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Teachable Money Moment for Kids

Submitted by Staff on Wed, 2010-09-01 11:49
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The best way to teach kids financial literacy is in the context of their everyday lives. Here's this month's teachable money moment:

7 Things Kindergartener’s Need to Know Academically

Submitted by Staff on Mon, 2010-08-23 15:47
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In the rush to get your child outfitted for that first day of school, don’t overlook the value of exposing your child to the Kindergarten curriculum.  These are the 7 things that most Kindergartener’s need to know:

 

List of Early Childhood Skills Required for Kindergarten

Submitted by Staff on Mon, 2010-08-23 14:25
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Parents ... do you know what early childhood skills your child needs to know before going to Kindergarten?

Here is a list to refer to.  Introduce and practice these skills at home and school:

 

Teachable Money Moments -Teaching Kids About Money

Submitted by Staff on Tue, 2010-08-03 14:08
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The best way to teach kids financial literacy is in the context of their everyday lives. Here's this month's teachable money moment:
 
Back-to-School season offers a great opportunity to teach a few lessons before a single textbook gets opened.  Here are three:
 
Lesson #1:  It's hip to be frugal.  Who says you have to buy brand new stuff for school?  With the help of your child, go through last year's school supplies and determine what can be re-used...pens, pencils, binder, backpack, spiral notebook with only two used pages.  Then, to get in the school spirit, try this analogy:   Left-over pizza is to your tastebuds as left-over highlighter pens are to your _______.  answer:  wallet!
 
Lesson #2:  Never leave home without The List.  Want your kids to spend less money when shopping?  It's as simple as writing everything down.  Have your kids create a back-to-school shopping list then stick to it as you shop for the items.   If your child sees something that he has to have that is not on the list, let him spend his own money on it.
 

Transitioning Kids from Summer Fun to a School Year Structure

Submitted by Staff on Fri, 2010-07-30 09:08
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Transitioning kids from summer fun to a school year structure does not have to be difficult!  With the anticipation of a new school year comes the rites of passage that go along with stepping up a grade, or walking into a new class or school, or perhaps even starting school for the first time ever.  So often, we focus on the ceremony of shopping for a new wardrobe, backpack, binders and markers, but we forget that we should spend some time acclimating our kids' minds for the classroom environment.

This doesn't mean we should hold mock school sessions at home for a month prior to the first day of school; we can ease their minds into 'school mode' without them even realizing it.  You simply have to prepare a little and before you know it, you'll be slipping lessons into your everyday functions and passing them off as mere fun!  Isn't it a delicious thought to be able to fool your kids into learning something?  Well, it might be way easier than you thought possible.

The three most important things to remember are:

  1. Make it fun!
  2. Make it Fun!!
  3. Make it FUN!!!

The fourth thing … dab their baby toe in first ... ease them back in ~ and yes, MAKE IT FUN!

 

Below are some

quirky

yet

entertaining

brain exercises for every age group.

Young kids:

Camping with Kids

Submitted by Staff on Thu, 2010-07-29 20:02
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Camping with little kids is hard work but the memories you’ll create are worth all of the effort.  Make sure to pack a camera to capture those memories.  A few other items that I have found to be invaluable:

  • A large tent- The family tent shown here has a room large enough to set up a pack n play for babies or toddlers to sleep in.  You can also use one of the “rooms” as a closet to keep your clothing and other gear organized and easily accessed.
  • Disposable wipes- camping is d-i-r-t-y!  Bring along a large pack of wipes for quick and easy clean up of hands (ooey gooey smores + dirt), faces, toys and more.  You can dispose of them in the campfire.
  • Inflatable Bed-  You’ll be more comfortable when sleeping on an inflatable bed with blankets and pillows from home.  The extra thick ones are especially nice because you’ll be up off of the ground.  Most of them come with a pump for easy set up.
  • Roasting Sticks- These long handled roasting sticks are perfect for heating up hot dogs for an easy lunch or dinner and for roasting marshmallows for smores every night around the campfire.

Remember to pack lots of extra clothing.  Be prepared but be flexible.  Having a back up plan for bad weather or cranky kids is a good idea. Relax and enjoy yourselves as your outdoor adventure unfolds!

