of the moment. That something is her connection with the parent.
5. Practice makes perfect.
Every time kids voluntarily give up something they want for something they want more, they build the neural pathways in the frontal cortex that are associated with self-discipline. Notice this doesn't happen unless it's the child's goal. When he's forced to give something up, he isn't practicing self-discipline. Notice if he never has to let go of something he wants, he doesn't get the chance to practice controlling himself. The child is practicing self-discipline only when he has a goal -- for instance, two marshmallows soon (or maybe his mother's approval) -- which is more important to him than his immediate desire -- for instance, one marshmallow immediately (or maybe to knock his little sister down.)
6. Empathic Limits give kids practice in self-discipline.
Every time we set a limit that our child accepts, she's practicing self-control. Sure, she'd rather keep playing, but she gets in the bath because there's something she wants more than to play all night. No, not to splash all over the bathroom. What she wants is the loving connection with her parents.

So punishment doesn't encourage self-discipline because the child isn't actually choosing to stop what she was doing; she's being forced.

Note that permissiveness doesn't encourage self-discipline because the child doesn't feel a need to stop herself. Setting a limit with understanding, so that your child is WILLING to accept it, is what helps your child develop self-discipline.
7. Waiting is good practice -- up to a point.
Every time we exercise self-control, we build our ability to draw on it to meet our goals. So it's true, as Druckerman asserts, that kids who get practice "waiting" do learn to tolerate waiting, to trust that the waiting will be worth it, and to learn strategies for waiting. This only helps kids develop self control, though, if we've first observed #1, 2, and 3, above. In other words, if the parent makes the child wait for longer than she's developmentally able (not soothing as in #1), her anxiety about getting her needs met overwhelms her and she learns she has to scream to get what she wants, rather than learning self control. And if the parent is yelling at the child to wait (as in #2, above) the child learns that it's an emergency, which sabotages her attempts at self-control.

What's more, the parent needs to be lovingly available to help the child overcome the anxiety of waiting, as in #3 above. To take another example:

" You are so hungry, I know...The pasta is almost cooked...Come, let's get the colander so we can drain it."

This reassures the child that the food is indeed coming, and teaches the valuable skill of self-distraction (which is a primary skill used by preschoolers who pass the marshmallow test). If, instead, the parent snaps " Stop whining, you aren't starving--I'm moving as fast as I can!" the child may experience the parent as withholding something she needs, and she's given no help to learn to wait.

Does she learn that she eventually gets fed? Yes, but not without some anxiety along the way, which won't help her resist that marshmallow. And since she experiences herself as frequently struggling against her parent, she has no incentive to stay open to parental influence--so why not take whatever marshmallows she can whenever she can?

The bottom line on waiting is that while we can encourage the development of self-control by empathically helping our child endure discomfort, it backfires if kids think we're tormenting them. Luckily, life gives kids plenty of practice in waiting without our orchestrating it, because:
8. Children learn self-control naturally as they attempt to master their world.
Kids develop self-discipline when they're motivated by something important to them. Playing with other kids requires them to manage their emotions and impulses. Making cookies requires them to wait until the cookies are baked. Getting good at soccer requires them to practice kicking over and over.

Every time a child has to manage himself, he learns a strategy that helps him. For instance, the children who are able to resist the treat are proficient at refocusing their attention to concentrate on something else. When the researcher leaves the room, they distract themselves. After one longing look at the marshmallow, a child will ignore it, instead pulling out the most interesting toy from the shelf. How did he learn this? By the repeated experience of wanting something badly enough that he regulated himself to get it.

Are you worried that your child might eat the marshmallow? I have good news for you.

Mischel acknowledges that a "substantial subset of people failed the marshmallow task as four-year-olds but ended up becoming high-delaying adults." Researchers are still conducting longitudinal studies to figure out how they did it. But we know that self-control is all about learning to regulate our emotions, which allows us to regulate our thoughts and behavior. As Mischel says,

" We can't control the world, but we can control how we respond to it. Once you realize that will power is just a matter of learning how to control your attention and thoughts, you can really begin to increase it."

So the die is NOT cast at age four. The brain is like a muscle -- it strengthens throughout life, depending on how it's used. Parents who are emotionally responsive, set empathic limits, model emotional regulation, and encourage children to pursue their passions will raise self-disciplined kids, and that's probably true regardless of whether the child passes the marshmallow test at age four.

Does it sound like the parents' own self discipline predicts the child's? You bet. But that's another study.

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8 Steps to Help Your Child Develop Self Control

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" What we're really measuring with the marshmallows isn't will power...It's much more important than that. This task forces kids to find a way to make the situation work for them. They want the second marshmallow, but how can they get it?"

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The Freeze game. Kids dance when the music plays and freeze when it stops. Dance quickly for fast-tempo songs, slowly for slow-tempo songs. And then reverse the cues: Fast music = slow dancing. Slow music = fast dancing.

Color-matching freeze. In this variant of the freeze game, kids don’t just stop dancing when the music stops. First, they find a colored mat and stand on it. Then, before they freeze, they perform a special dance step. There are several, differently-colored mats on the floor, and each color is linked with a different dance step.

Conducting an orchestra. Kids play musical instruments (like maracas and bells) whenever an adult waves her baton, increasing their tempo when the baton moves quickly and reducing their tempo when the baton slows down. Then the opposite rules apply (e.g., kids play faster when the baton moves slowly).

Drum beats. A teacher tells kids to respond to different drum cues with specific body movements. For example, kids might hop when they hear a fast drum beat and crawl when they hear a slow drum beat. After a time, kids are asked to reverse the cues.

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I found this idea here on Family Fun and thought it was pretty cool. I knew my "teacher" playing Emma would like it for playing and thought it might bring some excitement to studying and doing homework. And most importantly I hope it serves as a visual to 3 yr old Aidan that it is Emma's work time & a reminder to not interrupt if I am helping her. We'll see if any of this proves true.

Here's the naked station.

I used 2 sheets of foam board. The sides are 12"wide and the center is 24".

I created (approx. 2") "hinges" attached with packing tape so the station can have thicker/3 dimensional items on it and still fold.

*See the end of the post on how I'd construct it differently next time.

Here it is all jazzed up with help from my Cricut, printer & assistance from my creative & artistic 6 year old! :)

Wow. It looks kinda huge in this picture.

The middle has a "dry erase" area to keep notes. (paper in a clear page protector) I attached a marker using velcro. There's a print off of correct letter formation for my sloppy writing girl. A command adhesive hook to hold her phonogram flashcards. (against the teaching of her teacher!!) And using mini clothespins I attached her current word list to a piece of colored cardstock.

On the left side is a 100's chart, ruler attached with velcro, scissors held on by a magnet and then a binder clip holds a place value chart, number line, flashcards and any other manipulatives we need.

On the right is a United States and World map for my geography loving girl. Below that is a pocket that holds her "God Time Card" from Sunday School. Each day has scripture reading and an activity. Points are awarded if returned complete.

So, here it is set and ready at her spot at the bar. We will see if it succeeds at inspiring her and keeping away the brothers. :)

We are making a caddy to hold pencils, markers, crayons and other supplies. Pictures of that will follow shortly. :)

* If I made one of these again I would use a tri-fold cardboard "science fair" display board. They were out when I was shopping and too impatient to wait. :) Using cardboard you could score another fold line rather than messing with cutting the foam board and hassling with packing tape!! :) Just my 2 cents!

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I found this idea here on Family Fun and thought it was pretty cool. I knew my "teacher" playing Emma would like it for playing and thought it might bring some excitement to studying and doing homework.

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I found this idea here on Family Fun and thought it was pretty cool. I knew my "teacher" playing Emma would like it for playing and thought it might bring some excitement to studying and doing homework. And most importantly I hope it serves as a visual to 3 yr old Aidan that it is Emma's work time & a reminder to not interrupt if I am helping her. We'll see if any of this proves true.

