5 ADD Interventions That Apply to All Kids

  A friend of mine has been going through the very lengthy and detailed process of testing her son for Attention Deficit Disorder. As I listened to her explain the symptoms, many sounded like my daughter. One expert describes this kind of brain as choosing what is most interesting instead of what’s most important. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve sent my daughter to turn…

Why Kids Lose Interest in Reading as They Get Older

How much of their leisure time do teenagers devote to reading? Not much. According the Bureau of Labor Statistics, teens read for pleasure, on average, just six minutes each day. Why? Attitudes toward reading are one factor, but not the only factor. (Consider that, because we’re talking about reading the child freely chooses, she must not only like reading, she must like it more than the…

Tweeners Trust Peers More Than Adults When Judging Risks

If you are the parent of a preteen, you are all too aware that they suddenly seem to value the opinions of their peers far more than yours. The good news, if there is any, is that you’re not alone. Young teenagers ages 12 to 14 are more influenced by their peers’ opinions than they are by adults’, a study finds. That’s true only for…

Children Need Chores to Teach Mastery and Responsibility

TODAY’s demands for measurable childhood success — from a spelling bee to university placement — have chased household chores from the to-do lists of many young people. In a survey of 1001 US adults released last fall by Braun Research, 82 per cent reported having regular chores growing up, but only 28 per cent said that they require their own children to do them. With…

ADHD Not a Real Disease. Scientist claims everyone fits some of the criteria for ADHD

One of the world’s leading pediatric neuroscientists, Dr. Bruce D. Perry, M.D., Ph.D, recently stated publicly that Attention Deficit/Hyper-Activity Disorder (ADHD) is not ‘a real disease,’ and warned of the dangers of giving psycho-stimulant medications to children. Speaking to the Observer, Dr. Perry noted that the disorder known as ADHD should be considered a description of a wide range of symptoms that many children and adults exhibit, most of which are factors that everyone of us displays at some point…