Help Your Child Avoid Summer Tantrums with These 5 Tips from Brain Balance

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Dr. Melillo is a clinician, professor, brain researcher and author of several bestsellers, including Reconnected Kids and Autism — The Scientific Truth About Preventing, Diagnosing and Treating Autism Spectrum Disorders, and The Disconnected Kids Nutrition Plan. An expert in ADHD, Learning and Behavioral Issues, Processing Disorders and Autism Spectrum Disorders, Dr. Melillo has been helping children overcome learning and developmental challenges for more than 25 years.


Confession time: I absolutely hate summer sometimes. I know—summer is supposed to be full of blue skies, popsicles, and sprinklers. But it can be a lot of pressure to keep the kids occupied when school is out. It's hard for me to set the kids up with activities that keep them learning and engaged. It can be particularly tough for parents of kids with behavioral, social, or learning difficulties. 
 
So I partnered with Brain Balance [www.brainbalancecenters.com]—a drug-free, holistic approach to addressing the challenges of behavioral, social, or learning disabilities—to try some of their summer activities, and to share a little bit about their philosophy. And let me tell you, their activities actually work. I'm so excited to keep this momentum going into the summer! 
 
First, here's the context I learned from Brain Balance about why my children sometimes act up. We all know about the left and right halves of our brain—but did you know that the root cause of most learning, behavioral, and social difficulties is an imbalance between them? Left hemisphere dominant children are very detail oriented and logical, while right hemisphere dominant kids tend to be more emotional. It's because of this imbalance that programs that combine sensory motor stimulation, academic stimulation, and nutrition can correct brain imbalance and ultimately improve achievement. The activities are great for children without difficulties, too! 
 
Now are some of those Brain Balance summer tips I told you about. 
 
TIP 1: GET YOUR CHILD MOVING
Activities that involve active physical motion help children to read with greater comprehension and retain more information. Enjoy the spring sun by taking your child on an outdoor gallery walk, or take the fun indoors to an exploration-style, hands-on museum. Additionally, children should maintain a daily practice of prescribed left/right brain stimulating activities, including primitive reflex, core, and eye exercises. 
 
TIP 2: COME UP WITH A DAILY SCHEDULE WITH YOUR CHILD
Routines keep children grounded—and they are especially necessary during breaks, when the regular school schedule goes out the window. Let your child have input into their schedule—it will give them agency and make them feel empowered. 
 
TIP 3: SPEND TIME IN THE KITCHEN TOGETHER
Sugar-free, processed-free, gluten-free, and dairy-free foods bring tremendous benefit to your child's overall health and development. Spending time as a family cooking together also allows everyone to enjoy discovering healthy eating through a fun and engaging activity. It's also a great idea to let your child do simple activities like measuring ingredients, dividing up portions, and reading recipes. This reinforces their reading and math skills without making them feel intimidated. Plus, it helps you with dinner!
 
Let me tell you about what these tips did for my children...
 
I try to offer options to keep from wasting time. Usually it will range from 2 to three activities to choose from. Plus I try to allow her a reasonable amount of time with her tablet but on the grounds of cut off time on something that is stimulating for her with educational value. Rewarding afterwards if she does something without me asking her to. If there is discouraged behavior I try to talk to her on her level.
 
Turns out, my children love activities! I tried taking them to museums, on walks... activities I never thought they'd try. And while they were a little iffy about my ideas the first couple of times, they ended up really enjoying the new experiences! The more they tried, the more they were willing to do in the future. 
 
They loved getting out of the house, but I was also surprised to learn that they really enjoyed helping me with in-house activities, like dinner. These activities don't "feel" like learning, but I noticed my children were practicing skills they'd normally hate (like reading and math) with pleasure. I tricked them into learning, and it felt great! While I loved that they were learning, I know that they loved getting to eat all their creations—so it's a win-win.
 
It feels so good to turn summer into another opportunity to keep my children engaged, and I'm excited to try more of Brain Balance's summer tips. 
 
Not sure whether your child has a right- or left-brain weakness? Check out this simple online assessment to gain some preliminary insight into your child's functional strengths and weaknesses: https://www.brainbalancecenters.com/our-program/childs-personalized-plan/online-assessment/. 
 