Here's the naked station.

I used 2 sheets of foam board. The sides are 12"wide and the center is 24".

I created (approx. 2") "hinges" attached with packing tape so the station can have thicker/3 dimensional items on it and still fold.

*See the end of the post on how I'd construct it differently next time.

Here it is all jazzed up with help from my Cricut, printer & assistance from my creative & artistic 6 year old! :)

Wow. It looks kinda huge in this picture.

The middle has a "dry erase" area to keep notes. (paper in a clear page protector) I attached a marker using velcro. There's a print off of correct letter formation for my sloppy writing girl. A command adhesive hook to hold her phonogram flashcards. (against the teaching of her teacher!!) And using mini clothespins I attached her current word list to a piece of colored cardstock.

On the left side is a 100's chart, ruler attached with velcro, scissors held on by a magnet and then a binder clip holds a place value chart, number line, flashcards and any other manipulatives we need.

On the right is a United States and World map for my geography loving girl. Below that is a pocket that holds her "God Time Card" from Sunday School. Each day has scripture reading and an activity. Points are awarded if returned complete.

So, here it is set and ready at her spot at the bar. We will see if it succeeds at inspiring her and keeping away the brothers. :)

We are making a caddy to hold pencils, markers, crayons and other supplies. Pictures of that will follow shortly. :)

* If I made one of these again I would use a tri-fold cardboard "science fair" display board. They were out when I was shopping and too impatient to wait. :) Using cardboard you could score another fold line rather than messing with cutting the foam board and hassling with packing tape!! :) Just my 2 cents!

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I found this idea here on Family Fun and thought it was pretty cool. I knew my "teacher" playing Emma would like it for playing and thought it might bring some excitement to studying and doing homework.

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Free Distance Learning Plans for K–2 Students and Their Families | Common Sense Education

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Help kick-start learning at home with these easy-to-use, customizable packets in English and Spanish.

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Post a weekly schedule!

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Mornings help set the tone for the rest of the day. Unfortunately, after the long, lazy days of summer vacation, transitioning your kids back to a consistent daily routine can be easier said than done. Don't let stress sabotage your mornings! These seven tips will help you smoothly get your morning routine back on track and ensure your kids have a successful school year.

TIP 1: You should get dressed first!

This tip seems self-explanatory, but just like they say during the safety demonstration on an airplane, you can only help your child if you help yourself first. Make sure you're dressed and have everything you need so you don't forget anything as you are running out the door in the morning.

EXTRA TIP: Make getting dressed fun for your kids. Race your children or have them race each other to see who can get ready first. You can give the winner a prize.

TIP 2: Maximize your evenings.

The quiet part of the evening just before bed is a good time to prepare for the next day. Make sure all homework and permission slips have been signed and placed back into your child's bag. If you pack a lunch for your child, consider making it the night before, or at least doing most of the prep work.

To further simplify your mornings, lay out your clothes and your child's clothes at night (even if they wear a uniform). You can also invest in days-of-the-week clothing such as underwear and socks (Amazon has a wonderful selection)! This will help your kids learn the days of the week and keep them organized.

TIP 3: Time it out!

When you begin planning your morning routine, try to backtrack from the time you need to be at school or out of the door. Estimate how much time you should allow for each morning activity, including your commute.

You can even do a test drive to school before the official day (this is a good idea for new drivers). Make sure you consider how much longer it could take to get to school during the morning rush hour if you do your test drive when there is lighter traffic.

TIP 4: Make the morning a teachable moment.

As mentioned above, you can use days-of-the-week clothing to help your children learn in the morning. You can also reward your kids for getting ready on time by allowing them to watch one of their favorite educational shows or giving them a special treat at the end of the week. This will help them understand that being punctual is a valuable quality.

TIP 5: Don't feel guilty if you can't cook a 5-star breakfast!

You are not expected to make an extravagant meal every single morning-or any morning, quite frankly. Make things easy on yourself and buy healthy grab-and-go options.

Place them out on the counter or in labeled bins in the refrigerator so that your kids can easily reach them in the morning. Some great options are granola bars, cashew bars, breakfast biscuits, yogurt and fruit.

TIP 6: Play music in the morning

Make the morning more fun with music. If your child wants to hear "Baby Shark" at 7 a.m., let them hear it. As long as it gets them out of bed in the morning and out the door on time, you win. Bonus: the songs will help your children keep track of how long they are taking to complete each activity. You can also make this a competition or reward by allowing whoever gets dressed first in the family to be able to choose the music.

TIP 7: Use the first week as a trial run.

They always say, "practice makes perfect" and this is exactly what they mean. Test out your routine the first week of school and make any necessary adjustments.

EXTRA TIP: Remember, everyone is late sometimes. Don't beat yourself up over a late morning, and don't let one bad morning throw off your whole routine. There will be plenty more mornings to get where you need to go on time!
Theron Pickett is currently a junior at Georgetown University, majoring in Government. She hopes to attend law school in the near future.

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Get Your Routine Back on Track | Our Children

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Mornings help set the tone for the rest of the day. Unfortunately, after the long, lazy days of summer vacation, transitioning your kids back to a consistent daily routine can be easier said than done. Don't let stress sabotage your mornings!

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Young Children!

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It's normal for young children to test the limits. That's how they learn what is right and wrong. But, it can be frustrating and really test our patience as parents! One way to keep control and help children learn is to create structure. Structure is created by consistent routines and rules. Rules teach children what behaviors are okay and not okay. Routines teach children what to expect throughout the day.

Three key ingredients to building structure in the home:

Consistency

Predictability

Follow-through

What are these and how can you use them in your family?

Consistency - doing the same thing every time

Consistency means that you respond to your child's behavior the same way every time no matter what is going on or how you're feeling. Misbehaviors are less likely to occur again if you always use the same consequence, like ignoring or time-out. Good behaviors are likely to be repeated if you let your child know you like them. This doesn't mean that you need to give consistent attention to ALL of your child's behaviors. Think about something you want your child to do more often. This could be sharing, cleaning up, or following directions. To increase those behaviors, praise them each time you see them occur. Your consistent response will help those behaviors happen more often.

Example 1: You use time-out at home and at the grocery store every time your child hits her sister. You do this even when you are tired from a stressful day at work.

Example 2: You praise your child each time he shares with a new friend while playing. You do this even if you are busy with something else and need to make a special effort to praise him.

Predictability - expecting or knowing what is going to happen

Predictability means your child knows what will happen and how you will respond. When your daily routines are predictable, your child knows what to expect for the day. When your rules are predictable, your child knows how you will react to her behavior.

Example 1: Your child knows that if she hits a friend while playing, she will go to time-out every time.

Example 2: Your child knows certain steps are followed each night at bedtime, such as taking a bath, brushing teeth, reading a story, getting into bed, and turning off the lights.

Follow-through - enforcing the consequence

Following through means that you do what you say you will do in response to your child's behaviors. This is often called the "say what you mean and mean what you say." If you tell your child a behavior will be punished, you punish it every time it happens. If you tell your child he will be rewarded for a behavior, you give him the reward after he has done what you asked. To be consistent and predictable, we need to follow through. Follow-through is important for ALL behaviors. This includes behaviors we like and don't like.

Example 1: Your child does not follow your direction, and you give a warning that he will lose playtime if he doesn't follow your direction. Your child still doesn't do what you directed. He loses playtime.

Example 2: If you promise your child a treat for staying in the shopping cart in the grocery store, your child knows he will get a treat from the candy or toy machine on the way out of the store.

How do consistency, predictability, and follow-through help create structure?

A structure that helps your child learn to behave has routines and rules that are consistent, predictable, and have follow through. There is a basic routine you follow and rules you live by on most days of the week. You set appropriate expectations and limits for your child's behaviors. Your child learns how you are going to respond to behaviors that are okay or not okay.

