How Reading Can Help Kids Process Difficult Emotions and Situations

Teaching children to grow into mature, secure adults is incredibly challenging. Unfortunately, many kids face difficult or traumatic situations very early in life. These experiences can make it challenging for them to build trust, develop meaningful relationships and live their lives to the fullest. 

One way to help children understand and move through tough experiences is with reading. Here’s how reading helps kids with mental health. 

1. Teach Observation 

Reading is an excellent way to help children develop their natural observation skills. Books present new ideas in a comfortable way and help them ask questions about the world around them. 

Learning to use their senses and developing intuition can help children process life experiences. Change and new information can be stressful for kids, and reading can equip them to know how to respond when they encounter things that are new or feel overwhelming. 

2. Create Safety

Engaging with stories also creates safety for kids. When they’re immersed in a book, they can take a break from everyday stress and difficult situations. Being transported to another place, person and time can be incredibly restorative and healing, even though it doesn’t change their reality. 

Children are incredibly vulnerable and lack the strength or maturity to control their environments. Teaching them to read can help them feel safe and find meaning outside of their circumstances. Books are a window into possibilities and can offer kids hope even in very bleak situations. 

3. Foster Conversations

Although reading is a powerful processing tool in its own right, it can also be a launching pad for meaningful conversations. You can use books as a teaching tool by reading them with your kids and asking them to engage with the story. 

For instance, you can ask your children what they think about what is happening. How does it make them feel? If they were the main character, would they respond this way? Why or why not? Drawing out your child’s feelings will help you understand their needs and simultaneously teach them to process their inner world. 

4. Explain Emotions

Emotions can easily overwhelm kids, especially if they’re feeling strong ones like fear, anger and grief. Kids are still learning about themselves and their world, and they often blame themselves for situations that make them feel bad. 

Talking to children about how emotions make them feel, what their feelings mean and how to respond equips them with an essential life skill. It can also help them recognize the signs of deep anxiety or depression in their friends and family.

5. Offer Language

Books give words to the language of living – something kids are still actively figuring out. When you read to children about emotions and how to respond to them, you give them the language they need for everyday life. 

Statements like, “I feel ______, but I know ______” can help kids manage their emotions and respond to life situations with maturity. At the same time, books also show children that emotions aren’t bad in themselves. It’s not what you feel but your response to those feelings that matters. 

6. Model Behavior

Children are looking for people to imitate as they grow and encounter new situations. Reading can equip kids with appropriate behavior for many issues they may or may not be actively experiencing. For instance, teaching them how to ask a friend if they’re OK can give them concrete steps to take when they’re worried about someone. 

This method also works in reverse – books are a great opportunity to talk about how someone shouldn’t behave. Discussing a story character’s feelings and choices allows you to teach appropriate behavior without making an individual child who’s acted out feel ashamed. 

7. Develop Empathy

Reading expands children’s imaginations, teaching them to consider things from more than one perspective. Through stories, they can learn about the value of cultures and life experiences that are different from their own. 

Many studies suggest that reading develops empathy, the skill of imagining another person’s emotions and experiences. Expressing this is a meaningful way to show love and is an essential skill for every mature person. 

Books Have Lifelong Value

It’s helpful to understand how reading helps kids emotionally. They learn to process emotions, develop their imaginations and enlarge their perspectives. Using literature to engage with your children is a highly effective way to equip them with the tools they need to navigate their lives. 

Many children experience extremely challenging situations, and reading can equip them to process their emotions and gain a sense of comfort and clarity. Spend time reading with your kids, and they’ll continue to benefit from books for the rest of their lives.

Strategies for Improving Reading Fluency

Reading fluency refers to a student's ability to read in a way that sounds natural. It includes students’ reading rate, the expression with which they read, and the accuracy of what they are reading. Fluency is separate from the skills of decoding and comprehension. Students can have strong decoding and comprehension skills and weak fluency or vice versa. Exposure to these three areas certainly helps strengthen each in turn. However, practicing reading with a focus on decoding and comprehension exclusively does not guarantee improved fluency.

