Friday, May 29, 2015

Getting the Kids to Read over Summer Break



Teachers will tell you that it is important for children of all ages to read over the summer, but, for many kids, that is the last thing they want to do. Many children take a few steps backwards in their reading ability over the summer break, and it often takes weeks in the fall for them to catch up.

Reading is the single most criteria for academic success. The acquired knowledge children get from reading can actually make them smarter. They will have a vast wealth of information to draw from in their academic lives. In addition, reading helps develop critical thinking skills. As a college professor, I can assure you that the ability to think critically is the key to academic success in later years. So, it is up to parents and grandparents to help kids find opportunities to read over the summer so we can keep them sharp!

1. Join a the local library’s Summer Reading Club: there are often rewards for the children at the end of the summer for reading a certain number of books

2. For older kids, purchase an e-reader. Libraries provide opportunities to download books for free, so the e-reader actually pays for itself. There are also websites, like Book Perks, that show books available on Amazon for free or between .99 to $2.99.

3. Make sure your student sees you reading for pleasure. You are still the greatest influence they have.

4. Read the same books that they are reading and talk about the book with them.

5. On the Parenting website, an article by Melissa Taylor suggests

a. Let the child pick his/her own books

b. Use audio books while in the car (they can also be borrowed from the library)

c. Remember, comic books count!

6. Have a regular day of the week when you go to the library

7. Sign up for programs the library has to assure you a regular trip to library

8. Along with sunscreen, make it a habit for the whole family to pack at least one book on all road trips.

To find the entire article by Melissa Taylor, see

http://www.parenting.com/blogs/mom-congress/melissa-taylor/10-ways-get-kids-reading-over-summer

Saturday, May 23, 2015

Teaching Children About Random Acts of Kindness


Many adults have created a mindset for themselves of looking for opportunities to be kind to others. Many of us regularly let other drivers ahead of us at a merge, hold doors for others and even pay the toll for the car behind us.  Wouldn’t it be great if we all had begun that mindset when we were young children?At the dinner table, brainstorm some acts of kindness the children (and you!) can do that week. It might be hard for the children to think of what they can do, but the point is to make it a mindset. To encourage the children, you can all put your act of kindnesses on a piece of paper or a heart and make a collage. Here are some suggestions to help you and your children and grandchildren to create this mentality:

  • Volunteer to help distribute food at the food bank.
  • Have the child go through toys/clothes and bring him/her along when you donate
  • Make cards and pictures for out of town relatives
  • When you make cookies or brownie, have them take some to an elderly neighbor, stay and share some with them.
  •  Encourage children to give their seats to pregnant women and those older than them on the bus, waiting for a table at a restaurant, etc.
  •  Sign up to put the flags on gravestones on Memorial Day
  • Teach them to always say thank you
  • Rake leaves of an elderly or overwhelmed neighbor (shovel snow, too)...obviously this is a suggestion for an older child
  • When getting a pet, adopt.
  • Show by example to hold doors for the people behind you
  •  Go to the dollar store and get some of the items that an organization like Operation Gratitude sends to the troops…don’t forget to have the children send with it a thank you card
  • Make sure children always write their own thanks you notes for gifts they receive ( I have realized lately that sometimes people appreciate these handwritten notes more than a phone call)
  • Have the kids take the Sunday paper and clip coupons and leave them on the shelves in the grocery store when you go shopping.
  • Pick up litter (and obviously, don’t litter yourself)
  • Invite a lonely child to play
  • Talk to the new kid at school
  • If you see a homeless person, bring them some food. It may be uncomfortable for you at first, but it is important that the children see that everyone matters.
  • Smile and say hi to strangers
  • They should say good morning to their teacher, principal, school officials and classmates.  
  • They can offer to take their neighbor’s dog for a walk. 
  • Volunteer to be a tutor or mentor in a school, especially if there is an area in which you can help another student (this is great one for teens) 
  • Give someone a compliment at least once every day. 
  • Encourage them to be extra kind to the school bus driver. Say hello when they get on the bus and say thank you when they get off the bus. 