Structure helps parents and their kids. Kids feel safe and secure because they know what to expect. Parents feel confident because they know how to respond, and they respond the same way each time. Routines and rules help structure the home and make life more predictable.

When can you start creating structure with routines and rules?

Creating structure at any age can help your child and you. Children can begin learning routines and rules at a very young age. You can begin with routines for important activities of the day, like meals, bedtime, or in the morning.

Examples of Family Routines

Listed below are examples of routines and daily schedules of parents with toddlers and preschoolers. Some parents find it helpful to have extremely detailed schedules. Others find it helpful to have a general idea of the activities of the day. You can decide what will work best for you and your family.

Daily schedule

Wake up around 6:20 a.m.

Get out of bed by 6:30 a.m.

Potty, get dressed, brush teeth, and leave by 6:50 a.m.

Eat breakfast or a snack in the car

Pick up from daycare around 4:00 p.m.

Play time from 4:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.

Prepare dinner around 5:00 p.m., eat around 5:45 p.m.

Bath time around 6:30 p.m.

Read or do something together, like a game or art project, around 7:00 p.m.

Potty, brush teeth, and then to bed by 8:00 p.m.

Read story and quiet/asleep by 8:30 p.m.

Daily schedule

Wake up at 7:00 a.m. and have milk

Cartoons until breakfast at 8:00 a.m.

Get dressed for the day

Snack at 10:00 a.m.

Lunch at noon followed by nap at 12:30 p.m.

Dinner at 5:30 p.m.

Bath at 6:00 p.m., followed by a story and a few songs in bedroom

Lights off by 6:45 or 7:00 p.m.

Prepare dinner around 5:00 p.m., eat around 5:45 p.m.

Bath time around 6:30 p.m.

Read or do something together, like a game or art project, around 7:00 p.m.

Potty, brush teeth, and then to bed by 8:00 p.m.

Read story and quiet/asleep by 8:30 p.m.

Preschool days

7:30 - 8:00: get kids out of bed

8:00: eat breakfast - no screen time

8:15: get kids dressed for preschool, brush teeth and hair, and play until 8:35

8:40: leave house for preschool

12:00: pick up kids from preschool

12:20: lunch and a book before nap

1:00: nap time (plan the afternoon during this time including starting dinner)

3:30 - 4:00: get up from nap and have a snack

4:00 - 5:15: play

5:30: watch a television show while parents cook/finishes dinner

6:00 - 6:15: dinner

6:30: bath time, brush teeth, and get pajamas on

7:00: do something fun together letting children lead

7:15: book and cuddle time

7:30 - 7:45: lights out

Non-preschool days:

8:00: get kids out of bed

8:30: eat breakfast

9:00 - 10:00: kids play inside or watch television while parents get ready for the day

10:15: get kids dressed and ready for any activities for the day

10:30: snack on the way to activity

10:30 - 12:15: activity

12:30: lunch

1:00: naptime

3:30 - 4:00: get up from nap and have a snack

4:00 - 5:15: play

5:30: watch a television show while parents cook/finishes dinner

6:00 - 6:15: dinner

6:30: bath time, brush teeth, and get pajamas on

7:00: do something fun together letting children lead

7:15: book and cuddle time

7:30-7:45: lights out

Check out Quick Tips and Answers from Experts for more info about building structure!

Click through the links below to watch videos and practice your skills with your child.

Watch Videos

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It's normal for young children to test the limits. That's how they learn what is right and wrong. But, it can be frustrating and really test our patience as parents! One way to keep control and help children learn is to create structure. Structure is created by consistent routines and rules.

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Children with ADHD need routine. Reliable schedules for mornings, after school, and bedtime make a tremendous difference in setting expectations, building good habits, and improving ADD-related behavior. Use these recommended templates to wrangle your family's time.

All parents of children with ADHD have heard the routine about routines: Kids need structure, and children with attention deficit need even more. The keys to getting the ADHD organization help you need: belief in the power of family routines and a long-term commitment to them.

You've heard it before: Set up a morning routine for kids with ADHD to get out the door on time. Make sure homework happens at the same time and in the same setting daily. Do something fun to unwind before a regular bedtime.

On paper, this seems pretty basic. But when you're raising a child with real attention difficulties in the real world, setting and maintaining such routines can seem downright hopeless. Yet there is hope - even happiness - in sight.

Many well-intentioned parents enthusiastically start out to establish the structure their children need. Yet many throw in the towel after a few weeks (or even a few days) because the routines are not working. "Billy just won't listen. He doesn't want to go along with it. Every day becomes a battle, and we're all worn out. Is there something else we can try?"

Usually, trying to implement a daily schedule doesn't work because parents give up too soon. To make structure truly effective, routines need to be seen and implemented not just as simple behavioral strategies, but as a way of life.
[Get These Free Sample Schedules for Reliable Family Routines]
The Benefits of Putting Your Child on a Schedule

Routines affect life positively on two levels. In terms of behavior, they help improve efficiency and daily functioning. It may not always be obvious, but children want and need routines. A predictable schedule offers structure that helps kids feel safe and secure. By building one, you send a message that says, "This is how we do things." Routines make daily activities manageable, allowing your child to focus on one thing at a time.

In addition, your whole family will benefit psychologically from a structured regime. Both parents and children experience decreased stress when there's less drama about what time you'll eat dinner and where you'll settle down to do homework.

What follows is a relaxed home, which yields stronger family relationships. And family identity is solidified by routines in which everyone plays a role (Anna sets the table, Brian clears the dishes). The message: We are a family who eats together; we are a family who reads together; we are a family who schedules regular times for schoolwork and other ongoing responsibilities.

In these hectic times, it may seem impossible to provide a structured lifestyle. Everyone is juggling schedules: work, school, recreation, music lessons, basketball practice, and so on. Yet in just such times, structure becomes most important. The payoff: greater productivity for your child, as well as better health and family relationships.
[Click to Read: How Can I Develop Routines to Keep My Life from Falling Apart?]
A review of 50 years of psychological research, recently published in Journal of Family Psychology, shows that even infants and preschoolers are healthier and exhibit better-regulated behavior when there are predictable routines in the family.

Effective routines take commitment and consistency, with all family adults presenting a united front. Routines should be established when children are young and applied consistently as they grow - but it's never too late to start. Above all, don't give up.

Here are suggestions and some sample routines to help get you started. Of course, you'll want to amend them to suit the age and maturity of your child, the specific behaviors you are working on, and your family's personality and needs. As you develop your routines, remember that success takes time - sometimes months and years. But the benefits will last a lifetime.

Good Mornings Start with Your Child's Schedule

The goal of the morning routine is to get everyone ready and out the door on time. Preparations made the night before, such as bathing, packing bookbags, laying out clothes, setting the alarm, and making lunch, are crucial in setting up a smooth morning routine.

Because many children (and adults) with ADHD are highly distractible and impulsive, avoid stimuli that are likely to grab attention and throw the routine off course. For example:

Leave the TV off in the morning.

Don't get on the computer to check your e-mails.

Ignore that new magazine or catalog until after school or later that evening.

After School Schedule: Homework Helpers

It's often said that the only consistent thing about children with ADHD is their inconsistency. This is particularly problematic when it comes to academic effort. No activity demands greater structure and consistency than homework, when a child's ability to self-regulate is called upon. Not surprisingly, parent-child homework battles are common. But an established study routine (time, place, methods) goes a long way toward decreasing their frequency and intensity - if not eliminating them entirely. To establish a homework routine that will improve productivity and increase academic achievement:

Enforce a consistent start time. This will help your child build a homework habit.

Stay close to your child. Many children with ADHD concentrate better when an adult works with them or is nearby.

Take breaks. Distractibility, restlessness, difficulty maintaining concentration, and low frustration tolerance - all typical of ADHD - almost guarantee mental fatigue and boredom. Frequent short breaks, during which the child is allowed to move around, can help.

