End-of-Day Meltdowns

Parents with babies and small children all know about end-of-day meltdowns. Many parents struggle with this time of day along with their child. Parenting Magazine offers some great tips to help you get through this difficult time of day. Click here to read the whole article.

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8 Ways for Kids to be Thankful this Thanksgiving

With the Thanksgiving holiday upon us, we can take some time to think of what we are thankful for. Parents.com offers 8 ways to help our children to be thankful without the guilt trip. Click here to read the tips.
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Why Scribbling is Important

What is the connection between your child’s scribbling and cognitive and motor skills? Like many parents, when your child brings up a paper with scribbling on it and tells you it’s a family portrait, you probably wonder what they are seeing that you’re not.

But even though the picture itself might not be a masterpiece, it is a critical milestone for your child’s development. Before you tell your child to stop scribbling on that piece of paper consider the learning that’s taking place:

Scribbling is essential in the development of hand and finger control and overall dexterity. It develops very important hand-eye coordination skills which many children struggle with. It helps to develop imagination and independent thinking skills. When your child begins to form basic shapes through scribbling, they start to recognize writing and drawing as a communication channel. It can help your child communicate difficult emotions that they can’t express in words. As you can see, scribbling is your child’s first introduction to basic reading and writing.




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Interrupting

Do you get frustrated when you’re trying to carry on a conversation with another adult or even one of your other children and you get interrupted? It’s frustrating to everyone involved. Here are a few tips to help your child learn to wait their turn during conversations.

Children have a small world around them. They often interrupt because they feel that they are the center of their world and that it all revolves around them and their needs. Helping them understand that there are rules around conversations with others and that what others have to say is just as important as what they have to stay is critical to stopping interruptions.

Establish some basic rules of the road and stick to them:
Establish rules for when visitors come to your home – when you have company coming over tell your children that it’s really important that you talk to your company uninterrupted. Offer them alternatives to keep them busy such as a toy or book..
Point out when your child interrupts – this will help them identify the disruptive behavior and learn that it is not appropriate.
Don’t ignore interruptions – this is likely to result in frustration and often makes children interrupt more.
Explain when interrupting is ok. Describe what types of situations are important and what aren’t.
Explain how important listening is instead of interrupting. Listening is a critical part of the communication model and an important skill need to excel in school.
Hopefully, over time, you’ll see a reduction in interruptions from your child.


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Preschool Bullying: Steps to Stop Child Aggression

With so much talk in the news about bullying, I found this article about preschool bullying and the effect on young children. Click here to read the article.

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8 Great Sick-Day Activities

When your child is home from school because they are not feeling well, you may struggle with ways to keep them entertained while the get better. Scholastic.com offers 8 great sick day activities. From reading stories together to doing a simple craft. Click here to read the article.

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Family Medicine Cabinet

If being prepared is one of your goals for the New Year, than you should review what’s in your medicine cabinet. Now that winter is here you may have to treat a middle-of-the-night fever or upset tummy. In order to save you from the midnight run to a local pharmacy, here are a few items that are essential for the medicine cabinet.

• Thermometer
• A hot water bottle/heat pack and an ice pack/cold pack to help soothe tummy aches,reduce swelling, and to cool feverish children.
• Cool mist vaporizer for cough and congestion.
• Hydrocortisone 1% and calamine lotion for rashes and itching.
• Antiseptics and antibiotic ointments help stop infection in cuts and scrapes.
• Adhesive bandages for scrapes and cuts.
• Tweezers for splinters and ticks and alcohol to clean the tweezers.

Please remember this is just a guideline and you should discuss the appropriate items and dosage with you pediatrician, who knows your child’s healthy history and can advise you on dosage.

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A Big-Kid Bed for Your Toddler

Parents struggle to figure out the right time to move their toddler from a crib to a big kid bed. Toddlers struggle with how to deal with this new freedom the article below offers some advice to make the tradition easier for everyone. Click here to read the article.

