Middle School Archives

Want to Keep Your New Middle-Schooler out of Trouble? Let Them Take Risks.

September 2, 2014 Brad Hoffman Leave a Comment

By Michelle Icard
Original Source: The Washington Post
Originally posted August 20, 2014

Middle school gets a bad rap.

Ask parents of graduating elementary-schoolers how they feel about their kids moving up, and you’ll be surprised how many of their responses fall into the “totally dreading it” end of the anticipation spectrum.

What’s so scary about middle school anyway? I mean, besides hormones, attitudes, peer pressure, emerging sexuality, defiance, exposure to drugs and alcohol… Um, okay. I get it. Middle school can be scary. But there is a lot to love about middle school, too. One of my favorites is that middle school can offer a buffet of new experiences, and kids should try them all. (Scratch that: No drugs and sex. But they should try a lot.)

Parents worry too much when their kids start listening to hard-core rap, or dyeing their hair strange colors, or making unlikely new friends. Instead, middle school should be seen as an important time to let kids begin to develop their identities apart from their parents. Who a child will become is not a foregone conclusion, and without trying a lot of new things, how can a young person truly know who she is? She has to test some limits. While it can be strange to see this happening, know that it’s happening for good reason.

Your kid doesn’t just want to take risks. She needs to take risks

At around the age of 11, kids’ brains start undergoing some amazing, albeit messy, reorganization. The prefrontal cortex, responsible for impulse control, critical thinking and evaluating other people’s emotions (to name just a few of its important jobs) goes on vacation during the teen years. That’s when the amygdala, or emotional center of the brain, kindly takes over the decision-making department. This makes perfect sense when you consider how impulsive, reactive and dramatic middle-schoolers can be.

It’s not a fluke that kids become more impulsive in middle school. As tweens prepare to take their first big steps on the path toward independent thoughts and behavior, the adolescent brain can’t be dedicated to worrying about risk. Becoming an independent adult, after all, requires a lot of bravery, something impulse control tends to squelch. Put plainly, if your kid’s prefrontal cortex were highly functioning throughout adolescence, she would never consider leaving the comfort of home for college. Why should she take that risk when everything she needs to survive is at her fingertips under your roof?

Let them check the risk box

Understanding why middle-schoolers are driven toward risk-taking is helpful, but knowing how to keep them safe is even better. While a middle-schooler’s brain can’t tell the difference between a good risk and a bad risk, the good news is that it’s equally satisfied by both. You’ve probably heard that kids who play sports are less likely to engage in negative risky behavior. That is not because they’re too busy to find time to misbehave. (Note: This is not a call to sign your child up for every after school activity you can find. Being busy doesn’t satisfy the adolescent need to take risks. ) Instead, that’s because athletes are already taking risks on the field, so they’ve checked that box. And don’t fret if your kid isn’t a jock. Auditioning for a play, joining a new club, starting a baby-sitting business, or doing anything else that takes a kid out of his comfort zone will fulfill that risk-taking drive.

Often, parents think middle school is the time to clamp down and impose lots of limits, because they are fearful of their child making dangerous and impulsive decisions. Certainly, limits are appropriate, but they should be balanced with lots of encouragement to try new things. Yes, this will get messy. Switching friends, changing activities, dressing in all black, and hopping from obsession to obsession will make waves, leaving people, time and money in the wake. With any risk, good or bad, there are challenges. But consider the alternative. Kids who don’t belly up to the buffet and try new things, new friends, new styles and new behaviors may be compelled to try something worse. Or at the very least, they may get left behind by their peers, or miss getting a foothold in a fun new activity.

You can’t always protect them, but you can comfort them

When my daughter was in fifth grade she auditioned for the school talent show. Though she had been an adorable performer during her early elementary years, this time I was nervous. By fifth grade, she had hit her awkward phase pretty hard. Her singing voice, on which she prided herself for years, had changed from cute and clear to a strangled, nasally something. “If she sings,” I thought, “she will mortify herself and people will tease her relentlessly.”

I so badly wanted to protect her from taking a risk that might get her ostracized, and I debated with myself for days over whether I should discourage her in order to protect her. And then it occurred to me, “Either way, she’ll be hurt. Don’t let it be by me.” Kids would tease, for this or for something else later on, and I wanted to always be her champion. Turns out, she did audition, she made the cut and both her nerves and the terrible cafeteria acoustics kindly muffled her voice enough that the performance was pretty unmemorable – in a good way. She has only happy memories of this event. I am so glad I kept my mouth shut.

So, if you and your tween are staring down the reality of life in middle school, start welcoming the changes coming your way, and not dreading them. Let them sing. Let them go Goth. Let them wear shorts all winter long. They’re just trying to figure out who they are, and that’s hard work. They’ll be grateful you’re by their side when all that work is done.

Michelle Icard is the author of Middle School Makeover: Improving the Way You and Your Child Experience the Middle School Years.