Brain Balance Achievement Centers are located all over the USA, and you can find one near you here: https://www.brainbalancecenters.com/locations/?zip=. 
 
Would you like to get more summer activities straight from the source? Check out Brain Balance [www.brainbalancecenters.com].
 
How do you plan to make your child's summer productive? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

School is nearing the end

I am in a daze right now, I can not believe that school is almost over. In my county the girls last day will be in within the second week of June.The time sure does fly by when so much is happening. Currently I do not have too much planned for the summer. Other then a short vacation to the beach and possibly going with my husband to the Dave Matthews Band concert. Oh and my husband wanted to take the girls to the zoo again. Who knows....maybe there will be more adventures.  My oldest daughter has done well in 2nd grade, the only thing she needs to work on mainly is her handwriting. Other then that she is ready to move on to third grade. My other daughter has done better this year with being in kindergarten. Preschool was not a great time for her, it just was not working out. She still has had some struggles though. She has ADHD so it makes it really hard for her to focus and to remember things. I can say that is gradually getting better at her reading. As for my youngest daughter, she still has 2 more years before she starts school.

What are your plans for the summer? Have any vacations planned.

Personal entry for Tuesday

I have been a very busy mommy these past few weeks. Between making soaps and Dr appts I have been running on empty with sleep. One of my daughter's has been struggling with ADHD/ODD, let me tell you it is not a wonderful combination. My daughter is a very sweet and loving girl but with this learning disability it has become a struggle. I have been scheduling appointment after appointment. One way or another I will find some way to help my daughter get caught up in school.

For those that do not know what ODD is, it is called Oppositional defiant disorder. It pretty much means this:

"Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD) is characterized by the frequent occurrence of at least four of the following behaviors: losing temper, arguing with adults, actively defying or refusing to comply with the requests or rules of adults, deliberately doing things that will annoy other people, blaming others for his or her own mistakes or misbehavior, being touchy or easily annoyed by others, being angry and resentful, or being spiteful or vindictive." excerpt from http://psychcentral.com/disorders/oppositional-defiant-disorder-symptoms/

Pocket Protein review

 These little pouches are amazing! I am so glad that I got to try them. What they are called are Pocket Protein. They come in pouches for kids and for women also men. The kids flavor is fruit punch that I got and it is packed with 7 grams of protein! It is gluten, nut,lactose and GMO free. Which is very helpful to those moms who have to watch what ingredients their kids ingest due to medical or personal choice. Plus it has no artificial flavors. The kids version has less then 4 grams of sugar in it. When lean meats, cheeses and yogurts are not a option then this is the perfect way to go. This is perfect for sports or even just throwing into a lunch bag. My girls absolutely loved the taste of them.

The women's have a nice great taste of strawberry in it. Plus it is 15 grams of protein that will help you stay full when you use this instead of having a regular meal. We all know how it is as a mom and being on the go. The benefits of having 2 pocket proteins a day helps the body release fat stores and retain lean muscle. Also it will stimulate collagen production at the cellular level to help improve joint strength and flexibility, bone density and skin moisture. I personally recommend these pocket proteins to any parent.

Right now If you preorder you are entered into a sweepstakes to win a 500 dollar visa gift card! So be sure to use my promo code "MOMSWORLD" to get your 15% off! Go to https://pocketproteinkidz.tilt.com/pocket-protein-kidz

 

This is a sponsored post for Pocket Protein.

How exciting today was

I finally got accepted into the National Consumer Panel and received my scanner today! I highly recommend you go check out the site. They are constantly expanding their areas. You receive a scanner to scan all items you purchase, even down to a cup of coffee from dunkin donuts or hey even starbucks! Every time you scan a item and send it in you are earning rewards to be cashed in for awesome things!