Have fun afterward. Your child is more likely to apply herself to homework when she knows that a fun activity, such as playing a game or watching TV, will follow.

A Consistent Dinnertime Schedule

For hundreds of years, family members have forged strong relationships around the dinner table. In this age of the Internet and TV movies on demand, a dinner ritual is still beneficial, if not crucial. While most mealtimes last only about 20 minutes (less time than a TV sitcom), a lot of good things can happen in that short time. Ideally, mealtimes should be a pleasant social time, with business, school, or family problems left off the table. It takes time and work to prepare a family meal, and it can be a hassle getting everyone together at one time, but you'll find the benefits are well worth the effort:

Family members stay connected to one another's lives.

Events are discussed and plans get made with everyone's input.

Responsibility and family cohesion are encouraged by such simple acts as children setting the table and cleaning up afterwards.

Good Nights Begin with a Bedtime Routine

Your goal at bedtime is to help your child wind down and get to sleep at a usual time. Research shows that children with regular bedtime routines get to sleep sooner and awaken less often during the night than those without them. Many children with ADHD fight bedtime because, quite simply, going to bed is boring to them. It's time for sleep, but there's still so much they can do! Routines that offer rewards and pleasant activity while encouraging relaxation can help overcome the boredom of bedtime. Some things to try:

Have a light, healthy snack, like an apple or cheese on a rice cake.

Play a quiet, low-stakes game, or read a book.

Have a sweet and personal nightly lights-out ritual.

Try to get your child into bed at the same time each evening.

There's no question that establishing family routines takes a great deal of time and effort. You may ask yourself, "Can we afford the time and the energy to do all of this?" A better question might be, "Can we afford not to?"
[Read This Next: If Your Mornings Are Hell, Read This]
ADHD Organization Help: A Sample Schedule

7:00 a.m. Tickle your child out of bed. (A little happy energy can get her up and moving quickly.)

7:05 a.m. Get ready: Post a list and have your child stick to it.

Wash face.

Comb hair.

Get dressed. (Clothes are laid out the night before.) Check to see how your child is doing, but let her follow the list and do for herself.

7:20 a.m. Breakfast time: Offer two healthy but appealing choices, max. You want her to spend her time eating, not pining over Lucky Charms.

7:45 a.m. Brush your teeth-together. Being with her can speed things up and insure good hygiene.

7:55 a.m. Zip, tie, and layer up. Keeping shoes and gloves by the front door spares you the hide-and-seek.

8:00 a.m. Out you go.
Sample Homework Routine
3:00 p.m. Have a snack and unwind from school.

3:30 p.m. Settle your child at his regular homework spot; be sure all tools are available (pencils, paper, calculator, reference books, etc.).

3:35 - 4:30 p.m. Your child does homework; you stay around to answer questions and monitor breaks (stretch, bathroom, drink).

4:25 p.m. Check his work, and calmly go over anything he should edit (but don't do it for him). Offer specific praise for good work.
Sample Dinner Routine
6:00 p.m. Parent(s) starts food prep. Organize preparation so that you can avoid the delay of mealtime.

6:15 p.m. Kids set the table. Give them specific tasks to instill a sense of responsibility.

6:30 p.m. Kids pour the beverages.

6:45 p.m. Parent(s) brings the food out to the table.

7:00 p.m. Dinner is served. For mealtime talk, try this: Go around the table-once or more-and have each person share one good thing about his or her day.

7:30 p.m. Kids clear the table. Parent(s) loads the dishwasher.
Sample Bedtime Routine
8:00 p.m. Let him relax in the tub. You can read to him or he can read to himself. Beyond cleanliness, a bath can help a child mellow out at day's end.

8:20 p.m. Three-part routine: dry off, brush teeth, and pee. You don't want to hear, "Mom, I have to go to the bathroom!" five minutes after you say goodnight.

8:30 p.m. Get into PJs and clean up toys to set a nighttime, not a playtime, scenario.

8:40 p.m. Read together.

8:55 p.m. Your child gets into bed. Do your nighttime routine: Talk a little about the day, compliment your child on the things he did well, say your ritual goodnight - "I love you all the way to the moon and back again. Don't let the bedbugs bite."
[Download This Guide: Organize Everything Today!] Peter Jaksa, Ph.D., is a member of ADDitude's ADHD Medical Review Panel.
Updated on April 15, 2020

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Use This Sample Schedule With Kids with ADHD / ADD

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Children with ADHD need routine. Reliable schedules for mornings, after school, and bedtime make a tremendous difference in setting expectations, building good habits, and improving ADD-related behavior. Use these recommended templates to wrangle your family's time. All parents of children with ADHD have heard the routine about routines: Kids need structure, and children with attention deficit need even more.

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Every parent of a child with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD, sometimes called ADD for short) has learned through painful experience that poor organizational skills come with the territory.

Difficulty organizing tasks, items and activities are usually evident from an early age. As the child grows up, these symptoms translate into chronic problems with forgotten or lost homework assignments, clothing and possessions buried in piles of clutter, and difficulty maintaining any consistent routines. It's often said that the only consistent thing about children with ADHD is their inconsistency.

All children need structure, but children with ADHD need it even more. Families living with ADHD know that trying to keep such a child organized is a source of frustration bordering on hopelessness-even though there is hope. The first part in the quest for organization is to help an ADHD child overcome a natural aversion to it. The second involves finding the right tools for meeting the specific needs and goals of the child. The third, perhaps most crucial part of the equation, is making a long-term family commitment (think months and years, not weeks) to using the required systems and strategies.
OVERCOMING THE RESISTANCE
Unless a child can see meaningful benefits to becoming organized, the battle is lost before it even begins. For most people, organizing is not a fun activity: It takes time and effort, and at some point all routines become boring. If there's one thing children with ADHD have a low tolerance for, it's boredom.

On the plus side, all children are motivated to succeed, even when they pretend otherwise. By maintaining an enthusiastic and encouraging approach to getting organized, and making a child feel like a participant rather than a victim in the process, there's a good chance he or she will agree to at least give it a try.

Because helping an ADHD child buy into a system of organizing involves identifying specific goals that are important to the child, ask questions. Ask what items or activities the child wants to organize. Talk about the problems organization can prevent, and what benefits will come from it. Watch for how often poor grades are due to lost or late assignments, and keep track of how much arguing is going on about the messy room problem. Monitoring and discussing the frequency of how often disorganization causes problems can help improve the child's awareness of the situation and become inspire a change in behavior.

It's incredibly important to keep a positive attitude and stress the benefits, benefits and more benefits. Nagging a child about being disorganized leads to avoidance behavior, not compliance. Providing incentives (for example, a larger weekly allowance) for following the system is perfectly fine and strongly motivating.

WINNING THE BATTLE OF THE MESSY BEDROOM

In the modern history of parent-child relationships, few verbal exchanges have sparked as much complaining and arguing as "clean your room." The goal for managing clean-your-room conflicts with ADHD children is to help them use a system to find what they need when they need it. While parents have to be realistic about what a child can handle, they needn't put up with utter chaos either.

An ADHD child's room needs to be organized into logical sections. By placing the bed perpendicular to a wall, rather than against it, the room is divided into halves. One half of the room can then become the designated area for doing schoolwork; it has a desk and small shelf for reference books and school supplies. The book bag, assignment notebook, textbooks, notebooks and assignment sheets go here-and only here.

A second section of the room can be designated as a play space. with storage for toys and hobby materials. A third spot, organized around a dresser and closet, would be reserved for clothing and getting dressed, with labeled sections dedicated to specific items: a sock and underwear drawer, a shorts and T-shirt drawer, a sweater drawer, and so on.

