Torsey's Blog

Posts Tagged ‘Parents’

by: Jeannine Virtue

A study released this week estimates that more than 7 million Americans have misused Adderall, Ritalin and other stimulant medications used to treat ADHD, and that 75,000 showed signs of addiction to stimulant medications.

This recent study, published in the online journal “Drug and Alcohol Dependence,” culled data from a 2002 national survey of about 67,000 households. Research found that men and women were equally likely to abuse ADHD medications but that women seemed to be at a greater risk for dependency. Men, on the other hand, seemed to be at a greater risk of abuse.

A surprising aspect of this study was in revealing who is most likely to misuse stimulant drugs. Most often, college students abuse Adderall and Ritalin in an attempt to boost their academic performance. A previous study showed that stimulant drugs are most commonly abused in highly competitive colleges, with B-average and below college students twice as likely to illegally use prescription drugs.

College student increasingly recognize that Adderall and Ritalin are much more effective than coffee or caffeine pills at helping them sit down, focus, get their work done – through the night if necessary – and still not interfere with their social lives. The drug use becomes a significant problem when college students start to abuse Adderall and other amphetamine drugs, becoming addicted to them or experiencing toxic effects.

With approximately 1.5 million adults and 2.5 million children currently receiving prescriptions for ADHD medications, finding a friend or a friend of a friend willing to sell off their drugs is not very difficult for many people. Most students reported getting Adderall, the stimulant of choice due to its long lasting effects, from those that were diagnosed with ADHD. One Adderall pill can fetch $5, which makes selling off prescription meds a lucrative deal for those with access to the drugs.

Colleges and universities are also reporting a sharp increase in the amount of students making appointments at campus medical centers to obtain their own ADD diagnosis. Not until recently have studies examined the abuse of prescription drugs. One study revealed that those who use prescription stimulants are more likely to engage in binge drinking, drunk driving, and using illegal drugs as well.

Another study indicated that those from wealthier backgrounds were more likely to abuse both legal and illegal drugs. In light of these past studies and the new study showing the high rate of abuse and addiction, some experts believe that the real focus of ADHD medication dangers should center on the abuse of Adderall and other ADHD drugs – not the side effects.

Researchers point out that 75,000 people addicted to stimulants is more worrisome than the 100-200 adults who have had strokes as a result of using stimulant ADHD drugs. Earlier this month, the FDA advisory panel recommended that the FDA put Black Box warnings on all ADHD medications. This black box warning – the most severe of all FDA warnings – would state that stimulant ADHD drugs can cause cardiovascular events and even death, especially if there’s a preexisting heart condition.

The FDA panel expressed a hope of curtailing what is seen as out-of-control over-prescribing of potentially dangerous drugs. Prescriptions for ADHD drugs have doubled over the past five years. The hope is that the black box warning will remind parents that just because a drug is legal does not mean it is safe. Ritalin, Adderall and Concerta are “Class B” drugs and are in the same drug class as cocaine. These drugs have potential for abuse, addiction and physical and mental harm – just as other drugs in this elevated classification do.

Click Here for more about medicine safety …

Most students have come to expect an annual rise in tuition.  The cost of a college education can increase from 3.5 percent to 6.0 percent.  Increasing cost of energy and the struggle to compete with colleges that have large endowments is putting colleges out of reach for certain students.  Colleges are obligated to increase their level of security.  Parents expect a safe environment for students who are in urban and rural communities.  Many colleges are offering a wide range of transportation options for students.  Some colleges are establishing contracts with transportation companies who will manage on-campus buses and schedules.  Students can feel safe traveling from the main campus to local residents in their community.

The changing economy is putting new demands on college budgets. Students are applying to five colleges to increase their chances of getting admitted and to identify the least expensive college.  Colleges are facing challenges in terms of reaching their enrollment goals because students are not making a firm decision right away.  Students need to have options when they consider the cost of earning a four year degree.  Students must consider the cost of travel to colleges that are far away.  This can lead to an inability to travel home frequently.

