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Right now I have one very moody child. It is school holidays and the kids are nagging me to go on the computer. That is fine, only there are four of them and only one computer. Not only that, but I need my computer for my work each day. Nevertheless the children are bombarding me for a turn on the computer.

I wish I had more than one computer in the house but I don’t. Actually, I am in the process of buying one right now but the kids will just have to wait for a few more weeks. Not happy!

I had left the three boys to sort themselves out today and organise who would go on when. I gave them plenty of time, but when I finally gave them the five minute warning it was, “oh, he got more time than me. I didn’t get a proper turn. It’s not fair. I’m going on and you can’t stop me”.

It kind of made me wish that I hadn’t bothered giving them a turn as they seemed to turn it all around and throw it back on me. Everyone seemed to end up angry with me. Now go figure! I let them use my computer, even though I really needed it for myself and to show their appreciation the kids all end up angry with me.

Actually, right now I only have one son angry with me. He has been in his bedroom sulking for twenty minutes or so. He came out once, stormed over to his brother, picked up a washing basket full of clothes that his brother had just bought in off the line, and threw the washing all over the floor before storming back into his bedroom. Hmmm… what to do about that??

I gave him a few minutes then went into his bedroom to see if he wanted to talk. Again I was met with arguing and non-compliance so I retreated knowing that he wasn’t prepared to talk about anything. I went back to my room and logged onto the computer to write my daily article and realised that I had a great case study right infront of me. So I started writing about Kieren and his little fiasco.

A few minutes past and Kieren came into the bedroom and said to me, “Mum, tell me when you get off the computer because I want to go on”. Then he walked away again. This is highly unusual for Kieren to act in this way, nevertheless he needn’t think that he can get away with this kind of behavior.

I am not going to go chasing him again to tell him that he has a consequence. But when he comes to me again tonight (and believe me, he will), I shall say to him, “you will not be going on the computer tonight because of your inappropriate behavior”.

I cannot force him to be happy about not getting a longer go (yes, he did get a go, he just wasn’t happy with the length of the go). All I can do as the parent is enforce the right consequence for the behavior. And that is the key to managing a child’s behvaior. Be consistent with your consequences.

If a child is naughty they require a consequence in order to learn from it. You are actually doing them a favour when you discipline them. I know they don’t always appreciate it at the time. But later on in life they will thank you for it, you can be sure of that.

So, unfortunately Kieren has cooked his goose tonight. The silly thing is, if he had handled things differently the outcome would have been different. Now he must suffer in order to realise that his behavior was not acceptable in my household. And hopefully that will never happen again. If it was to happen again, the consequence would have to be bigger to show him that I mean business.

Parents, be inspired in your parenting and know that when you give your child a consequece you are doing them a huge favour.

Kim Patrick is a single mother with four children, living on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland, Australia. She is author of the book, “Get Your Child To Behave In 30 Days Or Less”. Her web site is:

http://www.mychildcanbehave.com

Children with attention deficit disorder often struggle in school because of their short attention spans. Many quickly decide that they are “dumb” or “stupid” when the simple truth is that their condition is causing them to fail in the traditional school setting, which requires children to focus on one activity for an extended period of time. If you are a parent of a child with ADD or ADHD, you can actually use toys to help improve your child’s attention span and, in turn, performance in school. Here are some ways to use educational toys to improve attention deficit disorder.

What Your Child Needs from You

As you consider toys to use to help improve your child’s attention span, keep in mind that your child needs to be able to focus on one activity or task for about 25 minutes in order to survive the first year of school. This number increases as the child advances through the educational system. If your child is a preschooler, take the time now to help her increase her attention span so that she can succeed in kindergarten. If she is an older student, talk to her teacher to learn what her attention span should be, and work slowly towards that goal.

Remember, your child needs to feel as though play time is play time. While you can, and should, reward good attention, you need to avoid making play time into school time. Keep it fun, even as you focus on improving the signs of attention deficit disorder.

