Should You Keep Your Kid Out of Kindergarten?
In a recent article in the New York Times, Pamela Paul tacked the touchy topic of whether parents should wait a year to put their kids in kindergarten.
This is a tough topic with many pros and cons. Delaying kindergarten a year gives kids more time to develop fine motor skills needed for reading, writing, and holding still for 8 hours a day, however, on the other hand there are social ramifications of your child being a year-and-a-half younger than their peers. Read more
Lord of the Flies: One SAHM’s War Against Wings
It’s on!! Did you read that somewhat disturbing novel in high school by William Golding? Well, this post doesn’t really have anything to do with this literary gem, other than the fact that it’s about flies.
It’s that time of year when the flies are in all their obnoxious, buzzing glory! I suppose it wouldn’t be too horribly bad if they would stop trespassing in my house. However, they have all but a welcome mat from my two little boys who aren’t always that mindful when going outside and frequently our tattered screen door is left open.
However, even when it is closed, a bullet proof barrier it is not considering the toddler abuse it has sustained over the past several years. I suppose it is time to break down and repair the darned thing. Until said repair takes place, I am left armed with a flyswatter or dishtowel or other weapon to destroy the enemy. Read more
How to Build Self-Esteem in Your Kids: Part 5
“I CAN is 100 times more important than IQ”
Book Smarts Aren’t the Only Way to Measure Intelligence
One of the major flaws in our public education system today (at least in my humble opinion) is the focus on standardized test scores. A child’s level of intelligence is NOT determined by how well or how poorly they score on a test. This form of traditional testing only reflects one form of intelligence. If you don’t make the grade on these tests, you will very likely be labeled as possessing only substandard intelligence compared to the rest of the world.
We all know what these kinds of labels can do to a young child (or adult for that matter) and how destructive they can be to self-esteem. A person who does poorly in school may be a complete genius in building things with their hands. A person who failed every class through school might just have an emotional intelligence that is off the charts and is able to connect with and help other people in a very powerful way.
I’m not saying that there is no place for standardized tests, and I understand the school system’s need to place some measure on performance. What I am saying is there are other ways to not just measure intelligence, but to build intelligence (and self-esteem).
I’m also not saying that you have to go out and single-handedly reform the entire education system. What I am saying is that there are simple ways for you to provide these opportunities for your child to strengthen their own intelligence and self-esteem in the comfort of your own home and with very little effort on your part. Read more
Positive Parenting Recommends: Inspirational Children’s Book “How Big is God”
How Do You Explain God to a Child?
We picked up another great find at the library the other day (I just love the library)! I loved this book so much I had to order a copy for our own library.
The book is “How Big is God?” by Lisa Tawn Bergren and was illustrated by Laura J. Bryant.
Why do I love this book? [...Read More] Read more
Raising Children: Questions, Questions, Questions
The other day when we were getting groceries, my 4-year-old (a very inquisitive little fellow) initiated one of his infamous questioning tirades that feel more like an inquisition.
Eli: “Mommy, what are those red things on the ceiling?”
Me: “They are smoke detectors, Sweetie.”
Eli: “What are they doing up there?”
Me: “They are there to let us know just in case there is smoke in the store.”
Eli: “Why would there be smoke in the store?”
Me: “Sometimes fires start from bad electrical wiring, or a machine might spark, or something…” *grasping at straws for what to tell a 4-year-old about how a fire might start in a grocery store*
Eli: “Is there a fire in here right now?”
Me: “No. We are totally safe, Sweetie!”
Eli: “How do you know that, Mommy?”
…And so the conversation continued for the remainder of our grocery trip and thus my son began his current obsession with smoke detectors and all other fire safety equipment.
Are You Intimidated?
Some parents might be intimidated when their child asks them, “What does that mean?” and you don’t have a way to explain it that their child can understand. Frankly, I didn’t know what to tell my son when he asked how I knew we were safe in the grocery store.