Colleges are obligated to meet the requirements of the accrediting agencies that approve their curriculum. Some college presidents are increasing the number of professors and research activities to ensure that their college is reaccredited.  Additional research can require millions of dollars in an institution’s resources.  Students will not enroll in a college that is not accredited.  Also, outstanding professors will not aspire to work in a college that is not highly regarded in various aspects of a colleges’ curriculum.  

Colleges are offering online courses to students who need an alternative education choice.  The students can benefit by eliminating the cost of traveling to the campus for a three hour course.  Some students enjoy the online courses because they can meet people who are in locations around the world.  The online courses are unique because they can be delivered at the time of the instruction and it can also be recorded for later student viewing.  Colleges gain an advantage because they can offer online courses of professors who are on sabbatical.  More online courses can be expected within the next five years.  As these courses expand they can reach the international audiences of students, instructors and researchers.  The possibilities for international exchanges of information are limitless.

College stability is essential to the competitive edge that the United States maintains in its workforce.  We are faced with the possibility of closing colleges who cannot keep up with their enrollment goals.  This is particularly worrisome for colleges that do not have large endowments.  College administrators must come up with a new paradigm regarding how they will work.  For example due to the recent oil crises several colleges created a four day work week.  College employees worked ten hours each day and did not work on Friday.  Difficult college budget challenges should inspire innovative approaches to educate future generations of leaders.

Copyright 2005 Trevor Dumbleton

It has often been said that the teenage years are the “best
years of your life”. However, anyone who says that does not
remember what it is like being a teenager. Between school, life,
parents, friends, and the fact that all of them want all of your
time, there is no way to get away from the petty concerns and
strains that can lead to serious stress. However, nobody seems
willing to give up any of the time they demand from you, so you
find yourself torn in a thousand different directions with
nowhere to turn to for help. Fortunately, you do not need to
deal with stress all on your own. Rather, you can find plenty of
help, just as long as you look for it. Unfortunately, teenagers
rarely look for help and many of the assets available to them
are simply ignored. Thus, your teen stress keeps getting worse.

The first place to look for relief from teen stress is at
school. There is a certain class of people who desperately want
to help teens get through their problems and find solutions, but
they usually sit in their offices waiting in vain for someone to
talk to them. These people are guidance counselors and they are
there to help you. However, it is very rare for someone to avail
themselves of this prime opportunity for assistance, so actually
sitting down with somebody is a treat for them and they will do
all they can to help. True, most people think that guidance
counselors are really just lost souls who can’t seem to get out
of school, but that is not the case. Guidance counselors decided
on their career because they want to help others. Which means
that they want to help you.

As well, you can get help for teen stress through your teachers.
True, most of the help you get will probably be for your work in
the classroom but, strange as it may seem, teachers are actually
human beings. They want to connect with their students so that,
when you go to see them, they will be happy to help you. If you
go to them in order to get help with your schoolwork, they will
happily give you assistance. They can help you through any
issues or difficulties that you may be having and you will can
learn more from them after class than you will during class.
Such one-on-one sessions can help them narrow down issues in a
way that they cannot while they are lecturing to a room full of
students.

Additionally, once you sit down with your teachers, you may
actually discover that you enjoy talking to them. After all, to
repeat a point, they are people. And because they spend so much
time in the company of teenagers, they understand teen stress.
However, they also understand it from a philosophical
perspective that can breathe some fresh air into the problems
that you are confronting. Though you may not always enjoy the
answers they can provide, they will be worth thinking about and,
in the fullness of time, you will probably discover that they
provided a very good insight into your problems.

Another excellent source for teen stress is with your parents.
This is because of a simple fact that you may not want to
accept. This is the simple fact that parents tend to have
children who are very similar to them. No, it’s really not
pleasant to think about, since that means that you may turn out
to be like your parents. But, let us put that aside for now.

Your parents were once your age (strange as that may seem) and
teens often have to go through very similar problems. Thus, your
parents have felt teen stress and they know what it is like.
Sure, they may not want to admit that it was anything special,
but they will, hopefully, remember that it was not easy at the
time. So if you really need to get some sort of advice or help,
sit down and talk to your parents. Not only will you get some
sort of help, but you will also make their day. After all, how
many parents get the chance to really connect with their teenage
children?

