Is Your Child Computer Savvy?

Computers have started to play a very important role in our lives. They are wonderful educational tools. Parents should try to familiarize their children with the computer. Enrolling your kid to computer classes is one option but there are other options also that you can try at home. For instance, teaching use of word processor can be quite easy. Everyone needs to have a basic knowledge of word processor. Parents should show kids how to open and save files and delete words, and let them figure out the rest. Child can be encouraged to keep a personal diary on the computer. Give him a reason to experiment with MS Word.

Parents should encourage child to keep in touch with friends and relatives by email. We all know how important and preferred mode of communication email has become. A child will need to learn emailing sooner than later. Teach him how to send birthday cards or write a letter through email. He will also enjoy the process.

To make computer learning more interesting, introduce your child to different games. However, keep an eye on time limits. Outdoor sports are far healthier but you can introduce your kids to play mind games like Chess and Scrabble, or general games of skill like Packman. Help him to find general knowledge sites which will prove very beneficial in his studies. Bookmark few sites that offer interesting mind games and contests. Encourage him to participate in interesting games. Keep an eye on violent sports and adult sites. You can block such sites with the help of different software.

Child Safety

Parents need to ensure that their children are safe especially when they play out. Safety tips for parents when children play outside are: Do not let your child go out of the building compound without your permission. Warn your child not to play alone in isolated areas. Empty houses and construction areas should be avoided when playing.

Your child should memorize the address and the telephone number. Many children feel ashamed to say no to strangers. Make your child learn to say ‘no’. Also tell your child not to accept any kind of sweet or food material from any stranger. Teach your child traffic rules and symbols. Maintaining personal Safety at home is also an important factor. Do not talk to strangers on the phone. It is better not to encourage salesmen especially with children around. All the plugs should be beyond your child’s reach or should be kept covered. Do not allow your child to go anywhere close to the bathroom. Balcony doors should be kept shut. In case there are table fans at your house ensure that they are out of your child’s reach.

Maintaining safety is an important element in taking your child’s care. If as a parent you cannot devote extra attention to your child, then it is better to hire a caretaker. But again you have to make sure that the caretaker is genuine and credible enough. If possible hire a recommended caretaker. These are some of the safety tips that should be taken care of while upbringing your child.

How to Identify Child Learning Disability

Learning disability has been a growing problem in children, not because there is a higher incidence, but because of earlier and much more elaborate diagnosis. Earlier diagnosis and interventions can help child obtain the level of education tailored to its needs and capabilities.

Learning disability cannot be equated to mental retardation. It means that despite the child having an average IQ, he or she is unable to learn at the expected rate, compared to the children of his/her age.

Learning disability can be of various categories such as writing, reading, listening skills, mathematics, or spelling etc. Any one of these or more can be affected and they will all be termed as learning disabilities and not mental retardation. Due to the learning component involved, usually they should not be diagnosed until school age, and even then the first couple of grades are not enough to diagnose a child having a disability issue.

Usually teachers recommend the children to repeat the grade if they find them slow in math or reading, and sometimes that’s all the child needs, as he/she may need time in maturing. If the child doesn’t improve in a specific time period, the teacher may recommend a professional child psychologist. Only he is licensed to officially diagnose the child.

There are several signs that may indicate a learning disability. Child may have a problem with attention span. He may get frustrated easily. He may stare in the space with no specific reason or have problems learning new words. These symptoms may point to a learning issue, but it cannot be diagnosed by a teacher or a parent.

Based on the diagnosis, it can be decided whether the child needs to be in a mainstream school or a special education school program. Special education schools help in aiding the child to work on his learning disability and acquire education at a comfortable pace. If possible, the child may join back the mainstream schools if he/she is able to cope up with the learning disability.

Lying Problem in Children

Lying is a common problem found in children. Many kids are afflicted with this problem and parents find it difficult to accept or to deal with such issues. Lying and stealing are sensitive issues and parents should be very careful while handling these matters. Quite often, the case of lying is merely a work of child’s overactive imagination. This can not be considered as lying because most often than not, child is not able to differentiate between his imagination or a realistic dream and what has actually taken place. So what might seem like a lie can just be a case of perception and anxiety.

Parents should make sure not to brand their children as liars. It stunts their emotional development. If parents keep calling child a liar, soon he will lose his self-confidence and that will create lots of problems in his future growth. Child being a child will sometime exaggerate things but that does not mean that parents should misunderstand him. Parents should be careful in putting their child down in public or in asking kid’s friends or siblings to verify his statements. Such conditions should be totally avoided.

The fact is no child is a born liar. Child often turns liar because of high expectation or pressure from the parents. He tries to please his parents and once the first attempt goes successfully, lying becomes his second habit. Parents should not be strict or rigid in handling lying issues. That will further aggravate the problem. Talk it out with the kid, make him understand the implications of his actions and provide all the mental and emotional support. Right dosage of love, understanding and compassion will help parents in tackling the problem of lying.

How to Handle Rude Teens

Is your teenager rude and bad-mannered? If the answer is yes, parents need to pay close attention to this problem because it is not a normal behaviour for teens. Teenage is always considered as a difficult stage for both parents and teens but some teens are best friends with their parents. Occasional incidents of fight and trouble are normal but if it is taking place too frequently, parents need to find the cause and nip the problem in the bud. If your teen is rude to you, it is the duty of parents to let him/her know that, this is not an acceptable behaviour. However, parents should also ensure that they are not treating their teenagers in a negative way.

