The Importance of Crystal-Clear Rules for your Child
The world is a far more scary and complicated place than it was when you were a child. As a result, it’s imperative that you set adequate yet fair boundaries with your child. It’s a very important role in your parenting responsibilities. Children must make difficult decisions each day, and if they don’t have clear, firm boundaries set, they may not always make the wisest choice. Limits teach children proper restraint in social and individual activities and provide children with necessary structure and security to assist in healthy development. Setting limits also provide children with guidance before they have an opportunity to get into trouble, thus making them more successful with everyday life.
A child’s age and developmental level needs to be considered when setting limits. All children have a need for independence and individualization; however, they also need structure, security and parental involvement. It goes without saying that the needs of a 2-year old vary greatly than those of a teenager. A toddler has a strong desire to explore and investigate, but parameters need to be set to ensure their safety while doing so. Teenagers need to be able to be an individual and be independent, but with strong parental guidance and influence, are more likely to make smart choices in difficult situations.
Limits should be discussed and set prior to the situation. Though situations arise that weren’t planned on, daily situations should have set limits and expectations. A teenager who breaks curfew may have the privilege of going out with friends revoked until they learn respect for the rules. A child who misbehaves while playing with a friend may need to be separated from the fun until they can learn to properly behave.
Children respond in a positive manner in an environment in which they know what to expect and what is excepted of them. A child will be more respectful towards rules and more willing to abide by them if the rules are clear and consistent. Additionally, it’s crucial that once a limit is set that they caregiver stick to it. A child is less likely to try and manipulate a caregiver into changing the limits when their experience has been that there’s no bending on the limits. And remember, you are the one who sets the limits and lays down the law. There’s no need to argue with your child. Be firm and consistent and they are less likely to challenge the rules and will accept the consequences.
Teach your Child to Give Respect and They’ll Gain Respect in Return
One of the most important things you can teach your child is respect and the best way to teach respect is to show respect. When a child experiences respect, they know what it feels like and begin to understand how important it is.
Keep in mind the saying “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”
Respect is an attitude. Being respectful helps a child succeed in life. If children don’t have respect for peers, authority, or themselves, it’s almost impossible for them to succeed. A respectful child takes care of belongings and responsibilities, and a respectful child gets along with peers.
Schools teach children about respect, but parents have the most influence on how respectful children become. Until children show respect at home, it’s unlikely they will show it anywhere else.
How can you show respect to your child? If you do something wrong, admit it and apologize. Don’t embarrass, insult or make fun of your child. Compliment them and let your child make choices and take responsibility. Listen to your child’s side of the story before making a decision on an issue or problem. Be polite and use “please” and “thank you” when asking them to do things. Knock before entering your child’s room. Keep promises. Show your child that you mean what you say. And give your child your full attention.
And most important, teach your children that respect is earned. Make sure that you are leading by example and modeling respectful behavior. Be a law-abiding citizen. Show concern for your environment, animals and other people. Openly and honestly discuss exampled of witnessed disrespect.
In addition, teach your child to respect themselves. Self-respect is one of the most important forms of respect. Once we respect ourselves, it is easier to respect others.
Help them set and achieve goals. Encourage honesty and teach them that people make mistakes, and that they are the best way to learn.
Most importantly, praise your child often for good deeds, behaviors or traits, and tell them you love them at least several times each day. You’re sure to raise a child capable of giving and gaining respect.
Tags: Abiding Citizen, Animals, Attitude, Belongings, Child Experiences, Choices, Compliment, Disrespect, Environment, Full Attention, Fun, Honesty, Important Things, Parents, Peers, People, Promises, Respectful Behavior, Respectful Children, Self RespectRelated posts
How To Hire The Perfect Baby Sitter! Or The Child Care Conundrum!