Teen stress is one of the hardest things to get through, but you
can rest assured that it has been done. Billions of people in
the world have all had to go through the travails of the teenage
years and they have through to the other side. So prepare
yourself, get help when you need it, and look for help when you
can. By relying on people who have “been there, done that” you
can see your way clear to the other side. Then, you can safely
look back on your teen stress and say stupid things like, “the
teenage years are the best years of your life!”

We have to say no to going out with friends and sometimes trips. This can lead to problems with our teenagers and the feelings of guilt that it is our fault for saying no. The important thing still remains that, even though they are teenagers, they still need our guidance. If you are looking for some ways to be able to say no and not have the guilt, here are a few ways. Define boundaries and/or negotiate them

If you are dealing with older teenagers, there is a great way to be able to say no and not feel the guilt. Sit down with your teenager and define the rules of the house and any outings. Be willing to listen and hear your teenager’s side of the story and their arguments. They are old enough at this point to think things through and be able to present you with justified and legitimate reasons for what they are asking. Negotiate the rules. Then, when something comes up that requires you to say no, you don’t need to worry about the guilt because the boundaries were defined by both parties and agreed to each of the rules. Don’t say no without a reason

Teenagers are not your little children anymore. They are almost adults and can reason like them. Saying no with the reason of ‘because I said so’ will no longer work and will most likely lead to greater problems. Be willing to give your teenagers justified reasons why you are saying no. Also be willing to consider changing that no to yes if they can provide decisive and true arguments to counter act your reasons. It’s good preparation for when they finally become adults. Be consistent

If you say no for something once and nothing has changed, make sure to say no every time. Or say yes every time. Being consistent is one of the key factors in parenting that remains, no matter how young or old your child is. Remember to stick to the rules that you’ve made. You can’t expect your teenager to follow them if you don’t or aren’t willing to consistently back them up. The best way to feel guilty about saying no is when you’ve said yes in the past to the exact same thing.

Parenting is not an easy job but it can be immensely pleasing. Each stage in our children’s development brings new challenges. Remember these key points and you won’t have to worry about feeling guilty the next time you have to say no to your teen. Define the rules or boundaries, don’t say no without a reason and be willing to discuss the reason, and be consistent. Keeping these points in mind and putting them into practice is a good way to form a peaceful co-existence with your child during their teenage years.

We are in the midst of a serious problem with teenagers and obesity in America and globally. Over the past 20 plus years teenage obesity has escalated and it is time that we as parents and society do something to help them. The effects of teenage obesity can mean more than dealing with a lifetime of health related problems because it is also a psychological problem that has been brought on by the obesity issue. Depression, isolation and lack of socialization all pay a toll on the obesity problem. Teenagers who are obese want help and need help.

The teen years are supposed to be about socialization, independence, and personal development. Unfortunately with teenagers and obesity they are deprived of some of these because their obesity gets in the way. Whether it is due to health reasons or isolation they are unable to be typical teenagers. It has been well documented that obesity does have a tendency to be hereditary. Some teens naturally tend to gain weight more easily than others which is mostly due to their slower metabolism. Which is why it is critical to identify what the real cause of the obesity is so they can get the help that they need.

The first order of business would be to take them to the family doctor to look for glandular and physical problems that may exist. Typically the doctor will ask the parents about their own lifestyles and eating habits. Teenagers and obesity is a family affair and this may require taking a look in the mirror and reassessing the whole family. The only way to help your teen will be with family participation. In other words, it isn’t fair to your obese teen if you are eating chips and drinking soda when that is forbidden foods. Things to look for when you are re-evaluating the family lifestyles.

Does the family get exercise on a regular (daily) basis?

How often do you go to fast food restaurants?

Are there other weight issues in the family?

Are there other family stresses?

Do you eat meals as a family and where do you eat your meals?

How much television do you watch daily?

