Everyone can start to feel reluctant at doing something, even something they love.  Kids with ADHD typically need things kept fresh, while children with autism thrive on consistency and predictability.  Other kids, whether they have dyslexia or any other learning disability, will typically all get into a bit of a learning slump around November.  But there are some solid strategies to get out of the slump and re-energize learning!

Transcript:
Decoding Learning Differences with Kimberlynn Lavelle. This episode is reenergizing learning around this time in the year. We often start to see a slump in everyone's enthusiasm around anything that looks anything like school, any learning activities start to feel really hard. Exhausting. We just can't wait for the next break. Right. So understand that, accept that. And it's okay. One thing that was shown to me years ago is it,

it wasn't this exact graphic, but it was similar to this where the red circle is where we're at right now, if you're watching the video, you're able to see that that red circle is showing that's your learning slump. That's where we're at around November. We start the year off, like super Yeah, We've got this! And youmight've started with some anxiety. So that was kind of that initial low.

And then we go, yeah! I got this. This is great. We're in a stride. Things are great. We've got everything figured out. And then things start to get harder. That's not necessarily the academics that are really harder. It can often just be the ability to put forth effort Suddenly feels so much harder. It feels so much harder to have the energy,

to do the thing we're supposed to do or to care about this learning activity or this workbook that I've been doing for three or four months. Now I'm over it, right? Our kids might not be saying that, but they might be showing it. So keep that in mind. That's kind of where we're at right now in the school year. So there's a few strategies to deal with this.

First of all, check your own energy. How are you showing up? If you are showing up like, oh, we need to do this. Let's go. Your kids are going to be like, no, I don't want to, because you've put forth that energy of you don't really want to. They don't really want to either. And there's going to be that like clash,

because you're looking for that fight. Even if you don't want the fight, right. I know you don't want it. But when you approach with that kind of, let's go, it's time to do math. That's the energy of I'm looking for a fight. So keep that in mind, check yourself. It's better to not say anything than to say something.

That's just going to trigger everyone and get everyone butting heads. Although I also know it's hard, but that's why I'm saying it right now to remind you to think about it. Be mindful and cognizant of it and reflect on how you're feeling before you ask your child to do something. So check your own energy. What are you bringing forth when you're ready to be like,

Hey, do you want to work on that workbook now? No, they might say no. And how is your energy? Are you going to be able to accept them Saying no, I don't want to? great. How about we go, to a museum? No, I just want to watch this play this video game. Can you handle it?

If not, what do you need to do for yourself? What is whatever your self care is that is going. now, there's different things that you're going to need. Right? But right now in this moment, if you're feeling like if they say that to me, I... then just stop and think, what do you need to get to where you can handle that and not,

not really mind at all. Think about it. the number. Well, all right. So number one, check your energy. You've got to, because if you show up like, Hmm, I don't want to, and they're going to have the same energy. strategy two: mix it up. This is a huge one that any good teacher is doing around November. We got to mix it up.

Now there are, I have to always balance this because for example, students with autism, sometimes they don't slump. They go along proceed like very orderly. We did the same thing every day and I expect it to stay the same. So then when their teacher mixes it up, they suddenly start to have a hard time. Not because they're in November slump,

but because the teacher mixed it up for the other kids and that is impacting them. So keep that in mind. Where is, where are you at with your child? So if your child is in a funk, it might help to mix things up. For example, you might go to a new place that you've never been before. You might say,

Hey, today let's work underneath the kitchen table Instead of on top of it. you might say, we're, you might pack up a picnic and say, we're going to go do all of our work at the park today. Okay? Depending on where you live, that may or may not be feasible in November. I live in Southern California. It tends to be feasible to do things like that all year long.

If it's not raining. you  can gohave a picnic in the park. If it is raining, Then we'll just put on our gear and maybe not have the picnic at the park, but we'll go to the park anyway. So keep what actually works, but you could do something super silly and fun too. Like maybe for one day you crank the heat up, super hot in your house and you wear bathing suits and play in the,

the tub as if it's a pool. And you just pretend like you're on summer vacation. Like for one day that you're just silly. And maybe you throw in some learning activities, or maybe you don't sometimes mixing it up is about saying, we're not doing any structured learning today. No workbooks, no textbooks. Keep those hidden. I don't want to see them.

