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. Bouncy Bands are a tool that can help them!

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 kinds 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!

The Bouncy Band Trial

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!

Bouncy Band to the Rescue

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 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!

Bouncy Bands in Your Classroom

So about now, you are probably in one of two camps – one that has already gone to the Bouncy Band website and has your shopping cart almost ready to check out, or one that really wants the Bouncy Band in your classroom and wishes you were independently wealthy so you can buy one for every student in your room.  If you are wishing to be independently wealthy then I have a great option for you – Donor’s Choose!

Donor’s Choose is an amazing website that allows teachers the ability to quickly write a grant request for classroom resources and have it presented to people all around the world for funding.  I’ve used Donor’s Choose for many grant requests.  Here’s the best part – Bouncy Bands will help you get your grant request written with a sample grant application, great ideas and more!  Just click on the picture below to get started and soon you can have a class set of Bouncy Bands!