Ryan Galiotto

Posts Tagged ‘children’

No matter how much the adage ‘all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy’ is used or heard, its truth never gets old. Kids need to develop in a balanced way so that they are able to deal with all the challenges and demands that life will later put on their shoulders.

Learning should be encouraged in a wide a field as possible in this regard and sports provide one of the most versatile and dynamic platforms for this to happen. The misconception that reigns in some places that sports participation in children should be restricted is one that causes a lot damage to the way they grow up.

Sports as a field contains a lot of activities especially for the kids that if applied in the right way will allow kids to learn valuable lessons about life. It is not uncommon for kids to extend the discipline, creativity, hard work and team building skills attained in engaging in sports activities to other areas of their lives such as school work.

The thing is, sports especially at children’s level is carried out in a simple way in a friendly and healthy environment that allows kids to let themselves go and come out of their small cocoons to discover what lies in the outside world.

The simplicity of sports does not, however, compromise its ability to provide the necessary learning and development necessary for balanced growth. It is indeed this same simplicity that causes the lessons learnt to stick into the kids psyches to be used later on in life. How important therefore that the lessons adopted through sports be positive ones rather than negative ones. The ball is now therefore firmly set in the courts of parents, teachers and guardians of children to recognize the awesome potential of sports in developing children to be upstanding members of the world community.

Through sports kids learn to share with others, the power of team work and positive competition can be fostered in the muddy soccer and hockey fields that the classroom can only fantasize about. Through competitive games and sports kids can learn what it takes to win and how to deal with unexpected outcomes in life. The beauty of sports is that through its many intense activity, interaction among kids themselves and also with adults is essential.

Kids can learn how to express themselves and respect authority, traits that can be hard to develop in adults. Starting them on such at a young age will reap fruits that will be the pride of all.

Sports activities come in many forms. Mainstream sports like baseball, soccer, basketball, hockey and tennis to name but five are used to instill the traits described above. With creativity, learning activities can be converted into fun sporting activities. Music and art and crafts are among the best candidates for this. It’s high time the true potential of sports be tapped. Take a cue from Tiger Woods and the Williams sisters.

Asthma in children is often caused by a specific stimulus in the forms of common asthma irritants. These irritants cause dryness in the airways, therefore it compensates by producing excessive amount of mucus as lubrication but it only adds up to an already distressed airway. As the airway gets narrowed, oxygen supply starts to deplete resulting to shortness of breath. The wheezing sound of the cough is resulted by mucus build up in the lungs.

While airborne irritants can be asthma triggers, an attack can also be brought on by exercise, an infection, a change in the weather or even emotional factors. Proper care of your child during an asthma attack is vitally important.

It is important, if you can, to discover what caused your child’s asthma attack. As soon as possible ask the child what she was doing at the time of the attack and if your child was at school or in child care at the time check with her teacher or carer if there was anything in particular that produced the attack. Try to keep a diary of your child’s health to identify patterns of her asthma attacks.

To help you with the proper management of your child’s asthma you will need the assistance of health professionals. Your child’s physician would be the most suitable person to give advice regarding the best treatment plan for the present asthma condition of your child. You should find a physician whom you can trust and can easily communicate with.

Establishing a good relationship with your child’s physician will allow a well supervised asthma management for your child. Be sure that your child’s doctor has sufficiently provided you with all the needed information regarding proper home management of your child’s asthma. Don’t hesitate to ask questions if you are in doubt of certain things. Moreover, create an asthma management plan under the supervision of a physician. This asthma management plan should strictly be imposed and followed in order to yield desirable outcomes.

The 3 most important factors in the care of a child with asthma are proper treatment, knowledge of what causes it and care of the child.

Being prepared for an asthma attack and being knowing exactly what to do to help your child will go a long way towards lessening the anxiety felt by the child with asthma. Discuss a plan for home management with your child’s doctor and don’t forget to reassure your child constantly.

While there are many steps you can take to manage and control your child’s asthma, never forget that your love and reassurance are the most important thing to your child. A relaxed and caring attitude is just as important as medical intervention.

The skills involved in raising a family and bringing up children are difficult to learn and no single approach fits every child - just because each child is unique. Yet a large proportion of modern parents seem to believe that the best way to acquire those skills is by consulting one or more of the thousands of books available in bookstores and online.