After you have evaluated the entire family, as painful as it may have been, it is time to go into action. The action plan for teenagers and obesity should start with trying to find fun ways for them to get more exercise. We can’t stress this enough – exercise has to be a daily activity. Go for a walk, take them to the park for a game of catch or Frisbee, whatever works and is fun. You can even entice them with a reward of weekly bowling if they follow your rules. The next step is to assess and change their eating habits. Provide healthier choices when you shop and keep plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables in the refrigerator. Since teenagers are away from the home often it is difficult to control what they eat away from home. This is where the honor system comes in to play. Lovingly remind them that they are unhappy being overweight and praise them often on their accomplishments. There is a solution for teenagers and obesity and these are the most important steps to make at achieving their goal. When the discussion of food and their obese condition comes in to play be cautious about what you say and how you say it. Many times harping on the food issue will have a reverse effect because this is a sensitive issue with them.

Keep an open dialog with your teen on the action plan and be open for suggestions. The more input that they offer the better. They may have an idea that will be more fun and as long as it is producing results the better it is for them. Losing weight should not come as a chore. If your teen is having fun, losing weight, and learning to make lifestyle changes they will carry these into adulthood.

Regardless of the subject we are interested in, the Internet is our main source of information. All it takes is a few clicks on the mouse and several keystrokes. It is pretty amazing how one single resource can provide such valuable tips on raising healthy kids and creating optimal health. Specialists in nutrition, pediatrics and other similar fields impart their knowledge today through the Internet, helping millions of parents and grandparents throughout the world. They’ve got plenty of secrets to reveal, one just has to be patient and read them all.Is there really a secret behind raising healthy kids? There are many tips that pertain to a practical judgment, starting with what they should eat, drink or the kind of sports that stimulated their development. Creating optimal health is not just a concept, it should be a way of life. As much as it sounds as a cliché, our children represent the future and we should do everything we can to ensure their proper growth. We may be busy and this is why we have the World Wide Web. Reading the recommendations of specialists, we can learn how to take better care of our kids and provide all the good things for them.Perhaps you are fed up with the things everyone says about kids. Each friend has an opinion, not to talk about various family members. If you need the advice of an expert when it comes to raising healthy kids, you can discover numerous tips online, provided by doctors with experience in nutrition and pediatric medicine. These tips are mainly centered around the subject of creating optimal health for your children, being based on years of accumulated knowledge and practicing medicine. The entire family can benefit from receiving such healthy advice but of course, the children remain the center of attention.We have listened to many specialists talking about the difficulties of being a parent. They all state the importance of being committed to the goal of raising healthy kids, taking care to feed their mind as well. Creating optimal health for a kid should always include strategies for developing what can only be described as a healthy, conscious mindset. Parents are advised to pay increased attention to the way children perceive things and try to impart as much knowledge as possible. When young, our mind is like a sponge, quickly absorbing all the information presented to it. Try to do not suffocate your kid with unnecessary knowledge. Teach him/her the valuable things in life.As a parent, you might find it difficult at times to maintain your calmness and patience throughout the entire day. Maybe you have three kids and they are all running around the house, leaving dirty clothes all over and their toys spread like there was a war going on. Another key point for raising healthy kids is maintaining yourself, never yelling or calling names. Kids are just as easily offended as adults, sometimes remaining scarred for life. Remind your kids that it is their ‘job’ to keep their toys in their place. They will enjoy the responsibility and feel better. As for you, creating optimal health for your family won’t seem like such a difficult task anymore.Last but not least, raising healthy kids has a lot to do with childhood illnesses, the phases and stages of growth and development. If your kid catches a cold, don’t panic and stuff him/her with drugs. Take the little guy to the doctor and use some of the specialist’s advice provided on the Internet. Make sure that you provide the children with a proper diet, filled with veggies and fresh fruits before anything else. If you offer them the necessary vitamins and minerals, their immune system will become stronger and be able to fight disease better. As you can see, creating optimal health is not just something specialists invented. It represents a goal that you can easily achieve once you have some of the world’s finest health & nutrition experts by your side.

ABSTRACT

The importance of parental involvement as an accelerating and motivating factor in their children’s education is a worldwide-accepted fact. This research project provides an in depth explanation along with specific reasons, the importance of parents’ involvement in their children’s education. It also discusses the parenting techniques, their types and their consequences if neglected. It also describes the ways to measure the outcome of the positive parental involvement. Furthermore, it mentions the teachers involvement and the difficulties faced by the teachers in getting parents involved in their children’s (this is further supported by the examples of two teachers who with their deliberate efforts won the parents over to devote their maximum attention towards their children), single-parent involvement, children’s own efforts to improve their academic levels and joint home-school based interventions. A detailed analysis of the different main ideas is given, based on the findings from other research surveys and projects.