Child Care is often at the forefront of many parents’ minds. Because there are occasions when everyone needs to leave the home, and it is important to have a support network in place that can be called upon to assist if the need arises. Often, the people who are called for child minding are family members, which works great in general. However, family are not always available to help; and so it is important to have a network available outside of that. This is where hired childcare professionals, or baby sitters can step in to assist. (If you have a very young child then check out http://www.babyaids.com for more resources to help you)
There are certain things that should be considered when choosing a baby sitter. First and foremost, the baby sitter should be credible — meaning that he or she should have a good record with past employers. Second is that certain character traits and characteristics should be present in the baby sitter. For example, they should have at least a general knowledge of how to run a household. And being sensible about it, common sense is a good asset here! Ask yourself the question, ‘Do I want this person in charge of MY child?’. If the answer is anything other then a definite YES. Move on. You can always get another babysitter.
And of course he or she should be patient when it comes to dealing with kids because that is really the bulk of his or her work.
Most parents prefer to be hands-on with their kids. Raising kids is a difficult job, but still parents want to do it themselves because they feel like it is the only way to make sure that they can properly train their children to grow up in the way that ideally they would want them to be. And also, children are fun! Why should the babysitter get all the joy, fun and abundance that looking after children can bring?
However some parents have no choice because both of them have to work to fend for the family so either they leave their kids with other family members, friendly neighbors or else hire babysitters to help out. This is not neccessarily an ideal solution. But sometimes it is the only option.
A baby sitter is often a stranger (at least at first), so careful thought should be given by the family about this decision from the time they say yes to the idea, to the actual choosing of the baby sitter.
It is also advisable to ask around people who have past experiences with baby sitters and child care so that you can have an idea how to set your criteria and how to actually find and eventually hire someone that will suit you. Mothers groups and baby clinics can also be a good source of advice in this area.
After the initial research you are now ready to do interviews for possible prospects. During the interview, you should not only concentrate on the resume or the answers but you should more importantly, watch out for the body language because this will tell you a lot about the person. How comfortable they feel with you, but also with your child. Ask routine questions but also come up with questions that will make you get to know more about the morals or the personality of the one applying. You don’t want to come home to an impromptu party they decided to organise at you house! 
Finally, after choosing a baby sitter, make sure that you do some advance preparations like giving the babysitter a tour of the places in the house where he or she will be working, machines he or she will be operating, list of numbers to call in case of emergencies and talk to him or her about any special instructions you might want to give. Also, set down the family policies with him or her on specific behaviour, acceptable punishments for naughty behaviour etc. These are simple things, but making it clear at the beginning will mean that you don’t have any future problems.
Hiring a baby sitter allows parents to have a greater focus on their jobs. But during the first days of the baby sitters tenure at your home, one of the parents should watch how the baby sitter is during active duty even for just a few hours. This is a sort of transition time and it is also a way of still being involved with your kids despite the fact that you already have a baby sitter. There are many good babysitters around and hopefully you will find the right one for your family and child care needs. Finding good childcare will not only free up your time and give you more flexibility, it will also add a very valuable team member to your family in the form of a baby sitter. So it is worth persisting and finding that special someone to take care of the people you LOVE.
Tags: Abundance, Ask Question, Baby Sitter, Baby Sitters, Babysitter, Character Traits, Child Care, Child Minding, Common Sense, Conundrum, Family Members, Forefront, Fun, General Knowledge, Household, Occasions, Parents, People, Raising Kids, TrainRelated posts
Pre-school is an educative learning partner of the family. Some reasons that kindergarten is an extremely important educative factor are:
-Kindergarten creates an environment for children and it helps them develop their social skills
-Kindergarten prepares children for primary school
-is a protective environment and passes the time with children of their own age
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There are differences from one kindergarten to the next regarding the closed and open space children dispose of, the instruction or advice, the qualifications of the teachers and their desire to do the best they can to promote good social skills and behavior. Any state or authorized kindergarten is obliged to offer a good learning process. From the management offered at the kindergarten or school, the parents have to find out what the conditions of life are and what type of environment of the unit has to offer, as well as the qualifications and the potential of the personnel.
The kindergarten teacher will conduct the childrens activities directly or indirectly. Some of the education process is conducted with the whole group of children and some of it is done in stages, as small groups of children or individually.