Read more: http://www.feelslikehomeblog.com/2014/08/60-random-acts-of-kindness-for-kids/#ixzz3b0LZyBL9 Follow us: @TaraZiegmont on Twitter | FeelsLikeHome on Facebook

Thanks to http://www.bradaronson.com/random-acts-of-kindness/

http://www.eatsleepbe.com/2012/02/acts-of-kindness-for-kids/

Thursday, May 14, 2015

War and The Disney Princesses



Recently, when I was driving my granddaughter home from pre-school, we passed a memorial for those who died in WWII. She asked me what it was, and I told her. Her next question threw me for a loop: “What is war, Grandma?” I told her it was when two countries have a fight. She seemed fine with that answer, for now. But she is a curious child, and I know it will come up again, and I want to be ready. So, I went to see what was on the Internet about how to discuss war with a toddler. It seems the consensus was that there is no easy way to explain it to children, toddlers and up.

It seems, though, that it is not a quick conversation. It is one where the concept of freedom needs to be explained. For toddlers, you can just say that freedom is when people can be able to do what they want, as long as it doesn’t hurt other people, without be afraid of being punished. For example, the Evil step-mother in Cinderella would not let Cinderella go to the ball, but the Fairy Godmother stepped in and helped Cinderella go to the ball. Using examples they can understand will help small children understand better an abstract concept.

That can give you a good transition to talking about war. You can continue with the Cinderella example. Explain how if Cinderella was one country and the Step-mother was the ruler, sometimes other countries (the Godmother, the mice) have to go and help Cinderella..

One website I went to said you need to discuss with your children that not everyone is good; there are evil people in the world. They know this already; they have seen Maleficent, Japhar, the Evil Queen, and numerous other Disney villains in action. They already know the world is filled with bad people. What we have to do is to assure them that the good guys will protect us from these people.

You can also use this opportunity to show the troops to your child as the heroes of the story and explain how much we all owe those people for stepping up and fighting the villains of the world so we can have a safe life here. It is important to reassure the child that he/she is in no danger, so they can go back to being a kid.

Now, you may be saying that this is deceiving the child; that I can’t keep the bad guys from her door ( try to stop me!), and I know that, but at four she doesn’t need to go to bed at night and worry about the Big Bad Wolf coming to knock down her door. She has an answer for her question for now; this is not the last time this issue will come up, and as she grows so will the conversation.



Friday, May 8, 2015

Let’s Get Organized



We look on ourselves, whether we are parents or grandparents, as our child’s first teacher. We teach them to say “please” and “thank you” and to tie their shoes, tell time and ride their bike, but how many of us teach our child to be organized? For me, organization is one of the great comforts of life and don’t we all want the children in our lives to feel that comfort?

Here are some suggestions that might help you and your child get on the road to organization:

1. We can all take a lesson from Mary Poppins and make the job of picking up into a game, seeing who can pick up the most red blocks, etc.

2. Have open storage. Having a closed lid toy box gets the toys out of the way, but it does not make for a quick clean up. Being able to just toss stuff animals into an open bin is far easier and more fun than having to open the lid.


3. You can also label these bids for an even more organized storage system. For children who cannot read yet, put photos of the items for that bin on the front. Such as a picture of one of the child’s Barbies for the bin for the fashion dolls.

4. If you will be helping, put on some old rock ‘n roll and you and the kids can dance while you tidy up.

5. You can set rules that they have to put away any toy they are playing with before they go on to the next toy.

6. There are also lots of negative ways that you can approach this, such as taking away any toy left out overnight, but the point of teaching children to be organized is to have it be a lifetime skill that can grow as they do, so having a negative connotation to the process might defeat the purpose.

7. Once children go to school, organization becomes the road to success. Have a place where all book bags and homework go after school and after homework. Have a place for permission slips and make sure to look in it every day. Teaching children the theory of “a place for everything and everything in its place” makes mornings so much calmer.

8. Develop a daily schedule (with input from the child). Children a get a real sense of comfort from consistency.


9. At the appropriate age, teach the child about the benefits of a to-do list. Children work well with a to-do list since it gives them the confidence of knowing they won’t forget anything that needs to be done and they can run out to play knowing all their chores and homework are done and Mom and Dad will appreciate their responsibility.

10. Before bedtime, you can review the next day with the child. Include planning what to wear (check weather) and what is on the calendar for the next day.



