This document provides information about an upcoming presentation on dealing with attention difficulties in young children. It includes the presenters' contact information and credentials. It also lists some characteristics of ADD/ADHD, ways to measure a child's attention span, and signs that may indicate attention issues in young children. Management tips are provided, as well as offers for training, consultation, and classroom resources.

1. Attention! Attention! Attention!
Dealing with Attention Difficulties in
Young children
Presented
by
Angela Searcy, M.S. and Lyn Sumerset
Simple Solutions Educational Services
www.overtherainbowsimplesolutions.com
asearcya@aol.com
708-845-2343/866-660-3899

2. Want the More Info???
• Facebook:Angela Nelson-Searcy
• http://www.facebook.com/people/Angel
a-Nelson-Searcy/100001295809551
• Linkedin: AngelaSearcy, M.S.
• http://www.linkedin.com/in/angelasearcy

3. Angela Searcy asearcya@aol.com 708-845-2343
• Angela Searcy M.S., D.T. holds a B.A. degree in English and secondary education with
teacher certification though the state of Illinois and a M.S. degree in early childhood
development from Erikson Institute, with a specialization in Infant Studies and a credential
in developmental therapy. Angela is a Diversifying in Higher Education in Illinois Fellow
at Argosy University in the Doctor of Education Program
• Angela is the owner and founder of Simple Solutions Educational Services, has over 20
years of experience in the field of education, is an approved professional development
provider by the Illinois State Board of Education, and Texas ECI. She acts as an
educational consultant for the Multisensory Training Institute (MTI) in Needham, MA,
Lakeshore Learning, Carson CA and Center on the Social and Emotional Foundations
for Early Learning (CSEFEL) at Vanderbilt University. Angela is also a professor at
Rasmussen College and a PDI coach with the Ounce of Prevention
• A former associate at the Neuropsychology Diagnostic Center in Orland Park, Illinois,
Angela has specialized training in the neurosciences and is a nationally recognized speaker
with extensive experience working with professionals, young children, and their families as
an early childhood teacher, child development specialist, staff developer, mental health
consultant, parent educator, language arts teacher, college professor and tutor. Her expertise
encompasses developing behavior modification programs from a neuropsychological
perspective, and creating professional development grounded in neuroscience research
related to adult learning.
• She has been featured on Chicago Public Radio’s Chicago Matters, Chicago Parent and
Chicago Baby Magazines and is a regular speaker for the Learning and the Brain

4. List some of The Characteristics of
ADD/ADHD

5. Brain Stem is Highlighted

6. It is normal for children to have
less focus!
Children Adults

7. How Do We Measure Attention
Span?

8. How do you measure attention
span?
• Psychologists vary on what they believe
the “average” attention span of a child
may be. Most agree that the child’s age
plus two minutes is the average. That
means most kindergarteners (most are
five years old) have a five to seven-
minute attention span. This means the
teacher/therapist should rotate
activities (not the topic) every 5-7
minutes!

9. This Sounds Like a Typical Young
child!
• It is difficult to diagnose in young children
because it is normal for activity levels to
increase each year until the age of
three.
• In order to diagnosis ADHD/ADD it must
be maladaptive and inconsistent with
normal child development

10. Caution! Caution!
• The DSM-IV urges clinicians to use
caution when considering an ADHD
diagnosis under certain circumstances.
The manual notes, for example, that it is
difficult to diagnose ADHD in children
who are younger than 4 or 5 years of age
because the variability in normal behavior
for toddlers is much greater than that of
older children

11. Red Flags
• If a genetic predisposition or siblings with
ADHD/ADD
• Excessive crying/difficulty maintaining homeostatsis
• Difficulties to be soothed—several techniques do
not consistently soothe this child /Self regulation
• Hypersensitivity to sensory stimulation
• Feeding problems, irregular eating
• Sleep disturbances / Nocturnal enuresis/Bed-wetting

12. More on Bed Wetting
• Children with ADHD had a 2.7 times
higher incidence of bedwetting and a 4.5
times higher incidence of daytime wetting.
Southern Medical Journal
• A history of bedwetting is a very strong
clue to the diagnosis of ADD/ADHD. (Dr.
Monroe Gross, M.D., ADD Medical
Treatment Center)

13. We have found there to be a
direct correlation between…
poor quality sleep and how
[children] are able to function
during the day. Often we see
signs of ADD or ADHD as a
result of this compromise.”
International Children's
Continence Society (ICCS)

14. Why is movement critical for
attention and learning?
• Whole brain functioning
• Movement activates attention in young
learners
• Movement stimulates the release of
neurotransmitters in the brain
• The cerebellum or small brain is critical for
learning