Those moments can be a little intimidating and that your child is somehow questioning your authority, but your kids won’t think any less of you if you don’t have an answer to every single question they pose to you. They just want to learn.
Do your child's questions intimidate you?
Instead of gruffly halting an interrogation session with your child, try sucking up your pride or dignity or whatever it is that is making you feel intimidated, and go look online with your child make a game out of asking our all-knowing friend, Google. Or go to your local library and search out answers.
Show them where they can find the information. “You know what? Mommy doesn’t know that. Let’s go find out!” You are teaching your child such a valuable skill because then they will know where to find information as they grow up and they are looking to learn about certain things.
You will be giving them a valuable skill that they will use for the rest of their lives.
Positive Parenting: Why Baby Talk is Detrimental to Your Child’s Well-Being
Does Size Indicate Intelligence?
Often parents assume that for some reason because children are small and they can’t talk and they can’t wipe their own noses and they can’t wipe their own bums, that they must be unintelligent, which is completely untrue!
Why Baby Talk is Completely Unnecessary
So we often talk down to them and use smaller words or baby talk, which is such a disservice to your child! Your child is absolutely capable of using the big words. You can read to them from the dictionary at night as a bedtime story and they would be absorbing the big words that you may not even be able to pronounce or understand yourself, but they are registering these words in their minds and it is building their vocabulary.
The Dictionary as a Bedtime Story?
Those are the words that they are going to use as they grow up. If you use talk baby talk with little Sally or little Jeffery as they grow up, as soon as Sally and Jeffery turns 4 or 5 years old, all of suddenly the cutesy phrases that used to be so adorable when they were younger, “I want a drink of wa-wa” or “Mommy, look at the bow-wow” are no longer cute.
All of a sudden it’s baby talk and they are sometimes even punished or made to feel that they did something wrong when in reality they are just using the words that you taught them to use. Now they have to relearn the “Proper language,” when they were perfectly capable of learning it in the first place.
100% Genuine! Give ‘Em the Real Thing!
One parenting tip I strongly emphasize to parents who are raising children, is to use the real words, use the real phrases when talking to your child because your child is capable of learning it.
Positive Parenting Recommend: Inspirational Children’s Book
The other day at the library my 2-year-old found a book on the shelf and excitedly handed it to me. Now, most times when he picks a book it’s one of those kinds of books that probably spend a lot of time on the shelf. This time, however, he picked a gem!
Excellent Children's Book for Raising Confident Children
When you are raising children to live into their infinite potential, you are going to need some awesome parenting tools.
This is an easy fun read that inspires children and teaches them that the sky is the limit!
Here is the first line of the book:
“Just like Snoopy, what you can achieve is limited only by your imagination. YOU CAN BE ANYTHING!”
I love this book, my kids love this book, and I know you will love it too!
Positive Parenting Shows You How to Make Life Joyful and Learning Fun
What is Positive Parenting?
Positive parenting focuses on the amazing capacity for genius in every child. We give parents the skills and tools they need to help build a loving environment where children (from baby, to toddler, to teenager) are encouraged to learn and grow and discover the world around them and within them.
While it has served its purpose in the past, our current educational system is unable to meet the demands placed on it by the world today. Governmental regulations and requirements along with low teacher salaries and limited budgets for supplies leaves teachers scrambling to just do the bare minimum. The system is falling short and our children are suffering as a result.
How can we use positive parenting techniques to ensure our kids don’t just grow, but thrive in today’s world? What else can we do to give them the knowledge they thirst for?
Learning Starts in the Home
Families are the garden of the future. It is the environment of that garden that will determine what kind of fruit these precious children will yield.
Within an acorn lies everything that is needed to become a mighty oak tree. The seed for genius lies waiting inside your child. All that seed needs to grow and thrive is to be fed and nurtured.
Every child is born with this seed. A seed of inherent potential for genius. Every child. From the moment of birth (and even before that) your child is learning.
Ever Get the Feeling You are Being Watched?
Children are learning something from everything you do or don’t do.
- Your mannerisms
- What you eat
- What you read
- What you watch on TV
- The words you use
- What you do in your spare time
- How you react to someone cutting you off in traffic, etc.
Your child is learning something from anything and everything you do – really everything. They eagerly absorb all information in their environment like the Sahara Desert soaks in rain after a 100 year drought.
In the first few years of life, your child grows from a tiny infant your child learns to crawl, walk, and run. They learn a language (maybe more) just from observing those around them. When you really think about what it takes to learn these things, it is quite astounding!
They were designed to do this. It is how they learn about the world and how they fit in. Like a chameleon, they mirror their surroundings.
So Now What?
This realization can make you feel a little overwhelmed. What does this mean for us as parents? How can we implement positive parenting to use our children’s insatiable desire for learning and become better parents?
Pay Attention
First, we must become aware. Become aware of our actions. Take a day or two and really pay attention to everything you do in a day and the way you do it. Are there things you do that you would prefer your child not mimic? Are there things you want to instill in them?
Once we, as parents, become aware of the things we are doing, we will have the power to decide what we want our children to learn from us. This website is designed to give you the tools to begin practicing positive parenting and to make changes in your life that will forever benefit the lives of your children, and their children.
This is the power of positive parenting. Becoming aware of the things we do, and then changing the things that don’t serve us will change our children forever. It doesn’t take much to impact our kids in a huge way.
This is a Day at the Beach, Not a Trip to the Dentist
It is amazingly easy to do this! And it is fun! All it takes to have a huge impact on your child’s life is 30 seconds a day (or less). Just 30 seconds! I will show you how you can take such a small fraction of the 24 hours in your day to do this. The practice of effective, conscious, and intentional parenting will change the world, one child at a time.
The key to making a better tomorrow begins today within the four walls of our homes.
The Stakes are High, but the Rewards are Higher
Parenting can be the most challenging role we will ever experience. The moment you hold that brand new baby in your arms, you begin to realize just how much your life is about to change.
Your patience will be tested repeatedly, you will be in situations you have never dealt with before and, frankly, have no idea how to handle.
Yet through the innocence of a little child, you will gain a capacity to love you never knew before. You will learn things about yourself no Ivy League Professor of Human Psychology with a wall-full of certificates and degrees could begin to teach you.
These lessons are priceless! The love you will feel is beyond priceless.
Granted, much responsibility placed on your shoulders as a parent rearing a child, but oh the rewards are incredibly sweet!
So welcome! Come learn with us. And bring your kids! Positive parenting will change the way you interact with your children and help you and your child to see the infinite potential that lies within, just waiting to be freed.
Watch or Your Wallet? How do you show love to your child?
In today’s busy world, how do you show love to your child? It’s so easy to get caught up in our everyday busyness and substitute toys, games, and electronics for quality time with our children.
Join me and Margaret Saunders today, Tuesday May 4th at 4:30 pm PST as we discuss this topic and give easy to follow suggestions on how you can give your child love from your watch.
Go to http://budurl.com/MargSaunders for call details.
I’m Leaving on a Jet Plane…
Ever wanted to know how to make a cool paper airplane that is easy to make and easy to fly?
I found one this morning while getting to teach a group of preschoolers about airplanes, I found this cool site.
The kids loved it! The planes were super easy for them to fly, too!
For Thursday’s preschool, we are going to go on a field trip to the airport! Can’t wait!
Do you have a favorite paper airplane model?
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Magnifying Minds, LLCBabies can READ!
If there was one book that really changed the way I felt about being a parent and the way I am raising my children, it is How To Teach Your Baby To Read, by Glenn Doman. This book introduced me to the genius that is inherent in every child and how to provide an environment to awaken and nurture that genius. I feel more engaged as a parent, and my kids love it, too. This is a must read for any parent who wants more than just average for their children. Click here to get your copy today!
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