Your Child's Uniqueness

Celebrate your Child's Uniqueness


Just like a snowflake or a fingerprint, every child is
unique in their own special way.

Every child has a unique way of feeling, thinking, and
interacting with others. Some children are shy, while
others are outgoing; some are active, while others are
calm; some are fretful, while others are easy-going. As a
loving and nurturing parent, it's your job to encourage
them to embrace their uniqueness and celebrate their
individual qualities.

Allow your child to express themselves through their
interests. They may find a creative outlet in theatre,
dancing or art, or they may be exceptionally talented in
the sciences. Encourage them to embrace what they
like to do, what interests them, and what makes them
happy. Help them realize that they don't need to worry
about being 'like everyone else.'

Teach your child to make positive choices, and praise
them for good deeds, behaviors and positive traits they
possess. Encourage them to become actively involved
in their community, and introduce them to activities that
promote a sense of cooperation and accomplishment.

Be firm yet fair when handing down discipline for
misdeeds or misbehaviors, and make certain the rules
and consequences for breaking the rules are clearly
defined. Show a cooperative, loving and united front
with your spouse when it comes to discipline.

Accept and celebrate your child's uniqueness.

Remember that your child is an individual. Allow your
child to have his or her own personal preferences and
feelings, which may be different from your own.

And finally, encourage your child to be true to
themselves by doing the same. Show your child how to
make positive choices with the choices you make, and
that nobody is perfect and you too make mistakes.

Show your child that mistakes can be a great learning
experience, and that they should not be ashamed or
embarrassed about making them.

Parenting has and always be the hardest Job you
will ever have in life. That is why you can feel such
pride and joy when you manage to do it the best
that you can.

Read & learn from others all you can about the
journey of raising children. You will make mistakes and
you will have your bad & good days. In the end your
role as a parent will be judged simply by the healthy and
unique child-teenager-adult that one day stands
tall before you.

Accept your child with unconditional love and
remember that we are all different and there is no
perfect parent or child - just doing the best we can
with the tools & knowledge we have.

Hug your child as many times during the growing
up time that you have together as you gently say
you love them and are proud of them.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This Blog is Dedicated to my Son
- Billy who as a
young adult - struggles with his "ARVD" heart
condition while raising 3-wonderful young boys
along with the support of his wife {Stacy} and
her parents... I thank all who have been there
for my son during these tough times!


Kindest Regards,

William Blake

www.blakepublishing.com

Child Visualization Activities

Visualization - How to Develop it?

Why is visualization important?

Visualization is an important skill for your child's intelligence. A person needs it for imagination, creativity, problem solving, understanding of written material, and it has many other uses. Visualization is a skill for life, and can be developed at any time. Just like imagination, it is a skill that is related to the right brain hemisphere, and is easily developed early in life. If you take some time to develop it in your child and practice, you can achieve fantastic results.

Fantastic Examples

The famous chess grandmaster, George Koltanowski, set the record in blindfold chess, by playing 34 opponents simultaneously. I have watched Koltanowski, at the age of 90, give a very impressive demonstration of his visualization skill, when he let people in the audience assign an object to each square on the chess board. He looked at the chess board for several minutes, and then turned around and proceeded to name the objects one by one, using knight "jumps".

One of my son's young friends, at the young age of 8, managed to play a blindfold game of chess with the master, and win! (the master was not blindfolded!)

Activities and Games

Here are a few activities and games you can play with your child, to develop and strengthen this wonderful skill. These activities and games are fun, and can be adopted to a group, if you'd like.

1. Draw a red triangle. Cover the triangle, and have your child see the triangle in his mind's eye. Then draw a blue triangle, let your child see the triangle in his mind's eye. Keep doing this activity using different colors and shapes.

2. Tell your child to draw a red triangle in his mind's eye, without actually drawing one for him. keep doing this using various shapes and colors.

3. Have your child imagine 2 squares, the left one is blue, the right one is red. Then change the colors, the left one is red and the right one is blue. Make the left one yellow...

