Smart Learning Newsletter
Helping You Help
Your ADHD and ADHD-like Kids
Reach Their Smart Potential
Dr. MaryJo Wagner, Editor and Publisher
Vol 1. No. 13 October 10, 2010
Contents
- Note from Dr. MaryJo: We played . . . and played and played
- What's Happening at Smart Kids Smart Parents in October
- Feature Article: Free Play Boosts Brains and It's Great for ADHD!
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Note from Dr. MaryJo
We Played . . . and Played and Played!
Hi:
When I was a kid, my best friend Sharra and I played . . . and played and played.
We rode our bikes, walked on stilts and invented 1-2-3 Kickeroo. (The person kicking their shoe the farthest while swinging won the game.) We played jacks. We played tetherball. We hopscotched and jumped rope. We made up our own rules.
We played board games on the picnic table during the summer and the kitchen table during the winter. We climbed the cherry tree and made "Secret Goo" in empty coffee cans and invented our own language. We colored and cut stuff out and pasted stuff together.
We decided what we'd do without any schedule or suggestions from our Moms. Moms only stepped in if somebody got hurt, if it was time to eat or time to go to bed.
For example, Sharra's Mom got in the act when I pushed Sharra lickety split around the corner of the house in a wagon. This reckless activity catapulted her and the wagon down the long, steep front steps. I was scared.
What if my very best friend in the whole world lay dead on the sidewalk at the bottom of the steps?
Whew, she lived. Her Mom cleaned up the wounds, stuck on a couple band-aids and told us to be more careful with the wagon the next time. She didn't say, "No more wagon for you girls." She didn't send me home. She didn't call my Mom.
We played miniature golf and went bowling, skating, and horseback riding when we could talk a parent into taking us. Maybe a couple times a month. Certainly not on a regular schedule or in a group or as part of a club.
And of course we had recess at school, just in case we hadn't played enough at home.
Now, in the name of improving academic performance, more than 30,000 schools have cut out recess! No research suggests that eliminating recess helps increase test scores.
Recess is essential not only for the brain benefits of free play but for the exercise. In the feature article below, you'll find the latest research that proves how important free play is for your kids.
Our Moms may not have gotten everything right--that's impossible. But they did get it right when they kicked us out of the house and said "Girls, go out and PLAY!"
Enjoy!
P. S. Be sure to sign up for this week's Tuesday TeleTips to find out about a forgotten skill that researchers are telling us we should be teaching ADHD kids, all kids, and even using it ourselves." Sign up now.
What's Happening at Smart Kids Smart Parents
Tuesday TeleTips: Always Complimentary. Always recorded. Usually every other week. Usually an Action Guide. But you do need to sign up
Oct. 12: "A Forgotten Skill that helps with ADHD
Oct. 19: ADHD and TV
Oct. 26: ADHD and Music: Does it Help or Hinder?
If there's something you'd like know, let me know and I'll get it into the November Tuesday TeleTips.
Free Play Boosts Brains and It's Great for ADHD!
Years of research have shown how free play helps kids develop intellectually, socially, and emotionally.
Now the American Academy of Pediatrics has issued a report that shows that unstructured play is critical to the development of your kid's brain!
But thanks to lots of scheduled activities plus the time spent getting to soccer practice, ballet, art classes, karate, gymnastics, and Scouts and back home, kids have lost 8 hours a week of playing without adult instruction. We even schedule play by arranging "play dates" for our kids.
However, moms know better. In a 2008 study, 95 percent of the mothers who were asked said they were worried that their kids are missing out on the joys of playing
Now the Alliance for Childhood has stated that so little time for play is a public-health issue. The Alliance recommends that kids get at least 60 minutes of free play every day, outside if the weather permits.
When kids build forts in the backyard or pretend to be fairy princesses, it gives them the freedom to be flexible and independent as they explore what tickles their fancy. Play helps kids learn how to get along with each other, to share, to make decisions, to negotiate.
In other words, kids need to play in order to be independent and successful! They don't need more structured activities taught by adults.
Play allows ADHD kids to be hyperactive, to yell and scream, to run, to act impulsively. Free play doesn't require focusing or sitting still. Your ADHD kid is dreamy? Play allows that too.
For many ADHD kids, more time to play and to choose how to play helps them calm down and focus when they need to. Many ADHD kids are creative but have that creativity stifled at school and in organized activities. Free play encourages this natural talent.
Obviously those who make decisions about schools aren't paying attention to the research. But you can. Even if you can't change what goes on at your child's school, you can see to it that your kids get more free play and fewer scheduled activities. And it's less car pooling for you!
So turn off the TV. Turn off the computer. Tell your kids to "Go outside and play."
I've identified at least "63 Common Conditions that Can Cause ADHD-like Behavior" (aka Situational ADHD) to help you figure out what's going on with your child. To help you get the right diagnosis and avoid the wrong prescription. Get your copy now
Watch for next week's "Smart Learning Newsletter: "Videos and TV for Babies and Preschoolers: Good, Bad, or OK in Moderation?"
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