INTRODUCTION:

Parental involvement can be seen to fall into three types: 1) Behavioral, 2) Intellectual and 3) Personal. The research explores the effect of multi-dimensional participation of parents and the resulting progress of children in their studies when different parental resources were dedicated to them. Actively participating parents help their children in their academic development by going to schools and participating in open houses. By keenly observing the behavior of their children they can rightly judge the kind of behavior or the allocation of resources required by their children. Such caring parents can also motivate teachers to become more attentive towards a particular student, thus maintaining the cycle of parent-teacher involvement. Encourage Building up cognitive and perception abilities in a child are a major concern in the upbringing of the child. The way the parents involve their children in cognitive learning is by exposing them to different cognitively stimulating activities and materials such as books, electronic media and current events at home. This helps the child to practice all sorts of language comprehending skills at the school. The results show a remarkably positive behavior at the school and with peers.

Two parenting processes namely the Supportive Parenting (SP) and Harsh Parenting (HP) helped a lot in the research of parental involvement in their children’s education. By adjusting the levels of supportive parenting, different levels of successful outcomes were observed. Supportive parenting in even kindergarten students yielded positive results. Four measures of supportive parenting were used in the study, they were:

1. Proactive teaching.

2. Calm discussion in disciplinary encounters.

3. Warmth.

4. Interest and involvement in peer activities.

The assessments were conducted when children entered kindergarten and when they reached grade 6. There was a factor noted to hinder children’s development: family adversity. It was the result of a multipurpose negative process that included the risk of low socio-economic status, single-parenting and family stress. Child maladjustments were found to be more common in families with such adversities. No matter how much negative impacts were cast, SP was found to overcome the risks associated with family adversity. SP was strongly related to adjustment procedures in grade 6 children who had single parent family or experienced low socio-economic status (SES) in their early childhood.

In a way to socialize their children, parents adopted the techniques of calm discussion and proactive teaching. They helped lessen the behavioral problems by carrying long discussions with their children, cultivating in them a sense of respect, calmness and peace of mind. Mothers also participated actively in reducing the peer stress among their children. It is also a widely accepted fact that supportive parenting plays an important role in the children’s development of empathy, prosocial behavior and emotional competence. On the negative side, the absence of supportive parenting may be related to the development of internal problems such as anxiety and depression.

Lack of the necessary parental care and attention is the main factor for the subsequent rise in the percentage of juvenile delinquency (crime among children). The absence of parental instructions causes children to develop irreversible behavioral and emotional problems. They in order to seek attention, resort to crimes thinking that in this way they could fulfill their wishes. They may revert to uncontrolled violence if not kept an eye upon. Such criminal activities cannot be brought to a halt until their distressing symptoms of low self-esteem, depression, dysphonic mood, tension and worries, and other disturbances are relieved. And the importance of parents’ role in this regard cannot be over-emphasized.

In an effort to describe parental involvement, many researchers use a term “Transition”(Lombardi, Joan). “Transition” is used to describe the time period in which children move from home to school, from school to after school activities, from one activity to another within a pre-school, or from pre-school to kindergarten. The untiring endeavors of teachers in the phenomenon of transition cannot be ignored. They prepared the children and their parents to face the problems of adjusting to elementary school programs that had different psychology, teaching styles and structure than the programs offered at the kindergarten level. In the elementary level schools the teachers had to face serious challenges in motivating the parents to take interest in their children’s activities. The teachers adopted different methods to involve the parents in day-to-day classroom and home activities. They used to send notes, invitation of parent-teacher meetings, invitation of parental guidance sessions and training sessions, continuously directing the parent’s attention towards their children. Patricia Brown Clark suggests that it is very important to keep the line of communication between teachers and parents open, so that the parents can interact with the teachers and get up to date information of their children’s school activities. One way to involve parents is to schedule school events and arranging classroom activities such as volunteering for libraries, acting as classroom aides or efficiently organizing lunch breaks. The teachers also opt for making phone calls at the children’s houses to keep in touch with the parents and getting to know the extent to which they are contributing towards the welfare of their children. Apart from the above activities, the teachers also assign home activities for both the parents and their children so that the parents remain indulged in their children and the children get to study at home. However, it was a bad and disappointing experience for the teachers when many of the parents failed to respond as expected. Many of the parents were so overwhelmed with their official work that they could hardly take out some time for their beloved children.