The golden rule for maintaining order in a child's room is that everything has a place where it belongs. Things that don't have a place (or don't get put there after being used) are guaranteed to end up in the ubiquitous pile of clutter, which in many ways is the representative symbol of ADHD disorganization. If there's no room for an item to have its own place, it belongs in the basement, attic, storage shed or recycling bin-anywhere but the ADHD child's room.

THE POWER OF ROUTINES

All children benefit from learning routines to promote consistent behaviors. An extensive review of 50 years of psychological research, published in The Journal of Family Psychology, shows that even infants and preschoolers are healthier and exhibit better-regulated behavior when there are predictable routines in the family. For the ADHD child, routines are indispensable. They make daily activities manageable by allowing a child to focus on one thing at a time.

Not every activity needs to be (or should be) turned into a routine, the use of which is most important for accomplishing essential tasks and keeping daily life manageable. Due to symptoms of high distractibility, physical and mental restlessness, and a low tolerance for boredom and frustration, completing school assignments on a daily basis places huge demands on an ADHD child's ability to self-regulate. A regular time for homework provides the structure needed to achieve consistent effort and results.

But sometimes, even the best planned routines don't go as planned. The usual scenario: Parents enthusiastically start the process, only to throw in the towel because "the routines just aren't working." Children resist. Parents get frustrated. Chaos resumes.

To make a system of organization truly effective, for it needs to be viewed as a way of life. Progress is often slow and incremental. Success is measured in months and years. The work is hard and at times can become extremely trying but, for a child, the benefits will last a lifetime.
HELPING A CHILD MANAGE CLUTTER

Assign every object in a child's room a designated "home" location.

Establish a daily, five or ten minute routine for a child to tidy his or her room, during which time all toys, clothes and books are returned to their homes.

Every few months, help your child sort and purge unneeded possessions. (Rarely used items that are keepers should be placed on shelves or in storage.)

Provide reminders, gentle pushes and supervision, but don't do the child's work.

Be positive and supportive, not critical. Staying organized is harder for kids with ADHD than for most children. Frustration and discouragement are effort killers.

THE "GET OUT THE DOOR" MORNING ROUTINE

Rise and shine at a set time and head straight for the bathroom.

Wash face, comb hair, brush teeth, etc.

Get dressed with the clothing that was picked out the night before.

Eat a healthy breakfast (with the TVs and computers turned off).

Put on a coat and grab the school bag, which should be waiting by the door.

Be walking out the door at an established time.

THE HOMEWORK ROUTINE

Since most children with ADHD need a mental break after school, allow at least 30 minutes to an hour of downtime for playing or watching TV.

Establish a regular place and time for doing homework

To help with the transition to doing homework, give the child a 10 minute warning.

Help the child review the assignment and make sure needed materials are handy.

Allow the child short breaks as needed. Getting up and walking around for a few minutes reduces restlessness and can work wonders in clearing the mind. (But be watchful and ready to redirect the child's focus or answer questions as needed.)

Praise the efforts, not just the results. (Do this a lot!)

Check the completed work.

Gather all assignments and supplies needed for school the next day. Put everything in the school bag and place it by the front door.

Do something fun and relaxing together after homework is completed.

THE DINNER ROUTINE

Whenever possible, schedule a regular family dinnertime.

Have the child assist in preparing the meal, and cleaning up after it, by assigning age-appropriate tasks.

Keep dinner conversation pleasant. Save discussions about work, school or family problems for another time.

Keep the TV off.

THE SCHOOL NIGHT BEDTIME ROUTINE

Cue the child five or ten minutes before the start of the bedtime routine.

Turn off the TV or computer. Put away toys.

Allow the child to have a healthy snack, if hungry.

Select and lay out all clothing for the next day

Bathe, brush teeth, put on pajamas and get into bed.

Read a book together or talk. (The goal is for the child, and the parent, to unwind from the day.)

Good night kiss. Lights off. Sweet dreams!

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The Disorganized Child | Strategies For Helping Children With ADHD Stay Focused | ADHD Center Chicago: Peter Jaksa, Ph.D.

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Every parent of a child with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD, sometimes called ADD for short) has learned through painful experience that poor organizational skills come with the territory. Difficulty organizing tasks, items and activities are usually evident from an early age.

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Helping Your Child with Organization and Study Skills | LD Topics | LD OnLine

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Just as a carpenter needs the right tools (such as a saw and hammer) and basic skills (such as how to measure and cut wood) to frame a house, students need the right tools (such as notebooks and assignment pads) and basic study skills (such as reading and note-taking skills) to be successful in scho…

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8 Simple Ways Parents Can Teach Kids to Get Organized

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Learned from working with kids with ADHD

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School Tips and Organization: Color-Coding School Supplies and Subjects

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Backpack Organization: A 2-Minute Tutorial

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Inside the mind of a master procrastinator

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Tim Urban knows that procrastination doesn’t make sense, but he’s never been able to shake his habit of waiting until the last minute to get things done. In this hilarious and insightful talk, Urban takes us on a journey through YouTube binges, Wikipedia rabbit holes and bouts of staring out the window -- and encourages us to think harder about what we’re really procrastinating on, before we run out of time.

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Students build a Prioritization List Together

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Students build a Prioritization List Together

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Developing Executive Function With Priority Lists

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Study up on these fun rhymes, acronyms, and other teacher-approved tricks to help your child learn the facts he'll need for class this year.

Third-graders in my daughter's classroom aren't just expected to know that 7+9 equals 16; they also have to be able to come up with the answer pronto during math drills. "Memorization becomes an important skill in second and third grade," says Kristen Merrell, an elementary-school teacher in Lee's Summit, Missouri. "Although it's important that your child understand the concept, she has to know some basics off the top of her head so she can move on to more advanced work." But how can you help get all this info to stick in your kid's mind? Merrell and other teachers reveal their secrets for memorizing math facts, spelling words, and science basics. Take a page from their cheat sheet!

Math Hints

Knowing which months have 30 days: You may have learned the rhyme, "Thirty days hath September," but many teachers prefer the knuckle method. You curl either hand into a fist. Going from left to right (ignoring your thumb), let each of your four knuckles and the grooves between them represent a month, starting with January. When you reach the last knuckle (July), jump back to the first knuckle (August) and continue. Each "knuckle" month has 31 days while the "groove" ones are 30 days long, except February.

Adding doubles: Make up a few cute rhymes like, "4 dinner + 4 lunch equals I '8' a bunch" and "6 for myself + 6 for my cousin equals 12, a dozen."

Plotting ordered pairs on a graph: Students forget whether to count horizontally or vertically first. Remind your grade-schooler that when she was little, she had to crawl (horizontally) across the floor before she could stand up (and be vertical) and walk.

Recalling units of measurement in order: Try the acronym "In Football You Measure," to help your kid remember inch, foot, yard, and mile.

Learning the 9 times table: Get the hang of this trick yourself; then teach it to your child: Holding both hands in front of you, number the digits from left to right so the left pinkie is 1. Then bend down the finger you want to multiply by -- so if you're multiplying 9x4, bend down the fourth finger. The fingers to the left of the turned-down finger are the "tens" digit of the answer (3), and the fingers to the right are the "ones" digit of the answer (6).

Spelling Strategies

Remembering when I comes first: Teach your kid the classic phrase you learned, but add a twist at the end: " I before E except after C, or when sounding like A as in neighbor and weigh. Of course, there are exceptions. Weird is just weird." And try these lines to help your child avoid getting tripped up on how to spell friend (A friend is someone who will stay with you to the "end") and believe (Do you believe a "lie?").

Avoiding trouble with like-sounding words: To help your student figure out how to distinguish between the words there and their, tell him that the location "there" has a place in it ("here") while the possessive "their" has a person in it (the letter i). For hear and here, try this phrase: Here is a place, like there and where, while you hear with your ear."

Memorizing tricky words: For separate, tell your child there's "a rat" inside. Use the acronym "Big elephants can always understand small elephants" to help her remember because. And to spell the word success, suggest that she "double the c, double the s, and she'll have success."