Use Books to Help with ADD

One of the best educational toys to use with children with ADD is a book. Choose books that are interesting to your child. Even if you do not like a particular book, use it if it appeals to the child with ADD. Even if your child is old enough to read, read aloud to him. Read as long as his attention allows, and then let him move to another activity. Gradually try to increase the amount of time spent reading.

Play a Game with Your Child

Another way to improve ADD with educational toys is to play games with your child. Any game that your child can understand is a great way to improve attention span. Your child will love the play time, as she likely relishes special time with mom and dad. Be sure the games require some thinking or concentration, rather than just allowing the child to move a piece after spinning a wheel or rolling a pair of dice.

Pretend with Your Child

Because pretend play allows them to get up and move while focusing on one thing, it is perfect for children with ADD. Buy educational toys that will encourage your child to pretend. Fake food, doctor’s kits, and dress up clothes are great additions to the ADD child’s toy box. These do not have to be complicated. Simply choose toys that will get his imagination flowing.

Puppets are more great toys to use with these kids. Because they allow the child to use his imagination and create crazy scenarios, puppets are very appealing to an ADD child. Also, you can stretch your child’s attention span with puppets, as it takes time and effort to put on a puppet show. Be a good audience and reward and praise the effort!

Parenting a child with attention deficit disorder is frustrating at times. The energy level of these children is simply exhausting for most adults. By finding ways to play with your child that require him to focus for longer and longer periods of time, you can help curb the energy a little while still enjoying one on one time with your child. In this way, both of you win, and your child will also benefit from increased performance in school!

Mastermind Education Children’s Toys is a leading provider of developmental toys.

http://www.mastermindtoys.com/

Identification cards are prevalent and useful in many different types of situations. Whether you have or are considering obtaining an identification card for personal or professional reasons, it can come in handy in various ways.

1-Child Identification Cards

A child identification card is very helpful to have in case of emergency. Ideally, the child would carry his or her ID card; also, any parents, guardians, schools, daycares, or caretakers of the child should keep at least one copy of the child’s identification card.

Child identification cards typically include information such as medical emergency information, a photo of the child, his or her date of birth, height, weight, hair color, and any other special identifying information.

Child ID cards would be especially helpful during a medical emergency, or if the child is suddenly missing. For example, if your child collapses in a public place, whoever he or she is with would be able to look at the identification card to identify any medical conditions.

If, God forbid, the child goes missing, the identification cards will give parents a quick and easy way to give all essential information to the local authorities.

To be safe, make sure that you laminate all copies of your children’s identification card to prevent smudging and ensure that the card will last for a long time.

2-Employee Identification Cards

Some companies may benefit from the extra security that employee identification cards offer, especially those businesses that protect sensitive information or a large amount of wealth, in one form or another.

Enhanced security features such as holograms go the extra mile to ensure that intruders will not be able to access certain areas of the company.

Employee ID cards also help to give a sense to the community of your workplace. Instead of referring to co-workers as the position that they hold, workers will be able to call their co-workers by name, thus building companionship throughout the office.

3-School Identification Cards

Instead of just being used for identification purposes, school ID badges are starting to be used for many other, helpful purposes ranging from attendance tracking to meal plans to library use and computer use.

Some schools are requesting identification cards that will allow their students to use their ID cards to access the Internet through the school’s computers. This would help school administration to filter various websites, making sure that the students are using the Internet for primarily educational purposes.

Wendy Moyer is an independent journalist. Alpha Card is an excellent resource for identification cards. Have a look at the Alpha Card website for further information (http://www.alphacard.com/).

Do you have picky eater kids? Nothing is more frustrating for a parent than a child that just won’t eat. If you have a picky eater, no matter what their age, you probably already know how hard it can be to make dinner for the family or even to eat over at friends’ houses or just to get your child to eat, period. But it doesn’t have to be so tough. If you have picky eater kids, you can learn how to please them and your own peace of mind with these healthy eating ideas for the picky child.