4. Have your child see in his mind's eye a flower (or any other object you'd like). Ask him to describe the flower, in as much detail as possible. After he is done describing the flower, you can ask questions. Like: how thick is the stem? Is it in a planter or a vase? Ask about details your child hasn't described. This will get your child into the habit of adding details to his imaginary creations.

5. Can your child play tic tac toe? Great! Then play tic tac toe using an imaginary board. You might have to write the moves down, to be able to go on with the game if one of you gets "stuck". Start at a 3x3 board, and advance to more and more elaborate dimensions.

6. After your child has mastered all the previous activities you can advance to shapes like the US map, have your child study the map, and then answer questions from memory. From here you can advance to the globe, and other 3 dimensional shapes.

As your child (and you, helping your child) gets better and better you can go on to more sophisticated games, like "blindfold" chess.

Have fun and invent additional games that develop visualization skills. Let your child invent games too, and don't forget to praise lavishly for great achievements.

A child’s mind develops a lot faster than we may think, so it is important to be creative with activities you do at home with your child, even at the youngest ages.

Enjoy being a "Creative Parent" with your children!

The Child Protection Act

The Child Protection Act
USA Information to Share:


Congratulations on being a Good Parent!

A child is considered to be a gift of God. It is heart wrenching when we read cases of child abuse in the newspaper. Child abuse in the form of sexual, emotional and physical is strictly prohibited. Anyone found guilty in this regard is sure to land in jail. In order to protect children from these intolerable cruelties child protection act has been formed.

Cruelty towards children is not only a crime but also a sin. Child abuse in the form of punishments is commonly seen in schools. These children keep quiet as they are ignorant of the child protection laws.

Punishing children for a mistake is not a proper way to treat children. The child protection act came into existence in 1989 at a time when there was considerable tension. Children should be made aware of their rights. It is our duty to safeguard their rights. Children who are abused constantly are likely to suffer in adulthood.

Under the child protection act, every child is entitled to protection from neglect and abuse. Children have same fundamental freedom and basic rights that are exercised by adults. They have to right to preserve and safeguard these rights. Parents are given responsibility of taking proper care of their children. Supervision of children is another responsibility of children. Children can be removed from this responsibility when they attain the proper age.

It is the responsibility of the family members to prevent children from any kind of abuse. Linguistic, racial and cultural heritage of every child should be protected. Under this act child abuse is defined as emotional, mental, physical, or exploitation of the child. Injury or mistreatment of the child is also considered as an abuse.

People who are unaware of the child protect act can always refer to the internet. There are various websites that provide information about child protection act. A number of books are written on child protection act.

A number of non governmental organizations are promoting the child protection act. It is our responsibility to see to it that the rules and regulations of child protection act are strictly followed in all schools and other educational institutions.

Under the child protection act punishing children for small reasons is not allowed. By doing this cruel act it can hamper rthe growth and overall development of children. In 1993 national child protection act came into force in United States. The main aim was to improve the quality of all childrens lives who maybe in danger and lower the abuse records.

According to the child protection act children will be given police protection if their life is found to be in danger from abuse. According to this act a child should not abused or mistreated under any circumstances. Child abuses if any should be reported and should not be allowed to get away with that type of behavior.

Child protection act has been implemented for the benefit of the child and hence everyone should strictly follow it.

Have you Hugged Your Child Today?

Kindest Regards to all Parents!

www.childsafeid.com

Children & Our World News

How to Help Your Child Cope with World News


When were informed of the savage terrorist bombings in London and daily hear of other natural or man-made disasters worldwide, everyone is shocked, and many of us discuss the day's events with family and friends. What we often don't realize is - our young ones also listen and hear our discussions.

We all want to protect our children, and shield them from anxiety. As a result, our natural tendency is to avoid discussing the events with our children. Since our children live amongst us, hear our conversations, the television reports and the radio with us, they are aware of what is happening, but might not have the background information, the judgment and experience to know how to cope with the world news. They might be affected in ways we don't know about or don't expect. The news might frighten them, depress them, or cause a feelings of sadness and grief.

