Guest Expert Articles

A Melodious Way to Get Gleeful Tunes from Tiny Mouths

in

Forty plus years ago a popular song contained these lyrics: “Sing, sing a song. Make it simple, to last a whole life long.” For the preschool teacher or parent who wants to introduce one or more children to a new song, that phrase makes clear the best way to answer that challenge. It also underscores the fact that even a simple song can leave a lasting impression in a still-developing mind.

Whenever a preschool child learns something new, that child experiences a feeling of happiness. When children are happy, they feel positive about themselves. They understand that their newly acquired knowledge allows them to better contribute to society. Hence, the teaching of every new skill holds great importance in either a preschool or a home setting.

Each new song learned by a small child should be viewed as a new skill. If you work as an instructor in a preschool setting, you will want to teach a variety of songs. How should you tackle this task? Be sure to first practice the song at home with a friend or a family member. Concentrate on learning both the rhythm and the melody. Practice until you feel confident that you can reproduce the song without faltering or quavering.

You may want to get hold of a CD or a tape that contains some of the preschool songs that you would like to teach your class. This is an excellent way for a preschool instructor to learn a new song. By listening to a song over and over, you can learn any simple song much faster.

5 Tips for Packing Your Kids Lunch

in


School is back in session for many kids so let’s talk school lunches. Sodas, juice drinks, cookies, hotdogs, and chips- all common school lunch components but none healthy. Over the past years, some schools have improved the nutritional quality of their lunches but it is an area that desperately needs more attention by both schools and parents.

What’s scary is that the obesity rate of young kids to teens is significantly rising and poor lunch options aren’t making things any better. Over 1/3 of our nation’s youth are either overweight or obese. Poor food choices and a lack of physical activity are contributors to this epidemic. So, what can you do as a parent do to help prevent your child from weight control issues?

For starters, making sure that they have a healthy and adequate lunch will put them on the right track. Kids can be awfully picky when it comes to choosing and eating certain foods. In general, there is an overconsumption of high calorie drinks and high fat foods and an underconsumption of fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. If you are unsure about what your kids may be eating at school, get the school menu and consider visiting at lunchtime. You can also volunteer to serve the children to get a better understanding to see what they are actually eating.

If your kids are taking lunches from home try to limit the highly processed snacks and give them more fresh food items like fruits and vegetables. If you have healthier foods available at home to make a healthy lunch, you can send your kids to school with the reassurance that they’re getting a nutritious meal.

Follow these 5 tips for packing your kids school lunch:

1. Plan Ahead: Since you can only pack a good lunch if you have the foods available make sure to go shopping at least 1-2 times per week so you will have fresh foods on hand.

Teaching Your Kids to Take Healthy Risks

in
“Be Careful! Don’t go too close, or you will get hurt!” As parents we know that there are many potential dangers in the world. And while we would like to protect our children from each and every hazard, we know that we can’t. Furthermore, we know that even if we could protect our children from all peril, this wouldn’t be good for them.

 

Parents Tips for Raising an Infant

in
In my work for the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health, I specialize in a particular type of relationship - the one between a parent and a child. Specifically, much of my work focuses on infants and toddlers. I see many parents struggle as they try to do the best job with their children, and yet it is difficult because parenting is one of the world's most challenging jobs. For parents of infants, there are many resources available to help make the challenge a little easier.

Recently, I attended a conference on the psychological assessment of infants, the goal of which is to ensure healthy development for the infant. I want to tell you about a wonderful resource online that we discussed at the conference. The good news is that you can use this site to cultivate your parenting skills: www.zerotothree.org.

Check out this website and you can find all kinds of resources that relate to infant development. Specifically, look for information on developmental milestones - you can actually investigate on your own whether your child is meeting the developmental milestones that have been established for various stages of infancy.

This is not the only online resource, in fact, for parenting tips on raising infants. If you have a computer at home, spend some time doing searches for websites that focus on raising this particular aged child. You will be astonished at the wealth of information at your fingertips!

Article by Dr. Seth Meyers
Read more articles by Dr. Seth Meyers at: www.DrSeth.blogspot.com
or visit his web site http://www.drsethrelationshipexpert.com/.