The Pros and Perils of Online Symptom Checkers for Parents

Submitted by Staff on Thu, 2010-07-22 14:00
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Your child has a fever and a stomachache. You’re not sure what to do. So you reach for—your laptop?

kidsdocsymptomchecker

The AAP just launched the KidsDoc Symptom Checker, which helps look up specific symptoms by body part.

More and more, that’s what many parents are doing. Over the past few years, the amount of health information available on the internet has skyrocketed, and many sites offer to help you make diagnoses, whether it’s through specific health information, quizzes, or a “symptom checker” that allows you to look specifically at what might be causing the fever or stomachache—or rash, or whatever.

Best iPhone Apps for Preschool Kids

Submitted by sharon on Wed, 2010-07-21 12:54
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There are many, many apps now available for the iPhone and quite a few are geared towards parents with preschool children.  Some are geared towards fun entertainment and others are educational.  We will review some of these apps on a regular basis, letting you know about some of our recommendations.

Here are our Best Kids Apps picks this week.

FirstWords Animals by Learning Touch

Push the letters into place and the animals spring into action! FirstWords Animals provides endless fun for the toddlers in your life, all while giving your child a head start on learning their letters, creating words, and associating those words with familiar objects.  http://www.learningtouch.com/

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Glow Doodle

It’s a very simple yet fun app where you can draw a picture with your fingers on the touch screen of either an iPhone or iPod touch and your drawing will appear (and light up!)  on the screen.Use colors red, yellow, green or blue and then click “Glow” and watch your drawing light up.  iTunes store

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Building Self Esteem in Children

Submitted by Staff on Tue, 2010-05-04 13:56
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Self esteem is how we feel about ourselves and our behavior reflects those feelings.  As parents, we can help our children develop a high sense of self esteem.  This will affect their ultimate happiness and success in life.

How do we go about promoting Self Esteem?

  • Whenever you feel good about your child, express those positive feelings.  Too often, as parents, we focus on negatives and forget about the positives.  Children remember positive statements, as well as the negative ones.  Practice giving your child "words of encouragement" on a daily basis.  Make sure that your positive statements far outweigh any negative ones that slip in.
  • Be generous with your words of praise and get in the habit of looking for times when your child is doing a good job or using one of his talents.  Use your praise to point out positive character traits, such as "You are such a thoughtful person.  I am really proud of you."
  • Keep any necessary criticism to a minimum and direct it to your child's actions rather than your child.
  • Help your child learn how to make positive self-statements.  What we think about ourself determines how we feel about ourself and how we feel about ourself determines our behavior.

Signs of High Self Esteem 

A child with good self esteem will be able to:

  • act independently
  • tolerate changes & frustrations
  • take on responsibility
  • have pride in accomplishments
  • accept failures
  • attempt new tasks & challenges
  • offer help to others

 

Signs of Poor Self Esteem

A child with a poor self esteem will:

Help Kids Achieve Goals with Fun iPhone App I Earned That

Submitted by Staff on Tue, 2010-05-04 10:02
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As parents, we are always looking for fun ways to help encourage our children to learn responsibility.  We've discovered agreat iphone app that parents can use as a fun motivational tool to help kids achieve goals.

iEarned That was created by a pediatrician and parent. It's an amazingly fun and simple app to help motivate kids. It is able to turn any picture of a desired goal into an interactive 3D puzzle. Kids work towards their goal one puzzle piece at a time. Parents and kids love it and it's great to promote reading, chores, being physically active, eating healthy to name a few.  Use the app for several children at once and several goals at once.

This iphone app is a great opportunity to make sure your child does not develop a sense of "entitlement" that many kids seem to have these days.  We, personally, tried out the iEarnedThat app and it is so user friendly any parent and child can use it.  Just snap a photo from the app of something your child wants to work towards ... toy they want to buy ... weeks worth of homework, etc.  Photo can just be representative.  Then choose how many days or chores,etc  they need to complete to receive a reward.  Parents can choose any number, which will equate to the number of puzzle pieces your photo will be formed from.  For example, you can choose 5 pieces, 14 pieces, whatever works for that goal.  Knowing there is a reward at the end helps kids to work hard to achieve their goals.

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