Executive Functions Archives

With Practice, Any Child Can Learn to Reduce His or Her Stress

May 9, 2013 Brad Hoffman Leave a Comment

All children experience stress, but some are never taught effective methods to reduce it. Unfortunately, these children gradually learn to recognize anxiety as their “normal” state.

Fortunately, there are simple and effective methods to reduce anxiety. These work equally well for children and adults, but the instructions here are tailored to children:

A Calming Method: Counting Your Pulse

(do this to reduce stress at any time, e.g. before a test or presentation)

Sit or stand with your back straight but relaxed
Close your eyes
Place your hand on your chest, your neck, or your wrist and feel your pulse
Count your pulse while you breathe normally

Count your pulse to at least 20. You can use this calming method any time you are feeling stressed.

Another Calming Method: Counting Your Breaths

(do this to reduce stress at any time, e.g. before a test or presentation)

Sit or stand with your back straight but relaxed
Close your eyes and begin to pay attention to your breathing
Breathe in/out normally and mentally count your first cycle of breath (“one”)
Continue to breathe in/out normally, mentally counting each cycle of breath (i.e., “two,” “three,” “four,” “five”)

Count your cycles of breath (in/out) to at least five. Make sure to mentally say the number to yourself after each cycle.

Breathing Meditation

(at least one minute a day, ideally before getting out of bed in the morning)

Sit in a quiet place with your back straight but relaxed
Close your eyes and begin to pay attention to your breathing
Pay special attention to the sensation of breath as it enters and leaves your nostrils
Focus on this sensation and allow your other thoughts to subside

If you notice your mind wandering, calmly return your mind to the sensation of breath.

Do this meditation for at least one minute a day, ideally first thing in the morning before getting out of bed.

With practice, any child can learn to reduce his or her stress.

A tip for parents: After your child has had some experience practicing these methods, ask him or her to show you how to do them!

By Eric Sanders, Private Tutor

Learning to Love Libraries

April 23, 2013 Brad Hoffman Leave a Comment

As an English graduate student and teaching assistant, I teach many freshmen their first college writing course, and I am always disheartened by how few really know how to use a library. And it’s not always just the freshmen who lack knowledge about these houses of information. I remember being a senior English major preparing for a paper and having one of my classmates, upon seeing a stack of library books for research, ask me, “You actually check out books from the library?!”

For me, libraries are wonderful places. When I was young, I would browse through the elementary school library and check out every book I saw with a colorful cover. Although a somewhat shallow way to choose books, it worked to get me excited about browsing and picking out just the right book. I still get excited to go into a library, and it is usually one of the first buildings I visit when I find myself on a college campus.

For many students, however, libraries only inspire anxiety and intimidation, particularly since university libraries tend to be much larger than high school libraries. This is why I think that there is nothing better to help prepare students for collegiate life than to get them acquainted with libraries. Regardless of a student’s future academic and career path, libraries are one of the most helpful areas on campus. Libraries are full resources to help students find valid information (and no, just because it is online does not mean it is true), and librarians are trained to help with any research a student has. Too few students take advantage of libraries in college even though they offer many tools for success.

There are many ways to get students acquainted with libraries. One of my favorite ways is with a project that involves checking out random books. I have my students complete a catalog search using several random keywords. Then, I have them select and find four or five books that came up while searching. Finally, they have to use the books to create a short, unified writing project. Whether they write a poem, a short story, a funny research paper, or a persuasive argument, they are learning how to use the library, as well as the many different kinds of resources available in it. Most importantly, they become comfortable finding and checking out books, a feat in some of the larger university libraries. This is a project that can be adapted for any age group, and the results are entertaining to share with the whole class!

The best way to eradicate library fear, however, is to start young. Parents should be sure to take their children to the library. Spend some time once a week or even once a month just going to the library, taking out books, and reading. Not only will this help set aside time to build important reading skills, but it will also allow them to feel comfort in a library, as opposed to the unease that I see too often in my students. You will be providing them with a lifetime of memories and skills that will not be regretted.

Written by: Editorial Team, My Learning Springboard, Inc.