Science Facts

Learning the planets: Teach your child this acronym to help her remember the names of the planets in order: "My Very Educated Mother Just Served Us Nachos." (Remember, Pluto is no longer considered one of the main planets; instead it's one of more than 40 "dwarf planets" in the solar system.)

Understanding how to read the symbols on a map: For the compass directions, teach your child this acronym: "Never Eat Soggy Waffles." To avoid confusion between longitude and latitude, mention that "Longitude (north-south) has an "N" like north. Lat is fat because it goes around the equator belt."

Understanding the weather: Tell your child to recite this clever rhyme a few times: "When pressure is high, expect a blue sky. When pressure is low, expect rain or snow."

Recalling animal classifications: The acronym "My Best Friend's Really Awesome" can help your child remember these five major classifications: mammals, birds, fish, reptiles, and amphibians.

Originally published in the April 2013 issue of Parents magazine.

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12 Strategies to Memorize Facts for School

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Study up on these fun rhymes, acronyms, and other teacher-approved tricks to help your child learn the facts he'll need for class this year. Third-graders in my daughter's classroom aren't just expected to know that 7+9 equals 16; they also have to be able to come up with the answer pronto during math drills.

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They might not teach time management, but they will create a respect for time!
5 Second Rule ·  5 seconds to name 3 things in the topic listed ·  Easy categories but time-bound.
Perfection ·  Put pieces back into the game within the time limit ·  Requires a lot of concentration and speed.
Scattergories ·  Name things within the category using the that starts with the letter identified ·  After the time limit, compare answers and scores.
Boggle Word Search Game The timer allows for three minutes of frantic searching so players can try to find as many words as possible in the mixed-up letters.
Spot it! Freeze In this symbol recognition game, players work quickly to try to find matches between two cards. Not only are players trying to compete against each other, but they also must try to move quickly to beat the electronic timer.
After Words Players work quickly to come up with a word that matches the letter in play and fits in one of their category cards. The timer has three different settings so that the game can be played by beginners, advanced players, and people who are really serious wordies. Great for vocabulary development, as well as for encouraging players to think on their feet.

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Time is a tricky concept-even for us adults. Some days seem to drag on for a year and others fly by in a minute. But understanding time helps kids to use their time well. It's a key part of executive functioning skills such as planning and prioritizing.

A sense of time develops over time. Two and three year olds enjoy the predictability of routines but live mostly in the present, their sense of time involves mainly "now or not now," and they have limited ability to wait. Five and six year olds have a clearer understanding of past, present, and future. They can anticipate happy events and have some grasp of "next week" versus "tomorrow" versus "a long time ago." Seven to ten year olds have the arithmetic skills necessary to use clocks and calendars.

Talking about time as it comes up in your daily life can help your child grasp important concepts. Here are four key questions you can use to support your child's developing sense of time:

1) What comes next? This involves an awareness of time. For young children this could involve a predictable routine, such as brush teeth, read story, say prayers, kiss goodnight. Preschoolers begin to understand that certain things happen on certain days-for instance, you can explain that Monday and Wednesday are school days. For older children, you can help them write family members' birthdays on the calendar or count the days to a family vacation.

2) What happened before? This question helps children recall experiences, which helps them make future predictions. For instance, with a young child you might say, "Remember the last time Maggie babysat you? You played tea party!" For older children, with a growing sense of personal identity, you can be your child's biased biographer, talking about how they overcame past challenges. "Remember when you didn't know how to ride your bike? Then you practiced and practiced, and look at you now, whizzing around!"

3) How long? Developing a sense of how long certain activities will take is a difficult but essential skill. Once your child knows how to count, you can use this is a way to mark time. For instance, with two siblings and one toy, you could say, "Count to 30, then it's Jeremy's turn." You can also talk about the length of routine activities, to help your child get a feel for duration. "It takes us ten minutes to walk to school. Your favorite show is half an hour long." Playing with kitchen timers and stopwatches can also be a fun way to learn about duration. How long can your child hold her breath? How long does it take to do a page of math facts?

4) Which first? This time concept refers to priorities. With younger children, you'll be establishing most of these. "Wash hands before snack." "Pick up the toys before we go out." Older children may still need your guidance sometimes to choose a long-term benefit over a short-term gain. "Homework first!" However, they can increasingly be involved in thinking about how they spend their time. Would they rather spend 20 minutes complaining about an assignment or get it done quickly? Which sport or activity do they want to do afterschool? How much time do they like with no scheduled activities?

One final thought: Don't expect adult-style productivity from children! Yes, functioning in the world requires time awareness, but some of the most delicious moments in life involve losing track of time while we spend time with friends, get lost in a book, or just day dream.

Related posts:

Chores and Children
Lifting the Burden of Potential
Family Traditions

_____________________________________________________

© Eileen Kennedy-Moore, PhD. Google+

Eileen Kennedy-Moore, PhD, is an author and clinical psychologist in Princeton, NJ (lic. # 35SI00425400). She frequently speaks at schools and conferences about parenting and children's social and emotional development. www.EileenKennedyMoore.com

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-- Have you ever wanted a parenting course you could do at YOUR convenience? Check out this fun and fascinating audio/video series on children's feelings and friendships from The Great Courses ®: Raising Emotionally and Socially Healthy Kids. || Topics include: Teaching Kids to Care; Developing Genuine Self-Esteem; How Kids Manage Anxiety and Anger; Playing Well With Others; Growing Up Social in the Digital Age. VIDEO preview.

On sale 70% off at: www.TheGreatCourses.com/Kids

-- Smart Parenting for Smart Kids: Nurturing Your Child's True Potential || Chapters include: Tempering Perfectionism; Building Connection; Developing Motivation; Finding Joy. VIDEO preview.

-- The Unwritten Rules of Friendship: Simple Strategies to Help Your Child Make Friends || Chapters include: The Shy Child; The Little Adult; The Short-Fused Child; The Different Drummer.

-- What About Me? 12 Ways To Get Your Parents' Attention Without Hitting Your Sister. VIDEO preview.

Growing Friendships blog posts are for general educational purposes only. They may or may not be relevant for your particular situation. You're welcome to link to this post, but please don't reproduce it without written permission from the author.

Photo: " time management for kids" by woodleywonderworks / CC BY 2.0

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Time is a tricky concept-even for us adults. Some days seem to drag on for a year and others fly by in a minute. But understanding time helps kids to use their time well. It's a key part of executive functioning skills such as planning and prioritizing.

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Apps, either on phone, device, desktop.

Many have sound that can be volume-adjusted or muted.

Available in a variety of colors to accommodate visual needs and preferences.

Physical Timers (as opposed to an app) can have sand, colored oil, gel, lava-lamp-type material and other features to meet other sensory needs.

Sand timers (what our grandmas used for eggs!) are small and can be transported anywhere, require no electricity.

Some are strictly visual, some are strictly auditory. Many are both.

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Many kids are overwhelmed by the prospect of fitting everything they have and want to do into the few short hours after school. Between homework, activities, and just time to play, there's a lot to do. But even though most kids don't have the cognitive skills to organize their schedules independently until middle school, you can start teaching them how to plan and prioritize their time now. "When we teach children strategies for time management from an early age, they internalize them, which sets them up for lifelong success," says Lynn Meltzer, Ph.D., president of the Research Institute for Learning and Development, a nonprofit research and educational organization.

Wondering how the heck to begin? No worries. Teachers shared their tips on the essential concepts and lessons to teach, age by age, so you can make this school year's schedule more manageable, successful, and a whole lot more fun for everyone!

