Raising Smarter Children

Did you know that your child may suffer unnecessarily from visual stress?  In fact, eye doctors say that kids may be working much harder than necessary to read and write, simply because their visual system is stressed and it’s undetected.  On page 53 of the book,  Learning vs. Testing , here are the four ways eye doctors and reading specialists say you can reduce visual stress for your child.

1.  Tell your child to hold their book at a 45 degree angle when reading.  This is the optimal way for the light to hit the retina and laying the book flat on the table or desk, or holding it straight up and down, makes the visual system work harder to see the print.

2.  Encourage your child to take frequent breaks.  Have your child stand up, which increases blood flow to the brain, look far away, and then close up again.

3. Have your child use a 3 inch binder, turned on its side, so the book can be placed in a slanted position.  A 3 inch, 3 ring binder is much less expensive than a slant board, and works wonders for the visual system.

4. If your child holds a pencil with the middle finger on top, it stresses the arm, shoulder, neck and visual system.  Use a new pencil grip to relax everything, and you can also have your child turn their chair sideways, parallel with the desk when writing.  Try that for yourself, and see how much relaxed you are.

I just did that one myself, when writing out over one hundred wedding invitations for my daughter’s wedding.  I have to admit, it was much more relaxing turning my chair parallel with the desk!

Visual stress adds to stress your child may have, and this type of stress is completely preventable with regular eye exams by a developmental optometrist, and simple exercises like the ones listed above.

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Warmly,

Pat Wyman and Erin Mavredakis M.D.

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