Parents and teachers need to form some sort of a partnership. There are problems that can come up in such situations and they may vary a lot. Some children that come to kindergarten have trouble adapting, socially and intellectually. There are many reasons for these things and can be discovered with parents and teachers working together to figure out and resolve the issue. Communication is the key to making a Childs kindergarten experience both fun and educational both the parents of children with difficulties and the ones of children with a normal evolution must be contacted to settle educational programs that involve the family.
Parents can continue educational games their children played in the kindergarten while they are at home, this will help the children gain confidence in their power. In the future this can help their children develop the initiative and confidence to give answers or volunteering to be involved in games.
The purpose of kindergarten is to help develop good social skills, to help prepare them for school and to let them have fun while they learn. They have to be introduced to learning and classrooms at this age, or it will be hard for them to adapt and maintain control once they start primary school.
Tags: Desire, Education, Educational Games, Educational Programs, Evolution, Fun, Kindergarten Children, Kindergarten Experience, Kindergarten Teacher, Kindergarten Teachers, Learning Partner, Open Space, Parents And Teachers, Partnership, Pre School, Protective Environment, Small Groups, Social Behavior, Space ChildrenRelated posts
Its never to soon to teach your kids how to save! In fact, the sooner you teach them how to save the better they will be at learning how to manage their money in the future. If they start early saving, they will understand the value of money and how much can be accumulated over time by saving.
How should I start teaching my child how to save? A good way to start is to follow some of these tips to assist you with helping your child to save:
1. Give your child an allowance which will provide your child with money that they can manage. Encourage your child to save a least half of their allowance.
2. Show your kid how much interest they can earn over time on their money when they save it! Especially the power of compound interest.
3. By saving money today, your kids would have money saved, for a future purchase they might want to make.
4. Make saving fun for your kid. Have your child put their savings in a piggy bank or jar so they can watch their money grow.
5. Open a bank account for your kid and let them deposit money from their allowance or other monies received into their bank account.
You say this is all good information, however, youre unable to give your kids an allowance because you just dont have enough money. What should I do, I really want my child to learn how to save? Dont fret, they can still save! You can have them save by collecting bottles and cans to earn money so they can start saving. No matter, how much money your kids earn, every amount adds up!
So, it seems easy, It really is! Get your kids into the habit of saving today, so they will learn how to manage their finances now and for the future.
Tags: Bottles And Cans, Deposit Money, Earn Money, Enough Money, Finances, Fun, Habit, How Much Money, Manage Money, Monies, Open A Bank Account, Piggy Bank, Power Of Compound Interest, Saving Money, Value Of MoneyRelated posts
Have you ever noticed that everything is a battle with your child? If it is, then one of three things is happening. Your child, you or both are in a competitive need cycle. What is a competitive need cycle?
As humans, we are all born with five basic needs that we are genetically programmed to attempt to meet. They are survival, love & belonging, power, freedom and fun. Without getting into the detail of the developmental model described in Nancy Bucks book, Peaceful Parenting, power and freedom combine to make the competitive need cycle.
When people are in a competitive, need cycle they are most strongly driven by the need to gain more power and freedom in their lives. With a parent and child, this is typically represented by the parent refusing to consider to allow their child to do something. The parent is attempting to meet the power need by keeping his or her child safe and the freedom need by extricating him or herself from the worry of wondering about his or her child while the child would be engaged in the forbidden activity.
The child, on the other hand, is attempting to meet the power need by having new experiences and exploring the world and to meet the freedom need by gaining time away from restrictive parental supervision. When a parent and child are both in their competitive need cycle, naturally a power struggle ensues.
I have four examples of situations and possible solutions if you, the parent, are willing to consider focusing on your cooperative needs of love & belonging and fun instead. Why do you, the parent, have to be the one to it differently? Because it is you who are dissatisfied with the situation. Whose behavior can you control? Hopefully, you understand that you cannot control your childs behavior as much as I know youd like to at times. The only persons behavior you can control is your own.
Since it is you and not your child who is reading this article, Im talking to you about what you can do to improve the situation.
