Kids Allowance

It’s important to start teaching your kids financial responsibility at a young age. An allowance is a good way to begin to teach basic concepts like how to earn and save money and the basic concept of investing.

Not only does an allowance help kids understand the concepts above, it can also teach responsibility, counting skills, and independence.

When and if to start instituting an allowance with your child is an individual decision but here are some basic guidelines you may want to follow:

Consider Age

You don’t have to wait until your child can count or understand the concept of money. Non-monetary rewards like TV time or working toward a toy they really want can work just as well. However, they should be able to understand why and what they are working for, otherwise setting goals and rewards will be meaningless.

Start Small

A great rule of thumb is small rewards for small tasks. If the task is too big or the reward takes too long to achieve your child will lose interest. Household chores are good to start; helping Dad take out the trash or cleaning up their room can make your work easier too.

Clarify the Rules

Make it crystal clear what it takes for your child to earn their reward. Make the rules clear to avoid potential conflict and disappointment later.

Once your child has nest egg built up, try borrowing money from them one or twice a year and pay them interest on your loan. Borrowing can teach them the basic concept of investing and returns.

The Shy Child

To keep with our theme this week we are going to talk about children who are shy. Not participating in activities is one thing, but not speaking or hiding from other children or adults may mean that you have a shy child. Rest-assured shyness is not abnormal. It is a relatively normal reaction to the world and it is even more prevalent in today’s fast-paced, highly interactive world. Here are some tips on how you can help your child overcome their shyness.

Positive Reinforcement
It’s important that the shy child receives lots of positive encouragement. Take them time to validate your shy child’s thoughts and ideas. Let them know that their opinions matter. This doesn’t always mean public praise for their efforts. Find out how your child prefers praise. Some children may respond to praise in front of the rest of the family, others may respond better if you pull them aside and tell them how proud you are of them. Either way, positive encouragement will do wonders for self-esteem.

Prepare Your Child for Social Situations
Let your child know what the proper response is in social situations. Explain that when they meet another adult or child that they should introduce themselves. Give them examples of how they can address others. Practice these social interactions so that your shy child feels more comfortable.

Support Your Child
Let your shy child know that it’s ok to be who they are. In many cases your child will grow out of their shyness. If you think their is more to your child’s shyness consult a health care professional.

Participating in activities

It’s often a struggle to get children to participate in group activities and social situations. However, participation becomes more and more important as your child develops and becomes school-age. How can you help to make your child more comfortable and increase your child’s level of participation? Here are few tips.

Guide Your Child Through Change
Some of the apprehension your child could be experiencing may be due to change. The playground is a fast-paced world and teaching your child to move with the flow of activity may encourage them to participate. When moving from one activity to another, guide your child through the process and tell them that it’s ok to participate.

Plan Your Activities
For children who have a real difficult time accepting change a play plan might be an option. Talk to your child about what to expect at the playground. Make them comfortable with the concept of participating in the activities. Create a plan with your child about how playtime and participation will go. Have play dates at your home so you can more closely follow the plan. As children understand what’s expected they will become less apprehensive about participating.

Role Playing
Related to the plan above, role play what participation looks like with your child. Show them how participation can be fun. Play games at home that require cooperation and participation. Let them experiment by participating in a safe home environment and give them lots of encouragement.

Give Your Child Time
Your might be the most outgoing person in the world but that doesn’t mean your child will be. Each child develops differently, a painfully shy child may take some time to come around. Be patient and let them find their way. Don’t force your child into participation this might result

Back Yard Picnic

If you’re looking to do something with your child now that school is winding down a backyard picnic can be a lot of fun. Here are a few ideas for your backyard picnic:

• You don’t have to be fancy - basically any food can be used for a picnic. Remember, it’s not how special the food is, it’s about spending special time with mom and dad. Crackers and cheese or a sandwich will do just fine.

• Or, you can be fancy – if you are predetermined to fancy-ness, pair your picnic with a special trip to the market. Pick some foods that your child has never tried. You might just get them to try new foods, possibly even vegetables, if a picnic is involved.

• Get your child involved – have your child help prepare the food. If they make it, they just might eat it. This could be another good opportunity to get picky eaters to try new things.

