Good Parenting

Create a Happy, Healthy, and Harmonious Home As Single Mom by Having An Afterwork and School Routine

admin — Fri, 18 May 2012 20:05:00 +0000

The second in a three-part series

Hectic and hurried homes seem to be the norm these days. Establishing harmony at home is a challenge for the more than 10 million single mothers who are head-of-household for 18 million children. As the only adult you make decisions and lead the way for your children. Perhaps you came from a single parent family yourself and didn’t have the home atmosphere that you desire for your children. If your home of origin was not a happy one creating a healthy and harmonious home may seem too far out of the realm of possibility. A few well-developed routine can make a difference and make what seems impossible a real possibility. Your children will grow up with memories of a stable home and will have the tools needed to create the home of their dreams.

After a stressful day at work for you and an active day at school for your children tensions often run high. A cool down period is needed.

When I taught high school I had three children at home who were in elementary school. At the end of the day they were keyed-up and I was exhausted. Still homework had to be done and dinner had to be prepared. And what seemed like millions of other chores were demanding my attention. I made so many mistakes as a single mom. I had to rely on what I knew. I knew the children would have to pitch-in if we were going to make it through the chaos of our lives. As a teacher I also knew children need to know exactly what is expected of them and it must be reasonable.

I told them to wait fifteen minutes after we were home before asking me any questions. This gave me time to regroup and relax, a bit.

The first step in after school/work routine: Create a time buffer between the work/school day and family interactions. Use the buffer time to change clothes, look at the mail, and pet the dog. Children have to be taught what to do. It will become habitual. Assist them the first few times and give them lots of compliments and encouragement.

Have a one, two, three to do list for each child when they come home. You can use a chore chart with stickers or check marks. Use a system of reinforcement that works for your child. Motivate rather than discourage with shouting.

Have a homework plan. Maybe after a snack, or a few minutes out doors. Stand firm without shouting or giving ultimatums. Using a timer will take the weight off your shoulders. The child realizes the time is up. Once the child learns that homework complete means freedom and some time doing what he/she enjoys the motivator will come from within, which is the goal of parenting.

Children should learn to work in a kitchen-all children. Food is the source of our life and kids can learn early to respect the food, the kitchen, and the cook. The contribution of each person becomes the gift to the family.

Your home will be a haven. Children will learn to follow the steps expected of them and will be part of the family unit. An after school/work sequence instills security and bonding in the home.

3 Benefits Dance Lessons Can Provide For Children

admin — Fri, 18 May 2012 14:05:00 +0000

There are many reasons children want to take dance classes, and some express an interest in classes as young as age three or four. It may surprise some people to learn that kids can benefit in a variety of ways, particularly if they start out with simple classes at a young age.

Benefit #1 – Physical And Mental Benefits

There are several obvious advantages to taking dance classes, including the physical workout kids get. In fact, many athletes take advantage of jazz, tap or ballet lessons to keep their bodies fit and improve their coordination. Because it is gentler than most sports such as soccer or football, dancing is great for youngsters who want to participate in an activity but may be fearful of rougher, full contact activities. Among the many ways they reap the physical rewards of dancing are:

• Improved muscle tone

• Increased flexibility

• Improved range of motion

• Better cardiovascular health

Children can also improve their balance and posture while becoming aware of their own body’s movement in dance classes. This awareness leads to gracefulness and can help them overcome clumsiness or awkwardness with their bodies. Jazz, tap, hip-hop, contemporary and ballet all contribute to an individual’s sense of movement. Even cognitive function can improve as students learn choreography and memorize steps, both skills that can translate to better understanding of math and the sciences.

Benefit #2 – Social Benefits Of Dance Classes

Children who take dance lessons are better able to express themselves both verbally and non-verbally. While using movement to communicate with others, most students improve their verbal skills as well, particularly when they are communicating with fellow classmates and their instructors. Working as a team or unit also instills a sense of belonging that engenders cooperation and trust. Children who continue with dance lessons as they grow become more outgoing and sociable. Kids who are pegged as “shy” when they are younger will often come out of their shell as they improve their skills and become proficient performers.

Benefit #3 – Personal Benefits

Kids who dance develop self-confidence and have better self-esteem than those who don’t. Because classes are geared to a variety of proficiency levels, children can move at the pace that is comfortable for them and truly enjoy themselves. These boys and girls can also develop an appreciation for the arts by being exposed to such a joyful means of self-expression. Many kids who take lessons now, later attend a variety of cultural events, including theater and music performances. Creativity is fostered in dance, and that sense of creativity often spills over into other aspects of children’s lives, opening them to new kinds of music, the theater and even literature.

If your children have expressed an interest in dance instruction, start them out with a beginner’s ballet class or an introductory level discovery lessons. Look for an instructor who has worked with all age groups and is familiar with a variety of styles so that your kids can try a few different styles and choose the one they enjoy the most. Your youngster will soon blossom in their dance classes!

Advantages of Hiring a Private Tutor for Your Child

admin — Fri, 18 May 2012 08:05:00 +0000

Your child may not be ready to take the SAT if they keep failing their subjects. This test is important if they wish to go to college and pursue a degree. Your child cannot get into college without passing this test. You may need the help of an SAT tutor if you want your kids to excel in their academics.