If parents fail to warn teens about their behaviour, teens will take it as granted. They will assume that their behavioural pattern is acceptable. Parents should take concrete actions. No child or parent wants to hurt each other, however, there might have been incidents that would have caused pain and hurt. The idea is to find those reasons and explain them to the child. Parents should not ignore teen’s desires again and again as that will lead to feelings of frustration in child.

It is important to check rudeness and disrespect at every step. Teenagers are quite vulnerable to the influence of peer pressure. Parents should never underestimate the peer influence. Communication is the key here. Parents should talk about all the problems faced by child and make him understand the causes and effects. Keep your cool and calm intact while interacting with your teen.

Making Your Children vegetarian

Turning vegetarians has become a buzz word all across the globe. There are movements taking place to make vegetarian food more acceptable. Growing number of people in different countries are turning vegetarians because of reasons including, environmental, ethical and medical. Meat and other non-vegetarian products are being avoided. Already, there are substantial numbers of people who are vegetarians because of their social, religious and cultural backgrounds.

It is natural for vegetarian parents to want their children to follow suit. But then, everyone has different opinions about nutrition. Parents are more concerned about whether a vegetarian diet can fulfill the dietary requirements of their growing children. There is no doubt regarding the immense health benefits of a vegetarian diet. There is a strong co-relation between vegetarian diets and reduced incidence of many diseases. People who are non-vegetarians are more likely to suffer from hypertension and heart diseases. They will also have higher blood pressure and cholesterol levels. It’s important for parents to instill the habit of vegetarian diet in their kids’ right from the very beginning.

If parents are aiming for a non-vegetarian diet for their kids, they should also ensure that children are not having any sort of junk foods such as potato chips and aerated drinks else the overall benefits of vegetarian food will be nullified. Diet should be nutritionally complete. Parents should make children a part of turning vegetarian process instead of forcing the vegetables down their throats. They should explain why vegetables are necessary and how they stand up against non-vegetarian foods. They should be given their favorite vegetarian diet. Parents should lead by example if they want their children to grow on a vegetarian diet.

Children and Computers

We are living in the age of computers. Wherever you go, whatever function you perform, you will find the use of computers in every sphere of life. There is no space for a computer illiterate person. It has almost become our second brain without which we are hard pressed. Parents, realizing the importance of computers, are making dedicated efforts to educate kids about the benefits of computers. Well, one thing here works in the favor of the parents and that is, children easily get addicted to the computers. The way technology is advancing, kids are also gearing up for all the works related to computers.

Children do get addicted to computers but it is never an easy task to make them learn the basics. Initially, the functions of computers are mysterious to children. However, parents should be patient enough to deal with such problems. The teaching process should start with introduction of the computers. Tell the child how it works and what it can be used for. Then, the next logical step is of showing how to turn the computer on and off. Explain him CPU, monitor and UPS.

Additionally, you should explain the function of printer, keyboard and mouse. Tell him about left and right click buttons. Show him how to hold the mouse and move the cursor. To make the process more interesting, you can introduce the kid to few games. That way he will learn to use the mouse. Also give them a free rein in using different keys on the keyboard. Slowly, you can introduce them to functions of different keys like Shift, Del, Caps, Space Bar etc. Don’t use complicated language while explaining the functions. Soon enough, your child will be able to maneuver on his own.

Encouraging your Child

Parenting is a great responsibility. All the parents try to provide best of care, love, concern and affection to their kids so that they have the best possible lives. Parents also ensure to prepare children in such a way that they can handle all the challenges thrown by life. Parents need to make sure that the child has enough self-confidence and self-esteem to face obstacles standing in his way. Some of the other important factors are accepting the child they way he is and not trying to mould each and every aspect of his personality as per our desires.

While building up a child’s personality, it is imperative to follow proper discipline techniques. The rules regarding discipline must be consistent and parents should let the children know what are the reasonable expectations from them. One factor hugely affects the way a child grows up. It is the way we are praising or criticizing him. Mind it, there is a very fine line between criticism and being negative.

Parents should try to ensure that child is being nurtured in a positive environment. Negative criticism can adversely affect child’s psychology. Talking it out in a cool and calm manner is much better way than simply making sarcastic comments or criticizing kids in front of other people. Many parents don’t praise child for the good deeds performed by them. Praise is a wonderful form of encouragement. It needs not to be done only if child achieves something big. It could also be for small things like cleaning his room, completing his homework on time or helping mom in the kitchen etc.

There are always some admirable qualities in any kid and parents must recognize these and encourage those positive traits. Qualities could be honesty, organization skills, humor, neatness or social skills etc. Try looking for his positive traits and encourage it by complimenting him every now and then. This will tremendously help child in building his self-esteem.

Co-Parenting Responsibilities

Parenting is a very responsible job and no one can deny this fact. Parenting decisions are jointly made by both mother and father. Both are equally responsible and accountable about the ways a child should be raised. But not always, parents agree to same aspect of parenting. The basic reason behind this disagreement is that there are many ways to raise a child. Each parent has a different perspective and way of raising a child and he or she tries to do things own way. Combining together the best of parents’ ideas would a nice way to make everyone happy but that’s not always possible.

Co-parenting requires discipline and compromise from both of the parents. Sometimes, disagreements between parents can adversely affect the child because he witnesses everything. For example, there is no point arguing on an issue like discipline in front of the child. It is always better to discuss it separately and not affect the child negatively. A calm discussion will always lead to some mutually acceptable decisions.

Talking it out is another simple way to sort out issues and can even nip in the bud the problems that can potentially damage relationship between the parents. Argument is of no help when it comes to setting rules for the child. Parents should always discuss with each other when they are thinking of making some important decisions for the kid.

Each parent should respect the ideas of other one. Listening to the ideas carefully can provide some great insights. Two people can always come up with a better solution together.