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Developing Literacy

How does your child develop literacy?
Literacy skills (reading and writing) start to develop in preschool when teachers begin to expose children to spoken and written language.

During this time you’ll find a teacher using a combination of pictures, printed letters and words, and speaking. Through this process your child will begin to make the connection that objects or pictures represent words that have meaning.

There are many ways this occurs in the classroom including:

• Nursery Rhymes: Children love the sing song cadence of nursery rhymes. In many cases children have heard these rhymes since they were babies, and a common classroom activity is to have them fill-in-the-blanks on favorite nursery rhymes and stories.

• Scribbling: as we spoke about in a previous blog, scribbling is the start of writing and scribbling on paper should be encouraged as much as possible.

• Printed Letters and Words: Classrooms that are full of pictures and words are the best environment for children to learn the basics of literacy.

There is no better way to develop literacy than reading with your child. The time you invest in reading to your child will be paid back as your child becomes a strong reader. Let your child guess the words as you read. Let them understand that pictures often give clues to the words on the pages.

Here are some other ways that you can reinforce literacy at home:
• Make books available
• Label objects around their room
• Read in front of your child. When they see you read they will want to read too.
• Encourage your child’s creativity. Writing, drawing and even finger painting all encourage literacy.

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8 Ways for Kids to be Thankful this Thanksgiving

With the Thanksgiving holiday upon us, we can take some time to think of what we are thankful for. Parents.com offers 8 ways to help our children to be thankful without the guilt trip. Click here to read the tips. 

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Leaving Your Child On The First Day of School

Leaving your child at school for the first time can be as traumatic for a child as it is for a parent. All children react differently, from full blown panic attacks, to a matter-of-fact kiss goodbye with no emotion. Here are some tips for handling the first drop-off.

• Keep perspective, remember that this is a natural part of the growth and development of your child. Try to take comfort in the fact that your child is starting out on a new adventure of learning both educationally and socially.

• Trust in the educational professionals at your child’s school. They have had a career of first school days. They know all the tricks of the trade to help a child work through their separation anxiety.
 
• Set specific expectations with your child. Let them know that you will be back after lunch. Help them understand that this is a normal part of their new schedule. 

• Reinforce the fun they will have at school. Tell them how much fun they are going to have doing activities and learning to become a big girl or boy.

• Stick to the plan. Your child’s anxiety and temper tantrums can become worse of you give in to your child’s request not to leave, or if you take them back home on their first day. 

• The great disappearing act can backfire. Distracting your child so that you can sneak out may increase their feeling of abandonment. Tell them you are leaving, give them a kiss goodbye and leave the room without lingering. 

Rest assured, the drop of will get better and the school year will be a great success. 

Potty Training Part 2

Last week we talked about the signs of potty training readiness. If your little one is ready to start learning how to use the potty, these tips may help:

• Build extra time into your busy schedule for frequent trips to bathroom both at home and when you’re out.

• Don't make your child sit on the toilet against his or her will.

• Look for the signs they are getting ready to poop. Here are a few examples: faces turn red, grunting and squatting.

• What time of day do they usually need to go to the bathroom? Be aware of the time and look for other signs so you can rush them to the bathroom. Right after a meal is a natural time for the body to evacuate, so you may want to pay particularly close attention.

• Establish a routine. Have your child try when they wake up, after every meal, before bedtime and anytime they ask. And don’t get frustrated if nothing happens. It’s more about establishing the routine.

• Lead by example. Have your child watch you or a sibling in the bathroom.

• Remove poop  from your child's diaper and put it in the toilet  to show your them that poop goes in the potty.

Remember to reward your child. Stickers, treats or character underpants works well as an incentive. Try to keep positive in all aspects of potty training.

