Disclaimer: This post is not sponsored, nor is the author affiliated or connected with any companies or products listed. I just love finding and sharing things that have helped me in raising my boy!
Disclaimer: The author is not a professional in child rearing, psychology, therapy, coaching, or any other field discussed. The information provided is strictly written in good faith sharing the author’s private experience, not personal advise for readers. Any use of any information provided is at your own risk with no guarantee that readers will have the same results as are shared by the author, either negative or positive. Caregiverskeeper.family.blog and affiliates will not be held responsible for any consequences of use of any information provided. You can see more on the disclaimer page from the site’s home menu.
Life in 2020 has been a challenge, but has also been a time of healing and learning like we have never had before. Problems in the family that we have never “had the time” to address have shoved themselves into our laps and demanded to be faced. Attitudes that needed adjusted, tasks that have been avoided, lack of motivation, a need to be grateful- just to name a few.
As the new school year approached and we wondered what life was going to look like, my family made the decision to homeschool this semester. Yet, we have always had problems with even just one sheet of homework! How on earth would we get our boy to sit down and complete a day’s school work every day?
Many adjustments have we made and tools have we discovered to help us through this new season. My personal favorites have been:
TimeTracker Timer
Essential Oil Diffusers
Spotify
Canva
Homemade Hot Chocolate or Tea
Coping Skill Sheet
Setting Realistic Time Goals Worksheet
Gum
Fidgets
I am in the middle of writing a Homeschool Series including each of these tools that I have stuck in my Homeschool Tool Box. If you missed the first in this series, Using Timers for Homeschooling (And Life) For Kids With Autism, be sure to go back and read it. I wrote it first because it is the one that has made the biggest impact on our homeschooling this year!
As we traversed through the beginning weeks of the school year, it was made very obvious that keeping my boy engaged in his school work was going to be a challenge. He was bored. I noticed that he was in need of sensory stimulation. Therefore, I started looking for ways to satisfy my boy’s senses during the school day. I am pleased to say that we have been blessed with an abundance of these.
A few of the best ways that we have found to activate our boy’s senses and help him stay engaged in his work are:
Diffusing Essential Oils
Chewing Gum
Playing Preferred Music
Making Homemade Hot Chocolate or Tea
Fidgets
Each of these has helped us at different times and helps to add interest to the work day. Instead of causing distraction, these usually help to fill our boy’s senses. When he does not have a lack of stimulation, he is able to concentrate on his work much more effectively, with much less distraction.
I have loved essential oils for years, and enjoy playing seek and find on Pinterest hunting for new uses for them. Typically, I am looking for medicinal uses. From warts to insomnia, burns to anxiety, essential oils have played a key part in resolving many issues for our family. At the beginning of the year, however, I asked my boy to go pick oils to diffuse that he wanted. He started identifying specific oils that he liked, and often shared that he felt better having the pleasant smell around him. (We won’t go into the science of that “feeling better” from oils here, since I am not an expert and there is a different goal for this post.)
We have also listed them now on his Coping Skills List! He will go to the cabinet and look for an oil that he is interested in and put it on or diffuse it. It gives him a small break from the activity, gives him something to make his own decision on, and then gives him aromatherapy and the specific benefits of the oil that he has chosen. One thing that we pay attention to is that essential oils do require some caution. Some can cause skin sensitivity and need to be diluted. Others can interact with medications, so we always look up oils to check them against medications – just in case.
Spotify has been an awesome Tool during the year. Our boy LOVES Minecraft, and playing music from that or another preferred channel really helps to soothe his nerves and prevents him from being inclined toward distraction. If the music itself becomes a distraction, I simly pause it and wait fr him to refocus. Once he is back into his work, the music can begin again.
Chewing gum seems to help relieve tension for my boy. Having the subconscious part of his brain busy with the gum, he is less likely to be bored. Consequently, he is less inclined to want to boredom eat. This is a twofold solution since our boy constantly wants to snack!
Taking a break between topics to brew a cup of tea or mix a mug of hot chocolate provides just enough time for him to have a small reset between assignments. It also wards off excess hunger and engages the senses in many ways- taste, temperature, texture, etc. Our boy found out this year that he enjoys tea. Having a variety of teas is useful to add another decision that he feels in charge of. He really enjoys using loose-leaf teas. Placing them in his infuser and observing the various ways that the different blends change the color of the water is really fun for him.
Of course, he loves hot chocolate- I have never met anyone that didn’t. We were running through hot chocolate packets at an astronomical rate this summer, however. I knew we needed something a little simpler ingredient-wise and less expensive. I experimented a little and came up with a simple hot chocolate powder mix that makes a lovely hot chocolate just as fast as a packet! I have not made a large batch, because I like having to work a little to get it. Since boredom eating has been a problem in the past, I like for us to think through if we want to take the time to gather ingredients to make it before we can have it.
Every parent of a child with ADHD knows this word: Fidgets. Fidgets are real lifesavers. Though there are literally hundreds, probably thousands, of professionally made fidgets, I have found that nearly anything can serve the purpose for easing hyperactivityand anxiety for my boy. Something that he can mess with to take off that harsh edge of boredom without stealing his attention from his work- that is the perfect fidget. In the future, I will be writing a post on the various fidgets that we have bought. Yet, often, our boy prefers to grab a simple toy from his room to fidget with. Sometimes, he just sets it near him and having it close is enough to keep him from getting distracted.
All of these have been a huge help to our boy. I hope that some of them may be useful for you! Do you have any other suggestions for keeping kids stimulated and engaged during Distance Learning? Please share in the comments section below. I always love new tools in my Homeschooling Tool Box!
Caregiver’s Keeper 