Fluency is an important part of becoming a competent reader. When a student struggles with fluency, it is likely that other areas of her reading may suffer. For students who struggle with accuracy, the meaning that they make of their reading becomes skewed. And when students read slowly, often due to a lack of sight word knowledge or labored decoding, they retain less. Finally, when they read without expression, it can have a negative impact on their reading comprehension. 

Here are some ways you can help students strengthen their reading fluency:

Model Fluent Reading

When modeling what fluent reading sounds like, it's important to include a wide variety of text types. This way, you provide students with exposure to lots of different ways to read expressively. The expression we use when reading dramatic fiction is very different from that which we use when reading a news story. The younger the students, the more often they should be hearing what good, fluent reading sounds like.

Echo Reading

A great way to get kids to practice reading fluently is to let them copy exactly how you do it. This is called Echo Reading. When students are able to hear you model fluent reading and then immediately practice it themselves, they are more likely to use proper expression, rate, and accuracy. Echo reading can be effective in both one-on-one settings as well as in groups.

Reader’s Theater

One of the first ways young children learn how their reading should sound is through stories. This is why using reader's theater to allow students to practice their reading is an excellent method for improving fluency. Whereas regular stories are told in a narrative format, Reader's Theater allows students to take on a role in the story as they are reading it. This reading role-play encourages them to speak as their character would speak, which makes reading with expression feel more natural.

Build sight word knowledge

Sometimes a student's struggle with fluency is related to weak sight word knowledge. When this is the case, it is important to strengthen the students' ability to recognize sight words, as well as increase the number of sight words. While it used to be thought that sight words needed to be “memorized,” the best way for students to really internalize sight words is through the process of orthographic mapping.

Use visuals in text for breaks, pauses, inflections, etc.

Most of us know that when we come to a period in a text, we need to pause in order to communicate to ourselves or to our listener that we’ve reached the end of a complete thought. Some students have a much harder time remembering what that period means, or even noticing it at all. While real-world texts won't include any extra visuals beyond punctuation marks and text styles, some students benefit from a little extra coding in their text to help remind them what their reading should sound like. This can include a color-coded set of additional symbols that tell the student when to pause (when there is a period), when to inflect their voice up (when there is a question mark), when to emphasize a word (italics or bold), etc.

Identify natural phrases in text

Another strategy that can help students learn how to group words more naturally as they are reading is to specifically look for natural phrasing in text and circle those phrases. This takes modeling for students to do correctly, but once they are familiar with the process it can go a long way in eventually helping them apply the skill of identifying phrases to their reading naturally.

The Value of Brain Breaks

“Brain breaks” are pretty self-explanatory. They are breaks that our brains need in order to be most productive. Anytime we are learning or engaging in any cognitive task that requires brain power, our brains need opportunities to rest. These breaks are especially important for children and adolescents whose brains are not only learning, but also growing and developing. While the duration and frequency of breaks will depend on the task as well as the individual, there are some general rules of thumb to follow. The following tips can be applied to the classroom, the tutoring session, homework time, and any other learning experience.

1. Be mindful of timing

Breaks should be scheduled at approximately consistent intervals during periods of cognitive workload. However, it is important to schedule breaks so that the flow of an activity is not disrupted and students’ momentum stays intact. In the classroom, this can be in between lessons/periods/activities. At home, find your child’s individual stamina threshold and have them set a timer to make sure they take a break once they’ve hit their max. While older children and adults will have increased work stamina, it’s still important that their brains get rest, too.

2. Incorporate movement

Brains love blood flow. Anything that involves light to moderate movement is great for helping brains recharge for the next period of learning. For students who are restless or need to get wiggles out, have them try an upbeat dance video or some jumping jacks. For students who need centering, a few minutes of yoga will be more helpful.

3. Avoid screens

Especially if work is on the screen, the best brain breaks are off screen. Screen fatigue is very real, and while extra screen time probably won’t kill your kid’s brain cells, it will fatigue their eyes after long enough. If their learning is off-screen, and a few minutes of mindless scrolling will help them get ready for the next segment of learning, that’s okay. But for screen-based activities, they should be getting outdoors, moving their bodies somehow, or otherwise engaging in unplugged restorative activities periodically.