The SAT consists of three sections: Mathematics, Critical Reading, and Writing. The style of questions is mostly multiple choice, while some questions require you to answer in essay form. Every correct answer receives one raw point and an incorrect one receives one-fourth deduction. This way, students cannot just guess their answers and make sure they think about each questions carefully. Getting an SAT tutor may help give your child tips on how to answer the test well. Most tutors focused on helping students pass the SAT give emphasis on the three sections they have to excel in.

Your child will not have a problem passing the SAT if they are doing well in school. As the exam only focuses on three subjects, it is possible one of those is your child’s weakness. Most students find it difficult to excel in math. While some people might say math is only for a select few, anyone can excel on it with lots of practice. It is only a matter of how fast you will understand the concepts. Hiring a private tutor may help your child overcome this dislike of solving math problems.

The first thing a private tutor can correct is the child’s attitude toward learning. Most students these days do not put importance on their studies because of various distractions. Growing up involves peer pressure and the desire to fit in a social group. For some of them, getting a tutor states that they cannot do things on their own. This may damage their self-confidence and develop a negative attitude towards their studies. At home tutoring programs may help kids be better in school without feeling embarrassed they require some tutoring.

A private tutor may help give them proper studying tips so they can focus on their lessons. Students who hate going to school always find the lessons boring or unnecessary. Under a tutoring program, they will find the subjects more entertaining and easy to understand. Sometimes, all it takes is to get them interested with the subject by incorporating fun in learning. These programs have to keep up with the latest trends and technology to appeal to the younger crowd.

In some cases, a student may fail a subject because of their teacher’s failure to make the session interesting. If the lecturer is ineffective, students may not grasp the concepts well no matter how hard they try. A private tutor will break down the subject into easily understandable topics so your child gets the main point.

You may find private tutoring programs online. Enroll your child in one and watch them get better grades in school.

Looking for Government Grants for Single Mothers

admin — Fri, 18 May 2012 00:05:40 +0000

Life of a single mother undoubtedly involves high levels of stress. According to recent studies, nearly 26% of the children in the US under the age of 21, are being raised by single parents. A single mother is solely responsible for meeting all the demands of her family. Going to work, rushing home to supervise kids, and finding ways to meet the rising expenditures altogether poses many a challenges in their way. Difficulties with finances are of course an integral part of daily life.

What Do You Do If Your Child Says “I Want to Kill Myself?

admin — Thu, 17 May 2012 18:05:20 +0000

Last night, a friend told me that his 11 year old son had said he wanted to end his life. This was in response to hearing that his parents are separating. For me, hearing these words again, brought back some very painful memories.

Using a Kids Closet for Toys and Clothing

admin — Thu, 17 May 2012 12:05:40 +0000

Kids’ closets can quickly become an organizer’s nightmare if left unattended! Kids tend to dig, throw, disassemble and dump things when they’re trying to find something. If your child is like a tiny tornado undoing everything that you do, then you could use some help organizing their closet in a way that is easier to manage for everyone! We’ve assembled some tips from the pros on how to arrange and organize the closet in a way that makes it way more likely to stay that way. Follow these tips and see if you and your child can more easily get along with the new system.

1) Everything needs to be easy to see and easy to put away. Arrange things in a circular pattern. Imagine a bull’s eye when you open the closet. Now lower the center until the center is at your child’s eye level. This center area should be where you put the things that your child will need to access most often. If they want to play with cars every day, then this is where the bin full of cars should sit. If they are expected to get out their own socks and underwear each day, then put two, easy to access containers right here. Avoid containers that are deep or that have lids. You want it to be as easy as possible to look in and grab what you need.

2) Out from that center circle you can place the things that your child doesn’t need quite as often. This level may still need to be pretty low for smaller kids. You may consider putting a hanging bar down low enough for your child. This way, they can help you hang clothes when it’s time to put them away and they can also get to them when it’s time to get dressed. A shelf directly above this bar can give you a place to put the things that you still want your child to be able to reach.

3) The next step is to create a bull’s eye for yourself. Higher in the closet, you will want to keep the things that you don’t want your child to have easy access to. Here you might keep a bin for things that they’ve outgrown and a bin for things that they will soon grow into. Here you can store summer clothes in the winter and coats during the summer. Keep games and things with small parts or messy substances up high where you child can’t reach them. Use the high hanging bar for storing out of season clothing. Use infant hangers and children’s hangers to keep clothes in good shape while saving space for organizing other things.

Online Help For Going Through A Divorce With Kids Involved

admin — Thu, 17 May 2012 07:05:00 +0000

Of course, when two people make the decision to get married and start a family, they never intend to someday end up getting a divorce. However, the sad fact is that today, about half of all marriages end in divorce. And even more tragically, a lot of the time, these divorces happen after the couple has already had children together. This puts parents in an extremely difficult situation as they attempt to work through the legal terms of the divorce, fight their own emotional battles as a result, and try to keep their children well taken care of. It can be a lot to handle. So if you are in the process of going through a divorce and are concerned about the well-being of your own children as a result, then you may want to consider taking some online parenting classes that are specifically aimed at divorce situations with children involved.