For 3- and 4-year-olds, time is essentially divided into now, and not now. But that's enough to help them figure out how to predict and plan what comes next. To reinforce that knowledge:

Talk about the changing seasons. All those leaf prints (and later in the year, snowflakes) on display in almost every preschool classroom aren't coincidental, says Stephanie Lampert, a pre-K teacher from Atlanta. The seasons are a primary vehicle for introducing the cyclical nature of time. "It's an extremely abstract concept," she says, "and preschoolers are extremely concrete thinkers. By observing a tree over the seasons, for example, kids can see the progression: The green leaves of summer turn red, then brown, and eventually fall off the tree before coming back to life again in the spring. This is a tangible representation of the passage of time that little ones can understand."

How does that help with time management? By observing the patterns in nature and in their daily lives, little kids intuitively grasp the concept of time - and how to create order. Reinforce those lessons by having your child sort family photos by seasons, for instance. Or point out patterns in nature when you go for a walk.

Create a (picture) schedule. "As adults, we use apps and calendars to remind us what we should be doing and when. In the preschool world, we use pictures - like an apple for snacktime and a book for storytime," says Ellen Dietrick, a Needham, MA, preschool director whose classrooms are dotted with visual cues to keep her young charges on track. So while these 3- and 4-year-olds can't tell you the exact hour they have snacks, they know it comes after circle time and before the bathroom break. "It gives them a comforting sense of order and predictability," Dietrick says.

Since little kids love routines and repetition so much, create charts of your child's morning and bedtime rituals. Then have your child check off the steps as he does them - an important lesson in breaking up a bigger chore into smaller, more manageable ones. Try thesenine ways to make choretime fun, too.

Practice waiting. "Time management, at its most basic level, is the ability to delay gratification," a skill linked to better study habits and grades, among other things, says Dietrick. To strengthen time management, Dietrick devises situations that require her students to wait for something they want. "If they clamor for pajama day, for example, we schedule it for a week away, rather than the following day," she explains. "We mark the days off on the calendar and build up the excitement as the event gets closer. This gives them a sense of what it feels like to postpone something - and a positive experience to associate with it."

Try something similar with outings and birthdays: Begin talking up that trip to the zoo a few days beforehand, for instance, or tell your child to keep a running birthday wish list. Even planting a bulb, watering it, and watching it slowly bloom teaches the art of patience.

As kids move through these early grades, they're learning to read calendars and clocks. Those are the basics they need to stick to a schedule. To reinforce the skill:

Find a place for everything. "A kid can't finish his morning work if he can't find his pencil. So organization has to come before time management," notes Staci Carper, a first-grade teacher from Marietta, GA. To motivate her students, Carper created Deskalina, a cousin of the tooth fairy, who looks for clean and orderly desks and leaves a note, a prize, or a piece of candy when she finds one. When Deskalina starts flitting about, the desks in Carper's classroom suddenly become tidy. Carper also sets up clear routines, like a "Keep Here" folder for unfinished schoolwork and a "Take Home" one for homework.

To encourage your child to keep her homework supplies (or room) organized, invent your own mythical being to bestow treats and notes. An easy-to-spot weekly checklist ("Homework in backpack? Reading log signed?") will also go a long way in keeping your kid on top of things.

Use a visual timer. To help her first graders comprehend how much time is left to complete a task, Carper displays a pie-like visual timer on her Smartboard. When she sets it for 15 minutes, for example, one-quarter of the "pie" turns green. As the seconds tick away, the slice becomes smaller, and when there are only five minutes left, the slice turns red. Seeing time literally slipping away can help kids pace themselves, she explains.

You don't have to be a teacher to score a visual timer - apps likeChildren's Countdown (for younger kids) and fit the bill just as well. So do old-school egg and sand timers. Use any during homework sessions. If you have a second grader, for instance, set the timer for 20 or 25 minutes. Give your child a star each night he finishes before the buzzer, and reward a week's worth of stars with a special treat over the weekend (like a one-on-one walk to the park with you). The goal is to help kids tackle their assignments more effectively and efficiently, while making them more aware of the ticking clock, Carper says.

Be clear about consequences. "Grade-schoolers can and should be held accountable for their own assignments and they need to feel the consequences when they drop the ball," says Joan Greenfield, a second-grade teacher from West Hartford, CT. Sometimes those results happen naturally (i.e., if she doesn't study her spelling words, she probably won't do well on the test); other times an adult has to set the ramifications. Every Friday, for example, Greenfield has something called Choice Time, when students get to choose what they want to play with, from board games to Legos to computers. "My students live for Choice Time. But our class rule is that they only get to participate if they've completed all the assignments in their classwork folders." The valuable lesson kids get? "Good things happen when I work hard and manage my time and missing them is what happens when I don't," Greenfield explains.

Your child has a better shot at absorbing this lesson if you resist the urge to email an excuse to the teacher every time she fails to turn in her homework, says Greenfield. Instead, give your kid the onus of explaining to the teacher what went wrong, and how she plans to avoid the problem next time. Discover moredo's and don't for helping your child with homework.

Homework and extracurriculars increase at this age so it's even more important that kids learn how to set goals, prioritize, organize, and think flexibly, says Dr. Meltzer. Your goal: To get your child to manage his time more purposefully, without a lot of nagging and hovering. How to accomplish this:

Work on estimating time. "In order to make a realistic schedule, you need a good sense of how long things take," says Marcia Grosswald, an upper-elementary resource teacher in Summit, NJ. To teach this vital skill, Grosswald has her students spend a few minutes at the end of the day planning their after-school hours. "I give them a chart that breaks the afternoon and evening hours into 15-minute intervals," she explains. "Each time slot is followed by three columns: what kids plans to do, what they actually did, and reflection."

The reflection piece is essential, Grosswald says, because constantly reassessing how things are going helps a kid adapt his schedule accordingly: Last time I had a soccer game at 5 p.m.,I had tough time concentrating on my homework afterward. This time, I'm going to do my hardest assignments before practice.

If your child's teacher doesn't do this, do it yourself at home. Make a chart, have your child fill out the first column himself, and then fill out the last two items together, discussing what went according to plan - and what your child can do about the things that went awry.

Plan for long-term assignments. Deciding when to do tonight's math assignment is one thing. Figuring out how and when to tackle the book report diorama that's due three weeks from Tuesday is quite another.

"The key with long-range projects is to break them down into smaller steps - reading the book, for instance, or shopping for materials - and then break those tasks down into even smaller nightly assignments, like reading chapters one to three," says Amy Broocke, who coordinates a tutoring program at her school in Richmond, VA. She also suggests your child use sticky notes when she's adding tasks to the calendar; that way, the note can easily be moved to another day if the assignment takes longer than expected.

Your child can also plan the steps necessary to complete a project by working backward from the due date, suggests Grosswald. Talk through the process together so the assignment feels less overwhelming:You probably need a day to shop for materials and three days to do the diorama. That leaves you with 10 days to finish the book. It's 150 pages long so you need to read 15 pages a day. Here's how to create a stress-free study space.

Set priorities. "It's essential kids learn to differentiate between 'have tos' and 'want tos' and learn to prioritize and self-monitor," says Meltzer. To help her class do that, Grosswald uses a rock, pebble, and water analogy. The rocks and pebbles represent the students' duties, she explains, with the rocks signifying their most essential tasks (like school, homework, and sleep) and the pebbles representing their extracurricular commitments. The water stands in for want-to-dos, like video games and hanging out with friends.

"I use a jar to represent a day," she says. "The rocks go in first because they are things you have to do whether you like it or not. Next come the pebbles. But there's still some room in the jar, so we pour water until our jar - and the day is full."

If you do the rock jar at home, as I did, you'll have a chance to chat with your kid about her goals, priorities and passions. Don't be afraid to make changes if you notice the balance is a bit out of whack. After our conversation, we decided Emma would kick off the school year with fewer extracurricular pebbles crammed between the rocks - and a lot more of that refreshing water known as chill time.

