The ADDEdge Family Focus Issue 3

Welcome to another week of The ADDEdge Family Focus. So far we've talked about some of the thought processes you can work on to make a distinct and noticeable difference very quickly. Today let's discuss something concrete that will continue to help you make changes in your household or with the children and families you are helping.

Tip #3

These kids/adults are visual people and learners. They process information in their heads a little differently than society expects them to, therefore they're "different". Reality is these kids learn and function as well as anyone else, but things need to be structured to meet their needs, rather than expecting them to bend to meet society's.

So how do you do that? With the right instruction set it's fairly simple. Adjust things so that the information they need to use and learn is set up in a visual way. Here is one of the most useful things I found to do in our household.

We wrote lists in color. We asked/insisted that my daughters' teachers give them their assignments for chunks of time rather than daily. My youngest daughter got her assignments weekly, that was 5 days worth, and my oldest got them at least bi-weekly.

We then took those assignment lists and wrote them on a big white board, checking it off every day. Each child got a different color. They had to read me their own upcoming assignments thereby getting the information into their verbal memory also. I wrote them down on the board while they watched, this helped my own ADD by not making me jsut sit there. It also helped the kids as they watched their assignments get written in color.

What I noticed is that this helped them remember the work without looking at the board! The information being in colors actually helped them access the information in their brains. I would watch them as I asked what they had due the next day and they would ALWAYS look up to remember. They were picturing the board in their heads!

Well, that is this week's topic. These kids are visual. They are great and exciting, and they are visual. Next week we will continue talking about concrete things that you can do bring out the best in your kids!


Tracy Hoobyar is a personal trainer for academic, personal and professional excellence for people with ADHD, and those who love them. After graduating from the University of Nevada, Reno with a degree in Psychology and working with children as a substitute teacher and volunteer, she learned what an incredibly widespread problem ADHD can be. Through her training in NLP, Psychology, and her experiences working with all these children, she has finally developed a unique yet effective program to help those living with ADHD. She blogs about various parenting issues affecting all those concerned and she is a frequent guest blogger on Sew Cute’s blog. Learn more by visiting www.ADDvantageForLife.com

General Safety Tips For Baby Furniture

Different kinds of baby furniture have different sets of safety rules or tips. There are however, a couple of tips that you should remember with all baby furniture.

Placement of Furniture
The place where you position your baby furniture can matter when it comes to your baby's safety. Cribs for example should never be placed beside a low window or beside a heavy piece of furniture. A baby that is already on the standing phase might fall off from a window or might get crushed under a piece of furniture that might accidentally topple. Another example would be high chairs which should not be placed beside walls or counters since a baby could use these to kick off from and topple a high chair.

Furniture Knobs and Latches
A good baby furniture must be child-proof. Simple leg latches and strap locks of high chairs for example may be operated by a toddler or an older baby which may cause the straps to loosen or the high chair to collapse. Cribs too with side knobs may be tinkered with by a curious baby and cause a crib to collapse.

Age of Baby
The best and safest baby furniture will also depend on the baby's weight and age. Most baby furniture pieces contain age and weight requirements. If you are unsure then simply use your common sense. Some changing tables and strollers will not be able to hold the weight of babies nearing the toddler stage.You might also want to use baby furniture brackets when your baby starts to stand up and walk around. Brackets installed behind a piece of furniture and attached to the wall can help support furniture that could topple over a curious baby who attempts to scale cabinets and drawers.

Labels
Labels of furniture pieces are important. Although furniture sold in stores are supposed to be compliant with government safety standards, you should always make sure that your baby's furniture carriers the right label that says so. Warning labels are also another thing to look at. Warning labels will tell you how exactly should pieces of furniture be used and what you should not do with it.

Recalls
Every now and then, check for model recalls. Although most baby furniture in the market are believed to be safe at the time that they are released to consumers, some product flaws are only discovered weeks or months after the release. Always have an ear and eye out for product recalls that may include your furniture model.

Specific Use
All pieces of baby furniture have been carefully designed with babies' safety in mind. You should always remember though that even the safest piece of furniture is intended for use with adult supervision. Never get tempted to let a piece of furniture baby sit your baby for you. Always keep an eye on your baby whether he is on a crib, playpen, high chair or just crawling on the rug on his own.

