Healthy Mind, Healthy Summer

Written By Lois Ingber

As our sights become set on summer break, there is a tendency to want to abandon routines and structure, and just “go with the flow.”  While taking a break is important and needed, it’s also important to maintain health and well-being.  Dr. Dan Siegel’s research-based “Healthy Mind Platter” is a guide for finding balance, offering “seven daily essentials” for a healthy mind for adults and kids: https://drdansiegel.com/healthy-mind-platter/
 
The one essential for kids that tends to get overlooked during the summer is “Focus Time” –  the equivalent of learning and study.  There are, however, numerous ways to incorporate Focus Time during fun summer activities: attending camp, visiting museums, exploring nature, interviewing family members, building a model, doing art, learning a new sport.   Here is a list of 101 activities: https://childhood101.com/summer-learning-activities/
 
Challenge:  Choose together with kids 3-5 “Focus Time” activities that fit into your summer plans.
 
 
Lois Ingber, LCSW, CPDLT
Behavioral Counselor
lingber@myelement.org

Lois Ingber

LOIS INGBER, Behavioral Counselor, is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and Certified Positive Discipline Lead Trainer.  Lois holds a Bachelor Degree in Sociology from UCLA and a Masters in Social Work degree from SDSU where her focus area was Children, Youth, and Families.  Lois has worked in social service, private practice, hospital, clinic, and school settings, most recently for seventeen years at Rady Children’s Outpatient Psychiatry providing school-based counseling services.  Lois was a Community Montessori and Dehesa parent prior to joining the staff in 2016 and brings this perspective to her role.   Lois is responsible for providing education, collaboration, and support implementing the Positive Discipline model and social/emotional competencies in the Learning Center and home learning environments, in line with Element’s philosophy of self-directed learning and the development of mastery, autonomy, and purpose for students and the adults who serve as their guides.

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