Category Parent

If your child or teen struggles with attention span and self-regulation, you may be wondering what to do. You are not alone!

We all know what it’s like to have a hard time paying attention. But for children with ADHD, this problem is more intense and frequent. They may be easily distracted, fidgety or impulsive, which can cause problems in school or at home. For parents of these children, the toughest part might be knowing how to help your child maintain their focus when they are struggling with self-regulation skills on their own.

In this blog we’ll talk about ways you can support your children with ADHD who struggles with attention span and self-regulation skills so that they can succeed in school and life!

1. Identify your child’s strengths and interests

Parents or caregivers ability to identify their child’s strength and interests is an important way to support your child with ADHD who struggles with attention span and self-regulation skills so that they can succeed in school and life!

Identifying your child’s strengths and interest can be difficult because they may not always show up on tests or grades. But there are some signs that can help you find out what makes them unique! You might notice that they love playing video games for hours at a time, or maybe they like building things from scratch. Maybe they’re really good at sports, but hate practising the drills over and over again. Whatever it is, don’t ignore these signs of talent! They could be the key to helping your kid excel in school later on down the road if you know how to use their talents as motivation for success instead of something negative that holds them back from reaching their full potential!

2. Create a routine that works for them

It’s important to create a routine that works for your child. This is because routines help children with ADHD who struggle with attention span and self-regulation skills succeed in school and life! As such, you can do this by creating clear expectations for your child, using visual cues to support them, providing positive reinforcement when they follow the routine, and giving them opportunities to practice following the routine on their own. By doing these things consistently over time you will be able to see improvements in your child’s ability to follow routines. It may take some time but it will be worth it!

3. Consider medication as an option if they are struggling with ADHD symptoms

If your child is having trouble focusing, staying organized, and completing tasks at home or in school, you may want to reach out to your family doctor. Because ADHD can make it difficult for children to succeed in school and maintain friendships. However, there are treatments that can help them manage their symptoms. Parents or caregivers should consider medication as an option if their children are struggling with ADHD symptoms where and when necessary.

Medication can be a great way to manage your symptoms and help you focus on the things that matter most. It’s important to work closely with your doctor when considering medication for ADHD so they can make sure it is right for you.

4. Set up a reward system for behaviours you want to see

A reward system for behaviours you want to see more of in your child (without being reminded), such as staying focused on homework or chores without being reminded can be helpful. For children with autism and ADHD, who struggle with attention span and self-regulation (ADHD), this might help them stay motivated to complete tasks that they find challenging otherwise. Children need positive reinforcement too!

5. Have patience and be patient

It takes time to learn new skills and habits. More so, it can take time to make changes stick! It may help to start small and work up from there, like setting a timer when doing homework or making one chore their responsibility each day.

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a neurological condition that affects about some children and teens. Children with ADHD struggle to pay attention and control their impulses, which can make it difficult for them to succeed academically or socially. There are many treatment options available today that have been shown to be effective at managing symptoms and improving quality of life for those diagnosed with ADHD. We’ve talked about some general tips on how parents can help their child who struggles with these symptoms in this blog post, but if you want more information schedule a free consultation so we can chat further. Thank you

Emem Iniobong is a Brandon MB, Canadian Certified Counsellor that helps children, teens, young adults, parents, and families in dealing with anxiety, depression, grief, parenting support to live a more fulfilled and bliss-ful life.

Movement for children is so important for children because it helps their brains grow and develop. The more they move, the better their brains can learn how to make connections between neurons that are necessary for everything. Your child’s movement is the result of their curiosity and desire to explore. Movement is a natural way for your child to learn about themselves, others, and the world around them.  It helps children develop motor skills, coordination, balance, strength and endurance. The more time they spend moving freely – especially when supervised by an adult – the healthier their bodies will be now and later in life!  This blog post covers what you need to know about how movement can help your little one thrive as they grow up.  Join me on this journey as we explore how adults can encourage healthy habits in young ones with fun games that promote physical activity!

Why is Movement Important for Children?

Movement is important for children. It helps them to develop their coordination, balance and social skills. Children also need exercise to help their bodies grow strong and healthy. Your child is exploring and learning about his world through play. Movement helps children to grow physically, cognitively, socially, emotionally and intellectually. Children need a lot of movement for healthy development so it’s important that you provide lots of opportunities for physical activity every day!