• Break out the games – after the picnic spend time in the backyard playing a game. Soccer, catch, hang out in the swing set with your child, these are all good ways to slow life down and bond with your child in their environment.

Time goes by so quick, take some time out for a picnic with your little one.

Toddler Teeth

Toddlers usually feel two ways about brushing their teeth. They are either excited to be a big girl or boy, or they are uncooperative. It’s important to help your young one develop good oral hygiene. Here are some tips on handling common teeth brushing problems.

• Start with the baby teeth – babies can’t brush their teeth but you can take steps to remove food and plaque. At a young age you can use water and gauze for a light teeth cleaning. At around 18 months you can begin to introduce a child’s tooth brush.

· Take advantage of your child’s curiosity – if your child wants to brush their own teeth, let them. However, you should supervise the process up until your child is school-aged.

· Let Your Child Express Their Independence– let them have fun picking out the toothpaste and the brush they want. This is just another way to get them interested.

· Be Creative – their have been a lot of innovations in tooth brush technology since we were kids. As a gimmick, to get your child excited about brushing, a simple toothbrush can now play music, they can speak to your child and they are shaped as your child’s favorite character. Take advantage of these innovations to peak your child’s interest in teeth brushing.

If you have a real dental question you should always contact your friendly pediatric dentist.

Games

You can never have enough games to keep your children occupied. Here are some classic games that are perfect for long spring and summer days:

Games for the Road

• Spot the license plate – have children point out plates from different states. See how many you can spot from each state with double points for far away states.
• I spy – we forget as adults how much fun “I spy” can be. Kids can spend an hour playing this game in the car, restaurant or anywhere. Make it even more fun by establishing a theme like princess “I Spy” where you have to point out things that have to do with princesses.

• Make up a song – try to fit your children’s names or funny words into songs on the radio. Kids love playing this game. Or you can make up your own words to popular songs on the radio. This is always good for a few laughs.

Games for the House

• Play Store – it’s amazing how creative kids can be with a little play money or a play credit card. Set up a pretend cash register and have them check out your market order. Let them create and redeem pretend coupons and give out change.

• Pen Pals – reinforce writing and reading skills by having your child write notes to you in a notebook. You write responses to them and they respond daily. This can really be fun for elementary school kids.

Resolve Kid Conflicts

Arguments between siblings and other children are part of your child’s development. It’s difficult to see your young child yelling at another. But it’s essential for your child to experience conflict so that they can begin to develop problem solving skills.

You can help your child learn critical problem solving skills through following these tips:

1. Step in as a mediator – when a conflict arises help the children think through a proper solution. If they are arguing over a toy, teach them how to share or have them split equal time using the toy. Ask the children to think of their own solutions to the problem. If they are part of the process of solving the argument they are more likely to abide by the solution.

2. Teach communication skills – many times children become frustrated because they aren’t given the opportunity to express themselves. If a conflict occurs let your child speak about why they are angry. Once your child expresses their concerns they will be in a better state of mind to resolve a conflict.

3. Teach your child to walk away – in many cases this is the best way to resolve a conflict. If your child is small and they have a difficult time disengaging from conflict then distract them so their attention is turned away from the conflict.

4. Give your child room – as your child gets older they need time to resolve conflicts on their own. It’s tempting to jump in and solve every conflict for them but, your child needs time to figure it out on their own.

Soon your children will be resolving conflicts on their own every day with your help.

Outdoor Activities & Park Play with Your Children

by Sue Adair

A day at the park may seem like ‘just another day,’ but learning and bonding experiences flourish at the park!

Pack for Safety

Include drinking water, sunscreen, hat, water to wash as well as wipes for hands, sneakers or other closed-toed shoes, a change of clothes or a towel for the seat, small first aid kit for those little scrapes and a small trash bag to keep the earth litter free.

Expect to Get Dirty

Going outside is about the freedom to explore and the only way to explore is to touch it, and yes, it is dirty–it’s outside! Dirty does not mean ‘germy.’ Roll in the grass, stomp in the mud, touch the frog and splash in the puddles.

Bubbles Infant to Six Months

Pack for safety: A blanket to crawl on and a sturdy pair of pants for crawling on rough surfaces. Be prepared to change diapers on the go.

Be prepared to climb and crawl yourself. This is the best way for you to ensure your child’s safety. Watch for items going into your child’s mouth.