Staying focused on changing your child will only lead to your frustration and a break down of your relationship. You wont be successful at long-term change in your child. He or she may acquiesce while in your presence but there wont be the required internal motivation to change required for any long-term transformation. So, lets look at what you do have control of—the way you respond to your childs push to meet his or her power and freedom needs.
Rebecca:
The first situation I want to talk about involves ten year-old Rebecca. Rebeccas parents came to me frustrated over the fact they were unsuccessful enforcing Rebeccas bedtime and she would frequently be grumpy because of lack of adequate sleep. They also were hoping for some down time to spend some quality time with each other without children around.
After, evaluating what was really important, the parents spoke to Rebecca about no longer enforcing her bedtime. They explained that she could go to bed whenever she pleased as long as she was able to get up in the morning, get to school and be relatively pleasant with family members. However, there would be a household quiet time that would begin at 9 PM. At that time, everyone needed to be in his or her own bedrooms engaged in quiet activity.
These parents couldnt wait to tell me how great it worked! Since Rebecca had no parents fighting with her to go to bed, she could no longer meet her power need fighting with them. Consequently, she began to go to bed when she got tired and stopped fighting sleep. Steve and Mary were able to get the quiet couple time they needed so everybody won.
Veronica:
The second situation involves my friend, Denise, and her daughter, Veronica. Veronica is 11 years-old and wanted to have her hair highlighted like all her friends do but Denise was opposed to the idea. While discussing the situation with me, Denise realized that she was concerned about the maintenance costs of highlights and the damage that will be done to her daughters beautiful hair if she starts applying chemicals to it at her early age. Of course, Denise had explained none of this to Veronica.
What she did say was, No, you are too young to have your hair highlighted. Just because everyone else is doing it doesnt mean you should. Does that sound familiar? What I suggested instead is that she tells Veronica her concerns.
Denise started by saying that she wanted to revisit their conversation about highlights. Denise agreed to Veronicas initial request to be given the highlights as a birthday gift. But then, she asked Veronica what her plan was for upkeep. Denise explained that she would have to have the highlighting process done every two months or so and that it would cost approximately $60 each time. Denise offered to give Veronica money for helping out doing extra chores around the house.
Since Veronica had agreed to this before and failed in the follow through, Denise asked another question. She said, Veronica, I know you have agreed to do extra chores in the past and you didnt consistently follow through. If history repeats itself and you dont have the money you need for the highlights, are you prepared for what your hair will look like once the roots grow out?
She also discussed with Veronica the concern for the health of her hair. She said that starting to put chemicals into ones hair at eleven did not bode well for maintaining healthy looking hair into adulthood.
Denise marveled at what happened next. She said that what had been a heated battle between them for months turned into a non-issue. Veronica decided she no longer wanted highlights in her hair. She realized that she probably wont do the chores to earn the extra money needed and that she doesnt want to look weird while her hair is growing out. Its amazing what happens when we align ourselves with our opponents resistance. Its a concept that has been taught in martial arts within the physical realm for centuries but it can easily be applied to the mental realm in parenting just as easily
Carrie:
The third scenario involved a mothers horror when she learned what her eight year-old daughter had done. This mother, Linda, sent her daughter, Carrie, to swim camp. Carrie had been a swimmer for quite some time but this was the first time she was actually exposed to older swimmers at camp.
She learned from them that a good way to shave time off her record is to shave the hair off her entire body. Now what hair could an eight year-old have? It didnt matter—Carrie was determined to shave everywhere except the hair on her head. Linda, in horror, forbids her to do it.
What was Linda concerned about? It was a multitude of things. First of all, her daughter was too young to start shaving. Secondly, she was concerned that if she began shaving, then her hair would grow back very dark and course. (Of course, this is an old wifes tale that many of my generation was exposed to.)
Linda was shocked to learn that despite her refusal to allow Carrie to shave, Carrie later went into the bathroom, took a dry razor to her skin, and shaved anyway. Unbelievably, at her next swim meet, she had the best time of her short life to that point. Did shaving help her or was it the power of her belief that the shaving helped? I cant answer that question. However, the point is that what actually happened was worse than the original fears Linda had about Carrie shaving.