Jack’s Asperger’s Talk

April 8, 2013 Brad Hoffman Leave a Comment

Jack is our hero. Jack is a middle school student with Asperger’s Syndrome. He has always known he was different from many of the students in his class but he never disclosed his diagnosis with any of them. He stood in front of his class last year and explained to them that he has Asperger’s Syndrome. He was honest about his challenges and difficulties and took great pride in all he has accomplished. I nod my cap to such a courageous young adult. We should all learn from Jack and take a moment to appreciate the strengths and challenges we all have.

A Transcript of Jack’s Presentation:

Hi. I’m Jack Lebersfeld. I have been in school with most of you since the 2nd grade. I am, for the most part just like you, but in some ways I am different. I have Asperger’s syndrome, also known as autism spectrum disorder or AS for short. AS is not a disease. You can’t catch it. It is not something that can be cured. It is a condition that I have and will always have. It means my brain is a little different than yours. I see the world in a slightly different way than you do. This difference has given me some great strengths, but also some big challenges. There are many characteristics of AS and I am going to share with you some of mine. I am doing this today so that I may become more understandable to you and maybe you can be more understandable to me.

The most common difficulties for people with AS is with social situations. Like having conversations or having a play date. I do not always act appropriately, because I am often unsure of the right way to behave. I want to learn to be more social. It is very hard for me to have conversations about things I am not interested in. It’s not that I don’t care about you, but I am much more comfortable talking about things that are meaningful to me. Please alert me if I am not being appropriate. Also, it is sometimes uncomfortable for me to look someone in the eye. It doesn’t mean I am not paying attention to you if I’m not looking straight at you.

I am very literal and many times it is hard for me to understand things that may have more than one meaning, like saying “He died laughing.” I may think you really meant someone died! It would be helpful to me if you could explain what you mean in another way if I seem not to understand you. Please do not tell me to do things that I shouldn’t because I cannot always tell whether it is the right thing to do. I assume you are being honest and helpful. If you tell me to lay on the floor, I may do it because I think you are telling me something important that I don’t know and I listen to you.

I am also very impulsive. That means I may move around a lot and can blurt things out. I often do not have enough control to filter the things I say, or I can be very direct. I would never intend to hurt anyone’s feelings. If I say something that seems hurtful please explain that to me. If I say something like “I didn’t imagine your house to be small,” all I mean is that in my head I pictured your house to be bigger. I don’t really care the size of anyone’s house.

Sometimes I react to a situation more strongly than you may. Sometimes I get more upset than I should. I know I should be able to control myself more, but sometimes I just can’t.

I’m also forgetful. My mind moves very quickly and sometimes I can’t keep up with it. Sometimes I get lost in my own world and a friendly touch on the shoulder can bring me back.

I am very disorganized. Things like keeping my papers orderly or remembering to hand in homework come easily to most of you. For me it is hard. If you notice I have forgotten something, please tell me.

My brain is not wired like yours so I don’t process information like you do. Because of that, I know that sometimes I may seem different than you. Please know that I still have feelings. I am telling you this because I want to be accepted and included but can sometimes use some help. I am hoping you will not tease me or make fun of me for being different but rather help me to learn to be more social. I want very much to have friends, but don’t always know how to go about that. I have to work very hard to try to fit in.

I don’t want you to feel sorry for me. I am not sad that I have Asperger’s. We are all different from one another. I do have some challenges, but I have some great strengths too. I have a really good memory and I’m very creative.

They say Bill Gates has it and Albert Einstein had it, and Marshall Mathers also known as Eminem may have it, so I am in good company. Hopefully one day I can do something that will also change the world.

Thank you for taking the time to listen to me. I hope we can be friends.

If you have a child with learning differences and are looking for services for them, please contact the My Learning Springboard team and we can help you create a customized learning solutions that can accomodate their needs.

Written by: Editorial Team, My Learning Springboard, Inc.

Sticks and Stones: Bullying in Public Schools

April 1, 2013 Brad Hoffman Leave a Comment

Each of us has a memory of being bullied as a child or watching another child being bullied. Emily Bazelon’s book Sticks and Stones: Defeating the Culture of Bullying and Rediscovering the Power of Character and Empathy is an exploration into the world of bullying in our public schools. She focuses her reporting to not only tell the stories of children that have been bullied but also on the strategies that we can all use to help put an end to this epidemic.

