11Mar2018
Kids Development, Parenting Tips
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March 11, 2018

Good manners have to do with being considerate and thoughtful about other people.

Portraying good manners shall make one be more likable and be treated with respect by the others.

Good manners for kids does not come in-born. It is of parents’ responsibilities to figure out how to teach kids manners and to get their kids behave appropriately.

If us parents are not teaching our kids the proper manners, they would not realise how inappropriate it is when they pick their nose or interrupt a conversation.

When it comes to teaching good manners for kids, these 6 tips will come in handy for all parents.

Check out this article now and comment below to share with us what do you think about it!

Via Celeb Baby Laundry: 6 Tips for Teaching Your Kids Manners

Having manners can get you a whole lot in this world. If you want to make friends, find a aartner, get the career of your dreams, you will need to know your P’s and Q’s. When it comes to your kids, you need to make sure that you teach them well from an early age.r

Here’s a secret: Kids are not born with good manners. If you don’t show them how to behave, they will go ahead and do whatever they like. I’m not saying that it’s easy to get them to be good, but you need to try. If you’re struggling to teach your little ones to be polite, you’ve come to the right place. Here are a few things that I’ve learned along the way.

Teach Them The Polite Words First

Instead of teaching your kids to say ‘what’ have them say ‘pardon’. It’s the little things like this that make all the difference. As a parent, it’s your job to make sure that your children know what words they should be using. I always teach my little ones the most polite way to say something so that I know that’s what they will go with. Honestly, I think you should do the same.

Show Them How To Share

By their very nature, many kids find it hard to share with one another. Since I’ve got three little bundles of joy in my home, they have no choice but to learn how to share. One of the best things you can do is lead by example. Share things with your children (like snacks and toys) and they will learn to do the same with each other.

Reward Them When They Do Well

You should never, ever underestimate the power of positive reinforcement. When your children do something right, you need to let them know that you’re so very proud of them for that. You should show them that you care about what they’ve done. Let’s say, they remember to say ‘please’ or ‘thank you’. You need to tell them how very good they have been and show that you have noticed their behavior.

Teach Them To Say Sorry

Saying sorry can be hard for us adults, never mind our kids. If you want to teach your kids a really good lesson, show them how to say sorry. Again, you might want to set an example here. When you do something wrong (like dropping something on the floor), simply say ‘Oh, sorry!’ Your kids will see your behavior and begin to copy it in their everyday lives.

Don’t Allow Rudeness

There’s nothing worse than a rude child. If your kid answers you back or is rude to you, you need to nip it in the bud. I’ve found that the ‘naughty step’ technique works very well. The moment they do something wrong, send them to sit on the step for a few minutes. They will learn that bad behavior always gets punished.

Correct Your Kids When They Get It Wrong

Finally, it’s perhaps the most important thing that I’ve learned with my kids. When they get something wrong, you absolutely have to make sure that you correct them right away. You should do this in a calm manner but be sure you don’t forget. For example, if your child forgets to say ‘please’, tell them about it. Don’t be angry; just let them know what you expect. After all, how are they supposed to learn if you don’t correct them?

Share your thoughts in the comments section below!

24Feb2018
Kids Development, Parenting Tips
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February 24, 2018

Nothing pushes a parent’s buttons more than their kids’ bad behavior.

In today’s world, good manners, rules, and respect seem to be a foreign idea to many kids. Many parents are cracking their heads to find tips on how to deal with kids’ bad behavior.

Michele Borba, Ph.D., the parents’ advisor, and the author has once said that it is a mistake for parents to assume that kids’ bad behavior is a phase that will go away on its own. This opinion is also well supported by Alex J. Packer, Ph.D. an author, educator, and psychologist mentioning those good manners need to be taught, discussed and practiced.

Kids pick up on how to react and respond through modeling, which means watching and imitating the people around them. They learn from what they see by watching their parents, teachers, and even movie stars and rappers whom they are exposed to. If your kids are exposed to rude or bad behaviors, they are most likely going to model it.