Had Linda listened to the desires of her daughter and she was willing to consider the request, she may have spoken to a pediatrician and learned that her second fear was unfounded. Then she might have been able to assist Carrie to shave safely instead of with a dry razor and no supervision at all.
What parents often fail to realize is that just because they tell their child no does not mean that their child will dutifully obey. Often a no means that their child will proceed stealthily without parental permission anyway. When this occurs, the child is doing something the parent doesnt approve of and the parent has no idea and therefore, no opportunity to discuss the possible dangers and concerns.
My Children & Their Friends:
I used to see this a lot when my boys were older. They would have friends whose parents were quite strict and would not give permission for them to attend parties where it was known there would be alcohol and no parental supervision. On the surface, this makes perfect sense. What responsible parent wants their child at a party drinking without any adults to intervene if there is a problem?
However, in refusing their child permission to go, what I often saw was that same child telling their parent that he or she was going to stay overnight at a friends house. Then that friend would tell his or her parents that he or she was going to stay at the first friends house. In essence, what resulted was two children out all night, doing God knows what, without any adult having any information about what was happening.
My approach with my children when they would want to go to a party was to discuss the things I was afraid of. If they had an explanation for what they would do to handle the problems about which I was concerned, then I would generally allow them to go. If they couldnt address certain situations, then they would not be permitted to go until there was a reasonable plan in place to address my concerns.
The main things I was concerned about were not drinking and driving. What would they do if offered drugs? What would they do if someone showed dangerous signs of having too much? What would they do if violence broke out or things got out of hand? What would they do and what did they expect me to do if the party were raided by police? Over time, we discussed all of these situations so that I was satisfied that my children could handle them if they ever came up.
This resulted in me having peace of mind and generally, enough information about where my children were going to be and what they were going to be doing to satisfy me. It is not an easy way to parent and it sure doesnt guarantee that your children will always make the best decision.
What it does do, however, is it stops making you the person your children have to fight in their attempts to get their needs met. It keeps your relationship with your children strong and influential. It allows you, as the parent, to discuss situations and possibilities you normally wouldnt have the opportunity to discuss. In addition, it helps your children to become better decision makers, problem solvers and to anticipate circumstances before they arise.
Tags: Control, Developmental Model, Exploring The World, Forbidden, Freedom Need, Fun, Love, Nancy, New Experiences, Parental Supervision, Parenting Power, Peaceful Parenting, People, Possible Solutions, Power And Freedom, Power Struggle, Survival, WorryRelated posts
Be a Good Teacher for Your Baby
Babies learn by exploring the things around them. Show your baby how to look at, listen to, touch or smell something new or different. Hold your baby so she (or he) can see things. Help her hold objects like her socks or a rattle. As she grows, give her safe objects to feel, shake or put into her mouth.
Be your babys teacher. She (or he) will see how you react to things. When you get excited about a toy or object, shell get excited too. As she grows, show her how things workfor example, how doors open and close. Talk about what you are doing. For example, I am putting the food in the pot to cook it.
When a baby is learning something new, it helps her to try it again and again. With your help and support this can be fun, and your baby will like trying new things.
Protect your baby from harsh disapproval, teasing or punishment. A baby doesnt understand right from wrong. She doesnt know what things are dangerous for her to do. Watch her to keep her safe. Remove her from situations where she can be hurt or injured.
Talk and sing to your baby. Even before she is able to speak, this helps her develop language skills. Babies learn best when you talk to them.
Read to your baby from the earliest months of her life and continue this habit as she grows.
Babies Have People Skills, Too
From the start, your baby is interested in your face. She notices your expressions and tone of voice. She reacts to your emotions. For example, when you say something in a soft and loving way, she will relax and feel more secure.
Scientists have learned that babies show emotions as early as when they are one month old. Something else scientists have learned is that feeling good helps babies learn better.
Why? Happy babies are more alert, attentive and responsive. Babies remember things better when they are happy and at ease. The way you hold and talk to your baby can help her feel happy.