4. Use music and/or meditation

Music is an incredibly effective energizer. It has the cognitive power to refresh our brain cells and get our focus back on track. Meditation is also a great option, and promotes stress reduction and heart rate regulation, both of which improve our mental state and prepare us to tackle more work.

5. Teach students how to self-monitor

The goal should be for students to eventually know and be able to apply all these guidelines to their own learning. When coming up with a plan for your child’s learning breaks, tell them exactly why they should be taking breaks and the do’s and don’ts of their breaks, using the tips above. Eventually, they will gain the self-awareness to determine when they need a break on their own, and the initiative to get back to work when it’s time.

Learning Math Through Literacy

Many people think of math and reading as separate subjects. While the skills involved in each are quite different, there are so many ways and reasons to connect them. Aside from having students read and solve word problems, there are lots of other creative ways to integrate math and literacy. Here are some of our favorite integration strategies.

Math Stories

These math learning activities take word problems to the next level. As the name suggests, math stories combine two essential components of both math and literature: computation and story-line. Through the components of a story, students keep track of totals, calculate differences, compare quantities, and so on. This is a great way to have students practice both reading comprehension and math skills all in one shot.

Writing About Math

Some students become perplexed when we ask them to write about math. They think math is supposed to use numbers, not words. But demonstrating their understanding and their processing of math topics with words in addition to numbers not only allows them to practice writing, but it also helps them develop new ways to talk about and engage with math concepts.

Read-Alouds

Teachers incorporate read-alouds into all kinds of subject areas other than the reading block, so why not math? There are plenty of books out there that contain explanations and examples of math concepts, as well as actual opportunities for students to practice those skills. With careful selection of the right read-aloud, students have the opportunity to work together on solving problems in new ways with teacher guidance.

Math Journals

Journaling isn’t just for writing and social studies. Math journals are another great way to have students reflect on their mathematical thinking and reason about math using words. Math journaling gives students the opportunity to demonstrate their thinking in a way that may feel more comfortable to them. It also addresses different learning styles. Some students do much better expressing themselves through a paragraph than through a string of number sentences.

Teach Math Vocabulary

Teaching math vocabulary often involves introducing a word and showing enough examples of it for students to understand its meaning. However, it often doesn’t go further than that. Just as we explicitly teach vocabulary in other content areas, we should also make space for explicit instruction in math vocabulary as well. In addition to demonstrating understanding of these words through actual problem-solving, students can also use these words in other ways. Create a math word wall, or have students create their own with definitions, examples, sentences, etc. Or have students use these words in their own math problems. The more familiar they become with math vocabulary, the more articulately they’ll be able to communicate about math concepts.

Teaching Grammar

Strategies for teaching grammar in the classroom have evolved over time. Although it gets less focus today than in writing classrooms of the past, students still need instruction in basic rules of grammar in order to be able to write, communicate, and understand others effectively. Grammar skills can be divided into several major categories, two of the most important being morphology and syntax.

Morphology

Think of morphology as grammar at the word level. A morpheme is the smallest unit of sound in a language that carries meaning. For example, short words like “cat” and “skip” are morphemes because they do not contain smaller parts that carry meeting. Larger words can also be morphemes themselves if they do not consist of smaller parts that contain meaning. All prefixes and suffixes are also morphemes. Even though they typically can’t stand on their own, they still carry meaning by themselves.

These individual morphemes can combine in almost endless combinations to create new words. The word “jump” can become “jumped,” by adding the morpheme “ed.” The added morpheme (a suffix, in this case) gives the word new meaning. Combining morphemes strategically to create new words is called morphology.

Syntax

Syntax refers to the order and choice of words in sentences. While there are many ways authors can communicate the same thought or idea in writing, they are strategic about the wording they use in order to get across exactly what they want to say in the way they want to say it. Syntax also includes all of the specific rules about word order. In other languages, adjectives sometimes go after a noun, while in English, they always come before a noun. Subjects always come before the verb, and helper verbs always come before the main verb (will go, am swimming, etc.) 