Emily shares a tremendous number of resources to accompany her book, including a wonderful set of discussion questions. Questions such as these can be a useful tool to help start the conversation with your own children or book club about the importance of working together to stop the bullying.

At a book discussion I recently attended with Emily, many parents asked the question, “How do we know when to introduce technology to our children so they use it responsibly?” The answer to this is a not an easy one. Parents must assume the primary responsibility for educating their children about responsible use of technology tools. As I commented at the book discussion, “We would never put our children behind the wheel of a car without having them take drivers’ education first, and the same goes for using technology devices.” We must hold our children accountable from the beginning. Whether you have them work with a technology specialist who can teach them how to use these tools appropriately or you work with them directly, parents should create a situation that promotes open discussion about the implications of technology choices.

Here are a few tips to help make this technology transition with your children:

Hire a digital technologist to help your child set up their new device and learn the do’s and dont’s.
Create a “usage contract” together with your child that creates a comfort level for everyone involved.
Set limits for hours of appropriate use, determining where the technology “sleeps” at night, and applying internet settings (it’s ok to have a smart phone and turn the internet off at times, the phone will still work).
Talk to you kids – the most important thing we can do as parents and educators is to talk to our kids about what they are seeing at school or after school. How does it make them feel? What would it feel like if this was happening to them? Ask them to take a step back and just be an observer. Watch what goes on throughout the day and think about how you could have handled that situation differently.
Build confidence in your child to know that he/she can stand up not only for themselves but also for their peers. Our children are often smarter and savvier then we give them credit for being.
Educate yourself – it’s challenging for parents to be totally aware of what happens on Facebook, Imstagram, Twitter, etc. but it’s your responsibility to monitor and understand how these social media networks work. If you are not sure where to begin, My Learning Springboard offers digital reverse mentoring to help give you the tools to take control.

As parents and educators, it is our job to educate our children to be responsible digital citizens. For more information on bullying and electronic aggression, I highly recommend reading Sticks and Stones.

Written by: Editorial Team, My Learning Springboard, Inc.

Getting Excited about Learning a Foreign Language

March 28, 2013 Brad Hoffman 1 Comment

Learning a Foreign Language should be a wonderful opportunity – the key to new literature, cultures, film, friends, you name it! Unfortunately, however, it often ends up becoming just one more subject, complete with homework, tests and grades. So how can you keep foreign language learning interesting for you or your child?

Listen to music. What kind of music do you like to listen to most? Rap? Folk? Showtunes? I bet variations on it exist in the language you’re studying! For instance, I bought the soundtrack to Les Miserables, my then-favorite musical, in both French and Spanish. After listening to them consistently, my vocabulary in both languages grew by leaps and bounds.
Watch movies. If you’re still new to your foreign language, choose movies that look interesting (or that you’ve heard good things about) and watch them with the subtitles on. This way you can follow along with the stories and also get used to hearing native speakers pronounce the language. Feel more confident in your abilities? Put on your favorite movie and listen to it dubbed into your foreign language instead of English – listening to the different voices is always lots of fun, as is hearing how they translate various English words and phrases!
Read. What are you interested in? Politics? Sports? < strong >Arts? Food? Whatever it is, there’s a magazine (or website) for it written in the language you’re studying. Try reading the article through once without using a dictionary and see how much of its meaning you were able to glean. Then have another pass, looking up whatever words you didn’t know. You’ll be surprised how much you were able to get just from your own knowledge of the subject!
Travel. How better to practice your foreign language skills and get to know another culture than by travelling? Maybe you can’t fly off to Paris for a weekend, but what about Quebec? Or is someone in your school a native speaker? Get a cup of coffee with her and practice speaking only their language.

And while you’re learning about other cultures and practicing your new language, don’t be afraid to share tidbits about YOUR native culture with your new acquaintances.

By Alexandra Cohen-Spiegler, Private Tutor

With Practice, Any Child Can Learn to Reduce His or Her Stress

A Calming Method: Counting Your Pulse

Another Calming Method: Counting Your Breaths

Breathing Meditation

Learning to Love Libraries

Jack’s Asperger’s Talk

Sticks and Stones: Bullying in Public Schools

Getting Excited about Learning a Foreign Language

Company Overview

School Planning

Private Tutoring

Test Preparation