Babies who are alert and feeling good are more likely to look at things, explore and play. They will pay attention more. For example, they will try to make new things happen with toys or make sounds with people. This helps them learn and remember new things.
Brief periods of distress or difficulty will occur. These will not harm a child. Short periods of negative emotions can be helpful for your baby. You should do something quickly to help her feel better. From this she will learn you care about what she tries to tell you. Long periods of negative emotion, like crying, can do harm.
In the first month, the negative emotion that occurs is distress or a response to pain. Later, she will show sadness and anger. Next comes fear. All people have these emotions to protect themselves. Help your baby be at ease with having emotions. Respond to her emotions in a warm and loving way.
You can tell what your baby is feeling by changes in her facial expression. You can also see what she is feeling by her posture, movements and the sounds she makes.
Learning to Communicate
It will be months before your baby says her first word. But babies start learning about language much earlier.
Even in the first few weeks after birth, your baby is learning about language. Very young babies can tell the difference between speech and other sounds. They can tell the difference between the voices of men and the voices of women. They even know the voices of their own mothers. A baby can tell the voice of her mother from the voices of other women. Researchers think babies are able to do this because of the way specific parts of their brains work.
Babies can also communicate long before they speak. They use movements and sounds to let you know what they want or dont want. Some people refer to these as a babys signals.
Right now, your baby can tell you if she needs something by fussing or crying. She can also let you know when she likes something or someone by looking intently. Babies learn best how to tell parents what they like or dont like when they begin to see that parents respond to them in positive ways.
Even before she can speak, you need to talk to your baby. Even though there are differences among individuals, babies whose parents talk to them talk sooner. They also have larger vocabularies. Talking to babies gives them language skills that will help them learn more easily when they get to school. Hearing words on the radio or TV is not very helpful to babies learning language. Your baby benefits from having you up close smiling, talking and singing.
Babies Cry for Lots of Reasons
Crying is the way newborns communicate. Your new baby cries to let you know she needs or wants something.
The first thing to try when she cries is to feed her. By noticing when she wants to be fed and when she doesnt, you will learn which cries mean that she is hungry, uncomfortable or wants attention. Sometimes she will want to be held. Sometimes she wants a dry diaper. Sometimes she is tired or bored.
As you and your baby get to know each other, you will sometimes be able to tell the difference between each kind of crying. You can then try to give her what she needs.
Taking care of your baby when she cries will not spoil her. It will help your baby feel loved and secure.
Smile, touch and talk to your baby as often as possible. Do this when you feed her, change her diaper or give her a bath. Your baby will learn that she can rely on you to take care of her.
Ways to Soothe Your Baby
Sometimes babies cry even when they have been fed, have clean diapers and are healthy. If your baby is crying because she needs comfort, there are many things you can do. Every baby is different.
Here are things you can try to find out what calms your baby down.
- Rock your baby in your arms or while sitting in a rocking chair.
- Stroke your babys head very gently, or lightly pat her back or chest.
- Make soft noises to let your baby know you are there and you care.
- Talk to your baby.
- Softly sing to your baby or play soft music.
- Wrap her up in a baby blanket (but not too tightly).
If your baby keeps crying after you have tried everything, stay calm. Babies know when you are upset. No matter how stressed you are, never shake your baby. Shaking your baby can cause blindness, brain damage or even death.
If you need a break, call a relative, neighbour or friend to help. All babies cry. You will not be able to comfort your baby every time. That does not mean you are a bad parent. Do the best you can to soothe and comfort your baby.
Heres a simple tip to help your baby cry lesscarry her. Research shows that babies who are carried more often dont cry as much as other babies.
Tags: Baby Babies, Baby Parenting, Babys, Disapproval, Doors, Emotions, Expressions, Face Tone, Feeling Good, Fun, Habit, Language Skills, New Baby, Pot, Scientists, Shell, Socks, Tone Of VoiceRelated posts
There’s good news for parents who want to introduce young children to the joy of bicycle riding but are concerned about safety.
A safer bicycle ride for both parents and young children may be available thanks to what’s been described as a design breakthrough in child carriers.
