Parents need to know what's going on at school

Parent involvement in the education system, more specifically in your own child’s education is extremely important. Not only does it show the teacher that you are willing to help and do what it takes to help your child succeed, it also shows the child that you love them enough to take the time to be involved in an important and very big part of their daily life. There are many reasons for why you need to know how your child’s doing in school:

1.How they do in school can affect their behavior in other aspects of their life
2.Sometimes teachers are aware and catch things that parents might miss
3.Helping them at home is directly related to how what they do during the day
4.It shows your child that you care about what they’re doing

Let us Show Understanding for the Worries of Our Teenagers

The teen years are full of fun and freedom. As kids go from pre-teens to teens, they become excited to start high school, make new lasting friendships, learn to drive, and prepare for college.

However, there are many things that teens worry about as well. The following are some common teen problems that make them worry:

Peers and Fitting In

This is perhaps the most important, stress-inducing factor of the teen years. Fitting in and being socially accepted is important for most teens. In fact, many teens who are ousted or picked on in the high school years carry the emotional scars as result for many years. Where to eat lunch, who to hang out with, being accepted, and having friends are all common worries for teens.

Not only do teens want to fit in with their school, they want to fit in within their own peer groups as well. Even among friends (this is particularly true for girls), cliques can form and teens can be outcasts in their own groups as well. This is a common worry for teens.

Social Interaction is Important for Your Child

Social interaction is an important part of a child’s education. As they age the importance of social interaction does not cease to exist. Even as adults they will have to know how to navigate the social aspects of careers. Often it is not what you know, but who. It is sometimes more about whether or not someone liked you then whether or not you have the highest qualifications. So, helping your child become adept at socializing is as important as helping them learn to read and write. The following is a look at how you can help your child socialize in school:

Allow children to be messy

A Fine Mess

Despite appearances, messy play can make an enormous contribution to babies' and young children's cognitive and creative development.

What do we think about when we hear the word 'messy'? Untidy, muddled, disorganised, confused, cluttered, shambolic, disordered, disarray or perhaps the instruction, 'Don't make a mess'.The word messy is often given negative meanings and calling an important aspect of play 'messy' can lead to it being undervalued. This guide aims to reclaim messy play as an important part of early years provision and demonstrate its importance for young children's learning and development.In this article

Children in a world of constant advertising and spending

What does it mean to be a consumer in today’s culture? Being both frugal and conscious has become a sign of the times, and kids are exposed, more than ever, to ways to save money, shop wisely, and conserve food and materials.

As a parent, you have a primary role of showing your child what it means to be a consumer in a world of constant advertising and spending. How can you promote a lifestyle that isn't reliant on buying and spending? And, for older children, what types of skills are needed to think critically and independently as a consumer?

What Parents Can Do­?

Low self-esteem and lack of confidence

About self-esteem and confidence                                                                      

 Self-esteem is a way a person feels about themselves.  Everyone has it in different degrees.  A person with high/positive self-esteem generally feels good about themselves and feels they have a lot to offer.  A person with low or poor self-esteem generally feels worthless and that they have little to contribute.  Without positive self-esteem it is highly unlikely that a person would have a full, happy and productive life.  The development of feelings of self-esteem starts very early in life.  For example, when a child learns to walk or talk they feel a sense of having achieved something. Praise and encouragement at this point from parents, or people important in their life, boosts the positive feelings they have about themselves and encourages the child to go on achieving. Achievement in itself is not enough.  Love, praise and encouragement are essential elements in helping a child develop a positive self-esteem.

The importance of volunteering in the development of children

Importance of Children Serving as Volunteers

Everyone benefits from children serving as volunteers. There are several advantageous factors that children can receive and contribute to recipient organizations and to society by serving as volunteers. Volunteer projects have the potential of dramatically making a difference in the lives of their young participants. The importance of children as volunteers include the following; promotes healthy lifestyle and choices, enhances development, teaches life skills, improves the community, and encourages a lifelong service ethic.

Stubborn child

When one becomes a parent besides happiness there are many challenges also. It is like signing a contract that allows for some 21 years of parenting issues. There is clash of desires begins that lasts throughout childhood and the teen years.
Children Are Simply Born with Mind of Their Own. Some children are more stubborn than others. All children display stubborn behavior at some time or the other. Stubbornness can have a range of causes. It may vary from unreasonable fears to resistance to change. Sometimes it becomes very embarrassing situation at some occasions. At that, time parents react with anger, as they feel that their child's behavior is a challenge to their authority. However, they do not realize that anger only adds fuel to the fire.