About the Author
Is your baby furniture safe enough for baby? Read the best baby safety tips from experienced moms!

Teaching Your Child about Tolerance and Diversity

In a world where there are so many cultures and ethnicities represented in our society we must learn how we can teach our children about the many types of people who make up our world.

Do you remember who taught you about how people were different from you? Or did you have to figure it out on your own as you encountered them as you grew up? Whichever the case, we hope that you will teach your child about the diversity in our world so that they can learn to be tolerant of others and live peacefully with them in society.

Here are some ways to make sure that your child understands the diversity among us and has tolerance for others:

1. Books, movies, and toys that encourage and promote diversity.
The use of books, movies, toys and other items in your home that teach about other cultures and ethnicities can help your child to embrace the differences that are among us. Exposure to differences starting at a young age helps a child to develop accepting attitudes of other cultures.

2. Teach your child about other cultural traditions.
While you are celebrating Christmas, another family might be choosing to celebrate Hanukkah. Why not invite that family to share in some of your activities and ask if you might share in some of theirs, allowing both sets of children to learn about the differences & similarities in the traditions.

3. Teach your child what is considered tolerable.
Remember that sometimes a concept such as tolerance can be confusing for a child. They might mistake it for allowing others to bully them. This should not be the case. Make sure that they understand tolerance does not mean allowing malice or meanness to take place, but only allowing participation and sharing of their culture with others.

4. Talk openly and answer questions.
Have a policy or agreement with your child that it is okay to ask questions. Allow them to ask you about things that they are unsure about, reminding them to do this in private rather than in the grocery store in front of the lady who is dressed differently because of her culture. Remind them to respect others while they are in their presence and afterwards, but encourage them to talk openly about any questions that they might have in private between the two of you. Later you might research more about the culture of the person that they were wondering about.


These are just a few ways that you can help your child to begin to understand and tolerate the various people that we encounter everyday and our many differences.



Based in Arizona, Lisa Smith has a BA in Psychology and is the Owner/CEO of Regionz Kidz, a multi-cultural infant & toddler clothing line featuring ethnically diverse characters and designs. She publishes a blog on her website http://www.regionzkidz.com that discusses cultural diversity and children, and she is a frequent guest blogger on Sew Cute’s blog, and other blogs and websites regarding parenting and children’s issues. She is also a monthly contributor to Educated Mommy Magazine.

The ADDEdge Parenting Weekly Issue 2

Welcome to week two of TheADDEdge parenting weekly blog update. I hope you've been able to take some time and implement what we talked about last week. It can be so tough to parent an ADHD child, and even more challenging if you have more than one child with ADD/ADHD.

So, knowing you probably have about 4 minutes to read this before someone screams and needs you, I'll get right to it.

Tip #2
Give yourself a break. This is a very important part of the process. It seems that through the traditional routes of parenting children with ADD or ADHD we are conditioned to believe that things would be better if we would only do something differently. If we would only be more stern, or more lenient, try different medication, or no medication, spend more quality time with them, or stop catering to them.


Tracy Hoobyar is a personal trainer for academic, personal and professional excellence for people with ADHD, and those who love them. After graduating from the University of Nevada, Reno with a degree in Psychology and working with children as a substitute teacher and volunteer, she learned what an incredibly widespread problem ADHD can be. Through her training in NLP, Psychology, and her experiences working with all these children, she has finally developed a unique yet effective program to help those living with ADHD. She blogs about various parenting issues affecting all those concerned and she is a frequent guest blogger on Sew Cute’s blog. Learn more by visiting www.ADDvantageForLife.com

Helping Your Children Embrace Diversity

Do your kids understand and embrace the ethnic diversity of those around them? Or, have they not been exposed to other races, cultures and ethnicities enough to even know that there are differences? Today’s culture lends itself to be a little more open about such differences, and this is a positive turn in our society.

Flip on the television and even on the preschool channel, there are a variety of culturally diverse shows including Dora the Explorer, Sesame Street, Go Diego Go, Little Bill and even Pinky Dinky Do, whose main character has pink hair.

