How do you strengthen your brain?

We celebrated "Train Your Brain Day" for the first time through an online event held last October 13. Joining us are BGC-based services KIT101 Art, Pretty Huge, and Urban Farmers PH plus Former Senator Francis ‘Kiko’ Pangilinan in a special appearance. It was lovely hearing how all these activities--brain training, art, exercise and farming--help develop kids, and how they all promote a common thread of developing patience, perseverance, effort and a growth mindset--much needed life skills! Huge thanks to our guests for sharing their time and insights, and to those who tuned in—we enjoyed reading your comments! Congratulations to the raffle prize winners.

Watch the replay here!

October is ADHD Awareness Month

The month of October isn't just for Train Your Brain Day -- it's also ADHD Awareness Month!

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD, is a condition characterized by impulsivity, hyperactivity, and inattentiveness. For this month of October, we celebrate ADHD Awareness Month with an aim to educate ourselves and share important information about ADHD. While kids in general may struggle with focus, those with ADHD experience harder struggles at a higher frequency. So, how well do we know the condition? Let’s broaden our understanding of the condition by looking into common myths and misconceptions about ADHD and focus:

MYTH #1: "Kids can’t have ADHD if they can focus on their video games – they just need to control it." Children with ADHD do not necessarily struggle with a lack of focus, but rather a dysregulation of it especially for mundane tasks that require sustained attention for a long period of time. A part of ADHD diagnosis is "hyperfocus" in which kids can remain focused on a particular activity for excessive amounts of time while neglecting other tasks, especially when they are highly stimulated.

MYTH #2: "Kids are passive when it

comes to distractions -- there's nothing we can do to make them ignore what distracts them." Not only can we, as their caretakers, take the steps to create a distraction-free environment but so can our kids! The key is to be mindful of what makes our minds wander off and address them to what fits us. Does a quiet

environment help you focus or do you work better in places like a coffee shop where there's some noise? What kind of music helps our attention or what about no music? While distractions can affect us, we and our kids do not have to be passive to it -- we can help create an environment that encourages our full attention. MYTH #3: "It’s impossible to teach kids how to stay attentive." We may have come to believe that attention is just something we naturally have (or don't have!) but besides changing the physical environment, we can actually promote focus by strengthening our kid's attention. Creating routines, playing games, and meditating are just some activities that help with the attention of kids with ADHD and those without.

These are just some of the many misconceptions about ADHD and focus. There is still a plethora of information about the condition but it's a stepping stone to learning about this topic further.

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Speaking of strengthening attention, if you’re looking to speed up progress in this area, our programs effectively improve one’s attention and focus whether diagnosed with ADHD or otherwise. Clients often see significant improvements in 4-6 months. Reach out to inquire. Take advantage of our ongoing Buy-One-Get-One free promo! Sometimes, weak focus is not just because of weak attention skill as we have seen in our students, so it is good to have an idea of the student's cognitive strengths and weaknesses so that the proper intervention can be made.

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Strengthening your child's focus: J.P.'s #MyBrainRx Story

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Sources:

[1] https://www.freepik.com/free-vector/hand-drawn-adhd-illustration_24746700.htm [2] https://www.freepik.com/free-vector/hand-drawn-adhd-illustration_24746701.htm [3] https://www.freepik.com/free-vector/hand-drawn-flat-design-adhd-illustration_25632549.htm [4] https://beechacres.org/clearing-up-myths-and-misconceptions-about-adhd/ [5] https://www.mindful.org/common-misconceptions-about-focus/