Looking for ways to deal with kids’ bad behaviors? Watch this video now for the tips you need on how to deal with kids’ bad behavior.

5Feb2018
Kids Development, Parenting Tips
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February 5, 2018

via ResearchGate: Children with harsh parents were more influenced by the opinion of their peers.

In a study that tracked 1,500 students beginning in seventh grade, researchers found that those who were parented harshly were more likely by ninth grade to place more importance on their peer group than other responsibilities, including obeying their parents’ rules. This meant they were more likely to engage in risky behaviors in eleventh grade, with males seeing greater delinquency like hitting and stealing, and females more frequent early sexual behavior.

We spoke to lead author Rochelle F Hentges about the study.

ResearchGate: What motivated this study?

Rochelle Hentges: We wanted to better understand how and why some children leave education early, either by dropping out of high school or not completing college. Prior research has indicated that children growing up in harsh or adverse environments are more likely to drop out. But we’re still not sure what it is about these environments that affect educational achievement. Evolutionary theories have suggested that, because harsh environments can make survival uncertain, individuals growing up in harsh environments are primed to try and capitalize on immediate rewards rather than focusing on long-term goals or outcomes. For example, research has found that children growing up in harsh or unstable environments are more likely to take a smaller, but immediate reward (two M&Ms) instead of waiting to get a larger reward (five M&Ms). Many of the messages that children get about why education is important are related to long-term goals, like getting into a good college or getting a better-paying job. I hypothesized, based on this evolutionary theory, that children growing up in environments with harsh parenting would be less likely to complete high school or go to college.

RG: What do you consider to be harsh parenting?

Hentges: In our study, harsh parenting was considered to be acts of verbal or physical aggression, such as yelling, name-calling, shoving, or threatening the child.

RG: What were the results of your study?

Hentges: We found that harsh parenting in seventh grade (around age 12-13) predicted an extreme peer orientation in eighth grade. An extreme peer orientation means that the child is more influenced by what their peers think or want instead of their parents. For example, they’re more likely to blow off doing homework if a friend calls and wants them to hang-out and they’re more likely to disobey parents’ rules if it means going along with what their friends want to do. This extreme peer orientation predicted higher delinquency for both boys and girls and early sexual behavior for girls in eleventh grade. For boys, higher delinquency predicted lower educational attainment at age 21, while for girls it was early sexual behavior that predicted lower educational attainment. When we ran our analyses, we controlled for prior standardized test scores, GPA, and students’ beliefs about how important school was to them. We also controlled for other potential contextual factors that might have influenced educational attainment, like race, family income, and the parents’ education level.

RG: How did you conduct the study?

Hentges: We used a pre-existing dataset from the Maryland Adolescent Development in Context Study that had collected information from close to 1,500 students beginning in seventh grade. The sample was collected in a large county in Maryland near Washington, D.C. and was diverse in terms of race, income, and geographical location (urban, rural, and suburban).

RG: How does the peer relationships of children with harsh parenting differ to those without?

Hentges: We used a continuous scale of harsh parenting that ranged from very little to a lot. We found that children who were exposed to higher levels of harsh parenting were more likely to say that it was okay to break their parents’ rules in order to keep their friends and that they spent more time on activities with friends instead of other things they should be doing, like homework or chores. So children with harsher parents may be more susceptible to peer pressure.

RG: What do you think schools can do to increase the engagement of these students?

Hentges: Something that is unique about evolutionary life history theory is that it tries to explain why children in harsh environments would focus on immediate rewards instead of long-term goals. If the future is uncertain, there is a certain adaptive value to capitalizing on what’s in front of you rather than putting a lot of resources toward something that might not pay off. So telling students that education is important for their long-term success may motivate children growing up in stable environments with warm, supportive parents. But for other children, this message may not mean as much because they’re focused on surviving and getting through their day-to-day life. One thing that schools may be able to do to increase engagement is to make education more rewarding and fulfilling in the short-term. For example, students often report that they enjoy working with and learning from peers and hands-on projects or experiences, like going to museums and zoos. Importantly, these sorts of classroom activities tend to decrease from elementary to high school. But if we can make school more enjoyable in the short-term, we may be able to keep students engaged in education for longer.

