Why Reading For Kids Needs To Be Encouraged

According to one child expert, Dr. Christakis, the extensive use of video games, computer games, and even fast moving cartoons on TV could be damaging to a child’s neural development .

He and his researchers have found that these activities may rewire a very young child’s brain. The result can be that the child just cannot focus at all on a slower activity like reading or doing simple tasks at school later on.

There is also some research that suggests the pre-frontal cortex of the brain may become less active over time if a child is always on computer games and watching TV. That part of the brain is vital in helping kids to organize their thoughts especially when it comes to planning or doing tasks in a certain order.

Reading should not be neglected

Parents should be limiting the time spent on media. It is impossible and unwise to ban these altogether but kids will need reasonable limits. Any child up to the age of two or three years old should not be watching TV at all. But figures in the US show that kids are exposed to the TV screen at a very tender age.

Reading and storytelling is a great activity for kids especially if they are more auditory type of learners. But actually most kids will have a mix of kinaesthetic, auditory and visual learning styles although one type of these may be dominant.

Storytelling to resolve anger issues.

Parenting experts tell us that we should help kids verbalize their feelings about anger and other strong emotions. But this is neither easy nor practicable in many cases. An easier and much more accessible approach is to use reading or storytelling which outlines what a character does and how he or she reacts to angry moments

This is exactly what happens in a new kids’ story which has just been  published on Kindle. The title is Ziger The Tiger Never Gets Angry. The tiger has anger issues and his mother tries to help by focusing on physical activities and also trying to verbalize or illustrate his anger.

Children can easily relate to the character in the story and that is much more memorable than just telling them not be violent or aggressive but to channel their feelings into much more acceptable activities.

ADHD in Girls Often Goes Unnoticed – 6 Things To Look Out For.

Everybody knows that ADHD in boys is much more common and statistics seem to indicate that there are three times as many boys as girls who are suffering from this disorder.

But is that really true?  Actually, the fact that ADHD in girls manifests in several different ways means simply that the whole ADHD scenario is swept under the carpet or just simply goes unnoticed until the later teen years when trouble with keeping up with homework assignments makes it a bit more obvious. Alarmingly, the number of girls missed could be up to 75% of cases.

The boys with ADHD are much easier to observe especially as they seem to suffer more from the hyperactive type. That certainly makes it a whole lot more obvious.

In girls, however, their dreaminess and forgetfulness seems to fly under the radar. There is also some discrimination in that teachers seem to think that boys need more help with ADHD than girls.

If you think your daughter or female sibling has ADHD, there are some typical warning signs that may indicate that ADHD might be the cause. Being alert to these is very useful in getting as early a diagnosis as possible.

1.      She seems to need a lot more help with homework and expects you, the parent, to be always there to     help her out.

2.      She does not like going to school at all. There is no enthusiasm so this may be a warning sign although here could be other reasons.

3.       There is lots of evidence that she does not feel confident and there are lots of remarks which reflect that she has very low self esteem. She will often talk about the subjects she is not brilliant at.

4.      She has difficulty in making friends at school. She often displays anxiety about this although some girls become rather aggressive and tend to be domineering in order to hide their anxiety.

5.      Girls with ADHD also suffer from impulsivity but this may manifest itself in interrupting continuously in class. This may be more than just being a chatterbox.

6.      Girls withADHD are often more liable than other girls to be oversensitive and break down crying at the smallest thing. This is another sign of impulsivity in that she is finding it hard to keep emotions under control.  But it could also be a sign that she feels more vulnerable because of lack of social success or because of poor academic achievement.

If you are a teacher and have observed some of these traits among the girls in your classes, then it is time to approach the parents and find out what they are experiencing at home and if they have noticed any similar signs. This will be a great help in getting an early and accurate diagnosis.