Allowing your child to watch this variety of shows will show them at an early age that there are many different types of people in our world today. Pointing out the differences but realizing that these differences do not make one group of people better than or worse than another group of people will help your child to understand and embrace all cultures.

There are movies out there that can show your children a wide variety of cultural areas and allow them exposure to the different cultures that make up the world. You can also purchase dolls and clothing that are culturally diverse teaching your children even more about the many cultures that come together in our society.

The United States is becoming more and more of a “melting pot” as so many of us were taught in history class years ago - today it is becoming a reality. We want our children to embrace this concept of cultural diversity and be tolerant of people who are different from them.

Pop culture joining the ranks can only help us to teach more effectively. Allow your children to play with culturally diverse toys so that they can learn to be tolerant and loving to other cultures. Teach them about their own culture, helping them to understand why culture is important to everyone.

Be tolerant and embrace the cultures who are different from you and your family. Children will almost always copy what parents do, so, how you act towards other ethnicities gives them the framework for their own ideas and beliefs. Begin with yourself, and then teach your children, soon the world will be made up of one big happy diverse family if we can all work together to encourage tolerance and diversity.

Based in Arizona, Lisa Smith has a BA in Psychology and is the Owner/CEO of Regionz Kidz, a multi-cultural infant & toddler clothing line featuring ethnically diverse characters and designs. She publishes a blog on her website http://www.regionzkidz.com that discusses cultural diversity and children, and she is a frequent guest blogger on Sew Cute’s blog, and other blogs and websites regarding parenting and children’s issues. She is also a monthly contributor to Educated Mommy Magazine.

Simple Steps to Calm Your Fussy Baby

It’s everyone's fear - the fussy baby who requires constant attention. You can't put him down, talk on the phone, or cook dinner. Often times these babies don't nap or sleep for long stretches of time, making it even more taxing on you. Here are some tips to help you distract and entertain your fussy baby and preserve some sanity.

Learn your baby’s sleep cues and do everything you can to maximize his sleep – both naps and nighttime. Some amount of fussiness may be due to your baby being overtired.

Increase physical contact. Carry or wear your baby often. Fussy babies need this close proximity to mama and the sense of safety that it brings. For whatever reason they seem to need more help to regulate their temperament, control their emotions and settle themselves.

Change the location. Either leave the house or just step out the door. The change in air flow, temperature, light and sounds is often enough to distract a baby and help them calm down. This one can be a real benefit for your sanity as well.

Change the view. Look out a window or look in a mirror. Let your baby get close enough to touch his reflection. Wave and make faces. Play peek-a-boo by stepping out of sight from the mirror, then slowly stepping back over to the mirror so your reflections return.

Offer your baby varying textures to feel. Pat the Bunny is a great book of textures that my first son loved to gnaw on. Sadly, it didn’t last long so making your own collection of household items is a cheaper alternative. A soft Minkee ™ blanket, a scrap of fake fur, a piece of sand paper, a soft hairbrush, a wooden spoon or smooth textured a coffee mug are good choices. Just be sure to hold them so your baby doesn’t drop them on his face or put them in his mouth – especially the sandpaper.

Sensory experiences are the very best fussy busters, even as children age. Unfortunately at such a young age your options are limited. The sound and sight of running water can be enough. If your baby is sitting up by himself place a small amount of water on a cookie sheet then place that on a towel on the kitchen floor and let him splash in the water. If he’s not sitting up by himself you can turn on the faucet to a trickle then hold him close enough to put his hand in it and splash around. You can also take him in the bath or shower. Another sensory experience is to put your baby in his high chair and then put several spoons full of yogurt on the tray. Let him finger paint with it. Just be prepared for an involved clean-up when he’s done.

Sometimes music, especially if it’s familiar to him, can be a great fussy buster. Try various styles of music. Babies are individuals with their own preferences for things and can already have some pretty strong opinions!

Move gently while holding your baby. Dance, sway, bounce, or rock. You can also try putting him in a swing, stroller or take a drive in the car.