Some ways you can help your child get more movement include: playing games like “tag” or “hide ‘n’ seek,” running around outside in the backyard or taking walks together in the park. You could also do some dance moves with them too! If they’re older, keep up with their favorite TV show while doing squats – a great way to burn calories!

And don’t forget this one–it may seem silly but kids love bubbles which involves lots of movement.

Types of Movements for Children

The most common types of movements for children and teens are rolling, crawling, creeping and walking. It’s important to know the differences between these four stages of movement so you can help your child or teen develop his/her skills in each area. We’ll go into detail about what happens during each stage below!

These types of movements a child can do, and growing up increases their abilities. Rolling is the first type of movement that babies start doing when they’re learning to control their limbs. Rolling is a reflexive type of movement that helps babies learn to turn over when they’re lying on their stomachs. Once infants get stronger, crawling starts becoming more natural for them as well as creeping. Moving on all fours with elbows bent and knees straight in order to move quickly or stealthily (or both). As children grow older enough to walk upright without assistance, walking becomes another way they learn how best suit themselves through mobility. While running may not be quite so necessary but it does allow kids an excellent opportunity for exercise!

Let’s talk about how you can create more movement for your children and teens. Call me for more information or to schedule a consultation. We’re here to help!

Emem Iniobong is a Brandon MB, Canadian Certified Counsellor that helps children, teens, young adults, parents, and families in dealing with anxiety, depression, grief, parenting support to live a more fulfilled and bliss-full life.

3 reasons why your teen should drink water will be discuss in this blog. Drinking water is an important healthy habit for teens because drinking water is essential to a healthy body. It helps maintain a balance of minerals and fluids in the cells, aids digestion, transports nutrients, and maintains skin moisture. Drinking water is a healthy habit for teens because it keeps teens energized by replenishing your energy stores with oxygen-rich H2O. Likewise, the average teen drinks about 1.5 liters of water per day, which is less than adults. As teens go through puberty and grow their metabolism increases so they should drink more water to stay healthy and hydrated. Not only that, but drinking plenty of water can help prevent headaches and migraines. As well as, helps maintain a healthy weight, prevents constipation, kidney stones, diabetes and other illnesses. The best way to stay hydrated is through drinking plenty of clean glassfuls throughout the day; not just when you’re thirsty or it’s hot outside.

This blog will discuss 3 reasons why your teen should drink water

1) Weight Management

One reason your teen should drink water is because can help with weight loss by suppressing your appetite – Drinking plenty of water aids in digestion and metabolism, which leads to less food intake and more calories burning. The body needs water for digestion and metabolism. But with so many delicious beverages out there that are high in sugar and calories, it’s easy for teens to get caught up in the hype of these other options. More so, water has zero calories! It’s also free and easily available – all you need is a tap or bottle! The best part is that by drinking plenty of water throughout the day, you’ll actually suppress your appetite because your brain will think that you’ve had more food than you really have!

2) Flushes Toxins

One reason your teen should drink water is because it can help with flushing toxins of the body. The liver is the most important organ in your body, but it can’t function properly without enough fluids. More so, your organs will work more efficiently to remove waste products from your system.  When you drink less than eight glasses of water every day, toxins build up and may even cause damage to this vital part of your health! This is especially important for teens that are constantly growing and developing new cells- they need lots of fluids to help clean up old cells so their bodies can keep going strong!

3) Reduce Acne

One reason your teen should drink water is because it can help with preventing acne on the body. Drinking water prevents acne because acne develops when pores clog up with oil, dirt, bacteria and dead skin cells. There is a common misconception that drinking water can worsen acne breakouts, but it’s actually the opposite. Drinking plenty of water can help clear up acne and prevent future breakouts from occurring.  Research shows that an increase in fluids may reduce stress hormones which are known to aggravate symptoms of acne. It also helps flush out toxins through sweat glands and urination. It’s important for people with skin conditions like eczema or psoriasis to drink more water because their skin may be dryer than average due to a reduction in oil production caused by these diseases. 

I call my blog post “3 Reasons why your teen should drink water” because it has three important benefits for teens. Drinking plenty of water can help with weight loss, prevent acne and flush toxins from the body. What are some other reasons that drinking water is good? Comment below!

Emem Iniobong is a Brandon MB, Canadian Certified Counsellor that helps children, teens, young adults, parents, and families in dealing with anxiety, depression, grief, parenting support to live a more fulfilled and bliss-full life.

Healthy eating habits for teens are very vital as they are at a crucial stage in their life.

