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Dana Koenig is the founder of UnPlugged, a Ho-Ho-Kus schools organization that helps teens and families disconnect from technology for better focus and less stress.
Koenig received help from Dr. Tamar Z. Kahane, who runs the Kahane Center in Englewood.
The POWER Program focuses on teaching children the executive functioning skills which are critical for success in school as well as at home.“This is a great program that teaches them life skills and how to compensate for it,” Koenig said.
Her children 11-year-old Sam and 9-year-old Charlie attended a week of POWER, an acronym that stands for prioritize, organize, work, exercise, and regulate. Students are taught skills to help them cope with executive functioning deficits. However, some of these children are not formally diagnosed with any psychological, developmental, or learning disorder, but they may need help staying organized or remembering their homework.
“My kids thought I was sentencing them to something horrible, but when they came home they told me it was so much fun,” Koenig said.
Now the youngsters meet once a month for the booster program -- something that Koenig hopes she can bring to Ho-Ho-Kus schools as a form of maintenance for schoolchildren up to age 18.
“It gave me take-home skills, like creating these wooden trifolds so the kids can do their homework without goofing off," she said "And we color-code their stuff, which helps them organize their things by subject.”
MORE INFO: http://thekahanecenter.com
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