Even with a proper helmet, many parents find it challenging to ride with their child behind them. Some are fearful that sudden moves on the part of the child can make it difficult to steer and maintain balance. Others have reported that it’s common to be kicked when the child rides behind in a standard carrier.
All that may be changing thanks to a family-owned company called Kent Bicycles. They’ve developed a child carrier that mounts in front of the person powering the bicycle. Called The Kangaroo, the carrier is said to make riding with a small child safer and more fun.
The carrier offers what the company calls an interactive approach to bicycling. That’s because with the child in front of the driver, it’s easier for parent and child to interact and communicate. It’s also easier for the parent to maintain control of the child’s movements. Plus, since they are riding up front, “where the action is,” children are likely to find the ride more interesting and entertaining.
Experts say that since the carrier is mounted in the center of the bike, and not the rear, it is safer and gives the bike and the riders more stability should a child shift his or her weight.
The Kangaroo is designed for children from 10 months to four years of age.
The company’s history dates back to the early 1900s. Its bikes and related accessories are said to incorporate the latest advances in design and technology at an affordable price. The company refuses to ship a product until it is confident it is safe enough to be used by the families of its employees.
Tags: 10 Months, Bicycle Ride, Bicycles, Bikes, Child Carrier, Child Carriers, Child Safety, Control, Design And Technology, Design Breakthrough, Early 1900s, Family Owned Company, Fun, Interact, Interactive Approach, Kangaroo, Parents, Proper Helmet, Sudden MovesRelated posts
3 Ways To Inspire A Love Of Reading In Your Children
If your child is showing little interest in reading, there is hope. Sometimes moms and dads have to get sneaky, but you can still turn your child into a reader, even if he is reluctant about it.
1. The Early Bedtime trick.
One of my favorite ways to get my kids to read is something they hopefully will not figure out until they have kids of their own. Two words Early Bedtime.
You might be wondering how an increase in sleep can help your child to spend more time reading. Well, here’s the trick. Set their bedtime for 45 minutes to an hour before they need their lights out.
Here’s how our bedtime routine goes. The kids brush teeth and use the bathroom. Then I read them their stories. This is all done before their official bedtime. Then, I simply give them an option. I say It’s time for bed, now. Would you like lights out or would you like to stay up and read for a bit?
Unless they are really tired, they’ll always choose to read awhile. I do not have to beg nor manipulate them into reading. In fact, they think it’s their idea and they have grown to love their chance for a ‘late’ bedtime. Then, I back off. I don’t try to instruct them in any way, nor help them choose books. This is their time. They can choose whichever book they like and look at it however they like until I come in to kiss them goodnight and turn their lights out. Of course, if they want me to stay and listen to them read, I’m more than happy to comply. Try it. It works.
2. Summer reading incentives.
You can sign up for a summer reading program at pretty much any library in the country. If your local library does not have a summer reading program, then create one at home, with rewards for reading books. You can use a Monopoly (or Life) board and allow your child to move one space for each book he reads. Or if you want to have more fun, let him roll the dice each time he reads a book and have prizes available for passing certain points.
Make sure the rewards are something very desirable. If your child values time with you more than toys, then set a date together doing his favorite thing. If he values a certain toy, let him earn it. Or let him earn a chance to get out of his regular chores. Take him to his favorite restaurant. Just have fun with it and he will, too.
3. Read the book before you can see the movie.
This is a standard in our home. We won’t go see any movie until we’ve read the book. Whether my husband and I read the book to the kids or they read it alone, each member of the family can go see the movie after the book is read. So, if your child is looking forward to seeing the next Chronicles of Narnia movie, the next Harry Potter movie or the next Lemony Snicket movie, they’ll have to read the book first.
Thats it. Three easy ways to turn your child into a reader for life.
Tags: 3 Ways, Bedtime Routine, Brush Teeth, Fun, Goodnight, Incentives, Kiss, Local Library, Love Reading, Monopoly, Move One, Prizes, Reading Books, Rewards, Sleep, Sleep Help, Summer Reading Program