The teenage years can be a difficult time for teens and their parents. Teens are going through so many changes physically, mentally and socially. One of the most important things to remember is that teens need healthy food choices in order to help them grow strong, physically and mentally. They are transitioning from childhood to adulthood; they need more guidance than ever about how to make the best decisions for themselves. It’s important that for parents/caregivers to start by letting your teens know that it’s okay not to be okay. It’s okay not to be perfect, and help them build good habits early on so as to avoid dealing with these issues later.

Following these three tips, your teen will be one step closer to becoming an independent adult who knows how to take care of themselves well.

1) Eat Breakfast

Eating breakfast is the best way to start the day for teens. The first meal of the day should be nutritious and filling, giving you energy for your morning activities. In fact, research has shown that eating high-quality proteins at breakfast leads to better cognitive functioning in children by lunchtime! More so, adding fresh fruits with breakfast like watermelon or bananas provide high levels of energy. In addition, when eaten first thing in the morning which will prepare kids’ brains for learning throughout their day at school! Plus it helps cut down on sugar cravings later during the course of their busy schedules.

2) Drink Water

Drinking water is important for teens because are at risk for dehydration, which is a serious condition. The importance of a teen drinking water daily can’t be stressed enough. Drinking the recommended amount of eight 8 ounce glasses per day will keep your body hydrated, which is important for maintaining good health. Dehydration may make you feel tired and lightheaded because it impacts concentration levels and causes headaches. As well, it slows metabolism! It is important for Teens to stay properly hydrated because helps prevent kidney stones which is pass through your urinary system. This also reduces pain associated with passing small amounts urine frequently without noticing too much discomfort.

3) Limit your intake of sugar and processed foods

Teens limiting your intake of sugar and processed foods is important and healthy. Processed food can lead to a lot more weight gain than natural, unprocessed foods because they typically have high levels of calories from fat or refined carbs with little nutritional value. As teens grow up, it becomes harder and even scarier for some people (especially those who are predisposed) to maintain the same body type that they had in high school due to hormonal changes caused by puberty; this makes dieting an important factor into maintaining your ideal self-image.

The challenge of getting your teen to eat healthy can seem daunting and overwhelming. It’s important that you start by letting them know that it’s okay not to be perfect. Help them build good habits early on so they don’t have to deal with these issues later in life. If you need more guidance in teaching a teenager about living healthier, please contact me for an appointment or consultation.

Emem Iniobong is a Brandon MB, Canadian Certified Counsellor that helps children, teens, young adults, parents, and families in dealing with anxiety, depression, grief, parenting support to live a more fulfilled and bliss-full life.

We firmly believe that the importance of good nutrition in the development of children and teens cannot be overstated! Numerous studies have shown that the dietary habits of children and teens can affect their physical growth, cognitive development, and mental well-being. Nutrition is a crucial part of childhood development for both child and adults. Read on to learn more about how what you feed your children or teen impacts their lives now and in the future.

The role of nutrition in the development of children and teens remains important because nutrition is a process where the body uses nutrient to sustain life. More so, our body uses the nutrient to keep it healthy as we learnt from our series on my child their nutrition.

Nutrition Needed For Development of Children and Teens

The nutritional needs for development of children and teens are very different from those of adults. As such, it can be hard for parent and caregiver to know how much food a child should eat, what types of food they need, and when they need it. This is especially true with the growth spurts that come between ages 1-5 for kids and again at age 11-14 for teens. On top of these growth spurts we have all sorts of school sports, extracurricular activities, homework assignments and more demanding schedules to deal with!

The problem many parents face is that it can be difficult for them to know what those nutritional needs are and how best to meet them. This blog series, will help you gain better understanding the role nutrition plays in your child’s development.

By staying connected and reading this blog post and series, you’ll learn about some common questions related to childhood nutrition including why kids need certain nutrients at different stages of life. How much protein or vitamins kids require and whether supplements are necessary; and how diet impacts behaviour and cognitive development.

Nutrients That Are Important

There are different types of nutrients that are important to a growing children and teens development. Although, there has been increased awareness about the importance of a healthy diet for children and teens, it is still difficult to find information that is both practical and easy to understand. Many parents are still uncertain about what constitutes a balanced diet for their child or how much food they should be eating at different ages.

In this blog series, we aim to provide answers to the common questions by exploring various aspects of childhood nutrition. Topics such as types of nutrients that are important in developing children; recommended daily intakes (RDIs) for energy, protein, fat and carbohydrates.