We need to keep our children informed with what is happening in the world. If we want to have exceptionally intelligent children, it is not enough to teach them reading, sciences and history. We need to educate them, so that they are connected and informed with what is happening all around us, what is happening in the world.

Since you are the parent, and you know your child best, you have to judge what amount of information is appropriate for your child, and in what detail. The amount of information you share with your child will differ by age and may vary from one child to another.

Here are some pointers of how to help our child cope with the situation, understand the news, and even take the opportunity to teach them some history, values and general knowledge.

- Inform yourself about the situation first. Make sure you have the knowledge needed . For example, in the case of London, get a hold of as much information about London. Geography, history, political situation. Get the information that you need, and adapt it to the level appropriate for your child. If it's a conflict between two groups of people or two nations, inform yourself very well about the history of the conflict, the history of all nations involved. In the case of a bombing, for example, prepare a map that will provide for your child an understanding of how far London is from where you live. After you have the background information and the facts, provide the information that is appropriate to your child in an organize and easy to understand way.

- Be honest, don't conceal facts, tell the truth. Our children are very smart, and they know when they are lied to. This might increase their anxiety, or shake their confidence in you.

- Think ahead of time, what values and moral principles you would like to instill in your child, as a result of this event. You can teach ideas of war and peace, value of life, tolerance, freedom. Discuss the event with your child, and use this to explain your values.

- In order to stimulate a good discussion, ask your child what they have heard and what they know about the news. This will give you the opportunity to correct any misconceptions or provide additional information that is needed in order to understand the situation. Ask open ended question, like "what do you think about..." or "what do you think should be done about it...". Let your child express their opinions, feelings and let them think of possible solutions.

- If a conflict is involved, present your child with all sides of conflict. Give your child a good and fair understanding of the conflict and the issues involved.

- Inform your child about any actions that are being taken to remedy the situation. What safety measures are being taken here to prevent similar attacks to occur here, in our environment? What is being done to protect us? Any information that will make our kids feel more secure.

- Have some control over media exposure. We all value the freedom of speech, but we don't find it necessary to expose our children to all of it. Make sure your child is not exposed to very detailed and frightening images that might cause unnecessary anxiety.

- Take a good look at yourself. Do you have anxieties that might come through in this discussion? As mentioned before, children are very smart, and they pick up on our anxieties and feelings. Make sure you communicate with your child sincerely and logically.

If you do all these, your child will be informed, gain knowledge from world events, feel assured that he gets all the information needed. Your child will have the opportunity to voice his opinions and express his fears and concerns, and the bond between you and your child will be stronger than ever.

May we all have more good and happy events to share with our children than stressful and sad news...

Teach Tolerance, Kindness and Respect at an early age!

Teenager vs Single Parent

Are You the Single Parent of a Teenager?

If you are divorced or widowed, or a single parent who raised on a child by yourself from birth, you know that being a single parent is tough. If you are the single parent of a teenager, you have a lot more to think about.

As your teenager matures, they become more independent. They spend more time away from home in extra curricular activities, with friends and eventually driving a car and going on dates.

All of these things may be a concern to any parent, but when you can’t be home much during the day or even in the evening, you are counting on your child to be honest and stay on track.

And that is a lot to expect of a teen during those years when they are tempted to experiment, and their hormones are playing havoc with their brains. However, there are a few things you can do to make your life easier:

First, engage any support network or friends or family you may have. If you know and trust the parents of your child’s friends, ask them for help for starters. That doesn’t mean you expect them to take on your parental responsibilities. It simply means that, if you have to work late, perhaps those parents will agree to feed your child dinner and give them a safe environment in which to do homework, etc. You can pick your child up on the way home and return the favor to these parents by having their child stay overnight at your house on a weekend when they want to go out and need to know where their child is and what they are doing.