Some other “rules” of English syntax are a bit more flexible. For example, there is flexibility in where we place the adverb in the sentence. We could say “I quickly ran to the store,” or “I ran to the store quickly.” We could even say “I ran quickly to the store.” All of these versions are correct and communicate the exact same idea. This flexibility makes learning English both easy to approximate and difficult to perfect.

Suggestions for Fitting Grammar into Instruction

A common concern in classrooms today is that teachers don’t want to take away valuable instructional time that they should be giving to cognitively rigorous tasks like analyzing the meaning of text, rather than its structure. But there are ways to keep that precious instructional time intact while also giving students the tools and language they need to master these important grammatical concepts. Here are some ideas:

• Teach morphology through phonics. Skills in morphology have a lot to do with phonics. Affixes, for example, are always explicitly taught in phonics programs. Actually teach students the words “morpheme” and “morphology,” as well as what they mean and examples. It won’t take up much instructional time and will help them see the structure of words more clearly.

• Embed small skills into writing workshop. Teaching students about word choice (and that there is a correct word order!) doesn’t have to take up an entire writing block. Integrate small skills in sentence structure into the writing workshop. Choose one or two a week, and take just a few minutes to explicitly name the skill, model it for them, show some examples, and have them try to use it in their own writing. Whether you teach them to capitalize the beginning of their sentences, or to put adjectives before nouns, there are so many ways to incorporate these skills into lessons you are already teaching.

Reading Resources for Bilingual Students

By Ginger Abbot

Working with bilingual students is both challenging and exciting. Second language learners may struggle in school, especially at a young age, but they will reap the reward of speaking two languages for the rest of their life. 

There are many tools available to help you work with bilingual students. Here are five ways you can empower pupils on their bilingual literacy journey: 

1. Visit Spanish Playground

Spanish is the most prevalent second language in the United States, with over 37 million speakers over the age of 5. Because so many young children speak this as their first or second language, free teaching resources for Spanish speakers are invaluable. 
Enter Spanish Playground, an online site full of free resources for teachers and students. It includes free worksheets, instructional videos, and individual sections on topics like poetry and playing Spanish games. 

While engaging with native speakers is the best way to learn, free bilingual reading resources for students like those on Spanish Playground can supplement your curriculum and add a lot of fun to your language lessons. 

2. Check Out Colorín Colorado

While Spanish Playground is geared toward teaching Spanish, Colorín Colorado is a site that focuses on teaching English as a second language. 

You’ll find many free resources for English instructors on this website, including a library search tool to help you locate appropriate reading materials for your students. 

Colorín Colorado offers free support to parents, teachers, and schools through article and video formats. The focus is on encouraging English language learners to read, write and ultimately thrive within their bilingual communities.

3. Research Academic Articles

A lot of teaching techniques are simply common sense: stay curious, be kind and work persistently. Your students will learn something each time they make an effort.

However, it’s also useful to stay up to date on current teaching methods and philosophies. Second language learning is an exciting and developing field, and you can learn a lot from studying other teachers’ and researchers’ methods. 

Use Google Scholar to search terms like “bilingualism and education” to check up on new research. Also, consider reading academic journals that specifically address bilingual and linguistic education, such as “The International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism.” 

You never know – what you learn may revolutionize your teaching methods and make a real difference for your students. 

4. Mix up Your Approach

Learning to speak a second language is excellent for brain development and cognition. It enhances memory and strengthens your students’ brains for better focus and increased ability to adapt. 

Language students learn differently depending on their age. Young students tend to learn implicitly, or through exposure. Older students learn more explicitly, by putting effort and thought into studying and practicing a language. 

As a second language teacher, you can combine textbook curriculum, video materials, and contact with native speakers to expose your students to both learning methods. 