Moreover, for some parents their schoolings were not positive and character-boosting experiences, therefore they preferred to keep a distance from their children’s school as well. This made it really difficult and at times impossible for teachers to bring the parental involvement to the desired level. Nevertheless, the activities of two teachers proved greatly fruitful in making parents involved in their children. They were Carlos Valdez, an art teacher and 8th grade class sponsor, and Mike Hogan, the school’s band director. They did it by involving parents in music festivals and other school ceremonies. They proved to be great examples for the future teachers to come.

If the children’s academic development programs are to prove successful they must share two characteristics:

1) Developmentally appropriate practice:

A child’s academic progress is clearly reflected by the appropriate practice he/she administers while in school life. During transitions from pre-school to kindergarten, a child if given the exact developmentally appropriate practice tends to learn a great deal of language and playing skills. He develops a keen interest in exploring his environments and interacting (without hesitation) with his adults.

2) Supportive services:

These include the assistance that the school provides to low-income family students. The services include health care, childcare and community care. This strengthens the relation between school and children and creates a sense of security and confidence among the children. They get to learn that their communities are a part of their school since the school’s supportive services strive to help community development.

It is commonly believed that children are good self-teachers. Their self-initiated strategies help improve their expression, creativity, intellectual capabilities and extra-curricular skills. This idea is proved by the documentation of young children’s work provided by Reggio Emilia :

“The Reggio Emilia educators highlight young children’s amazing capabilities and indicate that it is through the unity of thinking and feeling that young children can explore their world, represent their ideas, and communicate with others at their highest level.”(Edwards, Pope. C, Springate, Wright.K)

The climax rests in the fact that how the parents would know that their sincere involvements are really proving worthwhile for their children. The answer lies in the attitude of the children. The degree of parental involvement can be judged by a child’s attitude towards his school subjects, his academic desires and achievements. There is a direct relationship between academic achievements and the attitude towards school. Schunk in 1981 had the following idea of aspiration or academic desires:

“Level of aspiration is defined as one’s subjective probability that he or she will reach a certain level of education.”(Abu, H. & Maher, M)

As a result children who received adequate parental concern were found to be much more confident in their academic desires and achievements than those who could not get the right amount of parental concern. The individual involvement of mothers and fathers also plays a vital role in the behavioral development of a child. Students from one-parent household were observed to show less positive attitude towards schools and studies as compared to students from two-parent households. One study aimed at investigating parental concern showed that despite mothers’ sincere endeavors, the role of fathers could not be ignored and both served as an important foundation for the future progress of the child. This can be proved from the following fact:

According to a recent report from the National Center for Educational Statistics (1997), compared to their counterparts, children with involved fathers are more likely to have participated in educational activities with their parents (e.g., to have visited a museum or a historical site with their parents in the past month), and are more likely to have access to multiple types of resources at home as well (as measured by the proportion of parents who belong to community or professional organizations, or regularly volunteer in the community). (Flouri, E. And Buchanan, A, Pg.142)

Also, the parental involvement has been discussed and implemented in terms of interventions or prevention programs, which are nothing but safety measures taken to assure healthy and perfect upbringing of the child. The study uses school-based and home-only intervention programs to find out the extent of intellectual capabilities found in children from different family backgrounds. The success of one school-based interventions can be proved from the following fact, which was a part of “Education Service Improvement Plan 2001-2005” of Edinburgh:

—-The Scottish Executive Discipline Task Force, which studied the causes of poor behavior among pupils in schools produced a report of ‘Better Behavior – Better Learning’ in June 2001. The report included 36 recommendations for action, which were then turned into an Action Plan in 2002. Many of these have implications for the Education Authority. (Craig Millar Instep Project)

Ever since we are young, our parents teach us the meaning of life. We are taught how to behave and they impart their knowledge whereas achieving balance is concerned. Stand straight. Eat right. Sleep at least eight hours a night. These represent just few of the things we hear on a regular basis. As adults, we tend to forget some of the things our parents said when we were little. Fortunately, we have the World Wide Web to help us out. Obtaining a wellness lifestyle does not seem such a difficult task thanks to the wealth of information presented online.People with experience approach many subjects regarding wellness lifestyle and health online. They prefer to use the Internet to communicate their message to whoever is there to listen. Thus, achieving balance is the direct result of using all this information the right way. With just one website, one is taught all about keeping a healthy lifestyle and a clear head at the same time. Exercising, nutrition and weight loss are presented in simple, comprehensive terms by those who want to impart their very own experiences. Perhaps you are interested in finding out ways you can have a positive outlook on life. And maybe you want tips on achieving balance while trying to lose some weight. The reason why you enter online is not as important as the conclusion. Thanks to the information are presented with, you can finally go for wellness lifestyle. They will teach you how to take care of yourself and the rest of the family, especially the children. The tips presented can be applied to all members, with the kids being in the center of the attention. The interesting fact is that the information offered on achieving balance is presented by a parent and a doctor. Knowing all about wellness lifestyle, such a person can impart some pretty valuable secrets, including how to improve your work-our abilities, discover new ways to raise healthy kids and also general health rules. The advice is not complicated and most parents find it quite easy to follow, returning to the Internet regularly for additional information. Through simple stories, one is taught how smart children really are and how much they need our constant care and attention to develop their minds, souls and body. If you are curious how you can improve your child’s physical abilities, then be sure to check out some of the tips presented online. Achieving balance through exercises is something we should all be interested in, particularly when it comes to children. Perhaps you might want to purchase a Disney Dance-a-thon or a super fun trampoline for your little ones. It is guaranteed that it will open their appetite for sport, allowing them to have a great time in the meantime. You can gather the entire family and transform the whole experience into something truly delightful.Nutrition is another important subject for anyone interested in health and wellness. You can find out what kids should eat for breakfast, all about summer camp meals and snacks that ought to be forbidden. There are also nutrition tips for adults, regarding weight loss and not only. Omega 3 fish oil, breakfasting and organic foods are also there. Read them all and you will definitely enter the path of a healthy lifestyle.

Copyright (c) 2007 Jerry Carpos

Reading is an excellent way to encourage kids to learn a lot of good stuff which can help them as they grow older. Improved vocabulary, language, and imagination are some benefits of reading. Parents and schools should therefore actively participate during reading sessions.

Language involves a highly specialized set of skills. It takes years to learn to speak and even longer to learn to read. Mankind spends more time on raising its young than any other species on Earth. Let us admit it, cultural achievements are so complex that it will will require a decade of intensive study on our part for us to master it or acquire even the basic notions. This knowledge is, of course, passed on to us mostly at school and almost entirely in written form.

Intellectual achievements took an upturn when the printing press was invented in 1450, although it took a few more centuries for the general public to start to read. The earlier a parent or guardian can make reading natural to the child, the better he or she will be able to assimilate school material later in life. Reading aloud to small children is directly associated with college achievement. More than half of those who read to their children are college graduates, most are women. Of mothers educated only to high school level, 44 percent read to their pre-school age children. For those who did not complete high school, the figure is lower, at 38%. Almost two thirds of white, non-hispanic children, are likely to be read to, as opposed to 41% of black, non-Hispanic children and 33% of Hispanic children.

How can you get children into reading and have fun with it at the same time? Basically, keep alert, follow your intuition and let your imagination run riot. Below you will find a number of tips, based on the experience of parents who have successfully encouraged a love of reading in their children.

The first thing to realize is that an interest in stories is completely natural to human beings. All societies started out with an oral tradition of story-telling. Tales were entertainment for dark winter nights, they were a means of passing on important cultural facts from one generation to another, and they bound the social group together in a common experience. First and foremost, they offered reassurance in an uncertain world.