26Jan2018
Kids Development, Parenting Tips
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January 26, 2018

For many of us, rushing to set up the dining table for dinner after a long, long day of work and a round of cooking can be pretty tiring and frustrating, isn’t it? Well, there is a pretty good solution to this – getting your kids to help with meal-time preparation!

You can get your kids to help out by setting up the table so that you won’t need to rush it right after your cooking is done. For kids aged 5 and above, they would be more than ready to learn this fundamental chore from you!

To start, talk to your kids to let them know how important their task is to get them valuing the task they do and to secure their interest. For younger children, do be mindful to leave out sharp cutleries and task them with handling dishes which are less easily breakable. On the other hand, older kids can help out with transferring cooked dishes to the table and in the setting up of sharper cutleries such as a knife. At the beginning, your kids may be unfamiliar with the setup and where things are, so be sure to have whatever needed on the table readily available on a kitchen counter where they can easily retrieve them to help ease the setup process.

Setting up the table is an excellent way for your children to help out before mealtime. So, be very sure to teach them how with this easy-to-follow video clip!

22Jan2018
Kids Development, Parenting Tips
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January 22, 2018

Temper tantrums are very common in kids aged from 1 to 4. More than half of the kids let their frustration out for at least once a week. Kids start to throw tantrums, be it whining, begging or going wild for a number of reasons. They could be seeking attention or testing your limits. Whatever the reasons are, kid’s tantrums are tough to deal with. How could we help kids to calm down in the midst of their tantrums?

Sometimes deep breathing isn’t the remedy that works for your child. Children only know a limited number of approaches to break through the situations that are troubling them. They may find it difficult to understand just what is making them upset or to discuss their sensations.

In situations like this, try talking to your children in a helpful manner, show your concern and care for them to help them ease the angry sensations. You should be helping them to explore reliable methods of handling rage and also develop positive connections between you and your child.

Watch the video listed below and discover the top 10 leading parenting tips from professionals in education and also trusted parenting resources to soothe your children down within a minute.

15Jan2018
Kids Development, Parenting Tips
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January 15, 2018

via HealthHub : If your child is finding it hard to adjust to a new school or class, know that you can make a difference.

A new school or class can be stressful for your child, but as a parent, there are ways to support your child to make the change smoothly.

While it can be hard to adjust to a new place, it helps to have parental involvement to assure your child that he or she is not alone. Ask your child to share his or her apprehensions, feelings and concerns.

Transition to Primary and Secondary School

Starting primary school can be daunting, as your child will not only meet new teachers and classmates, but also shift from a less structured environment to one with subject-based learning and a fixed timetable.

Subsequently, when your child enters secondary school, do expect longer school hours with more time and commitment required for Co-Curricular Activities (CCAs).

As a parent, you can make a difference by preparing your child in these areas:

1. Making Early Preparations

On the night before the first day of school, help your child prepare for school by packing the school bag and uniform together with him or her. Ensure your child sleeps in early to have enough rest for the new day.

2. Being Proficient in Language

Read to and with your child, as independent reading helps build language fluency. Reading together is also a meaningful way to bond with your child. A strong command of language builds an important foundation for academic success and allows your child to avoid having any miscommunication with teachers and other students.

3. Able to Make Purchases

Your child should be able to make purchases independently. For instance, he or she should be able to place an order for food, make payment, ensure that the correct change is received, and to return used plates and cutlery after eating.

4. Choosing Healthy Food

At school, rest assured that your child will have healthy food choices with the Healthy Meals in Schools Programme (HMSP). As this may be the first time your child can choose what food to buy, ask him or her to opt for healthier options, like choosing to eat fruit and nuts instead of chips for a snack.

The food choices made by your child today impacts not only current but also his or her future health, as eating habits developed during the formative years can follow your child into adulthood.

