Mental Math Games (part 2 Of 3)

Mental Health blogger

In the introductory article, it was argued that learning mental math skills remains an important element of a child’s education, even in the age of the calculator. So what should you do if you feel your son or daughters mental math needs a boost? Rather than rushing headlong at the problem, it’s important to first establish how your student is performing in relation to their peer group, how mental math is taught at school and how engaged they are with the subject.

Start by meeting with the classroom teacher to find out how your child is taught mental math at school. Is it by using traditional methods which mix learning by rote and quiz type questioning? Does the class use eLearning software either for the delivery of mental math lessons on a whiteboard or for individual learning? In most cases, teaching will include a mix of all three elements, in which case it’s important to find out from your child which approach to learning they enjoy and respond to the most. The final question to ask the teacher is how your son or daughter is performing in relation to the class as a whole, when it comes to mental math. If their mental math performance is average or above average for their age, you can take an approach to improving their mental math skills which uses fun math games and activities, allowing the kid to progress at a rate that suits them. However, if your kid lags behind their peer group, a more structured and intensive period of remedial mental math is appropriate, in which you allocate a set amount of time each week to mental math activities and monitor their progress closely. Whichever approach is required, we’ll look at a few interesting ways to introduce mental math into your child’s everyday life in a way that they’ll be unaware that they’re improving their mental math skills.

Sports and Games Involving Mental Math
When I was at school, the best mental math student in our class was a kid who didn’t like math at all, but out of school he spent most of his time playing darts. He went on to study finance and is now a very successful merchant banker, which is a moral tale that will appeal to some parents more than others. However, darts is an excellent game for improving a child’s mental math skills. The game involves players in the full range of math: subtraction, addition, multiplication and division as part of the scoring process. Better still, the complexity of the mental math skills required to score and to calculate ‘finishes’ increases as a player’s darts skills improve, so that your kid’s mental math and darts abilities will improve hand in hand. For parents concerned about the safety implications of allowing kids to play darts, there are a number of junior darts alternatives for younger kids which follow the same format as playing conventional darts, but without any risk of injury.

The other traditional leisure activity that I advocate for improving mental math skills is playing board games. There are numerous board games which involve rolling dice to move around a board, but the one of the best board games for developing the complete range of mental math skills is Monopoly. When playing Monopoly each player moves around a board buying, developing and selling property with the aim of bankrupting all the other players in order to win. What makes Monopoly different from many board games is that one of the players is appointed banker, a role which requires them to manage many of the financial aspects of the game, including arranging mortgages on properties, taking payments and giving change. If you put a child whose mental math needs a boost in the role of banker (and ensure that the other players have the patience of saints) in time, you’ll find his or her mental math skills flourish while everyone is having fun. The great thing is that Monopoly gives everyone more than enough time for practical mental math practice, as the game has a reputation for being interminable. In fact, the longest recorded game of Monopoly lasted for 1,680 hours, which is 70 days or 10 weeks. Just think how good your young bankers mental math would be after such a monumental game and how frayed everyone else’s tempers might be as a result!

In the concluding article of the series, we’ll consider the role that online math games can play in improving a kid’s mental math skills.

Matcha Green Tea Benefits Both Physical And Mental Health

Mental Health blogger

One of the matcha green tea benefits is the green tea itself. To be able to have all the matcha green tea benefits, one should drink the entire green tea leaf. This is a lesson known only in Japan centuries ago. Today, with the technology we have, the matcha green tea benefits are reaching all four sides of the world.

Amazing Matcha Green Tea Benefits Are Due To First Class Handling

Getting the real matcha green tea benefits means getting the first class, stone powdered form of the matcha green tea. Tea leaves of the matcha are grown in shade. They are wisely set. Tea leaves are selected by hands only by the elites. With this first class standards, we can be sure to get its benefits as a whole.

Facts Supporting the Matcha Green Tea benefits

Studies from ages ago have shown that the green tea can truly benefit us. Matcha green tea benefits include the following: lessening the cholesterol content in our body, even fighting off cancer cells. The green tea can protect our teeth and gums. It can also give us a clear mind unlike coffee that can cause us palpitations. The list of matcha green tea benefits just goes on without end.