Photo credit: 101cats/iStockphoto

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The Age-by-Age Guide to Teaching Kids Time Management

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Whether your kid is a preschooler or a soon-to-be-middle-schooler, she can learn how to meet deadlines, follow a schedule, and more!

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Do children understand statements such as "You're going to be late for school" or "You need to get up early?"

Isn't time a difficult concept for them? Imagine teaching them time management!

Doesn't it sound impossible?

Well, fret not. When it comes to time talk, teaching children to manage time is as important as teaching them how to tell time.

So while you introduce your child to telling time, you can simultaneously introduce him/her to time management.
But how?
Writing this piece, reminded me of a strategy that Stephen Covey talks of in his book Strategies of Time Management,which is aimed at prioritising.

His strategy on giving tasks an order is simple, and we all know that with children, simple things work best. So following Covey's advice on keeping it simple and categorising each task based on priority, I've shortlisted a few fun activities.

6 activities to teach your kids time management skills

1) Make a calendar

Let's start at the simplest activity - making your own calendar that'll list the dates, but work as a kiddie planner as well. With their own planner-calendar, children will understand the importance of days and timelines better.
What you'll need

13 sheets of coloured paper : 10" x 20" ( length x width)

Colour pens, pencils, and crayons

Alphabet and number stencils

12″ scale

Decorative stickers

Here's what you do

Let the child draw a table of 7 x 5 (columns x rows) on 12 coloured sheets. Let the squares measure at least an inch like a chessboard.

On every sheet, let him/her name the month and days. Then, number the small boxes to denote the date.

Once you have 12 sheets with 12 months ready, let your child decorate them with stickers or paint his/her favourite cartoon characters. Stick the sheets together at the left corner or staple them together.

What to do next

On the 13th sheet of paper, discuss and make a short list of things that your child does on a regular basis like studying, attending co-curricular classes, and playing.

Note the things to be done on a particular date in the calendar. For instance, if you're making the calendar on April 15, then start noting the activities for that date.

Use simple keywords like studying, playing, football class, art class, and so on.

As your child notes down the activities for any date, talk to him/her about planning a day.

Gradually as your child grows up and his/her activities during the day increase, you can talk about time management and allocate time for important activities.

2) 10 minutes to brush teeth

This one is just like making a personal calendar, but with a twist. Here, we are making a time chart for the child to refer to on a daily basis. Waste time and the time chart will tell!
Things you'll need

Chart of any colour

Colour pencils and crayons

Notebook and pencil

What you'll do
In the notebook, list out the number of compulsory things that your child has to do every day - brushing teeth, bathing, changing clothes, packing school bag, eating food, and so on.

Let the child denote a timeline for each. Example: 10 minutes to brush teeth, 10 minutes to take a bath, 5 minutes to drink milk, and so on.

Check with your child the length of time he/she is allocating for every activity because he/she might not understand how much time 10 minutes actually is, so help him/her with a stopwatch or clock.

Transfer the final list on the chart using colour pencils or crayons. For every activity, there is a discussed timeline.

Let the child decorate the chart and stick it in his/her room.

What happens?
The child enjoys referring to the chart while doing his/her daily activities. Plus, it makes doing mundane activities fun.

Slowly, as the child grows older, he/she will start respecting time allocated for everyday things and will learn to stick to a schedule.

3) A fun way to teach time management: Hourglass

An hourglass is the oldest technique man had employed to tell time. Why not use it to teach children to manage time better?
Things you'll need

Thick plastic sheet (5″ x 5″)

A piece of string

A small piece of cardboard

A pair of scissors

Super glue

Dry beach/garden sand

What you'll do

Roll the plastic sheet into a cylinder. Secure with glue.

After the glue dries, hold the cylinder from the middle and tie the string around it so that the end result looks like two cones joined from the tip. While tying the string, make sure it's not too tight and there is room for the sand to pass through.

Cut the cardboard into circles, measuring the diameter of the cones.

Stick the cardboard to one side of the conical structure. After sticking the cardboard, the structure should be able to stand without support.

From the other open end, pour 50 gm of sand and then secure the open end with the other piece of circular cardboard.

Let the glue dry. Your hourglass is ready!

The use

Firstly, children love the hourglass as it's a thrilling mechanism for them.

After we're done making the hourglass, we can time it using a stopwatch.

Share with your child the time that the hourglass takes to empty on one side. Ask him/her to time certain activities around it. For example, if your hourglass takes a minute to empty on one side, let your child do an activity and time it using the hourglass.

Scheduling activities and managing time by using the hourglass is fun. Plus, the child starts racing against the hourglass and respecting time.

4) Close the task

This one is a game where you get points for respecting time. Sounds interesting?
Here's what you'll need

Ready-to-use activity books, worksheets

Stationery: pencils, crayons, and colour pencils

What to do?

Assign a page of the activity book/worksheet to your child and one to yourself.

Assign a timeline for the activity/actionable on the page - say ten minutes a task.

Time the child as he/she completes the page and time yourself as well.

The person who finishes the task in the shortest span of time obviously wins.

However, the twist is that unless both the players complete the task, they cannot go to the next round.

The end result

Try and lose this game against your child by wasting time on your sheet.

When you do that, your child witnesses the importance of following a timeline as well as completing the task. You also get an opportunity to talk to him/her about the importance of completing tasks within the timeline provided.

Then simply add that this is called time management - the ability to complete compulsory tasks in the limited time provided to us.

Sounds like a lot of information but when you try it, it works!

5) Fill the pot

It's a game with symbolic associations. Let's see what this one involves.
What you'll need

A small jar

Pebbles and stones of various shapes and sizes.

Rules
The child has to fill the jar to capacity so that all the big stones are used. Plus, the jar cannot only be filled with big stones so the child has to use some small stones as well.
What you'll do
Before you make your child play this game, test how many big and small stones actually fill the jar. Then provide the exact number of big stones to him/her and let the small stones exceed your count.
The game begins
As the child fills the jar, let him/her take several chances to use all the big stones. Avoid backseat driving and pass comments as the child plays.
What happens?
After several attempts, most children will be able to use up all the big stones as well as a few small stones to fill the jar.

When your child has achieved this, tell him/her that the big stones are like academics - the compulsory parts of the day. He/she has to make time for studies during the day, even if it is a lot of trouble and he/she doesn't like to do it.

The small pebbles denote those tasks which do not make a huge difference to filling up the day - like watching TV. Hence, only a few of such tasks are enough.

Do this activity and be ready to answer a lot of questions on important and not-so-important activities. I say this from experience!

6) Puzzlers

Interested in making your own time puzzles?
Here's what you'll need

Rectangular pieces of thick cardboard

Colour pens

A pair of scissors

What you'll do

Discuss with your child what he/she thinks are the main activities that waste time during the day. Get him/her to accept that too much TV is a waste of time and so is studying without focus.

After the discussion, note a few keywords like television, playing with food while eating, and video games (you can choose specific words for your child since every child wastes time on different things).

Write the specific words across the pieces of cardboard in a large font. Then cut the cardboard in a zigzag way to make small jigsaw puzzle pieces.

You have made your own cardboard puzzles! When your child arranges all the jigsaw pieces together, the keywords will be formed which will reinforce the idea that these activities waste time. You can help your child solve the puzzle and talk to him/her about these 'wasters' of time as well.

Just a fun reinforcement of important details!
Start young
Teaching children how to manage their day properly is paramount. Like I said before, prioritising is the key. When we start young, we set the foundation for a better-structured day for them. It not only helps them health-wise, but academically as well.

Therefore, give these activities a shot!
Do you have a fun activity or two that helps you teach your child time management? Share them with us.
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Time Management: 6 Easy Ways To Teach Kids This Important Skills

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Do children understand statements such as "You're going to be late for school" or "You need to get up early?" Isn't time a difficult concept for them? Imagine teaching them time management! Doesn't it sound impossible? Well, fret not. When it comes to time talk, teaching children to manage time is as important as teaching them how...