5. Preserve Your Students’ First Language

Although Spanish is the most widely spoken second language in America, many bilingual students do not speak it. It is primarily up to their parents to maintain their first language at home. 

A few ways to do this include: 

• Speaking at home

• Engaging with media 

• Reading 

• Spending time with other native speakers

• Playing games or completing activities

Work with your student to make practicing their first language enjoyable and a priority. If one is available, you could also consider sending your student to a bilingual school.

Pursue Bilingual Literacy

Use these five tips to build a language curriculum that will strengthen students’ first and second language skills. 

Reading resources for bilingual students and teachers abound, and many of them can be found for free online. Search for language-specific tools, and don’t hesitate to ask other teachers what works well for them.

The Debate Over How to Teach Reading

You’ve probably heard of the age-old “reading wars.” This refers to the debate around how kids best learn to read. On one side are proponents of the whole-language approach. They believe kids learn how to read best through frequent exposure to various aspects of books and language. In this approach, kids learn words as separate entities, as well as each word’s meaning in the context in which it is used. This camp believes that with enough practice, exposure to, and discussion about text, students just become familiar enough with every word that they eventually become fluent readers.

On the other side of the issue are the defenders of a phonics-based approach to reading instruction. They believe that students should learn how to read by learning letter sounds and all the rules of language that dictate how we pronounce words. This is the way in which students learn how to decode (or “sound out”) text. In recent years, this camp has been backed by an ever-growing body of research called the Science of Reading (also a fascinating podcast--check it out here!) 

The Research

The research included in the Science of Reading movement definitively shows that students become more competent readers when given explicit instruction in how to break the code of written language. So with all this research backing it up, why is there still any question? Because unfortunately, it isn’t that easy.

The Problem

The truth is, some students do learn better through the whole language approach. Those who are quick to pick up words, how to read them, and what they mean don’t necessarily need all of this explicit phonics instruction (although it benefits all students to learn the rules!). In sum, while some students don’t need the explicit instruction in phonics, but benefit significantly from learning the rules, others truly need to this instruction in order to be able to learn how to read. These include students with language-based and/or reading disabilities like dyslexia.

So why doesn’t everyone agree that a phonics-based approach to teaching reading is best for everyone? Because sometimes, the focus lies too much on teaching students how to read a text, and not what the text says. When this occurs, it has the potential to put students who already struggle with comprehension at a disadvantage.

The Solution

The solution: teach students how to read using an explicit, phonics-based approach, AND make sure they receive plenty of instruction in comprehension skills, too. This will ensure that all learners, regardless of which approach to reading instruction is best for them, develop the skills they need in order to not only become fluent decoders, but fluent readers and consumers of literature!

Common Causes of School Anxiety

School anxiety is common, especially this year. Stress over any number of school-related issues may pop up for students at any time. And for the most part, a little bit of stress isn’t something to worry about. But if a student’s stress is chronic or gets in the way of day-to-day tasks, it should be addressed. And in order to address your child's anxiety, it’s important to know the source. Here are some of the most common issues.

Academic Sources of Anxiety

School-related anxiety is often academic, though it can also be social, environmental, or a combination of all three. Some of the most common academic stressors are:

• An emerging or undiagnosed reading or math disability. When students who have otherwise never struggled suddenly have a hard time in school, it can be alarming and confusing. It can also be difficult for adults to pick up on it if the struggle is new. Plus, many children don’t have the tools to communicate when something feels challenging.

• Undue pressure from adults. Whether or not they mean to, parents and teachers both sometimes put a lot of pressure on students to succeed. This pressure can be helpful when it motivates a student to go the extra mile with their work. However, more often than not, outside pressure to do well just detracts from the joy of learning. This can actually make it harder for students to excel.

• Public speaking. All grades usually expect a certain level of participation and presentation. As students move up through the grades, these expectations become more and more demanding. Many students develop anxiety around presenting in front of their peers.

• Increased workload & organization. As students move up through the grades, their workload becomes heavier. They also become more independent, requiring them to develop better organizational skills. Many students, especially those with ADHD or other learning disabilities, struggle with organizing both materials and information, making it difficult to get work done on time.

