Help Desk Fall ’08

question_marks Welcome to the Kids Enabled Help Desk – where readers go to ask questions about what is important to them. The 2007 fall issue gave the first opportunity for you to ask and be answered. The following is the question that was chosen and a synopsis of the answers from our panel of experts.

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Learning differences are not limited to the classroom and can influence a child’s experience in extracurricular activities. Kids Enabled’s panel of experts tackle a sports question for this issue’s Help Desk.

Question:

I am a coach with 10-year-olds on my team. Many of my players have difficulty staying focusedand keeping their attention on the game. Do you have any tips or strategies that I can use?

Answers:

Kathy Platzman Ask yourself, “Under which circumstances does this type of athlete work best?” Then, either tailor your approach to that child,or group kids together who have that same learning style. Another strategy is to surround a struggling child with “good example” kids. This way the child can emulate others if he doesn’t understand what is happening. Classroom teachers have found that multi-sensory processing is often the key to holding a child’s attention.In other words, demonstrate a concept and talk about it and let a child have hands-on experience with the concept. This maximizes the chance of achieving good attention and appealing to the child’s specific learning style.

Kathy Platzman, Ph.D., KE Editorial Advisory Board Member

To help minimize distractions, it may be helpful to assign“jobs” to each child for a period of time. Reiterate that each player’s “job” is important to the whole team. Another option is a “buddy-system” where children are paired together to help each other focus and stay on task. Have each pair practice “coaching” each other.

Amy B. Sherman, M.A., CCC-SLP, KE Editorial Advisory Board Member

Laurie Smith Children, like adults, need a reason to stay engaged in an activity that requires intermittent participation. Communicate in clear terms what you want them to do and why it’s important that they do it. During a game or practice, try to “catch” kids paying attention and compliment them with something like, “I like the way you are watching the movement on the fi eld.” Receiving compliments for doing the right thing is much more motivating than being corrected for doing the wrong thing! The key is to clearly define the behaviors you seek, confi rm that they are realistic goals for children this age and make sure the adults involved are as focused as the kids need to be (e.g. no cell phones, chatting, daydreaming).

Laurie Smith, KE Parent Representative

Dr. Penny Hayes Break down teaching time in practice into smaller chunks of time (five or 10 minutes) and intersperse these with high activity drills. For games, have players focus on just a few tactics at a time and encourage the team members watching to pay attention as well. Be specific about the behaviors you want them to watch for and then praise them when they notice.

Penny Hays, Ph.D., KE Editorial Advisory Board Member

Caroll Ann Brannon Following proper sports nutrition principles can improve the attentiveness and performance of all children, especially children with ADHD and learning differences.

Ask team parents to provide healthy carbohydrate snacks such as low-fat popcorn, whole-grain mini-bagels, low-fat muffins, granola bars, crackers, pretzels, yogurt and fresh fruits.
Remind parents to include protein in pre-game and post-game meals and snacks. Good protein snacks are string cheese, low-fat yogurt, seeds and nuts.
Hydrate before, during and after exercise or activities. The optimal hydration fuel for activities lasting 60 minutes or less is water. Children should to drink 4 to 8 ounces every 15-20 minutes
Avoid sugary or carbonated beverages because highsugar beverages are absorbed more slowly and may cause stomach cramps, nausea, bloating and diarrhea.

Carol Ann Brannon, M.S., RD, LD, KE Editorial Advisory Board Member

Gayle Born Have a signal you call out that means heads up or attention! Let the team decide on the word. Some kids will need more signals, reminders and cues. If it’s baseball, be sure to have a buddy/coach at each base to remind them to run when it’s time. Always give directions or make important comments when players are looking at you. When possible, have the kids repeat back to you your words and directions. Then you can clarify directions as needed.

Gayle Born, M.Ed., Educational Consultant, Parkaire Consultants, KE Editorial Advisory Board Member

Danielle Moore To help focus attention, say the child’s name before giving multi-step directions. As a coach it’s important to recognize the talents and struggles of each team member. Give each player positive feedback before and after the game so they feel you are on their side whether they win or lose.

Danielle Moore, M.S. Ed., CCC-SLP, The Language Group, KE Editorial Advisory Board Member

Clay White The short answer is to keep them in motion. Minimize down time and keep verbal explanations brief. Kids don’t need to be great athletes; they just need to pretend that they are for a few minutes a day. If kids shoot baskets at a standard 10’ goal, they enjoy it enough. But lower the hoop to 6’ where they can “slam dunk” the ball and the level of excitement and motivation goes way up. They all become NBA stars (minus the bad behavior).

Clay White, M.Ed, Director of Clay White, LLC

Shahnoor Dharamasi Provide drills for the kids to do during down time in a game. For example, if it’s a baseball game, have them throw and catch with each other or run back and forth (like base running). Pulling, pushing and jumping activities provide proprioceptive feedback and help keep kids attentive. During practice, break things up into endurance training (running bases) and skills drills (batting practice, catching) and then have kids play a game to practice what they’ve learned.