A fact about the matcha green tea, that is still unknown to many, is that it has a very potent content compared to the old-style-brewed green tea. The reason for it having lots of benefits is due to consuming it entirely. This makes its effects more potent with even just a small portion of it. Matcha green tea has about seventy times more detoxifying agents than that of blueberries and oranges alike. The catechin found inside it is known today as the most potent and influential body system shield from all sorts of toxins known to man.

Drinking it everyday can give you about one hundred thirty seven times more of EGCG compared to drinking a regular tea. And that is just one of the matcha green tea benefits. However, we should not depend solely on the matcha green tea itself. There is always a limit to something. We should remember to keep our bodies fit through balanced diet and exercise.

Where do you get to see people living longer than most? In Japan, where most are green tea drinkers, have the highest population of people who live longer than usual. Monks there are very well focused on meditation that can last up to twelve hours a day. The reason for this is may be because of the matcha green tea benefits they get from drinking it daily.

How To Help Your Teenagers Stay Healthy Mental Health

Mental Health blogger

Many mental health problems begin during the teenage years, probably because it is such a difficult time. Teenagers deal with the daily stress of school, peer pressure, and relationships. They have the added stress of exams, learning to drive and getting their license, and impending college decisions. For some, there are also jobs and first monthly bills, like car insurance or cell phones. When combined with the day-to-day stress of home and family life, it can be overwhelming.

Fortunately, there are things you can do to help your teenagers stay mentally healthy.

Stay connected. It is easy for parents and teens to drift apart, sometimes living in almost different worlds. Make an effort to stay connected to your teen. If you know what is happening in their lives, you can spot warning signals that your teen is having problems.

Maintain communication. Keep communication lines open with your teen. While he or she may not always want to talk, they need to know they can talk to you. If you put your teen off, constantly interrupt, or belittle what he or she is saying, then your teen will be less likely to talk to you about the important issues in his or her life.

Try to understand. Although your teenage years may seem like a long time ago, you can remember what it was like to be that age. Take a moment to think about what it was like to be a teenager. Instead of belittling your teen’s issues, or pointing out how small their problems are compared to those of your adult life, try to understand what it is like to be a teenager facing the issues a teenager faces.

Seek outside help. Many parents are afraid to seek outside help, whether a counselor or a friend’s advice, because they think it will make them appear incompetent. Do not be more concerned with what the neighbors will think than you are with your child’s mental health. If your child is struggling with problems that you do not feel capable of helping them handle, find someone who can help you both.

Your teen’s mental health has bearing on his or her mental health as an adult. How they learn to cope and adapt sets the stage for their coping and adapting skills throughout life. Taking the time to help them stay mentally healthy now will continue to help them during those times when you are not there.

You can help ensure that the choices your teen makes are healthy ones. While helping your teen stay healthy requires a little work, the benefits of your efforts will last a lifetime.

Children Taken To Mental Health Facilities, From School Grounds!

Mental Health blogger

Children taken to mental health facilities, from school grounds!

Taking “care” or taken for a ride?

by Ms. Laurie Anspach, Mental Health Activist and Executive Director of Citizens Commission on Human Rights of Florida (CCHR)

There has been a real “buzz about town” regarding the controversial subject of mental health screening within our public schools. Many parents are left with questions about their rights to protect their children. Parents have the right to know what actions will being taken, by the school, when their child is late for class, skips class, doesnt sit still in class or generally, is deemed inappropriate by a school counselor or teacher.

One young girl made the news after she was subjected to a so-called suicide prevention movie that provided extremely controversial criteria for how to determine if someone is at risk. The idea of mental health entering our childrens school day, is perhaps surprising to some. Unfortunately, the public schools are ridden with different programs that ask intrusive questions of the students; shows them films in the name of suicide prevention; and generally opens the door to diagnosing any child with an apparent disorder that is not backed up by any medical proof.

According to the Florida, WESH T.V, channel 2 report Jenny Helmick, a student at Wolf Lake Middle School, went to see a guidance counselor and ended up spending the night at Lakeside Alternatives. (a mental health facility). This student was involuntarily committed from the school grounds following the showing of a movie about suicide prevention. That is just one way a student can end up being extracted from school and involuntarily committed through the Baker Act (Floridas involuntary commitment law). Jenny was one of four students taken to Lakeside from Wolf Lake Middle School in one year, according to the WESH report.

Citizens Commission on Human Rights of Florida is a non-profit watchdog group that investigates and exposes violations of human rights in the field of mental health. At our offices, we have received many calls regarding children who were taken from school grounds and brought to a psychiatric ward.