First it is a good idea to try to determine why your child is a picky eater. This will require you to get inside the head of your child a bit. While some of their reasoning may not seem logical to you as an adult, it can help you prepare meals when you know the mindset of picky eater kids. When you know why your kid is doing something, it can help you find a solution that works for you and your family.

It also helps most parents to know that this type of behavior is considered normal. Most younger children are picky eaters. This is sometimes because they are still learning about what foods they like and dislike and experimenting with their foods. Sometimes they don’t like the way the food looks or they may not like something new. Other times they may be testing their limits to see what you will let them get away with and if you will feed them something else later. When feeding picky eater kids, here are some ideas that may make it go a bit smoother for you. First, give them only small portions on their plates so it does not look so overwhelming. Offer small amounts of new foods each day and encourage your child to try them, even if he is hesitant to do so. Don’t offer sugary foods or sweets before meals if your child has trouble eating. Try to offer your picky eater a wide variety of foods so they can experiment with different tastes, looks and feels.

Don’t get angry over food, use food as a punishment or a reward and do not bribe your child to eat food. If your child refuses to eat a meal, don’t allow them to have more of something they like later. This will teach your child that they can skip every meal and you will just give them more later. Be consistent and firm in your teaching and dinner time will be a more pleasant experience.

Discover how to turn your picky eater kid into a healthy eater kid at http://www.mypickyeater.com

While being on summer vacation can be a fun time for kids when they get out of school, it is also important to encourage the learning process even outside of the classroom. Planning cool science experiments is a great way for parents and children to spend time together, while making it interesting and productive.

Taking field trips to local science museums can turn learning into an exciting field trip, and also a way to get out of the house! Girls and boys can be exposed to many different learning subjects, but often, girls lose interest in science while boys find it much more interesting. The key to involving girls is to make it fun for them, using the things they like or subjects they may be interested in.

Science can affect or explain many things that are used day-to-day, so showing how it works can be relevant and exciting for any child in school, especially those in the younger elementary levels. Encouraging your child’s interest in science, even if you, the parent, aren’t “good” in the subject, is important.

Planning trips to the park to do explorations or scavenger hunts can help girls and boys identify items in nature, or even serve as a potential source for many fun summer projects or science experiments. A great activity that can be done outside is creating a unique leaf collection. Even parents who are not “experts” can help with this one.

Together, parents and children can learn to identify each of them, using reference sources. Girls and boys can go exploring, finding leaves that interest them and then laying them between wax paper. They can then add heavy books on top of the paper, pressing them for about a week. Once the leaves have dried, they can glue them into a fun scrapbook with their common and scientific names.

Another great outdoors activity that many kids (and adults) would like would be creating their own fossils. Most kids are really interested in dinosaurs, so showing them how fossils are formed is not only interesting, but also informative. Make a fossil by shaping a sheet of aluminum foil into a bowl, and then fill it with plaster of Paris. Take rocks, shells or other hard objects and press them into the plaster, wait about 30 minutes to remove the item from the plaster and kids then have their very own fossil!

Taking a field trip to the local science center can also be a fun trip that incorporates learning with each exhibit. Many of these exhibits are hands-on, which can help a child put an idea into perspective. Activities about weather, astronomy, botany, and chemistry are all covered, with not only informational pictures and writing, but also their application in real life.

It is really important to keep children learning, even when they are out of school. It is up to the parents to keep children busy with educational activities, especially those ideas that may have not been covered in the classroom. Involving both girls and boys can make any subject fun, especially science. Encourage children to try their own experiments, which can teach valuable information as well as increase creativity in younger kids. Parents don’t have to be experts in science but like children, they should always be open and willing to learn.

Sara Jones was a fine student but science was a source of frustration she didn’t want her kids to suffer. She met Rick and Amanda Birmingham and realized their grasp of everyday science was the secret to making science fun. To learn more about the solution to science visit http://SupeFunScience.com