Category Archives: Tips for Parents
Keeping Your Kids Busy During the Summer
All school year long…it’s there…just out of reach…summer vacation! “No more school! No more books! No more teacher’s dirty looks!” Other than Christmas vacation there is nothing that kids look more forward to than summer vacation. So, why is it that on the third day of summer vacation your kids will be complaining that there’s nothing to do?
Here’s a few ideas to keep your kids busy during summer vacation:
Child Care Activities Help Keep Your Kids Happy
After school child care is just a fact of life for most kids. Rarely, do parents work schedules that allow kids to come home directly from school. So, it’s important to find a child care program that stimulates their mind and bodies.
Here are a few ideas that you can ask prospective child care facilities about:
- Creative Arts: The Boys and Girls Club suggests allowing the kids to participate in theatrical productions that they can perform for their parents. These activities can introduce kids to literary classics, as well as, help them with memorization and socialization skills. Daily arts and crafts projects that are based on a theme or holiday are always popular with kids. A new twist on this could be allowing the kids to display their arts and crafts in an “art gallery” setting for their families to see.
Would you want your child to “attend” elementary school online?
For those unfamiliar with the online education world it has now crept into the elementary-aged student realm. So how does it work? Are there real “teachers” that the students interact with? Is there a way to interact with other students? Can the level of difficulty be adjusted for the particular student’s learning needs? Below I will try to provide a little insight on a few of the options out there as well as my opinion about online learning.
How young is too young to start teaching technology?
Should a two year old be using a computer? What about a five year old? How do you feel about students in elementary school using computers and other technology during the school day? If you’re like me you probably have mixed feelings about it.
While I understand the inevitability of technology in my own children’s lives, I’m not sure I want them to be inundated with it at an early age. I still feel somewhat compelled to teach my kids how to use an encyclopedia and dictionary the old fashion way. To have them learn the proper way to write a thank you note or a birthday invitation. When was the last time you got an invitation that wasn’t through a site like Evite? (Will even wedding invitations come via Evite soon?)
One Kid’s Trash Is Another Kid’s Treasure
We’ve all done it…walked into our kid’s room and thought, “how can they have nothing to do with all of these toys?” You start looking around and you find toys that you haven’t seen them play with in months…toys that they just had to have, but now just sit on the shelf.
So, what do you do with unloved and forgotten toys? Parents magazine thinks that you and your kids should host a “Play It Forward” party and they offer these tips on how to make it a big success:
A Family Emergency Escape Plan Can Save Lives
“House fires are much more common in the winter,” John Drengenberg, consumer safety director for Underwriters Laboratories recently told Parents magazine. Creating a family escape plan and practicing it twice a year can give you peace of mind and even save the lives of your family.
Parents magazine suggests these steps when developing your families escape plan:
- Find two exits from every room. The second exit can be a window. Teach your kids not to open a door that feels hot.
- Agree on a meeting spot. Make sure it’s well-known, like the big tree in the front yard or the playset in the back. Avoid decks and porches.
Tech toys or talking and playing?
When it comes to children’s language and social development there are plenty of tech toys out there that will surely make all of our children into geniuses by the time they are 5 years old. I wonder if our children will even be able to make the sounds in the English language as we know them since most of there language learning seems to be coming from toys and videos instead of real people…
Turning Kids In To Healthy Eaters
With childhood obesity and anorexia/bulimia on the rise among kids lots of parents are stressing over what to feed their kids. It’s a balancing act…making meals that your kids like and will eat…not being judgemental…always being supportive…it’s tough. I bet Betty Crocker and Chef Boyardee never had this problem with their kids.
Dr. Ovidio Bermudez recently told Parents magazine that while parents don’t cause eating disorders, moms and dads can push a vulnerable kid into the danger zone or out of it. Many of the strategies for discouraging anorexia and bulimia are actually the same as those that curb overeating, he added.
Thanksgiving Thoughts: Crafts and Activities to do with kids
Sometimes Thanksgiving is a time to remember we are blessed and to be thankful for those blessings. Other times it seems to be about don’t burn the bread and make sure the turkey isn’t too dry with a side of ugh… will they ever leave? And since for most of us it’s a combination of all of the above I thought some crafts and activities to help keep at least the younger set entertained and out from under the adult feet might be in order.
Make place mats for everyone with Thanksgiving themes and pictures
- Use leaf rubbings to make place cards
Do These Jeans Make Me Look Fat?
I have to admit I’m guilty of asking my husband, “does this outfit make me look fat?” just about every time we walk out the door. I think on some level it’s normal to want to make sure that we look “nice” when we’re going out, but not eating or purging after you do eat so that you can achieve the perfect body image isn’t normal…it’s an illness.
I don’t think that, in our body conscious society, we are surprised by the number of teenage girls and even boys who suffer from anorexia and bulimia. The statistics that are surprising…frightening…and sad…are the number of young kids who are now dealing with these mental illnesses.