15. Basic Brain Development

16. Research shows, adults as well as children, tend to remember 10 percent of what we read, 20
percent of what we hear, 30 percent of what we see, 50 percent of what we hear and see, 70
percent of what we say, and 90 percent of what we say and do. Learning happens through
interactive, real-life, task centered, self- directed activities
Hearing
words
Looking at
Pictures
Watching a Movie
Looking at an Exhibit
Watching a Demonstration
Seeing it Done on Location
Participating in a Discussion
Giving a Talk
Doing a Dramatic Presentation
Simulating the Real Experience
Doing the Real Thing ( Authentic Assessment/Activity Centers)
(Malcolm Knowles, 1990)

17. Remember sensory and motor
activities are the key that turn
attention!

18. Use all 6 Senses!
•
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Services © 2011

19. Management Tips
• Directions: Tell when before what, and
demonstrate
• Identify safety concerns
• Use body control rules
• Enforce boundaries
• Think about how this activity would
work best( large or small group?)
( how would you adapt to fit your
space?)

20. Add Smell
• Extracts
• Lotion

21. Add Touch
• Velcro
• Sand paper
• Salt
• Sand
• Water
• Contact paper stick side up
• Window work
• Felt/fabric
• Wood

27. Let children Discover new things at
Center Time

28. Add A Sensory
• Sand /Dirt/Water/Finger Paint/Foam/Whip
Cream/Shaving Cream/Sand Paper
• Make Letters with Wood chips or scraps
• Make letters with light bright or overhead
projector
• Do Centers Outside!
• Ice letters, numbers, shapes
• Use manipulates to make sentences—squares
are nouns, circles are verbs, triangles are
adjectives.

29. Add Movement

30. Materials to Add!
Story blocks
Word blocks
Ball toss
Bubble wrap
jump
Sound jump
Letter Jump

31. ABC PATHWAYS MAT
 Make your letters by
moving your fingers
around the pathways
 Move objects (like
Matchbox cars) around
the “racetrack” and
create letters Copyrighted and sold by
Jean Blaydes-Madigan
 Walk around the mat to at
create letters www.actionlearning.com

32. JUMP ROPE LETTERS
 Make the shape of the letter with your
jump rope on the floor
 Add a jump rope to help create the
letter
 Create a word with multiple jump ropes
 Add a partner to help!
 Perform a locomotor movement around
the jump rope

33. MOVE CUBES
 Fill in the slots with words, letters,
exercises, verbs, adjectives, parts of
speech, body parts, movements, word
chunks, expression…anything!
 Roll the cube.
 Do whatever the cube landed on.
 Combine more than one cube.
 Use for story starters, math
operations, poems, images, etc.

34. Change HOW children Move!

35. Read Story While children Act it
Out
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Services © 2011

36. Simple Solutions Educational
Services © 2011

37. Lifeprint.com
More
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Services © 2011

38. More Ideas!
• Bass Toss Q and A
• Sensory webs
• Musical chairs Q and A
• Syllable “Duck Duck Goose”
• Syllable “Mother May I”
• Story Blocks
• Story Maps
• Red, Yellow and Green light Q and A
• Hula Hoop/Tangle toys Q and A
• Shape sentences!
• Obstacle course Q and A

39. Sight

40. “If I can’t picture it, I can’t
understand it.” Albert
Einstein

41. See sounds!

44. Circle Time
Simplify the Activity
From: www.headstartinclusion.org

45. 3 Before Me
1. Think to myself
2. Check the direction chart.
3. Ask a Classmate
If you still need help clip your name to the chart for teacher help.
In order to minimize interruptions during small group guided reading, children will need to know what to do if they
need help. This technique is something I learned at an inservice I attended and it has worked well. Not only does it
allow me time to work with my small groups, but it also makes students accountable for their learning.

46. Right Way/Wrong Way

47. Simple Solutions Support!
Simple Solutions Educational
Services © 2011

48. Choosing the Right
Text
•
• When teaching young readers how to visualize, it is important to
choose the right text. There are many incredible authors out there
who have the art of creating pictures in a reader’s mind down to a
science. Be sure to choose a text that is full of
descriptive language.
• Inspired by the season and the calming mood that is created by
this story, I chose to use Cynthia Rylant’s Scarecrow to teach a
diverse group of 4th graders how to visualize. It is important to
prepare for possible "bumps in the road" before reading any book
with your students. When planning out your lesson, read over the
text beforehand and be prepared to pause at certain places to
provide the appropriate scaffolding to meet the diverse needs of
your students.

49. • Try using a blank piece of drawing paper and
encourage your students to organize their thinking
in their own unique way. You'll find that some
students may create one large illustration and add
details as they go while others will divide the
paper into sections, creating new scenes as they
listen to the details in the book. It is interesting to
see how each student organizes the pictures
created in their mind in their own special way.