We're not doing any of that today. We're not doing any of that This week. we're coming back to it next week on Monday, feeling super fresh or we'll come back to tomorrow, feeling fresh, whatever, whatever you've decided is best for you and your family. This today, this week today, we're doing this thing. Or maybe you're going to go on a little trip somewhere,

whatever it is, mix it up. Fun. Interesting. Remember that kids learn really well when things are novel. They're new. They're interesting. They're exciting. So mixing things up helps to make it new. Interesting, exciting. Even if you're not like trying to teach them something with it, like, you're not like, oh, we're gonna mix up how we do our math assignment.

And we're now going to do math this way. Even if you're like, we're not doing any schoolwork today, you might still learn something, right? There's a lot of everyday learning that happens. So look for that. Notice it, notice it and appreciate it if it happens. But don't like stress about it has to happen. It'll happen. Everybody's learning all the time.

No worries. Okay. Strategy three is to allow for rest and reflection. Think about the earth and what the earth cycle is right now. Well, the cycle of the earth is like on earth. We go through four seasons, right? We have spring. Everything Is new and exciting. Blossoming. new babies are being born. We go through summer, everything's in full bloom and it's warm.

We go through winter. Things are, or we go through fall where things are preparing for winter. It's getting colder. The leaves are coming off. The trees, things are winding down, energetically. in winter, Some animals are sleeping the whole winter, right? Some plants are sleeping the whole winter. So think about that. The Earth's energy. we're going through these cycles.

The earth is not constantly in spring, producing new, exciting things, or in summer enjoying the full bloom and right? It there's different. There's a cycle. It goes through different seasons. You might need to have a season of the books are away until January. The books are, away until February. You might have months of we're not doing any work right now.

Like official work. We're going to just rest. We'll read some books for fun. We might write some letters to friends for fun. We'll still do math every time we bake, but we're not going to do any structured learning for months because we need time to rest, recoup, and reflect. And then maybe that means that all summer long, you guys are in full bloom of learning mode,

right? Maybe, maybe that works well for your family. Maybe it doesn't, you know your family, you know what works for you. So trust it. You've got this. I just want to know. I just want to make sure you know, that it is an option to just stop and rest and reflect because we all need that. And it's really powerful because when you spend that time resting and reflecting,

you're more energized and you've got these brilliant ideas to put in place in the future. You can reflect and come up with all these brilliant ideas or even just like this didn't work. This did work. I need to come up  with an idea for this in the future, right? Maybe you're not even generating ideas. You're just reflecting on what has worked or what hasn't worked so that you're ready to generate ideas later.

Do some journaling yourself, maybe also your kid, but you do your journaling. And if you journal in front of your kid, maybe your kid will also journal and there'll be some learning happening that way. But strategy four is to follow your child's lead. So again, if your child is like, which I kind of always am a big believer in the strategy in general,

but notice where their energy's at, where their interests are and go with it. The kid woke up super interested in the butterflies, the butterfly book, we're studying butterflies. There aren't any butterflies around us because it's November, but we're studying butterflies and we'll look at some pictures of the butterflies we saw in the summer, whatever it was, right? Whatever they're interested in,

what their energy is. If they wanting to go, go do stuff. Great. If they're wanting to kind of have a more mellow day, go with that. Not that you're looking to them to make all the decisions, but you're noticing what they're interested in, what their energy is. And you're going with that and helping them feel good about where they're at and what might be happening.

Okay. Take away: expect a slump around this time of year, expect it, accept it and expect the resistance that comes with it. That there will be resistance to learning. Expect it And do something about it. Don't don't fight through it. It's just not helpful. Nobody's learning when you're like fighting about getting the math worksheet done. Right?

please. Don't. how is your energy right now? I would love to know, are you like super energized in the fall or are you like, I just want to cozy up with a book By the fire. Watch a movie. How is your energy right now? And is there anything I can do to support you? Email me Kimberlynn@DecodingLearningDifferences.com.

I can not wait to hear from you. And I do have a few spots that are opening for a couple of coaching calls, coaching clients. If you want, if you're interested in that, email me Kimberlynn@DecodingLearningDifferences.com. You can also find out more information at yourparenthelp.com. I can't wait to hear from you! Bye.