Tics: Unvoluntary: Catch What You Can

in

“You can’t hold in a sneeze or a cough forever, that’s how hard it is to stop. It’s not because I want to, it’s because I have to.” --Boy in HBO Special: I have Tourette’s, but Tourette’s Doesn’t Have Me.

Teaching Preschool Kids Numbers & Letters

in

Many parents express that their young children, pre-school age or older, are interested in letters and/or numbers. I am asked by the parents whether they should work with their children or not. I believe that a love of learning can be instilled at a young age. Similarly, distaste for learning can also be introduced at a young age. So, Parents, make the learning experience fun, visual, memorable, and not too long!!! Be patient with your child, and try to experience how he or she learns. I recommend not spending more than ½ hour working with your child on letters or numbers, unless the child is begging to continue.

My favorite activity to do with young children is to make an ABC or number book with pictures under each letter or number. Some children like to draw the pictures. Some color in their parents’ pictures. Others cut and paste pictures from the Internet. Be careful not to look up images on Google or other search engines with your child. Sometimes, inappropriate pictures pop up for a word you would least expect to be “X-rated.” I have had this happen even with child blocks on. Either check the pictures first, or have a series of pictures already in a file that your child can cut and paste.

Typically, I let the children work on three letters at a time, so that they don’t get too tired out. Please see the sample below. My daughter and I created this when she was three years old:

Consistent Parenting Advice - Teaching Children Self Respect, Self Control and Empathy

in

For many parents the word discipline has very negative connotations. We associate it with our own childhood and it can conjure up some pretty unpleasant memories! Some of us associate discipline with corporal punishment, with spanking, hitting and being hurt both physically and emotionally. The problem around this is often parents unwittingly emulate the discipline patterns with their own children that they received, or pendulum swing to the opposite and become limitless with few boundaries.

There is a middle ground. Parenting discipline, for me, is about teaching children ways to grow that enable them to feel safe, have self respect, self control, and empathy for others. I do not believe in harsh, punitive or punishing methods of discipline. But I am a firm believer that all children need to have boundaries and limits, and they need us to put these limits in place for them.

Good discipline is about being firm, clear and consistent as parents - about being definite, kind and respectful - about showing, teaching and enabling our children. I believe that at the heart of good parenting discipline are clear, firm and consistent limits with explanations, conversations, teaching and consequences.

Teaching Self Respect through Understanding From an early age our children want and need our approval. They need to know that they are loved, cherished and wanted. They really do not like to be out of sorts with us and need to feel closely attached in order to enable a growing sense of self respect.

In other words they want to do what is right in order to have our constant approval. They want to know how to do the right thing and they need us to teach them the way to go about this.

Kids, It's Time for Mommy and Daddy to Make Some Romance

in

I know, I hear you - you have a lot on your plate. The kids are yelling, the phone is ringing, and something is probably burning on the stove. It's true that you have a lot on your plate. Raising a family and surviving the day-to-day trials and tribulations is often akin to a Herculean feat - some neighborhood fairy really should knock on your door and pass out a purple heart for coping as well as you do.

One of the most unfortunate consequences of raising kids and keeping everything afloat is that something always has to give, and what often gives is the romantic relationship between husband and wife. In fact, things often get so chaotic and busy that the husband and wife start feeling more like managers at a busy business than they do lovers. Remember the days when you didn't have kids and the two of you could be spontaneous? Oh, wait - one of the kid's is screaming again so the noise probably just erased any memory you might have had.

The truth is that your relationship probably deserves a little romantic refresher. I know you're tired and, perhaps, haven't even had time to go the gym with everything else going on. Who can feel sexual, after all, if you don't feel okay about your body? I'm not suggesting that you turn the reality of your challenging home life into a Lifetime movie-of the-week in which candles, soft music, and romantic love-making fill every scene. Come on - we still have to live in reality. I am suggesting, however, that you try something a little different. I'm going to ask that you do just one thing to recharge the romantic battery of your relationship, and I'm going to be specific about what that is. Yes, you may have become so bogged down by your unending responsibilities that what I'm about to suggest doesn't even sound appealing - but that's all the more reason to do it!

Syndicate content