ADHD or Creative Parenting?

The creative spirit of entreprenurial parents never ceases to amaze me. Remember "Baby Einstein" when it first came out? (Not that I recommend the "Einstein" videos for babies and toddlers but that's another post.)

Lori Pope has solved the problem of keeping her infant twin sons constantly entertained. Your kids get bored with the gazillion toys they got for birthdays, Christmas, and Chanukah? Can't afford to buy more? Not sure what they might really enjoy? Now you can rent toys from Lori Pope via her company Baby Plays.

At first I thought what a clever, creative idea. It is.

But is it a good thing to give our children a continuing new supply of toys? Does this only make ever-increasing short attention spans even worse What does it teach about patience? Making one's own fun with snowmen, mud pies, pots and pans, and whatever we can find? Do kids risk growing up with an even greater dependence on store-bought external stimuli?

My first guess is that renting toys only adds to our hyperactive ADHD society? Bored? Go out doors and run around. But I haven't tested it so maybe renting toys is a great solution to finding out where a child's interest lies without spending a ton of money.

What do you think? Read the article We'd love to get your comments.

I'd be remiss if I didn't remind you subscribe to the free "Brain Boosters for Your Kids" newsletter. Not sure you want to subscribe? Read the February issue and get plenty of ideas for playing in the snow, how to teach math and science using snow, and even how to do Brain Gym in the snow.

And sign up for the next Brain Gym TeleChat starting Tuesday evening. I've got your spot saved. It's for both teachers and parents. You'll get 100 full-color pages of handouts and the audio to listen to if you miss one of the sessions or want to review.

The TeleChat's worth it just for tips on focusing on some dreaded, boring task and controlling your own stress. And you'll learn all 26 Brain Gym movements to help your kids learn anything quickly and easily. Wish you could tame ADHD? Try Brain Gym. It works.

Teachers, you'll want to watch for tomorrow's post on Project-based learning. Turns out recent research has shown that Project-based Learning can substantially raise test scores.

MaryJo

P.S. Don't forget to comment.

Blogger needs Brain Gym

So why is it that many of us don't do what we tell others to do? O.K, maybe you do. But I sure haven't been these last two days. Turns out that getting back to Brain Boosters after being gone for several months hasn't been a piece of cake!

I'd certainly benefit from doing a little Brain Gym myself in addition to teaching it, telling others to do it, and being downright preachy about it.

So for starters, I've forgotten nearly every techno geek thing I ever knew. Like how to update my website, like how to publish my ezine, even how to post on my blog. How was I know to that Google bought Blogger and I needed a new account?

Then managed to send out the wrong version of the ezine--actually sent out the rough draft. Talk about embarrassing. Was so pleased that I'd finally remembered how to send something to lots of subscribers, that I didn't pay attention to what I sent.

Then I get an email from a reader in India. If she signs up for the Brain Gym Basics TeleChat but can't listen live because of the time difference, can she listen the the online audio? Sure, no problem. Hmm, I'd better check the audio.

Is it still working? Nope! Need a new version of RealPlayer. After installing the new version of RealPlayer, turns out all 8 audios have to be re-downloaded. To give myself credit, at least I didn't wait till the last minute to check this.

But all is not lost. As you may know, the Brain Boosters for Your Kids ezine was all about snow. Why? Because at our house (at 8,000 feet, high in the Colorado Rockies) we're obsessed with snow right now. We've got a good 4 feet of it in our back yard and it's snowed off and on all day today.

After I emailed the rough draft of the Brain Boosters ezine, I began to worry. Who else had snow? Well, we know they don't have snow in Miami or Los Angeles. But how's the rest of country doing? The family in Ohio's been reporting nice weather. And there isn't enough snow down in Denver to build a snowbaby much less a snowman.

And then last night snow blasts the middle of the country and the Northeast. More snow in Central Park than they've seen all year. Airports are shut down. Cars and trucks are bumping into each other, even at 30 mph on the turnpikes. New York's mayor is offering free hot chocolate and sleds in a park in each borough.

Guess the weather people knew I needed snow so my readers wouldn't think I was a little out there yakking about snow the end of February.

So if it's snowed where you are, get those kids outdoors--sledding, building snowpeople, and doing Brain Gym in the snow. You'll need the newsletter for directions on Brain Gym in the snow.

Promise to stop whining tomorrow and write a bit about ADHD. Something for you, instead of all about me. And not just links to my newsletter.

And it's Brain Gym now for yours truly.

MaryJo

P.S. The link for the newsletter is the correct one, not the rough draft.