• Lack of support. When students don’t feel they have someone to turn to, or they don’t know how to ask for help, this can lead to feelings of helplessness.

Social Sources of Anxiety

Some school anxiety is caused by social factors. These are most common beginning in middle school, but they can certainly appear in lower grades as well.

• Bullying. Whether they are victims or mere witnesses, bullying behavior is always anxiety-inducing. It can be hard to know what to do or say in either situation.

• Fitting in. The social pressures that begin to pop up around late elementary to early middle school make many students socially anxious. Students dread the possibility of not fitting in with their peers.

• Friend dynamics. The same pressures often exist among friends in the same close social circle. Sources of ‘friend anxiety’ can include conflict, perceived conflict, competition, or just the act of drifting apart.

• Unstructured group work. Lots of kids feel anxiety about having to work with peers on academic projects. In younger grades, these are usually heavily structured by the teacher, which leaves little room for uncertainty. But in the upper grades, these projects are frequent and usually quite open-ended.

• Overloaded schedule. It is important for all kids to have balance in their lives. This balance needs to include school and homework, family time, time with friends, and alone time. When a child's schedule becomes too packed, one or more of these areas does not get its adequate allotment. This often causes students to lose an outlet they may rely on for stress release.

Environmental Sources of Anxiety

For lots of students, especially those with sensory processing issues, the environment plays a huge role in their ability to thrive. Here are the most common environmental stressors at school:

• Noise. This may be an obvious one, but it’s also the most common. Many teachers try to eliminate noise for those students who need quiet. Still, it is simply unrealistic for all sounds to be extinguished during all times when others need concentration. This can be incredibly stressful for those students who really need silence to focus.

• Peer learning dynamics. Some students become distracted or anxious when working with or near certain peers.

• Teaching style. While most teachers do their best to be adaptable and address all students’ needs, sometimes it’s just not a good match. When a teacher’s teaching style does not jive well with a student’s needs, then it’s unlikely that child will have a positive experience in that class. And if the teacher is unapproachable on top of being incompatible with the student, then that’s a perfect recipe for stress.

• Proximity to lesson/teacher/peers. Finally, some students need to be sitting in a certain spot in the room in order to learn best. This might be for reasons as simple as eyesight (they need to be close to the front in order to see the board) or for more complex reasons (like a need to be toward the outside of the room if being in the middle causes feelings of claustrophobia).

If any of these sources of anxiety sound like they could be getting in the way of your child's school success, the best first step is to talk to them about it. Hearing that anxiety and stress is normal and that there are ways to cope with these feelings can go a long way. 

Teacher-Parent Collaboration

Close communication and trust between student, teacher, and parent are always important. This year, however, this trust is more important than ever. As students readjust to school, they need to know that everyone in their educational life is on the same team. When there is a strong connection between home and school, it increases the likelihood that students will develop positive feelings about school, and prevents feelings like anxiety or depression. Students’ motivation, performance, and mental wellness improve. And it all starts with a close and positive relationship between the teacher and the parent.

Keep Each Other in the Loop

It’s impossible for every parent to be kept in the loop about every single thing that happens throughout the day. Conversely, there’s no way to keep your child’s teacher updated on every single detail of what's going on at home. That would be exhausting for both of you! Still, it’s important that you are filling each other in on the big stuff. If you have created a chart at home to keep your child organized and on track, let her teacher know! Send a picture of the chart and briefly explain why you started it and how it’s helping. Information like this is so important for teachers to know!

Similarly, teachers should be telling parents about whatever is going on in school that specifically involves their child. For example, if a student in your class has just started an incentive system to help increase his or her motivation or improve behavior, their parents should definitely know about it. For younger students, it can be helpful to have some sort of daily report of how it went—nothing complicated, just a sticky note or slip of paper with check marks, tallies, or some other quick system for reporting to parents how their child did that day. 