Everyone can learn mathematics!

Here are some important things to remember when learning mathematics (known as math or maths for short). Learning mathematics is like learning another language, so at first it will be hard but it will get progressively easier. A lot of concepts in mathematics are inter-related, so knowing one helps you understand many others. Being frustrated is not a problem, it is a natural part of the learning process, so don't give up. You can do it!

Steps:

1.      Create learning time. Make sure you have at least an hour at least every day in a week to dedicate to learning mathematics.

Why Math is Important?

The question of why math is important usually arises when children have learned how to count, add, substract, multiply, and divide; and they come to believe they know all they need to know to function adequately in life. After all, if one understands how to keep track of his own money, figure out what it means when a scale shows two additional pounds, or cut a cake so there'll be enough pieces for everyone, what else do we need to know?
The littlest children who don't like math can usually understand the explanation that knowing how to handle money, telling time, cooking, sharing things, or knowing how many of any item will be left if some are used, all require knowing math. Younger children can usually understand why it's important to know how to measure how tall something is or how heavy it is, and they can usually understand how doing things like wallpapering or hanging window shades call for knowing how to measure.

Starting kindergarten

Kindergarten is an exciting and critical time in your child’s development and growth. You can play an important role in this wonderful journey. Here’s what kindergarten teachers want parents to know:

    1.  Your job isn’t over when you drop your little one off at school; it has only just begun. Your child’s teacher wants to be your partner. Keep them informed about what goes on at home that might affect your child’s behavior or academic performance. Share with them how what they do at school affects your child at home.

Homework - Success in School Begins at Home

Homework — work a student does at home without the monitoring of the teacher — is an important part of the school day. Homework is about learning to be self-disciplined. Homework is about learning to manage time and materials. Homework is about becoming an independent learner. And homework is about taking oneself seriously.

But let’s face it. Homework is WORK. Sometimes it is complicated or difficult. Most of the time, it is not the first thing on the list of things your child wants to do after school. At least some of the time, it also requires us as parents to pitch in when we would rather just sit and read the paper or watch TV, not help with long division or quiz the spelling list.

If we let ourselves off the homework hook, we lose a major opportunity to teach our children a positive attitude about work and about themselves as workers. These values are just too important to leave to chance.

If seeing notebooks and the paraphernalia of studying triggers anxiety, nausea, and a flight response in you, it’s time to give yourself a long-overdue pep talk. You are a grownup now. You are old enough to know that homework doesn’t have to be hateful. You can do something for your kids that no one did for you — you can help them to be curious about assignments and help them to feel good about themselves when the job is done well.

Family rules are important

Household rules let everyone in the family know how to behave. They help family members achieve a balance between getting what they want and respecting the needs of others. They can also help children and teenagers feel safe and secure.

Rules can help your family members get along better, and make family life more peaceful. Effective rules are positive statements about how your family wants to look after and treat its members.

When rules are stated clearly and unambiguously, they help:

·         children and young people learn where the limits are, and what’s expected of them

·         adults be consistent in the way they treat younger family members.

Help your child to be safe in traffic

Children act differently in traffic than adult

Children are children, not young adults. It’s important to understand children’s limitations in understanding traffic.

Specifically, children:

·    Have a narrower field of vision than adults, about 1/3 less.

·    Cannot easily judge a car’s speed and distance.

·    Assume that if they see a car, its driver must be able to see them. However, children are easily hidden from view by parked cars and other objects.

·    Cannot readily tell the direction a sound is coming from.

·    May be impatient and impulsive.

·    Concentrate on only one thing at a time. This is likely not to be traffic.

·    Have a limited sense of danger.

·    Often mix fantasy with reality.

·    Imitate the (often bad) behavior of others, especially older children and adults.

Allowances for Children

Allowances can help children understand the concept of budgeting and saving, but we have to teach them. A regular allowance helps kids take responsibility for spending decisions and encourages independence. Instead of getting money 'on demand' whenever they need it, children with regular allowances can learn to plan ahead--to anticipate spending needs and make choices about what's most important.