One thought to bear in mind from the beginning is that so-called “expert” recommendations change periodically. For example, sixty or seventy years ago the perceived wisdom was that a baby who cried should not be immediately picked up because that would train him to expect instant attention. Instead, the realization right from the start that baby had to fit into a routine was an essential preparation for his or her acclimatization to life’s realities later on.

Then some new thinking emerged, notably from Dr Spock. His views were controversial at the time but they became one of the leading works of child care reference. He discredited the regime that demanded discipline and structure because, he argued, every child was unique and demanded a unique parenting stance. So, for example, giving your baby instant attention including lots of kisses and cuddles was now a good thing. And since then, many more “experts” have emerged with more and different opinions on exactly what the right approach is.

My first-hand experience at parenting began more than thirty years ago and at that time, despite Dr Spock and others, moms relied more on family and friends and particularly their own instincts to figure out how to deal with their new bundle of joy. Learning about child care from books was a rarity but doctors and midwives were available to provide help where required.

I am certainly not an expert when it comes to parenting but there are a number of things that I found worked well for me and my children and I would like to share them with you:

* Talking to my babies during breast feeding and bottle feeding: that added to the closeness and increased the bond between us.

* In good weather I found that putting our baby in the yard in the baby carriage helped baby to sleep and gave them plenty of fresh air. I realize that that this is not practical these days as yards are not always fenced, many moms have to work and strollers have replaced the more traditional baby carriages.

* Notwithstanding Dr Spock, the application of a routine was key, even if it had to have at least a little allowance for flexibility. Almost from the start we adopted a process of bathing then feeding then bedtime and after the first few months we added story time to the bedtime. This all calmed them down and allowed them to get ready for sleep even as they grew older.

* Helping to develop language skills by talking to them throughout the day no matter what we were doing: every part of the day provided some opportunity to discuss what was going on and what they thought, ranging from first getting up and dressing through to shopping, cleaning and going out to the park for entertainment.

* Setting aside time during the day for quality time and sharing - I used to get my chores done before lunch and then the rest of the day was devoted solely to the children.

* My husband and I always presented a unified stance in front of the children when it came to discipline (even if we disagreed after the event in private) - kids are great at playing one parent off against another from a very young age.

* Maintaining consistency: we were always prepared to explain what the “rules” were and we worked hard to keep the rules the same, wherever possible, because our children seemed to respect and respond to that.

To be absolutely clear, what I’ve laid out above is what worked well for me and it’s certainly not a total guidebook to be slavishly followed, but I hope you find some thoughts and ideas that help you to do your parenting job more easily. Please just remember that you need to take all published advice with a pinch of salt, because your child is unique and will respond differently than any writer can define.

I’ve been having major trouble around our house concerning 3 of our kids and the inability (or unwillingness is more like it) to be ready to leave for school on time. I started thinking about the problem, and wondered if this was my fault (Heaven forbid!) or theirs. Well, the conclusion I came to was a little of both. Let me explain.

I started looking through my Total Transformation workbook for some answers, and I happened upon a section called Ineffective Parenting Roles. Uh oh, this doesn’t sound good. Better take a look, though.

Holding my breath, I read on. It seems there are 7 ineffective parent roles, that seem like I mean well, aren’t allowing my kids to be self responsible, accountable or give them the chance to change. This in itself was a bitter pill to swallow, but not as bitter as the fact I could see myself acting several of these roles out at various times - uggh!

My favorite part - the Martyr.

A glimpse of the Martyr -

* Takes on the childs responsibilities, for example, wakes their child up repeatedly.

* Keeps lower what is expected and having no limits on what is acceptable.

* Fearing that the kid may not be happy or be stressed.

This teaches the child:

* Learned helplessness is effective. The less ability the child demonstrates, the less is asked of him.

* This unconditional approval can be demanded. Not earned, but demanding, threatening, or misbehaving will get it.

* The parents don’t believe they can do it. They sadly learn that they are unable to perform things, to earn the approval or to control how he acts.

Doesn’t that sound great? I was sure I was being effective!

Oh and there are 6 more of these lovely parenting roles.

This is just a brief overview, but I will give you enough info to see if you recognize yourself in any of these. James Lehman fleshs these out in the Total Transformation and the best news is that he will tell you how to resolve them! Yeah!

1. Bottomless Pockets - Buys off the child to avoid conflict or behavior issues. Children learn the sense of entitlement.

2. Over-Negotiator - Negotiates already established rules, commitments, and standards. Child learns that boundaries aren’t solid.