As far as my kids, they are doing awesome in school! Hope of course she is doing way better in math. Now they on to spelling test. She is doing really well with that. Meghan (my daughter with adhd/odd) is even doing better also! She has had a smiley face in her planner every day. I am so proud of her. I was really concerned that this was going to be another bad year for her. But I did what her pediatrician suggested. He told me to just express my concerns with her teacher before hand. He also said that if something happens that she still isn't any better then we will start her on meds. But so far so good! I believe the teacher she has is doing great with her. I recommend that every parent should talk to the teachers and express their feelings and concerns. Don't worry, that is what the teachers are there for.

 

School is back in session and I'm being lazy.....

Yes I know it has been quite some time since I have last posted. It seems to be a reoccurrence with me. Hopefully I wont make it a habit. So anyways it has been the usual. You know the usual meaning school shopping, work and so forth. Well now it will be just school and no work... Yes I said that right no work. Unfortunately I had to resign do to some personal issues and because of availability too. But it will be ok, some times things happen.

So school is back in session. That means finally I can have some peace and quiet. Oh wait nope, my adorable 2 year old is here. But still it is some what calmer. My daughter with ADHD/ODD seems to be doing quite good so far. I had a nice talk with her teacher before hand. So that way she isn't left in the dark. Also so she doesn't think something god awful lol. My oldest daughter is taking to 2nd grade like a duck to water. I never really have to worry about her. 

What about you all? How are your children handling the change back to school? Did you have a tremendous school supply list you had to get? Please do tell!  

Interesting day in my house

Normally I like to do a Tuesday Tip post, but I changed my mind. Today has been a pretty decent day. Not one person in my house can say otherwise.
Which is pretty good.

This morning started off with my oldest daughter going to school. Came home to fix breakfast for everyone, then get ready to head back out again. Next stop on the agenda was to Huntersville for a follow up on middle daughter's sleep study. He said everything was fine other then the fact she has a form of apnea for kids. She snores, which then wakes her up and keeps her from following going into dream step. This is causing her to be sleepy and irritable throughout the day. So know he wants us to see a ear, nose and throat doctor to see if she needs to get her tonsils taken out so she has a more open airway. He feels if she sleeps better that it will keep some of her adhd issues in check.

Rest of the evening was fine other then trying to fix supper in the middle of a war. There was nerf darts zipping past my head and butt constantly. So now its bed time for me seeings that I have to be at work at 4am.

My daughter's sleep study

My daughter ended up having a sleep study done last night. That was very interesting to watch and experience. For only being 4 years old, she did very well being hooked up with all those wires. Of course with her being the patient, she got the queen size bed and i was stuck with the twin.

I have realized that she is a very restless person at night. She thrashed and moaned. So of course the sleep tech was running in and out of our room every few hours fixing the wires....which means i was getting hardly any sleep. After all was said and done she made it through the night. Very proud of her, not many kids could have done it.

The reason behind her having the study, was because of her adhd. A neurologist she seen said studies have shown that kids with adhd are very likely to have sleep problems. So if you live around the area i do, I highly recommend Sleep Well in Huntersville, nc. Very professional and polite. Plus the tech was very nice to my daughter.

sleep study and ADHD info

Meghan's assessment

Meghan had her screening done the other day at her pediatrician. From what myself and the preschool teacher put down on the paperwork, She scored high on ODD and ADHD. I wasn't surprised on the ADHD, but the ODD was a different story. I had no idea what it was.

The doctor explained all the symptoms and it fit her to a T. I've always known since she was three that there was something wrong with her. I just didn't want to believe it. So now I'm waiting on the Dr to get Meghan a appt with the neurologist so they can do further testing.

The Dr believes Meghan could benefit from medicine but because of her age she may have to wait. They would like to try therapy first, I don't care what they try as long as she gets better. She is having a lot of issues in school right now and she isn't able to learn like she should.

Trouble in preschool paradise.

So my darling Meghan created havoc in preschool yesterday. The teacher called while I was at work and it was not good at all. Meghan was running around smacking the teacher and not listening. Not to mention she shoved her way in the line then sat down on the floor and would not get up. Needless to say the teacher had to carry her back to the classroom.

Go figure my middle child will be the trouble maker. But truth be told I honestly think Meghan has behavioural issues that are out of her control. Which means I'm having her tested for adhd. Not to long ago I found out her dad has it to.