Mad River Behavioral Health

It's not the fault of the teachers. It's not the fault of the parents. It's not the students ...  ******************************************** You can always tell when a system is in trouble when blaming exceeds problem-solving. Let's stop blaming and get on with the work of solving. For many children, the public school system works just fine.  For some, the curriculum speed moves to slowly; for others, it moves too quickly. To solve this, how about if we match curriculum speed to each student's unique learning speed? Students should be able to gain 90%+ mastery on every single learning unit from kindergarten on before seeing the next learning unit. Children who move forward with less than 90% mastery have ever increasing learning gaps accumulating as they move through the grades. Can they get away with 80% mastery?  Yes, but it's not a preferred outcome.  Can students get away with 70% mastery?  Every now and then, but if kids are chronic B-C-D students, ...

Rule #1 Believe that “children do well if they can.”  If they aren’t doing well, wonder why that is - what is interfering.  Establish realistic expectations that the child is, in reality, capable of achieving.  Expecting something more than what the child can actually achieve is highly likely to result in failure, increased behavioral difficulties, and to foster a sense of ineffectiveness, helplessness, and worthlessness. Implementation Dip.  When you begin a new intervention .. expect things to get worse first.   It all works best if the process is entered into collaboratively -- with parent and child / teacher and child in agreement.  Let child know what is changing before beginning If you change your approach / style and they don't know why, it can make kids anxious and defensive.  Visualize Success.  What will success look like?   What are you trying to accomplish? What is your purpose? What are your short, mid-r...

Say Yes!    Right from birth, you will want to create the belief in your child's mind that life is filled with endless opportunities and possibilities, that the limitations are few. This is accomplished by saying yes, a lot. By saying yes, you can teach your children that life is filled with opportunities and possibilities, teach them delayed gratification and impulse control, anticipatory planning and problem solving skills.  You don't have to start when they are brand new infants.  If you missed the opportunity when they were newborns,  Begin, Wherever You Are . Saying no to children diminishes both the child and the possibility of nurturing this belief. Saying no to children creates a belief in their mind that there are fewer opportunities and possibilities, that they can not do. OK, I hear your concerns. This is not a recommendation for an unbridled free for all. The idea is to parent intentionally, with a healthy outcome in mind, not to cr...

I watched as the toddler tumbled down a full flight of stairs.  I held my breath a bit while his Dad went down to retrieve him, we all did. Will he be OK? Kids make mistakes – a lot of them.   Parents make a lot of mistakes too.  The goal of parenting is to embrace and celebrate errors, mistakes, injuries, and failures; turning them into resilience, achievement, optimism, and success. If your child falls while learning to walk:  exude confidence, cheer!, pick them up, dust them off, and set them back on their feet again.  If they are hurt, take a moment to empathize and reassure.  If they are injured, apply compassionate care and seek medical attention as needed.  No matter what the mistake is, always "set them back on their feet".  Continue to do this for the rest of your life. There are, however, some critical errors that do need to be prevented.  For example, it's not beneficial to children to experience traumatic brain injuries,...