3. Screamer - Get sucked into the screaming and name calling games. Kids learn no one is in control.

4. Ticket Puncher - Over indulges the child emotionally. The parent takes any and all opportunities to shower their child with love and attention. The child learns there is no objective right or wrong.

5. The Savior - Blindly comes to the kid’s defense. Kids learn that they are not accountable to any authority.

6. The Perfectionist - Has impossible high standards to meet. Child learns to only fail.

There you go - do you see yourself in any of those? I hope you don’t, but I know I’ve been guilty of most of them at one time or another. If you do feel like you need some help, or just want to learn more about these ineffective permissive parenting styles, get your hands on a copy of the The Total Transformation and check it out for yourself.

We seem to be losing an essential skill in our society. Cooking. Real homemade cooking. The sort of cooking that Grandma used to cook for you. It’s important to teach cooking skills to kids, especially now when it seems so rare that kids are taught to cook. And the best place to start is homemade candy.

If you want to teach kids to cook successfully you’ve got to get them cooking something they love to eat. All kids love to eat candy. So teach them how to make great homemade candy and they’ll be back to cook, and eat, more.

Last night I did some great cooking with my kids who are 8 and 11, and I can’t still see their faces as they licked out the bowl. Kids love cooking something that is easy to cook and yummy to eat. Homemade candy is both easy to cook and yummy to eat.

And if they learn to love cooking they’ll have a skill they’ll appreciate for the rest of their lives. And they graduate from cooking candy pretty fast.

Remember some basic rules. There is always mess and it always takes longer than you’d expect, at least at the start. Start the kids on a simple candy recipe. There are some wonderful simple homemade candy recipes that are simple for kids to cook. Start them on the easiest bit of the recipe.

And of course you’ve got to keep them away from heat, so avoid candy, for example, that requires a syrup. Syrup is heated to a high temperature so kids shouldn’t be stirring it, for example. No syrup burns.

And there’s just some stunning wonderful homemade candy recipes for kids too. I’ve mentioned syrup, it’s also a little difficult to do too, as you have to get the temparature just right, so steer clear of syrup and start with some of the more basic homemade candy recipes like truffles or pralines.

But once you’ve got the kids cooking confidently there’s no end to the wonderful candy recipes you can try. I love toffees, especially chewy toffee variety. Nougat is wonderful as are truffles, there’s so many.

Now all that has made me hungry.

Seriously though, teaching the kids to cook candy gets them on the road to cooking for life, and they learn to love to cook anything with time.

So grab some great homemade candy recipes, there’s lots on my website. And it’s cheaper and makes better candy than the store bought candy. Get the kids involved, they’ll thank you for it when they get older.

Dance is a very creative form of art. When looking for a dance school for your child you should choose a dance school that encourages creativity. When a student is passionate about dancing they can be creative and it will make them a great performer.

A child sometimes uses dancing as a way of expressing themselves and they need a school that helps them to be creative. This is an art form that is in itself a creative form of art.

There are many ways that a teaching organization can promote creativity:

Games: The teacher can create a lesson that would make students enjoy dancing. Games can often make dancing very enjoyable and at the same time the students will learn something from it. Students would look forward to lessons when they include games and enjoy learning many new skills.

Competitions: a little competition is good because it gives the students an incentive to learn more and perfect their skills. This needs to be low keyed with an element of fun mixed into the competition. It is up to the creativity of the teacher to make sure that this does not stress the young students and everybody is a winner.

Acting: acting in the form of mime is an integral part of dance. In fact mime is how a dance can tell a story or show emotion. Mime is a special form of acting that young children especially enjoy. When they learn how to do this they will bring out creativity in their dancing.

If you want to help your child to be a better dancer they need to be creative.

Motivation: learning this way is a strong way to motivate the students and keep them on task. Sometimes small children need motivation and incentives to keep focused and on task. This helps them to learn more at a faster rate.

Concentration: young children can have a short span in concentration and that’s why they need different learning methods to keep them focused. Concentration is important to help them to learn and remember what they have learned.

Stopping boredom: Another problem with younger students is that they are easily bored. Bringing a good selection of different ways to learn will prevent this from happening and result in them learning more. When their interest is kept alive they will look forward to their dance lessons.

To ensure that this creativity is part of the dance school curriculum it is good to meet the teachers of any dance school that you are proposing to send your child to. By meeting them and looking over the school curriculum you can see what sort of creativity is being used by these teachers. You can bring your child as well to see how they react to them. It is good for your child to meet the teacher they will be working with.