Hydration: The outside air and activity increases the amount of fluids you both need to consume. And while you’re packing the water, pack a snack.

Point, name and describe: As your child explores, point out the details; name objects and talk about your experience.

First Steps (12 to 18 months)

Pack for safety: Bring a blanket and a sturdy pair of pants for crawling on rough surfaces. This is not the place for skirts or dresses.

Plan for breaks and pack snacks, water and a few books.

Dig and touch: Collect items to further explore when you get home.

Walk the trail with your little one on a riding toy. Don’t forget the helmet.

Park Play Etiquette: If your little one finds a playmate, ask the other parent if both of you may join in the play. Your child will learn to ask for your approval before playing with strangers and the parent of the other child will appreciate this overture.

Toddler and Get Set (18 to 36 months)

Plot the potty path!

Bring balls to throw and kick or bean bags and a bucket.

Move beyond the park and walk a trail or explore a nursery. Go to the stream, lake or pond and skip rocks. Turn the rocks over to find creepy, crawly things.

No breaks required–but pause for a moment to re-hydrate.

Look through binoculars–even two toilet paper tubes offer a new view of the world.

Tent it! A pop-up tent is an instant playhouse.

Take an umbrella and put on your galoshes–take a walk in the light rain.

Preschool to Pre-K (36 months +)

Lie down and look up: Children like to see the world from a different perspective.

Picnic: Let your child be a part of packing the necessities and preparing the sandwiches.

Play “I Spy” or “I Hear.”

Read or draw under the trees.

Bring a magnifying cup for bugs and objects to view. Research your bugs and objects when you return home to learn more about each.

To read more visit: http://blogs.goddardsystems.com/blog/2011/03/14/outdoor-activities-park-play-with-your-children/

Grocery Shopping With Kids

Parents often find it difficult to grocery shop with kids in tow. But a little planning can help turn grocery shopping into a well oiled machine. Here are some simple tips to planning a better trip to the grocery store.

The Time of Day Matters – your just adding fuel to the fire if your choose to market with a passel of kids during prime marketing hours. Avoid weekends unless you are going early. Otherwise go when the crowds are working, during the week or find a good, low traffic time that fits into your schedule.

Be Prepared – it’s not just the Boy Scout motto, you need to be prepared to deal your child’s needs, moods and short attention span. Come prepared with snacks and drinks, toys without small pieces and maybe even a video game or two.

Plan Meals – this can be good for a variety of reasons. If you can plan out a majority of your meals, you will know exactly which aisle you need to visit. This can reduce the amount of “I want” requests you get from your kids during a typical trip. This will also reduce the time it takes to browse the aisles for meal ideas; getting you to your car more quickly.

Make a List & Check it Twice – the power of the list is well documented. List all the ingredients and household items you’ll need from the market. If you really want to take this to the extreme, you can order the items on your list to correspond to the aisles you will travel in the market. Many grocery stores have online maps showing you what’s in each aisle.

Become a Coupon Diva – since you already have your meals planned and your list of purchases, check your newspaper circular or look online for the latest coupons. Using coupons doesn’t take any more time in the market but it can really have an impact on the family budget.

Cookology Visits The Goddard School® located in Ashburn

The Goddard School located at 45091 Research Place in Ashburn will be the hosting "How to get Picky Eaters to Eat Healthy" on May 2nd, 2011 from 6:00 P.M. to 7:00 P.M.

The Goddard School located in Ashburn opened in January 2007 and is owned and operated by Madhu Govil. The school accommodates 140 children, ages six weeks to 8.

Cookology will give a lecture on how to get children to eat healthy. They will also provide recipes and samples of healthy food options for picky eaters

"We are all excited to have Cookology visit our school," says Govil. "The teachers and children are anticipating a lot of fun and a great learning experience."

The Goddard School offers a program that focuses on building a strong and balanced foundation of emotional, social, cognitive and physical skills for each child. Goddard provides children with a nurturing environment and a curriculum that encourages learning through play. Families have the convenience of extended hours from 6:30-6:30, the flexibility of either half or full-day schedules and Quality Assurance standards that are monitored corporately.
Parents are encouraged to drop in for a tour or call Madhu Govil directly to arrange a personal appointment at 703-724-0601.