Who has not experienced first hand, as a child, the deep comfort of listening to a story? I’m sure you can recall the excitement and delight of a particular tale, which you probably requested on repeated occasions. Perhaps it was a story which allowed free rein to exorcising deeply felt hopes and fears, as do the tales from Andersen and the Brothers Grimm. The child is both stimulated and soothed by the human voice. For making kids drowsy at bed-time, there is nothing better than a looong tale. The child knows from the voice that protection, i.e. an adult, is near. The tone of that voice is so familiar because the child could hear it before he or she was even born.

So, storytelling fulfills a set of primary needs of comfort for the child, who through listening becomes a member of the clan. This is the first benefit of reading aloud, and it is immediate. On top of this emotional stimulus, intellectual skills are built in a number of ways, as is described below.

When a child listens to a story, the child exercises a complex number of skils that can help develop the cognitive abilities of his/her developing brain. Firstly, what is being said is converted into images, i.e. represented in the mind. This is a powerful stimulant to the imagination and to intelligence itself: special abilities are especially spurred, so that the child who is read to can easily imagine, say, a room, a house, a forest, a park, and objects in relation to one another. High ability in diverse fields such as Mathematics and sports is directly related to a child’s special ability.

Naturally, vocabulary is greatly enriched and general expression and articulacy promoted by listening to the language of stories, which tends to be both generally comprehensible, because it is part of a story with beginning, middle and end, and at the same time far richer and more complex than conversational and peer language.

Short-term memory is stretched along with the attention span, as the child follows the plot of the story. Reasoning and moral judgments are challenged, horizons are broadened. This will help with the child’s own decision-making capacity and will encourage independent thinking.

Reading aloud is a theatrical experience, which is why it is fun. As with all performance, the pacing can make or break it. Preparation increases the pleasure and does not have to be elaborate. Selecting the text and familiarizing yourself with it, and if possible adding props, songs or rhymes, will all help to make your family reading more fun and memorable.

Your kids will thank you for it, and their school performance will improve. But remember, this is a long term thing. You’ll know you’ve really been successful when your kids start to read aloud to their own children.

An excess of praise may be doing kids more harm than good. A cover story in this month’s Scholastic Instructor magazine asks whether kids today are “over praised.’’ The concern is that by focusing on self-esteem and confidence building, parents and teachers may be giving real goals and achievement short shrift.

The article cites a recent study in which eighth graders in Korea and the United States were asked whether they were good at math. Among the American students, 39 percent said they were excellent at math, compared to just 6 percent of the Korean eighth graders. But the reality was somewhat different. The Korean kids scored far better in math than the over-confident American students.

The notion that you can praise a kid too much is heresy to parents and teachers who have long believed that building self-esteem should be the cornerstone of education. If kids believe in themselves, the thinking goes, achievement will naturally follow. But confidence doesn’t always produce better students. Scholastic cites a 2006 report on education from the Brookings Institution’s Brown Center that found that countries in which families and schools emphasize self-esteem for students lag behind cultures where self-esteem isn’t a major focus.

The problem with this “rah-rah mentality,’’ as the magazine describes it, is that it can take away the sense of satisfaction that comes from genuine achievement. “Self-esteem is based on real accomplishments,” Robert Brooks, faculty psychologist at Harvard Medical School, told the magazine. “It’s all about letting kids shine in a realistic way.”

The downside of too much praise is that kids may start to focus on the reward rather than what they are learning. Worse, failure can be devastating and confusing for a student whose confidence is based on an inflated ego, rather than his or her actual abilities, the magazine notes. This doesn’t mean we shouldn’t praise our kids or that teachers shouldn’t try to engender self-confidence. But self-esteem should be the result of good grades and achievement, not false accomplishments.

Last month, Cognitive Daily reported that parents and teachers should be specific rather than general when they dispense praise. An example of general praise is telling a child, “You’re smart.’’ Specific praise would be to say, “You did a good job reading,’’ or “You did great on your math test.’’ Kids who receive general praise about their abilities are more likely to exhibit “helpless” behavior when they encounter problems with learning, compared with kids who receive specific praise about their achievement on a task.

The reason: a child who knows she’s a smart girl feels defeated if she has trouble reading a sentence. But a child who has been told she is a good reader is more likely to have confidence in that specific ability and work a little harder to tackle a more difficult book.