Here is a list from http://wolves.dsc.k12.ar.us/parentcenter/resources/organization.pdf to see if your school age child could benefit from some organization:

SIGNS OF POOR ORGANIZATION

Below is a list of situations that may be a sign that your child is having problems with organization and planning.

· Fails to bring home homework assignments

· Does not know the exact homework assignment

· Fails to return completed homework

· Does not know when the teacher gives homework (e.g., days of the week)

· Does not know how the teacher typically informs them of the homework assignments

· Does not know to bring home books or needed materials

· Does not know when assignments are due

· Does not have papers and study guides to study for test

· Does not know when tests are

· Does not have a regular study space

· Does not have needed supplies for homework

· Waits until the last minute to start homework/studying

· Runs out of time when studying for tests



Looking at this list, there are many things we could do to help this child. The first might be to contact the teacher and inform his/her of the problems and see if you can be informed of the homework each week, perhaps through emails. Provide a comfortable and well stocked area where the child can study with all the materials he/she might need. This area does not have to be away from all disruptions. Children often feel isolated when they are forced to do their homework all alone in their rooms. Help the child prepare a homework schedule. Help the child create a homework schedule. It could be that the amount of work overwhelms the child and he/she doesn’t know how to break it down into steps.

Monday, May 4, 2015

The Complexion of a Family


By
Patrice Tomasetti Newman
Image result for diverse family clipart


The cacophony of different voices ranging from 4 years old through 11 years old is drifting up to my sitting room. I smile. I hear laughter, shouts, and an occasional whine as my four grandchildren are playing whatever their imaginary game is at the moment. Their voices are a hodgepodge that reflects what our family is all about.

They bring to mind a recent conversation that I had with my second oldest granddaughter, who is 9 years old. She is the one that is reflective. She is the one that expresses how she feels about different topics that impact their lives. She seems to hash over in her own mind something that has been said or something that she has seen before she brings them up for discussion.

Recently, she asks, “Is it true that I have no sisters or brother?” I respond with, “Why would you ask that?” “Well, we have different fathers. So, we don’t have the same blood”, she replies. “Can you elaborate more?” I query. She proceeds to say that a ‘friend’ has brought this to her attention. According to her ‘friend’, if you don’t share the same exact bloodline, you are not family. My next question is, “Is sharing blood the only thing that makes one a family?” She thinks that over but seems unsure with this new information her ‘friend’ has given her.

I ask her about her daddy (not her biological father). She gives me true answers to the questions: He was adopted from Korea as a baby. No, he doesn’t have our blood. No, he doesn’t look like any of us. Yes, he is our son even though we don’t share the ‘blood connection’. So, I inquire, “Aren’t he, your grandpa and I a family?” She doesn’t even think about it for a minute before she responds, “Yes!”

We then talk about the first time I met her and her sister. They were going on 3 and 5 years old respectively. We speak not only about how we met but about how our families merged together when her daddy and mommy decided to be together. We talk about how from that moment on she and her sister became our granddaughters. “Do we share the same blood”, I probe. Again, her response is a quick, “No!” “Do you see us as your grandparents?” I ask. “Yes”, she replies. My next question, “Why?” gives her some pause.

Her answer reflects her feelings and thoughts on the topic. She states that like her daddy and mommy, we are always there for her; that we always care enough to teach her what is right and wrong; that we are always involved in her successes wherever she experiences them; that we are always there when she is not successful to make her understand that giving something a try is what is important so that she keeps learning new things; that we take her places and like to spend time with her. Most of all, she says, we always “have her back” and she feels loved.

“Well”, I ask, “What about your sisters and brother? How is your life experience the same or different with them?” She laughs. “Well, we go to school together. We play together. Sometimes, we argue over toys, the T.V., or the rules of a game. But I know that deep down inside they love me and I love them!” “Isn’t that what is most important? Isn’t that what family is all about?” I question. She thinks about it for a minute, smiles, and gives a resounding, “Yes it is!” Following a quick kiss, she is off to play with her sisters and brother. Her voice is added again to the racket created by my four grandchildren’s laughs, shouts, and yes, the occasional whines. And how I love those sounds! I wouldn’t trade them for anything in the world.

I am sure that this topic will resurface again whether by her or one of her siblings. I will be prepared to help them think it through; to help them understand that the complexion of a family varies; to help them realize that the importance is in the bonds we form and the love we share. That is what makes a family!