A sample of the typical mental health questionnaire is below. The child needs to answer a multiple choice set of statements and rate them per this numerical system.
1= None of the time
2= Very rarely
3= A little of the time
4 = Some of the time
5= A good part of the time
6= Most of the time
7= All of the time

__________ I feel I get pushed around more than others

__________ I feel that I am a likable person

__________ I am afraid I will appear foolish to others

Imagine if children, who know they have already broken a school rule, under the pressure of getting in trouble at home, answer these questions and 20 more questions like it, but in addition, depending on their answers, they may be deemed by the psychologist administering this questionnaire, to be a risk to themselves or a risk to others. Once the child is deemed such a risk, they are escorted by a law enforcement official, to a receiving facility for the Baker Act, involuntary commitment.

There is an entire array of intervention programs that have been implemented throughout our public schools. Teen Screen, Signs of Suicide and On Campus Intervention Program are a few of them. CCHR Florida has received calls from parents who have told us that their children are subjected to the questionnaires for wearing a shirt that is too short, for being late to school, skipping class or fist fights in the playground. The problems seem to be problems that anyone who is 30 years or older, would have remembered as being handled by detention after school, extra school work and cleaning erasers for the teacher. Now, we have intervention programs, mental health counselors, psychiatric drugs being dispensed to children right in the school by the school nurse.

Perhaps, it is important to either fully educate the parents about the full procedure of these intervention programs, which would include educating them about the potential of their child being involuntarily committed and held in a psychiatric facility for up to 72 hours, minimally. Perhaps, it is time to fully educate the parents about the fact that there are no medical tests, chemical imbalance tests or blood tests to prove that any mental health disorder exists and that the psychiatric drugs that are prescribed to these children are in the same class as cocaine and carry dangerous side effects (some include the FDA black box warning of suicidal ideation).

Additionally, perhaps it is time to review the aspect of parental consent.

CCHR Florida has copies of the mental health screening consent forms. One of these is a two page parental consent form written in 8pt type (which is very difficult to read due to it’s small size) and does not mention the potential of a students evaluation leading to the involuntary commitment.

Minimally, we need to ask ourselves, are parents fully informed? Are the childrens rights fully protected and are the children’s best interests being looked after?

Fight Mental Depression, Live Long

Mental Health blogger

If you are feeling mentally exhausted, hurt, upset, and sad, then you just might be suffering from some kind of mental stress. You might not be able to understand what is causing this, but every effort of yours perhaps does not work. This is quite a traumatic situation for a lot of people who understand their situation, but is unable to find a solution to it.

Depression kills. No, really, this is one of the worst things that can happen to you, because it is a process of downward spiral. Feeling low is nothing new, but this is a state of mind that can happen due to a lot of different reasons. Have you ever figured out why you are feeling down? Do you know that your state of mind can be induced by malnutrition? That fat diet you have gone in, that supposedly would make you shed 20 pounds in a month can deprive you of much-needed essential nutrition that would have aided and abetted your mental health. Your mind functions because of your body, and depriving it can cause severe damage to the mind’s state.

The most common reason for depression is some sort of sad event. Death, divorce, job troubles or loss, sexual abuse, or other kind of sadness induces this state of mind. There are two types of depression — one is unipolar depression, which is a constant state of feeling low, without any change. Bipolar depression on the other hand is a state of depression alternated with feeling euphoric and happy, which often borders on madness. There are strong chances of this state of mind being transferrable from one person to the other, and it is noted that families with a history of this mental state are more prone to depression than most.

Another reason for this is the season. A lot of people in Scandinavian countries suffer from Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) which is a state of mind that happens when you are affected by the season. For example, if you see constant rains outside, it would make you feel upset, enhancing your mental sadness, and projecting and blowing it out of proportions. This is a state of mind which is pretty alarming, and it is connected with sudden cravings for certain kinds of food, like sweets and starch.

Physical illness is often the reason for depression. If you are not fit and have ill-health, you automatically suffer from a bout of mental sadness, and this state is often responsible for slow recovery of the body. Influenza often brings with it a bout of this mental state.

Well, if you are trying to get rid of your state of depression then you should definitely consult your psychiatrist. You can also be with friends, share your troubles, and let someone know of your inner traumas. Talking and counseling helps, and if you can explain your mental state, it makes you feel much better inside, and a change of diet and travelling can help fight this as well.

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