Kids
Helping your child cope with a loss of a loved one.
Dealing with loss is difficult as an adult but it’s especially difficult for children.
They are often just beginning to understand about life and handling their general emotions on a daily basis. How can children begin to understand and cope when a loved one has passed away? I know it’s difficult to imagine but it can happen and it’s good to know how to handle your children’s emotions so that they can grieve appropriately.
Why boys don’t like to read
Boys are raised to fit many stereotypes in western society.
They should prefer blue to pink, cars to Barbies, and football to ballet. But does being a boy mean neglecting to read? A study published this year by Dobbs-Oates & Baroody concluded preschool girls show more interest in literacy activities than boys of the same age.
Slow Down!
Homework, sports, friends, gaming, shopping, surfing the net, texting, church…. Parents do any of these words relate to your world?
As soon as school starts, the schedules of both parents and kids quickly become overwhelming. Yes, some of these activities are necessary as they help shape and mold our kid’s lives.
Editors Picks for Back-to-School!
These are some of our personal family favorites and most valued teaching tools!
Fun for the kids, easy for parents! Kids enjoy it so much, they don’t even realize they are learning!
Flight Plan
Flight Plan offers boys and young men a definition and vision of manhood that can help them to make wise choices during their teenage years and beyond.
It frankly and authentically discusses a number of issues they will face and teaches boys a definition of manhood ("A real man glorifies God by seeking an adventuresome life of purpose and passion as he protects and serves others.") and seven virtues of manhood. It focuses on the question of what it means to be a man and includes in depth teaching on many of the changes, challenges, and temptations they will be facing as teenagers.
Education and the Internet: Is Your School Protecting Your Child?
As your kids return to school, it’s a great time to take your child’s browsing and online safety into your own hands.
What measures can you take to make sure your children are using the internet in a safe, appropriate way, and guard them against the pitfalls of temptation?
Discipline by Design
Discipline…we don’t like to think about it, do we? Yet it is ever present when we have children. So let’s set up some practical steps to help us DISCIPLINE by DESIGN.
The Bible has much to say about the important concept of discipline. One of my favorite verses is: “All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness” (Hebrews 12:11).
Discovering Learning Disabilities?
When my daughter Allegra was in her second year of kindergarten, the school principal school suggested that I have her evaluated for “learning problems”. Learning problems did not sound like a particularly serious issue to me. I thought the term might indicate a problem with attention span, or maybe a short lag in reading abilities. When the principal then hinted that Allegra might have trouble in a regular classroom, my internal alarm bells began to clang – not loudly, but with a definite steady beat. “What did she mean by that?” I wondered. Rather than wallow in uncertainty, I decided to get some answers from someone who, at that time, was regarded as the top pediatric neurologist in New York City.
The doctor sent Allegra to his assistant for the evaluation. The next day, I sat in his office while he looked over the reports spread out on his shiny mahogany desk. There was no small talk, no pleasant chit-chat. He said nothing until he looked up at me and in a cold, professional voice said, “From these results it is clear that your daughter is severely mentally retarded.” Before that could sink in, before the alarm bells could even begin their eventual, deafening clatter, he continued, “and I feel that the best thing for you, for your daughter and for your family is to institutionalize her.” He then told me that he knew of an appropriate facility outside of London that would take my five year old daughter, and though he wished he could be of further help, he was “just too busy.”
Healthy Money Habits for Kids
April is National Financial Literacy Month. There’s no better time than now to instill healthy money habits in our kids, but the old fashioned allowance system needs a makeover for this digitally savvy generation!
Anton Simunovic, Founder & CEO of ThreeJars.com leads the way with a site that teaches kids how to be responsible with money and opens their hearts to others. Here are some effective allowance tips to get you started.
Great Study Skills Are The Key To Success In School
The challenge facing many school children these days is that for the most part they simply don’t have the study skills they need to succeed in the classroom. A major key to educational success is having these strong study skills. Most parents (and many teachers) don’t think to teach their children how to study and those that do aren’t quite sure where to start.
"Having good study habits is a skill that is learned," explains Cari Diaz of Club Z! Tutoring. "Children aren’t born knowing how to study anymore than they are born knowing how to read. They need to be taught the most effective way to study in order to excel." Once you give a student the tools they need to really understand how to study, their confidence level increases and they become more engaged in the whole learning process.
5 Solutions to Raise Responsible, Resilient, and Respectful Children
Raise responsible, resilient, and respectful children following these five proven rules from etiquette experts, Lori Weiner and Dr. Jodi Stoner.
Learn from the experts the five keys to raising respectful children: Expected Behavior, Money Matters, Boundaries, Chores, and Sportsmanship.
This Year I'll Be a Better Listener
If you are feeling like communication between you and your teen has broken down, let me recommend one key principle to improve your relationship. Be a better listener!
The Bible commands us to be "quick to listen and slow to speak." When this advice is adhered to by parents, often times, walls of separation come tumbling down. Too often we want to provide solutions so fast that we fail to truly listen to what our teens are trying to tell us. This puts even more distance into an already difficult relationship.
Healthy Students More Likely to Excel
Physically fit students more likely to do well in school, less likely to be disciplinary problems
A first-of-its-kind study of more than 2.4 million Texas students found that students who are physically fit are more likely to do well on the state's standardized tests and have good school attendance. Fit students are also less likely to have disciplinary referrals.