Diet Tips to Combat ADHD

August 29, 2014 Brad Hoffman Leave a Comment

I have had ADHD my whole life and I never took medication. Some years ago, when I started to be in charge of the ADHD program as primary care doctor, I realized that medications weren’t the only way to treat ADHD. I have been changing in my diet and feel so much more focused and calmed. I proposed these changes to the families I was working with and all of them had better results than only with medication.

As you may know, ADHD is the most commonly studied and diagnosed psychiatric disorder in children and its manifestations are enhanced or diminished by many factors, and one of them is food.

The goal of the ADHD diets is to help the brain to function better and diminish the symptoms of the disorder such as restlessness or lack of attention. To combat high levels of anxiety we have to be sure the brain is well fed including food rich in carbohydrates, tryptophan, group B vitamins, iron and phospholipids. There are also some foods that enhance hyperactivity because they have exciting substances in them that we should avoid.

Include these foods in the diet:

Proteins: as Legumes, cheese, eggs, meat, chicken, fish and nuts (especially walnuts, Cajun and macadamia for vitamin B). It is important to include them in every meal, especially breakfast, because they control anxiety and improve concentration.
Complex Carbohydrates: as whole grain cereals, whole grains, vegetables (especially green ones because of the iron) and fruit (especially apple, melon, raspberries and avocado because of the vitamin B) . Their content of fiber is high, and that makes us take longer to digest them. They also avoid abrupt changes in blood sugar levels. Eating complex carbohydrates 3 hours before going to bed at night can help to sleep better.
Fatty Acids Omega 3: as tuna fish, salmon, walnuts, linseed, soy and canola oil.
Herbs: Some of them help to make the nervous function slower down, as orange blossoms, hawthorn, juniper, lemon balm, passionflower, valerian, and linden. You can add it to some food or desserts and also drink it as infusions.

It is recommended to take multivitamin supplements that will contribute with the 100% of minerals and vitamins that we need, only if the diet that we have is unbalanced.

Eliminate these foods in the diet:

Additives: Since 1975 Benjamin Feingold proposed that artificial colorants and flavors could cause hyperactivity in children. Many studies performed the last years have proven that is a real fact, which is why the American Academy of Pediatrics agrees with the elimination of preservatives and colorants in the diet of ADHD patients. We should eliminate specially the red and yellow colorants and the food additives as Aspartame, MSG and nitrites.
Sugar: It enhances hyperactivity. We should diminish table sugar, candy, chocolate, cookies, high sugar cereals, juices, soda. Sugar shouldn’t be more than 10% of your child’s daily calories.
Caffeine: Studies show that a small amount of caffeine could help with some symptoms of ADHD in children. Although, the secondary effects of caffeine, after the blood levels drop, can be worst. ADHD people should avoid coffee, black tea, green tea, chocolate, ginseng,

How to start the plan:
Start to change food habits slowly
Write down the food and the times you take the medications.
Sleep enough time to rest.
Exercise regularly at least 20 to 30 minutes every day.
Learn how to breathe to help manage anxiety and anger.
Fallow a healthy diet.

Some examples of healthy snacks are:
String cheese with crackers and an apple in pieces.
Whole wheat toast with Mozzarella cheese and 1 slice of turkey ham
Chopped fruit with vanilla yogurt
Whole grain cereal with nonfat milk
Celery sticks with cream cheese
Sliced apple with peanut butter
Banana with ricotta cheese and honey
Whole wheat toasts with cottage cheese and raspberries
Guacamole with carrot sticks
Trail mix with raisins, blueberries and walnuts.

By Dr. Javiera Monárdez, Private Tutor

4 Qualities of a Great Tutor

August 26, 2014 Brad Hoffman Leave a Comment

1. Fairness. You are the leader in the tutoring session and your behavior determines the student’s behavior. The student will look to the tutor constantly for consistent leadership. It is therefore important that the tutor understands what he or she asks from the student and is prepared to readily admit mistakes if any occur. Nothing destroys a student’s respect faster than insecurity and inconsistency.

Example:
Tutor: Caroline, that is incorrect, that is not the way you should be interpreting the text.
Caroline: But it says here that my teacher wants us to learn it this way though!
Tutor (after several moments): I apologize, Caroline, I was mistaken. I understand why your teacher wants you to learn it this way and here’s why…

2. Malleability. Tutoring is not a boot-camp, nor a funhouse. You run an environment that gets the best results out the student. So when the student deserves a break or some leeway, give it to them. When their behavior forfeits your goodwill, these relaxed gestures should be curtailed. Maintaining strong boundaries helps keep them focused on the task at hand.

Example:
Ethan: I don’t want to do this, it’s so boring! I just did so much work too!
Tutor: Ethan, you’ve worked cleanly and with a lot of dedication for 30 minutes straight. During the next simple exercise, you can put on your headphones and listen to some music.

(The tutor monitors his progress as Ethan does so.)