Fussy babies are often the highly intelligent ones who love buttons. Try holding your older baby close to the light switch and show him how to flip it. Babies also love buttons to push. Bebe Sounds makes a great fussy buster called the Baby Buzz’r that has a baby-safe mirror, soft ears to chew, and fun buttons for your baby to push which make it play music (but not too loudly), vibrate, and light up (but not too brightly). What I love about it is that it’s not over stimulating with super bright lights and way-too-loud sounds like other battery-operated baby toys.

Try visual stimulation. With a quick trip to the fabric store you can find fleece or cotton in bright primary colors or black and white, bold patterns. Cotton fabrics need the edges finished with a straight stitch to keep them from unraveling but fleece can simply be cut and used. These are great for playing peek-a-boo with your baby.

This last trick for babies about 6 months and up should be reserved only for special occasions since it needs to be used infrequently to keep it effective. Create a fussy basket for times when you need to cook dinner and make phone calls. Include things like a soft hair brush, fake fur scraps, a baby-proof mirror, a teething toy, a drinking water bottle filled with beans or brightly colored beads and the lid sealed with a glue gun, a baby food jar with water, a teaspoon of corn syrup and glitter and the lid sealed shut with a glue gun, cold & warm items, bright colored nesting bowls, a television remote with battery door taped shut so the batteries can’t come out, a disconnected keyboard with lots of buttons to push, a rubber spatula, a wooden spoon, a metal bowl or a metal pan lid. Leave the items in the basket or box so your baby can discover them one by one while taking them out.

Remember that fussiness won’t last forever and those same traits that make him fussy – persistence, intelligence and sensitivity will make him a great person.

About the Author

Annette lives in Seattle with her husband Jared, sons Max and Lander, and their faithful flat-coated retriever. She is now a work-at-home-mom (WAHM) and founder of Moms in Clogs, makers of Pollywog brand products. Unable to find products beneficial for infant reflux, she designed the patented Pollywog nursing wedge and changing station incliner. Her website, www.PollywogBaby.com, provides practical advice, home remedies and support to help manage infant reflux and colic.

Encouraging your Child to Read

How many times do you grab a good book, pull your child or children into your lap or snuggle on the couch and read to them? So many of us are guilty of never finding the time, when reading is such an important skill for children to learn. We as parents have the greatest influence over whether or not they begin to learn or choose to learn to read. We can encourage them to learn to read by making books and reading an important part of their life from day one.

"Reading aloud with children is known to be the single most important activity for building the knowledge and skills they will eventually require for learning to read."
— Marilyn Jager Adams

Reading offers so many valuable things to children. Here are just a few:

1. Reading is entertaining
Do you think they always had cable television wired to most every house in America, well of course not? Great literature was a popular concept many years ago, much more so than it is today and reading was a favorite past time of almost everyone. Why not make that the case for your child by starting them out reading at an early age and continuing to encourage them to read over the span of their childhood.

2. Reading encourages learning
Reading to your child encourages them to want to learn and gives them the opportunity to have their curiosity stirred by new ideas and concepts, such as how people live differently in different places, how things are made, or where things came from. We can use reading to teach about cultures, traditions and the similarities we all share. So many questions can be formed in the mind of a child as you read to them, thus encouraging them to dig in and find out more!

3. Reading increases your child’s vocabulary
If you want to ensure that your child begins to talk at the right age, learns to say your name, the names of their family members and even things out in the world, you can help them to do so by reading to them. Reading to a child begins teaching them and exposing them to a wide vocabulary, even as a baby. Many doctors encourage women to even read to their babies while they are still in their womb.

4. Reading gives your child knowledge
Knowledge about the world, people, themselves, everything you can think of. Thousands of ideas, topics, themes and concepts can be found in written form in books, on billboards, or even on the side of your morning cereal box. Knowledge is all around us and we consume it by reading it. Encouraging your child to read allows them to soak up all this knowledge.

Based in Arizona, Lisa Smith has a BA in Psychology and is the Owner/CEO of Regionz Kidz, a multi-cultural infant & toddler clothing line featuring ethnically diverse characters and designs. She publishes a blog on her website http://www.regionzkidz.com/ that discusses cultural diversity and children, and she is a frequent guest blogger on Sew Cute’s blog, and other blogs and websites regarding parenting and children’s issues. She is also a monthly contributor to Educated Mommy Magazine.