Review+Giveaway: Managing Time is a Lifelong Skill- So Let's Get Started with Time Timer Plus & ZINGO! Time-Telling

WHAT: Time Timer PLUS  and ZINGO Time Telling

DOES: Excellent way to how time is always moving and to help measure that internally
INVEST: Game: 19.99; Timer: $37.95

AGES: Game 4+; Timer: Ages 2-102
TOOLS: Think Like a Scientist/Engineer, Like An Executive, Flexibility is My Superpower

GIVEAWAY PRIZE: One Winner Receives Both the Game and the Timer!  Woo-hoo!

I think teaching time to kids is only half-done.  Time instruction mostly focuses on reading an analog clock and assess period in between two points in time. But why stop there?  Time is something that can help kids and adults be much more self-aware of their abilities and when people know themselves, they can stop comparing themselves to others and work on their own goals.

Do we ever ask kids describe what an hour feels like? And I'm so guilty of this: I tell my kids, "I'll be there in five minutes," but sometimes I'm not. Kids worry that a dreaded activity will go on forever because they don't really know what 45 minutes feels like but they may if you tell them, "That's like 2 episodes of Rabbids Invasion." Somehow, that is reassuring. 

Review + Giveaway: Guest Post: A Toy that Hugs is the Best Medicine

WHAT: Toys Are Tools First Ever Guest Post with Review
DOES:  Opportunity for us to get to know a very helpful book.
INVEST: $9-12 (depending on retailer); Chair: $85

AGES: For the Grown-ups

GIVEAWAY PRIZE: Get Your Own HowdaHug chair. 

From Jenn:
Seven years ago, I checked myself into the E.R. because I thought I was having a heartattack. It made no sense because my blood pressure and cholesterol levels were always good. But my chest was hurting and I could barely breathe.

But it wasn't a heart attack. Acutally, it was a panic attack. I think the stress of having Number 1 and Number 2 with all of the "not normal" and yet "advanced" things they were doing were making me crazy. I don't do well with mixed messages.  I started to wonder how bad were my kids' problems and was I good enough to deal with them? I decided to answer this question by writing a blog and through that I met others like me who wanted open dialogue on this issue.  With each blog post, we attempted to wash off all shame and fear and opened up our private lives in hopes that we'd be helped by being helpful.

One person I met on this journey turned out to be extremely helpful, building a support blog serving thousands of parents of children with ADHD.  She has since moved on to let her branches grow higher and wider.  The publication of her book is just one of many achievements she has made. Expect more from Penny Williams in the future, a woman I am so proud to call my friend.

A Toy that Hugs is the Best Medicine

By Penny Williams, Author of Boy Without Instructions: Surviving the Learning Curve of Parenting a Child with ADHD

My son, Ricochet, has ADHD, Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD), Dysgraphia, and a high IQ. I’ve been searching for the right support tools and toys for him since his diagnosis in 2008. It’s difficult to find toys and tools that hold his interest and support his challenges. Science, geometric, and building toys are his top interests. But, even when he’s highly interested, it’s sometimes hard to sustain attention and stick with something for an adequate period of time. Part of that is his ADHD, but part of it is also his need for consistent sensory stimulation, due to sensory processing disorder.