5. Going to Toilet Independently

Make sure your child knows how to find a toilet, go to toilet independently and if in doubt, who to ask for help. Prepare your child by encouraging them to go to public toilets on his or her own before school starts.

6. Learning to Pack and Organise Things

Children need to learn how to take care of their own belongings at home and at school. Teach them how to pack and prepare for school the night before. This is also a good opportunity to teach habits of personal responsibility and ownership.

7. Establishing a Routine​

Set up a school week routine which includes time for school work and rest. The routine does not need to be a complicated one, and allow your child to settle into the routine at a pace that is comfortable for him or her. Whether your child will be walking to school or taking public transport, help him or her to plan the route or go on a dry run.

Finally, should you need to check in on your child’s progress at school, connect with the teachers. Even better, volunteer with the school. It’s a great way to show your child that you take an interest in his or her education, and you may also gain a better understanding of the school environment and your child’s school activities.

As parents, your presence and support can make a whole lot of difference during your child’s transition period and will go a long way to make the school experience a pleasant and positive one. Remember: while your child has embarked on the formal schooling journey, parents remain your child’s first and closest teachers in life.

15Jan2018
Kids Development, Parenting Tips
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January 15, 2018

via Ideas.Ted : Moms and dads often feel like they can’t win. If they pay too much attention to their kids, they’re helicopter parents; too little, and they’re absentee parents. What’s the happy medium that will result in truly happy, self-sufficient kids? Here are five tips.

1. Give your kids things they can own and control.
“Enlist the children in their own upbringing. Research backs this up: children who plan their own goals, set weekly schedules and evaluate their own work build up their frontal cortex and take more control over their lives. We have to let our children succeed on their own terms, and yes, on occasion, fail on their own terms. I was talking to Warren Buffett’s banker, and he was chiding me for not letting my children make mistakes with their allowance. And I said, ‘But what if they drive into a ditch?’ He said, ‘It’s much better to drive into a ditch with a $6 allowance than a $60,000-a-year salary or a $6 million inheritance’.“

— Bruce Feiler, writer and author of The Secrets of Happy Families

2. Don’t worry about raising happy kids.
“In our desperate quest to create happy kids, we may be assuming the wrong moral burden. It strikes me as a better goal, and, dare I say, a more virtuous one, to focus on making productive kids and moral kids, and to simply hope that happiness will come to them by virtue of the good they do and the love that they feel from us. I think if we all did that, the kids would still be all right, and so would their parents — possibly in both cases even better.”

— Jennifer Senior, writer and author of All Joy and No Fun

3. Show your kids that you value who they are as people.

“Childhood needs to teach our kids how to love, and they can’t love others if they don’t first love themselves, and they won’t love themselves if we can’t offer them unconditional love. When our precious offspring come home from school or we come home from work, we need to close our technology, put away our phones, look them in the eye and let them see the joy that fills our faces when we see our child. Then, we have to say, ‘How was your day? What did you like about today?’ They need to know they matter to us as humans, not because of their GPA.”

— Julie Lythcott-Haims, former dean of freshmen at Stanford University and author of How to Raise an Adult

4. Teach your kids to help out around the house — without being asked.

“We absolve our kids of doing the work of chores around the house, and then they end up as young adults in the workplace still waiting for a checklist, but it doesn’t exist. More importantly, they lack the impulse, the instinct to roll up their sleeves and pitch in and look around and wonder, How can I be useful to my colleagues? How can I anticipate a few steps ahead to what my boss might need?”

— Julie Lythcott-Haims

5. Remember that the little things matter.

“Quite small things that parents do are associated with good outcomes for children — talking and listening to a child, responding to them warmly, teaching them their letters and numbers, taking them on trips and visits. Reading to children every day seems to be really important, too. In one study, children whose parents were reading to them daily when they were five and then showing an interest in their education at the age of 10 were significantly less likely to be in poverty at the age of 30 than those whose parents weren’t doing those things.”

