We have returned with our bag of good reads, helpful strategies and inspiration.
During the month of April we have visited all the blogs participating in the Gifted Homeschoolers Forum Bloggers’ Promoting health and wellness in the gifted/2E child blog hop. http://giftedhomeschoolers.org/blog-hops/promoting-health-wellness-gifted-2e-child/
We left comments at each post but some did not appear to have been received.
So here are all the posts we visited and the comments we left (or intended to leave)
Being Smart About Health and Wellness Wenda Sheard, J.D. Ph.D. Thoughts on Life & Learning “I believe that parents should tell their children the truth about health and wellness, warts and all. Let children know that we can no longer pretend that the first world lifestyle is benign. Teach children about society’s health and wellness foibles as well as our own personal foibles. Teach children about moderation, and teach them the dangers of assuming that moderation will work seamlessly or sufficiently to bring us health and wellness.” http://wendasheard.wordpress.com/2014/04/21/being-smart-about-health-and-wellness-2/
Thank you, Wenda! The vastness of the problems surrounding health and wellness and environmental issues can seem overwhelming; but you have shown how teaching our children about it openly and making small changes in habits can lead to improved health.
The Care and Feeding of Your Gifted Child ~ Homeschooling Hatters http://homeschoolinghatters.blogspot.ca/2014/04/the-care-and-feeding-of-your-gifted.html
Cara, thank you for sharing what is working for you; while we wait for the appearance of that manual that was supposed to accompany our own individual, asynchronous, eccentric, atypical, outlier child. Establishing routines, spending time in exercise outdoors, setting some quiet time and ensuring that mum takes adequate care of herself are all wise measures!
Keeping Balanced: Promoting Health and Wellness in the Gifted/2E Child Gluten-Free Mum “As I have talked about before, both my kids have LDs. My son has SPD and ideopathic toe walking (plus another unknown disability we’re going through the wringer to get diagnosed). My daughter has anxiety disorder – she gets stressed and then is unable to feel pain – which causes her to be a sensory seeker – she likes throwing herself onto the floor for the bump. I cried the first time she complained about a minor injury. Because it was a big deal – it meant that she was able to feel it, and therapy was working. So today I’m going to talk about how we incorporate strategies into our day to keep everyone on an even keel. Some of these are for the disabilities, some for the OEs. They all help.” http://yellowreadis.blogspot.com.au/2014/04/promoting-health-and-wellness-in.html
Thank you for sharing some of your strategies for dealing with the sensitivities and OEs – the bean bags, stretches, swinging and spinning, the animal walks and breathing exercises!
Little Ones and Car Seat Fury ~ Through a Stronger Lens http://throughastrongerlens.blogspot.com.au/2014/04/the-case-of-car-seat-fury.html
I am glad she is happy with the new seat! That will make life so much happier all round!
Minimizing Stress, Anxiety and Emotional Outbursts ~ A Voracious Mind Minimising stress, anxiety and potential emotional outbursts by carefully choosing how, where and with whom we spend our time is omnipresent.
http://giftedunschooling.blogspot.com.au/2014/04/minimizing-stress-anxiety-and-emotional.html
Knowing who you are and therefore lessening stress, anxiety and potential emotional outbursts by careful choice of activities is such wisdom. Thank you for sharing.
Physical Fitness for Kids Who Like to Sit Ecletic Homeschool “Several years ago I realized that we had to do something different if I wanted to give my kids the gift of a healthy lifestyle. I had to make it a priority in our life and in our school day.” http://eclectic-homeschool.com/physical-fitness-with-kids-who-like-to-sit/
What fun ways of including incentives to exercise! I need to read Dr Sears L.E.A.N. kids book!
School Lunches versus Packing a Lunch: How to Keep Both Healthy ~ Mama in the Kitchen
http://mamainthekitchen.com/2012/05/23/school-lunches-versus-packing-a-lunch-how-to-keep-both-healthy/
There is a wealth of study topics offered here which would help the children learn to make informed choices about nutrition and health. Thank you for a great post!
Simple ways to nurture wellness in gifted/2e kids (and grown-ups!) ~ RedWhiteandGrew http://redwhiteandgrew.com/2014/04/21/wellness_in_gifted/
Yes Absentminded Professor meal distraction could be a problem for us too; particularly if circumstances caused us not to be eating together at the same meal time.
Sometimes western medicine has no answers. Holistic medicine and my 2e kid ~ Laughing at Chaos
http://www.laughingatchaos.com/ghf-blog-hop-holistic-medicine-and-my-2e-kid/
Jen, I am just SO delighted to hear this good news!
Steps for dealing with anxiety, feelings/emotions, and your 2e child ~ A 2e Fox Revived Steps for dealing with feelings/emotions…. such as identifying feelings (sad, mad, bad, glad), validating those feelings, and sharing the feelings http://a2efoxrevived.blogspot.com.au/2014/04/steps-for-dealing-with-anxiety.html
Thank you for a great post with lots of helpful suggestions and reference links! You are so right the key is getting them to recognize their feelings and when they’re getting anxious.
Tips for Taking Your Kids to the Dentist ~ Scleratus Classical Academy Strategies for first time visitors and sensitive kids, co-authored by an experienced dental assistant and father
http://sceleratusclassicalacademy.blogspot.com.au/2014/04/tips-for-taking-your-kid-to-dentist.html
Thank you and Principal Daddy very much for such helpful tips! I wish we could rewind and try those early dentist visits again using some of these suggestions!
Tips from a Coach for Keeping Gifted Children Active ~ Great Peace Academy “An Interview with the Coach of The HomeSchool Gym, a unique program designed specifically for homeschool students. He shares his principles for including, interacting and managing expectations for his students, specifically gifted and special needs children.”
http://www.greatpeaceacademy.com/2014/04/tips-from-coach-for-keeping-gifted.html
Coach Chris sounds like an excellent inspiring teacher! I love his emphasis on helping each individual student to achieve the best possible results and enjoy the activities.
Your Shame is Their Shame ~ Building WingSpan http://buildingwingspan.blogspot.com.au/2014/04/your-shame-is-their-shame.html
Thank you so much for a great post! I love your words “You have to show them how to appreciate the unmeasurables.” and “But you can give them a road map for loving themselves anyway and embracing those parts of themselves that are so very different to others.”
Sprite’s Site missed the blog hop, but she has been visiting the posts! Here’s what she has to say about it: April Blog Hop
https://spritessite.wordpress.com/2014/04/21/april-blog-hop/
And we are home again. We have left messages where we could and will post about our experiences on the hop soon.
Sprite’s Site has been nominated in the Australian Writers’ Centre Best Australian Blogs 2014 Competition
http://www.writerscentre.com.au/community/best-australian-blogs-comp/
If you would like to vote for Sprite’s Site (and Gifted Resources blog and as many other great Australian blogs as you wish) in the People’s Choice section click on the badge in the sidebar of the blog and follow the link to the Survey monkey poll. Gifted Resources blog is on Page 2 and Sprite’s Site is on Page 4.
Please visit this month’s Blog Hop contributors and leave a comment. Be part of the conversation!
http://giftedhomeschoolers.org/blog-hops/promoting-health-wellness-gifted-2e-child/
Sprite's Site 