Bringing the Student into the Fold

While it’s important for parents and teachers to know what is going on in school and at home respectively, the main reason to establish these connections is for the student. When students see that there is close and consistent communication between their teacher and parent, it sends two messages. The first is that you both care enough to have formed a partnership in which your main goal is to help them succeed. Secondly, it adds an element of accountability. It tells them that they won’t get away with doing less than their best, or all of the caring adults in their life will work together to intervene.

In your pursuit to build a collaborative partnership, don’t forget who it’s all about. Your shared goal is success for the student. Of course there will be topics and conversations that you don’t want them to be a part of, especially with younger students. But it’s important to include them in the communication as much as possible. For older students, this should be virtually all the time. It not only shows them that you care, but that you want them to be involved in the conversations about their education. It empowers them and helps them build independence by allowing them to be part of those important discussions and decisions.

Understanding ADHD and Executive Function Skills

Challenges with executive function skills go hand-in-hand with ADHD. These difficulties can impact a chid’s ability to organize resources and information, manage time and tasks, and maintain focus and attention. As a result, many kids with these issues are labeled as “lazy,” “scattered,” or a “space cadet,” when in fact they are doing the best they can but simply need more support.

Given that nearly 10% of kids have ADHD, these challenges impact 1-in-10 kids and families. That’s why Smarten Up and Braintrust CEO and Co-Founder, Mara Koffmann, was so excited to speak with psychologist, Dr. Ami Norris-Brilliant, about ADHD and executive function skills. Dr. Norris-Brilliant, the Clinical Director at the Center for ADHD, LD, and Related Disorders at Mount Sinai Medical Center, discussed the connection between ADHD and executive function skills, the cause of these challenges, and strategies for supporting children who struggle with these skills.

Key Takeaways:

• Approximately 9.4% of children in the United States have ADHD. Boys are far more likely to be diagnosed than girls. That is because ADHD presents differently in these two populations.

  • Boys with ADHD are more likely to be hyperactive and struggle with self-control. This causes them to act in school and at home in ways that are more disruptive.

  • Girls with ADHD are less likely to be disruptive and hyperactive. Instead, they tend to be described as “dreamers” or “absent-minded.” Because they don’t have any problematic behaviors, girls with ADHD tend to be overlooked more often.

• Difficulty with executive function skills is a part of the ADHD profile, but these struggles also impact kids who do not have a disability. Some common signs with this area of learning include distractibility, careless errors, and forgetfulness.

• The frontal lobe controls executive function skills, and this area of the brain doesn’t fully begin to develop until age 8. It then continues to develop well into early adulthood. Accordingly, parents often begin to see signs of ADHD and challenges with executive function skills at specific developmental junctures. It is recommended to seek the support of a specialist when these difficulties interfere with a child’s safety, confidence, or academic success.

  • In early childhood, children with ADHD can make decisions that create cause for concern around safety. They act impulsively and have difficulty following directions on a regular basis.

  • Around 3rd grade, when kids are 8-9 years old, they are expected to complete more complex tasks with greater independence. Kids with executive function challenges and/or ADHD often begin to struggle to make this transition in school.

  • In 5th or 6th grade students transition to middle school where they have to keep track of more complex schedules, materials, and classroom expectations. This juncture is often a challenging one for students who struggle with ADHD and executive function skills.

  • With the transition to high school, students once again have to learn to manage an even more complicated collection of materials, information, expectations, and responsibilities. This is also a point in time when many kids need a new level of support in order to be successful.

• Recommendations for learning:

  • Create a visual schedule to support younger students with expectations for what to expect each school day.

  • Schedule breaks for your child during the day that create opportunities for movement and activity away from the screen. The possibilities are endless, but some ideas to explore include building with Legos or Magna-Tiles, movement games like Simon Says or a scavenger hunt, any sort or arts and crafts activity, a dance break or yoga session, or even a movement game.

  • Schedule time to complete work. Many kids need support and direction when it comes to understanding when to complete work and what needs to be done. Parents can help by printing out assignments and creating set times for completing independent work.

  • Use rewards charts! Set experiential rewards that are motivating to your child and directly linked to behavioral expectations.