— Helen Pearson, science journalist and author of The Life Project

6Jan2018
Kids Development, Parenting Tips
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January 6, 2018

What are your thoughts when it comes to a dad who can cook, clean and change diapers?

The society has long perceived that changing diapers or parenting roles at home are too feminine for man and will make a man appears less “manly”. But it is time for us to end the gender stereotypes about parenting!

Multiple studies have shown that men who share parenting roles with their partners do not just appear more attractive to women but will benefit their kids in many ways!

Watch this video now for all the benefits your kids are getting when you share parenting roles with your partner.

Do you share parenting roles with your partner? Comment below to share with us!

Dads and moms should share parenting roles. — Nev Schulman

Posted by ATTN: on Saturday, August 5, 2017

2Jan2018
Kids Development, Parenting Tips
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January 2, 2018

Mommy’s notes:

Good tips to try with your kids if you are facing with this issue. All the best.

Does your kid have a lovie? A lovie could be a toy or blanket that your kid developed a special relationship with. He or she will usually cuddle it to sleep.

What happens when your kids throw their lovies out of their bed so that they could delay the sleep time? This is one of the most common “stall tactics” kids use to seek attention from their parents and although it can be cute at first, it quickly becomes repetitive and irritating for the parent.

Here is a video guide for you to help when your kids do that. Watch it now and comment below to tell us what other ways do you find helpful in tackling situations like this!

28Dec2017
Kids Development, Parenting Tips
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December 28, 2017

Via Mommy Moment: Tips for Raising Content Kids

When parents are asked what their one wish for their children is, many respond with the fact that they want their children to be happy.

We all want to be raising content kids. Parents want happy children. From the moment they are born our kids’ happiness becomes a top priority. That doesn’t change as they grow, however it can seem to get more difficult to navigate how to ensure their happiness.

Remember that having happy kids does not mean giving children everything they want. It does not mean giving in when they whine and beg. It does not mean having them kids signed up for that dance class or hockey program. Many parents fall into the trap of saying yes to their children because they do not want them to feel bad. Kids, just like us, will have disappointments in life and it is not our job as parents to “fix” their disappointment.

Happiness is about parenting the individual child. Every child is different and will not necessarily respond to parenting the same way. The Happy Kid Handbook explores the differences among introverts, extroverts, and everything in between. This guide to parenting offers parents the strategies they need to meet their child exactly where he or she needs to be met.

Sometimes our child’s emotions can get overlooked. Parents tend to focus more on how their children are behaving, rather than how they are feeling. Maintaining an awareness of your child’s emotional state and keeping in mind that emotions play a big part in their wellbeing, can help parents become far more involved with their children and educate themselves on ways to raise a happy and content child.

Tips For Raising Content Kids

Ensure Your Happiness

Children can feed off our emotions. If we as parents are unhappy or not content in life, it is more likely that our children will feel that and mirror our feelings. Surround yourself with positive people, laugh often and take time for yourself to boost your mood. Chances are you will see a difference in your child’s emotional state as well.

Do Not Expect Perfection

Learn to expect effort over perfection. As long as your child is putting in the effort to do their best, that’s all that matters. Expecting perfection puts a lot of stress onto a child and therefore causes irritation and lower self-confidence when they don’t perform perfectly. No one is perfect. Make it very clear to your child that effort is important but that you don’t expect perfection.

Give Responsibilities

Giving your child responsibilities can help to increase their self-confidence and make them feel valued. Delegate responsibilities to your child that are age appropriate and within their capabilities. This will help to make them feel as though they are contributing something positive and in turn, increase their happiness.

Teach Gratitude

Take time daily to focus on what each member of your family is grateful for. If you all sit at the table together to enjoy dinner every night as a family, go around the table and express one thing you are grateful for each night. Doing this can help to foster a positive attitude, contentment, and happiness.

Your child’s happiness can depend on many different factors and it is important that we as parents don’t put too much pressure on them and focus on fostering a positive attitude. Your child will be much happier for it.

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