Emem Iniobong, CCC is a Canadian Certified Counsellor in Brandon, Manitoba. She specializes in working with children and adolescents experiencing various mental, behavioural, and emotional challenges.

Dealing with tantrum is a concern for most parents/caregivers. In our first in this blog series we met our guest, Moyin Adefisayo who is currently a graduate student of the Masters of Art in counselling psychology program at Yorkville University. She works with the Vancouver School Board as a Student Support Staff (Urgent Intervention Process Team). Moyin provides behavioural plans to educators (K-12) and works with the child in developing coping strategies to managing their emotions and/or behaviours.

We learned that everyone has behaviour and behaviours are signals. They communicate and also have a function and as such, it is very important to know and understand what these are to support your child or teen.

In this second part of three we look at tantrums; how they may differ and how to handle them.

What is a Tantrum?

Like we mentioned in the last blog everyone has behaviour. Tantrum is a way children and youth express frustration, stress, or anger. Keep in mind that they do not make a conscious plan to embarrass you. Rather, a tantrum could happen as a result of learned behaviour or as a result of stress. Tantrum is a functional behaviour and if you understand what the function of that tantrum is then you will know how to respond. Some tantrums could be manipulative or stressed related.

Manipulative Tantrum

Manipulative tantrum is when your child uses the learned behaviour (tantrum) to get something from you (ha-ha). Children are really smart and at a young age they already know how to get something or gain control over you. When your child knows what to expect and what is expected from them the tendency to use manipulative tantrum will be reduced. This is where being consistent is key.

Stress Tantrum

Stress tantrum could be as a result of your child feeling stressed or a build up of stress that results in the unwanted behaviour. It could also be as a result to emotional response which could include anger, frustration, sadness, and so on. Remember, behaviours are signals! The parent or caregiver needs to discern if the tantrum is stressed related. Then, they must be in tuned with his or her child to know what that behaviour is communicating.

Emem Iniobong, CCC is a Canadian Certified Counsellor in Brandon, Manitoba. She specializes in working with children and adolescents experiencing various mental, behavioural, and emotional challenges. I am passionate about helping children and teens find their unique strengths, develop skills to overcome challenges, and bravely navigate the world around them.

My child, their behaviour sounds common in many homes today. As a mental health counsellor, one common question I get from parents and caregivers is how do I deal with my child’s behaviours or tantrums? How do I respond to my child’s behaviour? Why is time out not working for my child? Why does my child meltdown a lot? What do I do to handle my child’s outbursts, as I am exhausted?

In this 3 week blog series we have a guest speaker who will joining us as we look into and discuss the topic of my child, their behaviour.

Meet Our Guest

Moyin Adefisayo is currently a graduate student of the Masters of Art in counselling psychology program at Yorkville University. She works with the Vancouver School Board as a Student Support Staff (Urgent Intervention Process Team). Moyin provides behavioural plans to educators (K-12) and works with the child in developing coping strategies to managing their emotions and/or behaviours. Referral into the urgent intervention process team is through the Vancouver School Board and the length of interventions for each child range from 1-4 weeks.

What is Behaviour?

Behaviour is simply the way people handle or conduct themselves. These ways or conduct could involve their functioning, reactions, and actions in response to their daily functioning or everyday living. It is safe to say everyone has a behaviour and this behaviour, especially in children, serves a purpose! It can be either functional or communicative.

Behaviour as a Function in My Child, Their Behaviour

It is important to know and understand what purpose the behaviour serves in order to effectively decrease the undesired behaviour and replace it with a desired behaviour. When the function of the behaviour is known that is easy to understand what your child is trying to communicate.

Behaviour as Communicative in My Child, Their Behaviour

Behaviour as communicative in my child is important to know. When parents understand what the purpose of a behaviour is and what it’s trying to communicate they are better equipped to handle the situation.

Tips on How to Handle My Child, Their Behaviour

• Be in tune with your child
• Establish good rapport
• Have Clear Expectation
• Offer Choices
• Follow Through
• Be Consistent

Parents and caregivers need to remember that behaviour is a signal and as such it is important to know and understand what is the need? What is my child trying to communicate and what is the function? I hope you found this blog helpful. Share with others you know may need this info and do not forget to follow us on all our social media.

Emem Iniobong, CCC is a Canadian Certified Counsellor in Brandon, Manitoba. She specializes in working with children and adolescents experiencing various mental, behavioural, and emotional challenges. I am passionate about helping children and teens find their unique strengths, develop skills to overcome challenges, and bravely navigate the world around them.