Yes, I’m a teacher but I’m also a Mom of an awesome kiddo with ADHD.  You probably don’t need me to tell you that focusing is just downright painful sometimes – downright impossible other times.If you aren’t blessed with your own ADHD kiddo in your home, I’m sure you can think to your class and pinpoint one (or more) students who really struggle with focusing.  Ever wonder why?  Well our developmental pediatrician once told me that an ADHD brain is actually a sleepy brain.  The constant change of focus and movement is the body working very hard to keep the brain awake so they can focus on the task at hand.  It actually makes me tired just thinking about it!  These kiddos are working very hard, a lot harder than the neuro-typical kid, to do the ever important job of learning.

As a mom and teacher I am always looking for ways to help my kids (yes, the one I birthed and the ones given to me at school) learn.  For some this means we need to help them focus before they can learn.  I’ve scoured pinterest, talked with therapists, and tried all kids of things.  Then I was connected with Scott Ertl.  Scott, a veteran school counselor, is also the creator of Bouncy Bands.  I jumped at the opportunity to try out Bouncy Bands, not just for my son, but to share them with you too!

When I received the Bouncy Band I was really impressed with the quality.  Remember that part about me trying all kinds of things before, well the downfall to many of them was that they just don’t hold up to the constant movement of my ADHD kiddo.  Not Bouncy Band!  The Bouncy Band is made of heavy-duty rubber that is up for the challenge!  Additionally, the Bouncy Band is easy to put on and take off with no damage to the chair (or desk).

We got the Bouncy Band installed on my son’s desk chair and were ready to put it to the test.  At first, Landry was actually distracted by the Bouncy Band because it was new and intriguing.  I gave him time to just “play” on it and try it out.  Little did he know that “play” time was actually working to keep his brain awake and help him focus.

 

After a couple of days, the newness wore off and I really got to see if the Bouncy Band would help him focus, work and learn.  Yes, yes and yes!!!!  I saw a noticeable improvement in his ability to focus and work when using the Bouncy Band.  When those two things get better so does the learning!

This was the kind of focus I saw when Landry was using the Bouncy Band!

One day Landry came to me with this quirky smile on his face.  “Mom, I was using the band and you didn’t even know it!”  He was so proud of himself and he was right, I was not at all distracted by his use of the band.  What does that mean for the classroom?  That means a student can quietly wiggle and bounce on the band without it being distracting to the classmates and teacher.  I don’t know about you but that sounds perfect to me!  So often the movement that these kiddos need in order to focus and learn is the exact movement that distracts others from learning.  Bouncy Band can help solve that!