50. Directions:
• Listen as I read ___________________.
• Write about what you see as you hear the
story.
• Use illustrations, words, phrases, or
sentences — or combine them all!
• Draw and write as YOU see it in your mind.
There are no right or wrong answers. Just
fill up the paper as you visualize the story.

51. How to do this…
• You’ll want to pause and give students enough time to get
their visualizations down on paper.
• Stop at planned points to clarify difficult vocabulary and check for
understanding. In addition, there may be parts of the text you
need to reread to the students, giving them time to develop a
clearer sense of what the author is encouraging them to picture
in their minds.
• Remember — during this first reading of the story, refrain from
showing your students any of the beautiful illustrations that
may grace the pages. You want students to create their own
mental images without any bias.

52. Justin
• Justin is four years old. He is very quiet gentle child. He sits
quietly during circle time and story time. It sometimes feels
as if Justin is not even in the class he can be so good!
Justin’s mom says he is an angel at home –he plays alone or
watches TV for hours. Justin can be “clingy” when going to
sleep. His mother says he has a hard time going to sleep at
home ---but his mother appears “young” to you and this is
her first child. Justin is a picky eater at school and his
mother says he only eats five foods at home –chicken
nuggets, macaroni and cheese, apple sauce, cheese and
bread. You have been his teacher for the last five months
and you think he needs to eat more at school –you think that
at home his mother just babies him. The infant, and toddler
rooms all said Justin appeared a bit “spoiled” and his
mother gave him baby food until he was almost two and
used to puree his food even at 18 months –.

53. Ask yourself…
• Does Justin have a normal attention
span? Why or why not?
• Does Justin show any warning signs of
ADD/ADHD? Why or why not?

54. Joanna
• Joanna is 2.6 years old. She is always on the go! She goes
from center to center during free play. She does sit and do
an art project for about 5 minutes –but is off again soon!
She sees the blocks and throws them. She then gets in the
basket that the blocks are put in and goes “zoom!zoom!”
The teacher tells her that is for the blocks not her—she
leaves soon after. Joanna eats well and sleeps well. Joanna’s
mother says she is “hyper at home” She says she won’t even
watch TV –she watches TV just for a few minutes then is
off to something else! She breaks her toys and takes them a
part—sometimes she can piece them back together
sometimes not—she is very “destructive” according to his
mother. Joanna tells her she wants to see how the toys work.
Joanna will play with blocks occasionally or occasionally
do an art project for 4 or 5 minutes

55. Ask yourself…
• Does Joanna have a normal attention
span? Why or why not?
• Does Joanna show any warning signs of
ADD/ADHD? Why or why not?
• What strategies would you use to help
Joanna in your classroom and not
wander?

56. Management Tips
• Rule of thumb: more students on task, less
behavior problems
• Do not hand out equipment until directions
are over, or keep equipment “hidden” until
“GO”
• TEACH children with stories and puppets on
how to behave during activities
• Use short transition times (plan ahead)
Transitions should be planned –and include
active engagement

57. Need Training or a Key Note?
• We provide on-site training, consultation
or teleconferences/webinars!
Simple Solutions Educational
Services
asearcya@aol.com
708-845-2343/866-660-3899

58. Simple Solutions Classroom Kit!

59. MORE RESOURCES:
 “North Carolina Classroom Energizers” by
Activity Promotion Laboratory & East Carolina
University School of Health and Human
Performance at www.beactivenc.org
 “Brain Gym” (1989). Paul & Gail Dennison.
Ventura, CA: Edu-Kinesthetics, Inc
Exercises & Materials at www.braingym.org
 PE Central Integrated Activities Ideas
www.pecentral.org/lessonideas/classroom/
classroom.asp

60.  “Learning with the Brain in Mind” by Eric
Jensen. Go to www.jlcbrain.com
 “Thinking on Your Feet” by Jean Blaydes-
Madigan and “Action Learning” at
www.actionbasedlearning.com
 “Interdisciplinary Teaching Through Physical
Education” by Theresa Purcell Cone. Order
through www.humankinetics.com

61. References
Gardner, H., & Hatch, T. (1989). Multiple intelligences go to school:
Educational implications of the theory of multiple intelligences.
Educational Researcher, 18(8), 4-9.)
“The Treasure at the Bottom of the Brain” by Henrietta C. Leiner and
Alan L. Leiner, September 1997.
Berninger, V., & Richards, T. (2002) Brain literacy for educators and
psychologists. San Diego, CA: Academic Press.
Gardner, H. (1983). Frames of mid: The theory of multiple intelligences.
New York: Basic Books.
Sylwester, Robert. (2005) How to Explain A Brain The Educators
Handbook of Brain Terms and Cognitive Processes CA: Corwin Press.
Websites
www.brainconnection.com
www.brainland.com
www.epuh.org/cm/home_htm
http://cognet.mit.edu
www.neuroguide.com