Dear Friends of Quest,
I hope that this monthly installment of our newsletter finds you happy and healthy! Our spring sessions are in full swing and summer is just around the corner!
FREE EVENT:
Quest will be hosting a meeting to describe many of the therapeutic components we use at camp regarding developing better emotion regulation and pro-social behaviors and how parents can utilize these strategies in the home setting. The talk will be held on Thursday, June 5th, from 6 to 8:30pm at the Central Library in Huntington Beach (Room D) and is open to parents and professionals in the community. Please RSVP toJodie_Knott@questcamps.com.
As I announced last month we are putting into place several new things that I think will help to improve the camp experience.
New Additions for Camp this Summer Include:
--A transportation shuttle service to and from camp
--New field trips for bowling and the movies
--Additional Parent Meetings
--A new registration that will be much more user friendly than our last system and allow for signups by smartphone and tablet
--Additional staff to assist with the administrative details of camp
Summer Dates: July 7 to August 14
Please Click Here to View the Summer Calendar
This issue of our newsletter features an article regarding how to encourage children to engage in a wide range of activities. At Quest, we are proud to provide an innovative treatment program through our therapeutic summer camp and school year therapy groups that have been proven to reduce problem behaviors not only at camp, but in school, at home, and in everyday life. We hope that our newsletter will be a source of support and applicable information to improve the lives of the amazing children and families in our community.
Sincerely,
Jodie Knott, Ph.D.
Director and Licensed Psychologist
Quest Therapeutic Camps of Southern California
Getting Children Away From Computer Screens and Into Other Activities
A common struggle that many parents have is how to tear their children away from electronics and computer screens and to get them participating in other activities. This can be especially true for children who have attention and social difficulties, who appear to be more likely to be sucked into the strong gravitational pull that these devices tend to have. The good news is while it can take effort there are ways to help get children into other interests and even out into the outdoors.
This heightened pull toward electronics for children with attention and social difficulties could be related to several factors including:
1. Children with attention difficulties are more likely to hyperfocus at times and video games are designed to be highly stimulating.
2. Children with social difficulties are often less likely to have social activities in the hours after school compared to children with many friends.
3. Interacting with other children in video games through game interfaces often feels safer for children than engaging in face-to-face interactions.
4. Children with attention difficulties struggle with feelings of boredom in many situations and having a handheld device serves as a distraction or a way to possibly avoid social situations in public that could be stressful.
Strategies that parents can use to get away from electronics:
1. Limit game time and make it a reward when it is allowed. Many families set many restrictions for screen time. Some will set rules around no game or screen time on school days or will only allow screen time as a bonus when homework and other responsibilities are completed.
2. Assist children with understanding what other types of activities are available when electronics are not going to be available to them. Some children with attention and learning difficulties have more difficulty than other children remembering all the other activities they can do since if children are hyperfocused on video games this type of tunnel vision can make it difficult to remember other options. Some children do well when they work with their parents to create a written list of all the activities that are possible to do. I know other families who have set up activity stations for their children with stations housing a variety of different types of activities or hobbies. Stations should be tailored to the child, but can work well when their are several options (books, Legos, art supplies, sketch pads, visual puzzles, models, journals,etc.).
3. Teach children social rules they might not be attending to including that all children are bored at times and it is a life skill to be able to find appropriate ways to entertain oneself.
4. Provide bonuses for children who participate in various enrichment activities without dwelling on their desire to spend more time playing with electronics. It is common for children with attention and social difficulties to really fight against going to activities or trying something new. Bonuses for children who try new things or who have a good attitude when they are directed to new activities can be helpful. Also, in these types of situations I find that often children are anxious about not knowing what to expect or are overwhelmed in part due to other activities of the school day. In these cases, helping children to increase their skills in regulating their emotions by using a variety of coping strategies can be helpful.
5. Have days where the whole family unplugs together. These could be days spent outdoors such as having a family outing or playing a game together.
Developing interest in other activities can sometimes take time and investment, but can really payoff for children and their families as a whole. Hopefully these tips will help to get more families outdoors and away from screens.