3. Promptness. When a student knows that his tutor will be sitting there every 5 o’clock on a Tuesday, it translates into engagement with the material and teaching character. A late tutor is seen as weak and ineffective, one that doesn’t take his job or the material very seriously.

4. Sense of Humor. A student’s mood often proves to be the only obstacle between success and glorified baby-sitting time. A mind consumed with a bad day at school has little room for Math or English. To get their attention in the right place, a joke is in order. Find something entertaining about their One Direction, American Girl, or Yankees obsession and crack wise (gently, of course). Putting a smile on their face will relax the session and open their minds to learning.

By David Hollander, Private Tutor

How Does PAF Make Learning How to Read Easier?

August 22, 2014 Brad Hoffman Leave a Comment

PAF is an Orton-Gillingham based reading intervention for students with dyslexia, language-based learning disabilities, and reading disorders. PAF stands for “Preventing Academic Failure.” PAF is an interesting name for a program because preventing something usually has a negative connotation. To prevent forest fires, one must be very cautious while hiking in the woods. To prevent lung cancer, one must avoid cigarettes and being around those who smoke.

The above examples are slightly extreme, but you can not help but notice how the word “prevent,” strikes a chord in your mind and makes you pay attention. The “Prevention” part of PAF, is part of what leads to the program’s success. The specific goals of PAF are (1) to give students the tools to read cohesively, (2) to write fluidly, and (3) to spell with ease. PAF provides a road map that is carefully planned so that the student’s abilities grow in specific (and measurable) ways. The confidence gained by students during this program leads to success as well.

The goals mentioned above: reading, writing, and spelling, are tackled by using a multi-sensory approach to learning. A thoughtful educator often differentiates lessons to gear them to different types of thinkers in the classroom. This difficult skill is something that teachers strive to cultivate in their practice, but it can be an arduous task. The PAF program assists teachers by providing lessons that incorporate the multi-sensory ideals instantly so the student is able to immerse themselves into literacy lessons. The multi-sensory approach of PAF accesses the visual, auditory, and kinesthetic abilities of the student with each lesson. Providing students with three avenues to reach their goals allows them to feel successful about approaching the work itself, whatever it is.

The multi-sensory approach is proven to reach students even while they are struggling with the reading process. PAF is a great system because it provides:

explicit phonics lessons
a clear and logical order in which concepts should be relayed to students
oral reading exercises
repeated readings that ask students to exercise different skills
decoding practice
a clear integration of reading, writing, and spelling, and comprehension strategies

By taking each of these into consideration and consulting the teacher’s guide to PAF, all kinds of students will feel successful and become more excited about literacy.

PAF is incredibly beneficial to students who are just learning to read, as well as those students with dyslexia, other reading disorders, or other language-based learning differences. PAF teaches alphabetic principle, higher-level word analysis skills and comprehension strategies directly. The goal of PAF is to instruct with minimal frustration and produce maximum success for teachers and students alike.

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

Things to Consider When Going to an Art Exhibition

August 20, 2014 Brad Hoffman Leave a Comment

1.Notice the way you move around the art exhibition. What are you looking at first, third, fifth, and last?

Often, the order that things are placed in an exhibition is intentional. There is a progression within the exhibition. Sometimes, the exhibition is designed a specific way in order to distinguish historical differences. Other times, the reasons are more subtle. For example, in historical exhibition, the tour may start with actual historical items, and end with a response that is theoretical.

2. Approach an art exhibition like an essay.

For example, what is the thesis statement of the exhibition? It is easy to get distracted by why YOU are going to a museum and what YOU want to learn. These are important questions. While asking them, remember that teams of people have put together a lesson plan for you that is diagrammed, and expressed in the exhibition.

3.Where are things displayed?

Often curators talk to their different audiences through design. For example, curators might talk to an adult audience using higher placed text panels, and may talk to a more youthful audience with lower text panels. Hints as to which audience is being addressed are found in font, and size of text. For children, text is usually written in fonts that are more cursive, less linear, larger print, and fewer words. Adult text tends to be smaller in scale.

Curators are also very aware of adults’ attention span. The most important and basic information is often at the top of the panel, bolded, and larger. As the explanatory text continues it assumes the reader wants to be reading it. The explanation will be more thorough.

4.What do you see?

Take mental note of visual facts: color of the object, shape, material etc. The transition to understanding what meaning may be in the object or artwork is tricky. However, it is possible, and most accurate, when you first look at facts, and then try to interpret.

5.What is the object?

Have you seen this object before? Where? In a car, kitchen, school, etc? Now that you are looking at this object in a museum, has its purpose, or function changed?

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

Want to Keep Your New Middle-Schooler out of Trouble? Let Them Take Risks.

Your kid doesn’t just want to take risks. She needs to take risks

Let them check the risk box

You can’t always protect them, but you can comfort them

Diet Tips to Combat ADHD

4 Qualities of a Great Tutor

How Does PAF Make Learning How to Read Easier?

Things to Consider When Going to an Art Exhibition

Company Overview

School Planning

Private Tutoring

Test Preparation