There are numerous ways to share books with your little one. Your reading skills do not have to be top notch. Just the one-on-one time alongside your little one is making a difference to them. The closeness and sharing of stories will pay off for years to come.

You want to try and read to your little one every day. You need to radiate an excitement about reading a story together so that your child thinks of reading as fun. There are a few ways to make reading fun. You can talk or sing about the pictures in the book. You don’t have to read it word for word. Occasionally it is more intriguing to add your own twist to a story. Talk about your own relatives or friends and add their names to the story.

Ask questions about the pictures in the book. Let your little one create their own take on the story. They may see the pictures speaking to them a bit differently than what the words depict. This will open up a vast dialogue and a chance for you to elaborate on things in the pictures and assist your child in discovering the world we live in.

Show your children the cover of the book and let them recite to you what they believe the book is about. If they are too young to do so, point out certain items in the pictures to help them learn the names of the characters that might be in the pages that follow.

Let your little one turn the pages of the book for you. This will help them interact with the book and get familiar with how books are laid out.

Children have a short attention span, so don’t get discouraged if they lose interest before you are finished reading the book.

Remember to have fun with reading, and your child will pick up on this positive reinforcement of reading.

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What do online predators actually do?

Basically, online predators scope out internet chat rooms, message boards, emails, and instant messaging to find vulnerable children. When they find a likely target, they will contact them and do whatever it takes to capture their attention and earn their trust. For example, they will find out the child’s hobbies, the kind of music they like, and they express an interest in the kid’s problems at home and at school. Then as soon as they have established a relatively strong bond, they will change the nature of the conversation. The safe and mundane topics of conversation will eventually become more intimate and sexual in nature.

As a parent, how can you protect your children when they are online?

The easiest piece of advice we can give is to monitor your children’s computer use whenever possible. We know that it is not possible to keep an eye on your child 24/7, so here are some additional tips:

-Tell your kids in advance about the danger of online predators. Keep an on going dialogue and encourage your entire family to ask questions about online safety.
-Keep the computer in a common area rather than in your kid’s private room.
-When your child is online, take a seat next to them and watch what they are doing. If any website or email looks suspicious, divert their attention or delete the message together.
-Tell your kids not to respond to any emails or instant messages that are from strangers.
-Until your children are old enough to truly comprehend the dangers that exist online, do not let them participate in chat rooms or discussion forums.
-Likewise, until the kids are old enough, have them use a family email that you can easily monitor.

In addition to these tips, there are online tools that will help you keep your kids safe online. To find these tools check out your Internet Service Provider (also called an ISP), which often offers security devices for free. Next, try your local computer store and ask about the types of software they have that will block and filter unwanted messages and websites. And also check out your web browser, which may have parental controls that you can manually switch on and off.

Unfortunately, even if you have done everything imaginable to protect your children from online trouble, sometimes a predator will slip through the cracks. If this happens, do not blame yourself or your kid. Take a deep breath and approach the problem with a level and logical head.

Some warnings signs to watch for include:
-Your child may spend a crazy amount of time online.
-You are suddenly fielding phone calls from strangers who are asking to speak with your child, or your child is suddenly receiving packages in the mail from strangers.
-Pornography pops up on the family computer.
-You notice that your child is withdrawing from his or her usual activities.
-You find out that your kid is using someone else’s online account.

Finally, there are a lot of helpful services on the internet if your kids do wind up having trouble online. The best advice is to deal with the problem directly and as soon as you can.

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