I hope that this monthly installment of our newsletter finds you happy and healthy! Our spring sessions are in full swing and summer is just around the corner!
FREE EVENT:
Quest will be hosting a meeting to describe many of the therapeutic components we use at camp regarding developing better emotion regulation and pro-social behaviors and how parents can utilize these strategies in the home setting. The talk will be held on Thursday, June 5th, from 6 to 8:30pm at the Central Library in Huntington Beach (Room D) and is open to parents and professionals in the community. Please RSVP toJodie_Knott@questcamps.com.
As I announced last month we are putting into place several new things that I think will help to improve the camp experience.
New Additions for Camp this Summer Include:
--A transportation shuttle service to and from camp
--New field trips for bowling and the movies
--Additional Parent Meetings
--A new registration that will be much more user friendly than our last system and allow for signups by smartphone and tablet
--Additional staff to assist with the administrative details of camp
Summer Dates: July 7 to August 14
Please Click Here to View the Summer Calendar
This issue of our newsletter features an article regarding how to encourage children to engage in a wide range of activities. At Quest, we are proud to provide an innovative treatment program through our therapeutic summer camp and school year therapy groups that have been proven to reduce problem behaviors not only at camp, but in school, at home, and in everyday life. We hope that our newsletter will be a source of support and applicable information to improve the lives of the amazing children and families in our community.
Sincerely,
Jodie Knott, Ph.D.
Director and Licensed Psychologist
Quest Therapeutic Camps of Southern California
Getting Children Away From Computer Screens and Into Other Activities
A common struggle that many parents have is how to tear their children away from electronics and computer screens and to get them participating in other activities. This can be especially true for children who have attention and social difficulties, who appear to be more likely to be sucked into the strong gravitational pull that these devices tend to have. The good news is while it can take effort there are ways to help get children into other interests and even out into the outdoors.
This heightened pull toward electronics for children with attention and social difficulties could be related to several factors including:
1. Children with attention difficulties are more likely to hyperfocus at times and video games are designed to be highly stimulating.
2. Children with social difficulties are often less likely to have social activities in the hours after school compared to children with many friends.
3. Interacting with other children in video games through game interfaces often feels safer for children than engaging in face-to-face interactions.
4. Children with attention difficulties struggle with feelings of boredom in many situations and having a handheld device serves as a distraction or a way to possibly avoid social situations in public that could be stressful.
Strategies that parents can use to get away from electronics:
1. Limit game time and make it a reward when it is allowed. Many families set many restrictions for screen time. Some will set rules around no game or screen time on school days or will only allow screen time as a bonus when homework and other responsibilities are completed.
2. Assist children with understanding what other types of activities are available when electronics are not going to be available to them. Some children with attention and learning difficulties have more difficulty than other children remembering all the other activities they can do since if children are hyperfocused on video games this type of tunnel vision can make it difficult to remember other options. Some children do well when they work with their parents to create a written list of all the activities that are possible to do. I know other families who have set up activity stations for their children with stations housing a variety of different types of activities or hobbies. Stations should be tailored to the child, but can work well when their are several options (books, Legos, art supplies, sketch pads, visual puzzles, models, journals,etc.).
3. Teach children social rules they might not be attending to including that all children are bored at times and it is a life skill to be able to find appropriate ways to entertain oneself.
4. Provide bonuses for children who participate in various enrichment activities without dwelling on their desire to spend more time playing with electronics. It is common for children with attention and social difficulties to really fight against going to activities or trying something new. Bonuses for children who try new things or who have a good attitude when they are directed to new activities can be helpful. Also, in these types of situations I find that often children are anxious about not knowing what to expect or are overwhelmed in part due to other activities of the school day. In these cases, helping children to increase their skills in regulating their emotions by using a variety of coping strategies can be helpful.
5. Have days where the whole family unplugs together. These could be days spent outdoors such as having a family outing or playing a game together.
Developing interest in other activities can sometimes take time and investment, but can really payoff for children and their families as a whole. Hopefully these tips will help to get more families outdoors and away from screens.