Kids Closets and Organizing

admin — Thu, 17 May 2012 00:05:20 +0000

Getting a kid’s closet organized presents different challenges than organizing an adult’s closet. Children have a lot more things, like toys and games, which need to be in their closets. Your child may have sports equipment, stuffed animals, extra blankets, and clothes that they’ve yet to grow into all in need of organization in the closet. Fortunately, children’s things are smaller and can be more easily organized if you plan ahead.

1) Hand-me-downs and other things that your child will eventually need can be stored in the closet. You should plan on a space for these things. You may choose to use a large bin that has a lid, or you can use several bags. You can store these on the floor if you want to reserve the higher-up spaces for things that you want to keep out of your child’s reach. There should be plenty of room underneath your child’s hanging clothes because they are so small.

2) Don’t forget to reserve a space for things that your child outgrows. Most parents find a small hamper or a bag on a hook inside the closet to be sufficient. As you discover that things are too small, toss them into the designated container so that you can easily give them to another child or donate them to charity.

3) Keeping summer and winter clothes in the closet is a good idea if you can make the space. Consider adding a second hanging bar for this purpose. In the summer, winter coats, pants and long-sleeved shirts can hang up high, out of the way. Summer clothes can be hung on small infant hangers or children’s hangers on the lower bar. This will make them easy to keep separated while keeping them within your child’s reach. Small kids hangers are great for keeping smaller items in shape while making hanging clothes less of a chore for small hands.

4) Use small bins and shelves in the closet to store things like board games. Things with smaller pieces can be kept up high so that they do not get scattered very often. Most parents like to keep things like paint, glue and markers out of reach until they can supervise their use.

5) Shelves can also be used to lay out outfits for the week. Label each cubby or bin with a day of the week and place outfits inside. Shelves for shoes, hooks for hats, and bins for sports equipment and stuffed animals can also help to finish out the closet.

Setting Boundaries With Your Adult Children: Five Ways God Wants You To Parent Your Adult Child

admin — Wed, 16 May 2012 17:05:40 +0000

Are you wondering about setting boundaries with your adult children? Parenting your adult child sounds like an oxymoron. The two really shouldn’t go together, but they often do. There is an epidemic of children eighteen years and older (even much older) that still require involvement from their parents in their lives and want support in the form of a place to live, money, training, and emotional energy. This requires a plan and an understanding of the ways adult children should be parented. Here are five ways God wants you to parent your adult child:

Things to Look for When Considering a Nanny Agency

admin — Wed, 16 May 2012 12:05:00 +0000

When choosing a babysitting service, there are several things to look for. These factors influence the safety and health of your child, and determine whether the nanny herself will be responsible.

Applicant Screening

One of the main things to determine when choosing the nanny service is the nanny service’s method of screening their own applicants. Anyone can apply to watch children, but only some people should be doing this. A good nanny service will have an extensive screening program to vet potential sitters for the safety of your child. One such thing to ask about is a background check. Are the nannies investigated fully when applying for the service?

Applicant Skills

Another factor when determining whether a nanny service is worth using is whether their people are good with children, specifically your children. Often, parents get so caught up in determining whether or not a babysitter is safe, and has no criminal record and other such red flags that they neglect to find out whether the sitter will be good for the child. This means that the sitter will both have a certain, definable set of skills, and another less-definable “way” with children.

The set of skills that the sitter needs to have include changing a diaper, feeding a baby, giving baths, and other procedural things. Other skills are also helpful. CPR should be a skill that any quality babysitting service will require of its members. If a nanny agency doesn’t require every nanny to know CPR, this is a sign that the agency does not really take its purpose seriously. The nanny should also know how to swim, and if he or she is a trained lifeguard this is even better. However, this should not be a limiting qualification, unless the nanny will specifically be watching the kids at the ocean, when there is no other lifeguard on duty (probably a rare situation).

Applicant Rapport

Among the less-quantifiable set of skills a nanny should have is the way he or she gets along with children. Do children like the babysitter? This is important, both for the happiness and well-being of the child and the ability for the babysitter to enforce discipline, which further contributes for the child’s safety. The way to determine whether a nanny agency is likely to have a sitter who is compatible with your child is to check the nanny’s experience. Often this will be part of the resume presented by the nanny agency. If the babysitter has extensive experience, chances are good that they will be able to connect and build rapport with your child.

Applicant Experience

Finally, something to consider when vetting a nanny agency is whether or not this agency has experience with special needs children. Even if your child does not have special needs, the ability to safely deal with the demands that special needs children often have demonstrates an above-average ability.

So, in short, you’re looking for a nanny agency that pays attention to detail when screening nannies, in order to weed out any that might deliberately harm a child. Furthermore, these nannies need to have the necessary skills to keep kids safe and entertained, and be likeable enough that the child will be happy.

A Plus Nannies is one of the most reputable nanny agencies in Arizona and has branched out nationwide. Besides the nanny agency in Phoenix, A Plus Nannies Inc has services in Texas, Alaska and other states.

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