What Experts Say About Allowances for Children

What age?
If you decide to give an allowance, start one as soon as your children start recognizing money's worth--kids do this fairly early.

Don't give an allowance until children are old enough to manage it. You don't have to give one until your children are at least six years old. There's no need to rush things and preschoolers generally don't understand the abstract idea of money anyway. Once children start first grade they begin learning about money in school.

Keep the system simple so you can manage it. Denying kids an allowance doesn't make it easier to limit the amount of money they get their hands on. Because most children will get the money out of parents anyway, it's better to teach them how to manage it themselves than allow them to nickel and dime you to death. Plus, using an allowance gives parents and children more control over the children's finances.

Parents, children and social networks

These days, many kids draw little distinction between real life and online life. They may use social websites designed for children such as Webkinz or Club Penguin, or social websites designed for adults such as Windows Live Spaces, YouTube, MySpace, Flickr, Twitter, Facebook, and others. Whatever they're doing, they should understand that many of these web pages can be viewed by anyone with access to the Internet.

Do pets prevent allergies?

Why are allergies becoming more common?

No one knows for sure. There are various theories why this might be, with the “hygiene hypothesis” representing the most popular reason. The “hygiene hypothesis” refers to the fact that in our clean, modern society, our immune systems no longer have to fight off multiple infections during childhood. The absence of infections results in the immune system shifting away from an “infection fighting” stance towards an “allergies” stance.

These two different stances represent opposites as far as our immune system is concerned.

Who is to blame for the children obesity?

Obesity in kids has reached epidemic levels. Experts estimate that 15% of kids are overweight and another 15% are at risk of becoming overweight. And two-thirds of these overweight kids will become overweight adults.

Who or what is to blame for the rise in obesity?

It depends on who you ask.

TV and children obesity

Did you know? There is no waking activity that we do that burns fewer calories than watching TV? The more television children watch, the more likely they are to snack between meals and want the foods advertised on commercials. Find out alternatives to watching TV and how to get your child moving.

TV Ads and Childhood Obesity
It wouldn’t be a stretch to say that children are often snacking on food while watching their favorite television show. Snacking while watching TV contributes to poor eating habits. A child, between the ages of 2-17, watches television on average, 3 1/2 hours a day or 25 hours each week. The maximum amount recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics is two (2) hours of television each day.

Red pencil

Hundreds of schools have banned their teachers from marking in red ink in case it upsets the children. They are scrapping the traditional method of correcting work because they consider it "confrontational" and "threatening".

Pupils increasingly find that the ticks and crosses on their homework are in more soothing shades like green, blue, pink and yellow or even in pencil.

Traditionalists have condemned the ban sweeping classrooms as "absolutely barmy", "politically correct" and "trendy".

They insist that red ink makes it easier for children to spot errors and improve.

The red pen goes back further than most schools, having been developed during the mid-19th century when ammonia-based dyes became available.

But the opposition to using red ink is now a worldwide trend with recent guidelines to schools in Queensland, Australia warning that the colour can damage students psychologically.

There are no set guidelines in this country on marking, and schools are free to formulate their own individual policies.

A child's position in the family

I just read a book of "Why Firstborns Rule the World and Last Borns Want to Change It." By Michael Grose.

The conclusion is :

-A child's position in the family impacts his personality, his behavior and his learning.

Firstborn

As the leader of the pack, firstborns often tend to be:

·         Reliable

·         Conscientious

·         Structured

·         Cautious

·         Controlling

·         Achievers

Firstborns bask in their parents' presence, which may explain why they sometimes act like mini-adults. Firstborns are diligent and want to be the best at everything they do. They excel at winning the hearts of their elders.

Famous firstborns: Oprah, Hillary Clinton, Winston Churchill, Sylvester Stallone and Bill Clinton.

Reading is really important!

Reading has a host of benefits - tangible and intangible and should in fact become a habit as common as bathing or eating.

1.      Reading can make us Smarter

Reading is a very active state exercise for our mind as opposed to watching TV or listening to music. Reading forces our brain cells to engage in activity as we paint a vivid image in our mind about the story that we are reading.

Our brain is also a muscle which must be worked on a regular basis as this will keep our mental faculties constantly engaged and thus keep us sharper and smarter.

