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!

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