Ask sisters, brothers and grandparents to call and check in on your child if she is home alone. Without interrogating the child, ask them to ask casually what they are doing, whether they have eaten, and if their homework is done. Studies show that even latch key kids without parental supervision do better in school and socially if they know that there is someone checking on them – someone who cares. A random visit during the afternoon or evening as your brother swings home from work is not a bad idea either. “I’m just stopping by to drop something off for your Dad”. You can come up with something.

Talk to your child about the fact that you can’t be there all the time and let them know what you expect. Ground rules are important. Homework is done first, before they play video games, etc. Lock down dangerous websites on your computer and, if your child is MORE computer literate than you are, get a computer literate person at work to teach you how to check and monitor your child’s browsing history so you can see where they are going on the internet. Again, let your child know your expectations.

Give your child chores to do to earn money or to earn favors (like going out with friends on a Saturday night) to keep them busy while you are gone. Laundry, vacuuming, walking the dog, making dinner, whatever you need done. Remember, you are a team!

Try to get your child involved in sports, or after school activities and exchange favors with other parents to get your child to games or practices if your child is not yet driving. Structured activities provide discipline and give your child something to do to stay out of trouble.

KNOW your child’s friends. As your child matures, they are exposed to more people and their circle of friends may change from when they were in elementary school or middle school. Get to know these kids and if you have a concern about their influence, watch things very carefully and make a move if you must.

Above all, make time to talk to your child and do things together when you ARE home. Don’t just sit in front of the TV. Go to a movie, go shopping, take him out to lunch and talk. Ask questions gently, and don’t demand information. Find out what they are interested in now, as they grow and mature. Stay in touch. Call from work to chat on a break. Leave notes, schedule special dinners or outings to do things you both enjoy.

The biggest problem a single parent has is finding time to do everything that must be done. But, if you grow away from your child during these critical years, you will have a problem. Teenagers have a natural tendency to bottle up feelings and stop communicating, as they struggle with new feelings and begin to recognize that you don’t ‘know it all’ as a parent.

Same as with Adults - it comes down to "Give and Take" and try not to be a control freak or always negative... Try to always find the "middle-ground" if possible.

Being a Single Parent is a tough Job!

Parenting Skills #1

Building You Child's Self Esteem

It's often been said that children learn what they live. So if you're looking for a place to start helping your child build positive self esteem and self value, then you should show them your positive sense of self and strong self esteem. Be positive when you speak about yourself and highlight your strengths. This will teach your child that it's okay to be proud of their talents, skills and abilities.

Your child also benefits greatly from honest and positive praise. Find something about them to praise each day. You could even give your child a task you know they can complete and then praise them for a job well done after they're finished. Show your child that positive acts merit positive praise.

When your child's feeling sad, angry or depressed, communicate openly, honestly and patiently with them. Listen to them without judging or criticizing. They may not fully understand why they feel the way they do, so the opportunity to communicate with you about it may be what's needed to help them sort through a difficult situation.

Suggest positive behaviors and options as solutions, and make sure to leave that door of communication open so they know the next time they feel badly, they can come to you for help and know that you won't judge or punish them for how they're feeling.

Teach your child the importance of setting goals and developing a plan to meet that goal and complete that task. Small projects are the best to start off with in the beginning. Ensure that it's an appropriate task for your child, and not too complex. Don't only give praise at the end of the project, but praise their accomplishments during the project as well.

Most importantly, tell your child "I love you" each and every day - many times throughout the day, in fact. When they've behaved badly, remind yourself that it's not them you don't like, only their behavior. Tuck short, sweet notes in their lunchboxes or coat pockets, or even send them a card in the mail. Soon, they'll learn to say "I love you" just as easily and honestly in return.

We will share tons of Parenting Posts with you here at our new parenting BLOG. All the advice and tips from Infancy right up through the Teens!

Topics such as:

Family Activities -

Home Schooling -

Discipline -

Health and Eating -

Child Obesity -

Education -

...and so much more! So check back with us often and please feel comfortable leaving your comments and any of your own tips to help other parents with the raising of children

= "The Hardest Job You Will Ever Have!"

Regards,

Bill & Evelyn