Bill Gates warns: Protect Our Children

 „Protecting our children. The Internet can revolutionize education, giving children the opportunity to indulge their intellectual curiosity and explore their world. But while it helps them to learn about dinosaurs or world history, it can also expose them to obscene, violent or inappropriate content. And since the Internet is an unregulated global medium, it is hard to "censor" in any traditional way. The private sector has already made great strides in giving parents and teachers more control over what children can see and do on the Internet, through filtering software that blocks access to objectionable Web sites; industry standards such as the still-evolving Platform for Internet Content Selection (PICS) that enable helpful rating systems; and Internet Service Providers (ISPs) that voluntarily regulate the activities of their customers. Government has also played a part, encouraging the growth of the market for child-safety tools, and increasing law enforcement's role in policing and prosecuting online predators. So far, the issue of protecting children on the Internet has served as an excellent example of how governments and the private sector can work together to tackle problems on the Internet.”

Research shows: Parents lie

According to a study in the United Kingdom, parents tell their children, on average, 3,000 'white lies' - just to get their own way - as their youngsters are growing up.
The most common lies are:

1. Father Christmas only comes to good little children (84 per cent)

2. Father Christmas only visits children who go to sleep (81 per cent)

3. Sitting too close to the TV makes your eyes go square (60 per cent)

4. Spinach makes you strong (48 per cent)

5. If you cross your eyes, the wind will change and they'll stay there (39 per cent)

6. An apple tree will grown in their tummies if they eat apple pips (27 per cent)

7. If children play with their privates too much, they will drop off (25 per cent)

Children's Birthday

Each family is special and every child is special, because your child's birthday should celebrate on your own, special way. This day is an opportunity to introduce a family birthday tradition, too.

Child’s birthday is definitely the best day of the year in one family. But perhaps as it is so important, it carries a certain amount of stress and unrest. Will everything be perfect, do you have the plan a birthday party details, will a gift appeal to the child, will small and large guests be satisfied?

Sometimes, in the rush around preparing and guests, we do not pay enough attention to our and child's fun. Let us use this day to be devoted solely to her/him and her/his needs.

Why do not we found some small fun rituals. There are chances are that someday a child will remember this and similar small items rather than on whether the house was arranged tip-top, whether the guests were delighted with the choice of food and drink, and similar details that , sometimes, too much burden on parents.

Here are some ideas ...

Grandparents

My daughter thinks that:

“Children should go to the grandparents on a weekly lunch to eat grandma’s cookies as they like, to play, to be spoiled, and sometimes sleep over on weekends.”

It is indeed a great joy for children, because grandparents love in a special way. Grandparents often have unlimited time, thus they can devote their full attention to kids, perhaps more so than the parents. They always have the patience to retell the interesting adventures of their youth, or reading, with a lot of warmth, a bedtime story. Many parents agree that the role of grandparents in the upbringing of the child is very important, and that their love is irreplaceable! This is confirmed by research which showed that grandparents, immediately after parents, are the most important persons in children's lives and their growing up.

Alcohol, youth and prohibitions

If you ask doctors about the effects of alcohol, an internist will tell you that one apperitive can be  very beneficial to the digestive organs, a cardiologist will recommend a glass of red wine a day, but a psychiatrist will be strongly against drinking alcohol, even in the smallest quantities. Why? Because the psychiatrist is faced everyday to the tragic consequences of excessive alcohol consumption.

There is no need to write about the harmful effects of excessive drinking, especially when it comes to young people, it is common knowledge, and facts known to all parents. That is why parents forbid alcohol to their children. Unfortunately, this does not mean that their teen protected against a possible danger of getting drunk.

Social connections and privileges at school

It is generally accepted that the social network is a social capital that is used quite legally, in the whole world, unless that use of social connections harms another individual, group or whole society. Then it is corruption. The line between the legitimate use of social networks and corruption is rather thin and invisible, and corruption is one of the most important subjects of legislation in democratic countries.

I want to start a topic on the use of social connections and privileges to somebody’s own detriment.

Boycott of Chelsea Handler

On June 20, Chelsea Handler and her co-hosts attacked Serbia and the Serbian people on that evenings program of "Chelsea Lately." Along with Chris Franjola, Natasha Leggero, and Greg Proops, Ms. Handler for 3 straight minutes ruthlessly attacked Serbia and its people. The verbal attacks came after a clearly intoxicated Amy Winehouse "performed" in front of 20,000 people in Belgrade. After and during the performance, the people in attendance and state officials criticized Amy Winehouse, who had difficulty singing as a result of what would seem to be heroin usage. At this point, the attacks went from criticizing Amy Winehouse to attacking Serbia and its people.

Fear of water

I love the beach. From late spring to early fall, I spend every free moment on the banks of the Danube. I like to watch the mighty river as it flows, to meet with friends on the public beach, to slumber while listhening to the buzzing sounds around me, but also to watch the people around me.

I find espicially interesting the toddlers that craw fearlessly towards the water, sometimes so quickly that parents have to run to catch up them. However, the children over 2 years and older behave differently. Some are also afraid of entering the water.

Parents can also behave differently in these situations. Some force the children to enter the water and than, there are the cries and rants. There are parents who accept that fear and do not try to make the child enter the water, but there are also parents who are trying to eliminate children's fear and gradually get them used to enjoy the water.

Summer vacation and the dangers regarding drug abuse

My daughter, a teacher by education, left a comment on the post Summer vacation- to learn or not learn :

"I say that children should be allowed not to do anything at all. That is why it is called a vacation, because all the time is vacated. "

I fully agree with her, I never demanded of my children to learn during the holidays, but I carefully obsereved their behavior and socialization.

One of the greatest dangers lurking during the holidays is the encounter with drugs. For this reason, I am copying an article from the site stopdrogama. I thing everyone should read it carefully.

Jitters / lack of self-confidence before the examination

During the schooling of my children, my opinion was that only the students who are not well prepared for an exam have jitters. Though, I did not rule out a small dose of excitement, which, in my opinion, could be stimulating. That’s why I just followed their course of learning, the atmosphere in the house was always relaxed, and just before the exam I would say to my children:

“Just concentrate on the task, slowly, no hurry, You can do what you done. Mom loves you with both good and bad results. “

As they often participated in school competitions, each in their own field, I am would ad:

"It is a great success that you came to this level, there is no reason to to be disturbed“

I would always repeat the same words, because I really thought so, and later they would with me, later. On leaving, they would begin on their own:

"Mom loves me ...."

Later, when I started teaching, I realized that well-learned material is important to reduce the fear of exams, but for some children that is not enough and that there are many factors that influence the over-anxiousness or lack of self-confidence. Children often have a fear of betraying the expectations of their parents, which are sometimes unrealistic.

Source: Blic online

The role of parents in child development

How many times have you heard the sentence:

My child is very immature for his age!

My child has no interests!

By saying these sentences, parents do not talk about their child, what they are saying is that they did not do their work right.

Intelligence is only one factor of children’s success at school and, later on, in life. It is necessary to develop certain character traits of the child, so that the intellect would fully come to the fore. Parents are building the foundation on which will depend the child’s self-confidence, independence and desire for research and learning.

The most important features that the child needs to develop are the sense of responsibility, sense of self-confidence and independence.

My child swears!

Every child experiment withs curses and ugly words. Profanity is often heard on the streets, on television, in our environment. It is a part of language and folklore of every nation, and has its rightful place but the children do not know when it is appropriate to curse and therefore we must try to make children understand that curses are not nice words.

Be ready to have the biggest problem with your surroundings (family, friends ...), who will find it funny and interesting when the children say bad words, and maybe they will encourage or even teach them new bad words. On the other hand, it is very interesting for children  to be in the focus of attention while swearing.

My child is lying!

   In this article, I will not write about the early childhood, when children wildly imaginative make up events. These are not true lies, though you should talk with your children and try to bring them to the reality.

  I am going to write about the lies of school children whose are usually either silent or lie about grades and disciplinary violations at school.

  I used to hide the lower grades from my parents (otherwise I was an excellent pupil), and when they would ask specifically, I lied. The reasons for this were too sharp punishments, both physical and psychological. It is terrible when a mother does not speak with her child because of grades lower than expected. So I would buy the time, sometimes I improved the assessment before the lie was uncovered.

  I have been teaching for quite some time and I found that many children lie to avoid disappointing their parents who have unrealistic expectations, compared to the real possibilities.