Preschool Bullying: Steps to Stop Child Aggression

With so much talk in the news about bullying, I found this article about preschool bullying and the effect on young children. Click here to read the article

Moody Toddlers

Moody Toddlers

Many parents get frustrated and concerned about their toddlers mood swings. In most cases a toddlers mood swings are normal. There are many causes or mood swings in toddlers but here are a few causes and some tips on how to deal with them.

Inability to communicate feelings or wants and needs. It’s very frustrating for your toddler to be so limited with verbal communication. Until your toddler develops their vocabulary expect that they will be emotional as they try to communicate.

What you can do: Tell your child to take their time when communicating. Give them enough time to get their point across. If they still can’t get their point across, give them hints to help them. However, try not to speak for your child as this can hurt their confidence when communicating later in life.

Testing boundaries – Your toddler is experiencing more independence than they ever had before. It’s natural for them to begin to test the rules you have set for them. This may result in your child saying “no they don’t want to go to eat” or “no they don’t want to go to sleep”.

What you can do: Reinforce the rules. Toddlers need stability. It might seem easier to give in to your toddler to avoid an emotional meltdown but this could lead to more moodiness and behavior problems later. This defiance might just be your toddlers attempt to understand rules. Try explaining the reasoning behind each rule. That may be help them understand why rules are in place.

New feelings – With new experiences (like school) comes new feeling for your toddler. Feelings like fear of being separated from parents and caregivers are new for toddlers. This could lead to moodiness.

What you can do: Reinforce to your child that you are always looking out for them. Try to explain that change is a natural part of life. Give your toddler more attention during times of change.

Moodiness is normal for toddlers but if you have any question about what’s normal and what’s not, see a qualified healthcare professional.

Making Halloween Less Scary

You probably never think of it as a parent but Halloween can be a scary for some kids. In fact, it can be downright frightening. Skeletons, mummies, bats and vampires can really take the fun out this great tradition and stop your child from participating in trick or treating and other events.

Try to take the fright out of this Halloween night with some of these quick tips:

• If you feel that your child is developing fear about the scary parts of Halloween, talk to them about it. Explain that other kids are in those costumes. Maybe even have a sibling dress up ahead of time to show them what’s underneath the scary costumes and faces.

• Let your child choose their own costume. Make sure that it is appropriate for their age. Try choosing a costume that is not scary  or only a little scary, like a pirate or ghost. Make sure your child is comfortable in their costume.

• Avoid the haunted mansions or hayride. Enjoy the traditional non-scary halloween events such as fall fairs, pumpkin patch, or hayride instead. Also consider trick or treating during the daytime. many malls have daytime events for the smaller children.

You can’t always protect your child from scary and gory decorations, but you can try to minimize exposure to them. Talk through your child’s fears so they feel comfortable and can enjoy the season!

Why Kids Are Little Copycats

You may wonder why your child is mimicking you.  It may make you a little crazy and you may even lose your patience a little bit.  We found an article that can help you embrace your little copycat.  Click here to read the article.

When Your Child is Left Out

We all remember how it felt the first time we were left out of something.  It may have been a birthday party, or not being picked for a game.  SheKnow.com talks about this issue and whether it is intentional or not, that it happens to all children. Click here to read the article.

Treating Poison Ivy

The spring and summer months are a great for getting the kids outside to play and burn off some energy. One of the issue you may run into is poison ivy. Here is a great article that offers some advice on what to watch out for and how to treat poison ivy. Click here to read the article.

Make The Most Of Memorial Day Weekend

It’s hard to believe, but this weekend we will be celebrating Memorial Day and the unofficial start of the summer season. The weather this spring season has made it a little difficult to get in a summer mood. SheKnows.com offers some tips to help you increase your summer spirit with a little Memorial Day mini vacation. Click here to read the article. 

Protecting your Family from Ticks

Now that the warmer weather is here to stay, you and your family will be spending much more time outdoors. One of the dangers of being outdoors is ticks.The website Parent Squad offers tips on protecting your family from ticks this season. Click here for tips: