Happy Tuesday to all my fellow parents. Since the new school year starts in a week’s time, I thought I should share some ways you can support your child at home so they can do well at school. I’m sure that’s what every parent wants for their children.
1. The first thing I will suggest is to read with them. Try to read with your child as often as possible. It’s the best thing you can do to help him or her learn at school! Ask questions about the story they’re reading.
2. HAVE A HOMEWORK ROUTINE
When it comes to homework, focus on process, not outcome. Create a quieter space for design for homework and make it a regular thing and stick with it at the same time. If there’s no homework you can use the time to read with them.
3. A GOOD CONVERSATION: Rather than asking your child what they did at school today, you can by telling them something interesting that happened in your day. When you do this you’re Modeling how to start a conversation with them.
4. ENCOURAGE THEM TO SET GOALS
Being able to set goals, and work toward them at school and in the future. It takes practice for children to learn to set realistic goals but parents can support children by helping them to break down goals into small steps. Asking questions like – “ What could you do today/this week to get a little closer to that goal?”
5. PRAISE EFFORTS AND PROGRESS
We can also encourage positive attitude to learning by focusing our praise on the effort children put it and the progress they make (no matter how small)
Even if they can’t do it yet, if they keep trying they will get better at it.
Boys don’t read as much as girls and that’s a fact. This reading gender gap is affecting boys’ performance in school. (I will talk more on why boys don’t like reading in my subsequent post)
But in this post I’m only going to share some tips on how to get your boys to write by using picture prompt.
Today I’m going to share some ideas on how I help my students to enjoy reading and writing . ✍️
Tips on how to help your child with writing.
✅ Photocopy or cut out a picture from a book ✅ Ask them to have a look at it – Ask the following questions- What can you see? Where at they? Who is the girl? Is she sad or happy and why did you say that? ✅ Then ask them to write a sentence about what they can see.
Practice , Practice and keep practicing this type of activities with them daily and you will see significant improvement before they go back to school (10-20 minutes daily is ok) I hope this helps. Let me know in the comments below if you have any thoughts on this. #writing #reading #boys #brighterbee
School is out for summer but there might still be something for your children to learn. There are a lot of fun things to learn during the summer and lots of great ways to maintain studying during the summer holidays.
So here are some examples of fun things to do with them at home during summer holiday.
Encouraging them to read books, leaflets or even newspapers
Teaching your children how to cook
Getting them into music
Doing spelling games together
Practicing Timetables with them everyday -make it fun. Check out Timestable videos on YouTube
Go to the cinema
When it comes to keeping on top of literacy, your children won’t just learn from books. Films are a great way to learn about narrative and can encourage your children to get creative, either by writing their own stories or writing about the stories they’ve experienced.
Try getting your children to write about their favourite scene from the film you took them to see, or rewrite a scene the way they would do it. You could even ask them to write a review of the film, which is a good way to work on both their writing skills and their analytical skills, which is very useful for essay writing.
Not only can the skills you teach children over summer be useful in their everyday lives, both in school and beyond, they can actually help them put the academic skills into practice. For example, cooking can help with maths.
Remember that children don’t have to stop learning because they’re on holiday.
Now that children are home for summer holiday and we are all cooped together as a family at home. I thought I should share some tips about how to get your child to listen and the strategies you can use daily, to avoid power struggle.
As a parent, it can be really frustrating when your child appears not to be listening, or worse yet, seems to outright ignore you.
You may wonder what you’re doing wrong or if your child is particularly rebellious.
But the truth is there are a number of reasons why kids don’t listen, including they just haven’t developed this skill yet.
So here are the top 4 tips to get your child to listen.
1. The first thing to get your child’s attention is by making eye contact when speaking to your child. Getting close to look at your child helps you get his full attention.
Many of the parents that I talked to have good heart , they just want their children to be happy and they just want their children to like them and respect them. However, many of us are going about it the wrong way. Some parents make the mistake of thinking that if you let a child have what he wants, he will be happy. They think that if you give a child a lot of things, the child will be grateful and will respect the parent for providing such great stuff. They believe that if they let the child have a lot of space, the child will look at them as being “the good guy,” and they believe that if they set limits that make the child unhappy, the child will view them as “the bad guy.” Unfortunately, all of those thinking are wrong.
Raising teens who are responsible, considerate and shows good judgment at least most of the time 😃 is possible!
And it all depends on how you parent them from them start. Because we are our children’s first teacher.
Children are copycats!
They’re like little sponges that soaks up everything they see adults do! So that’s why we must be careful with how we behave around them!
Sometimes you may not feel like you have much influence on your child these days, but trust me you do!
However, for your teenagers to be able to talk to you about their worries and trust you, you may need to build a close relationship with them when they are 8, not when they are 18.
We can’t blame a teenager for not knowing how to speak or behave outside or doing unspeakable things outside when no one taught him how to be responsible when he was 8.
Hitting and shouting at them won’t work either. Let’s be intentional about how we parents these kids.
How they turn out to be tomorrow lies in your hand!
Last week I wrote about saying no to yelling and smacking kids.
I also explain this method is not the best way of discpling children because we are indirectly teaching them that it’s ok to yell and hit other people when they’re upset or don’t get their way.
Because remember children are copycats. (They copy what adult do)
But the alternative teaches kids how to regulate their emotions so today let’s talk about the other method of positive discipline called positive discipline
I know some of us are not ready for this yet and it’s OK
However, today’s post is for parents that would like to try a different approach of disciplining their children.
Before I start explaining how positive discipline works, let’s define what positive parenting means.
What is Positive Discipline?
Positive Discipline is a method where parents clearly communicate what behaviors are appropriate, which ones are inappropriate, and what the rewards for good behavior and the consequences for bad behavior are.
So, how does this play at our home?
So let’s say you went shopping with your 4 year old and he asked for something from the shop and you said no and he started throwing tantrums. He then sat on the floor and started screaming his head off.
As a mom that cares about her child, the first thing you want to do is to give in and let him have the thing he wanted.
And also maybe because you don’t want to deal with the screaming and the crying and you’re embarrassed because lots of people are watching you.
Please stop at that moment and think about what you just did. You just gave in and your son now knows that when he wants something all he needs to do is to cry.
And when he turns 5 and he still does that’s the same you started saying that he doesn’t listen and then you yell or smack him.
Please remember children always test you and they will keep testing you until you put your foot down. They know how to play you, especially those of us that still worry about what people say.
This is what I did when my son was little and he would cry non stop in the shop because he wanted something. I will allow him to cry and when he’s calm (which will take like 5-10 seconds) I will then explain to him again that crying will not make me but the thing, but I will think about it for next shopping if he behaves himself. And most times he listens because I stick to my words.
👉Would it be easier to just smack him so that he can stop throwing tantrums?
Absolutely yes!
👉But is that the healthiest way to build up your relationship and keep communication strong
Absolutely Not!
Remember that parenting is about modeling, you are teaching your child that it is okay to hit when angry.
Of course sometimes I’m driven mad at my son’s behavior, but since I don’t believe in hitting children, I have to find new ways to discipline him.
My son is not spoiled because I don’t hit him.
Children need structure and boundaries in order to become productive members of the society
And our job as a parent is to help make that happen.
The most effective way for kids to listen to you, is to always follow through with what you said you will do every time they did something wrong.
SOME QUESTIONS FOR YOU THINK ABOUT!
Why are you finding it difficult to stop hitting your kids?
Why do you beat your child?
Is it because you are tired and you lose your cool?
Is it because you don’t know the alternative
Or is it because that’s all you know
The parenting I choose to live by reminds me to keep working and keep building up my relationship with my children at all times and to remember that everything I do shows my compassion and my love for them on a daily basis.
Let’s talk about Menopause. I know it’s not a popular topic but it’s a natural process that women go through.
And at the moment yours truly is going through it. And let me tell you it’s not pleasant! So today I would like to share some tips on how to deal with hot flashes.
Menopause, is a natural process as we age, is a time in women’s lives when their periods stop and they can no longer get pregnant. This happens between the ages of 45-55, however, some women experience menopause before their 40s
As a woman, whether you are already in menopause or you are experiencing the menopausal transition (perimenopause), you may be going through various unpleasant symptoms.
Such as…
Hot flushes, Difficulty sleeping, Mood swings and depression and many more…
So in other to help myself during this time I had to change my lifestyle. I tried to eat clean, do some exercise. I alsouse some menopause supplements so that I can get the nutrients and vitamins my body needs throughout menopause.
If you’re experiencing menopause you should speak to your GP (doctor) about getting the supplement. Because a good menopause supplement can help to support you through hormonal changes and alleviate specific unpleasant symptoms.
How do you deal with hot flashes? Please leave a comment below. 👇
I know today’s post may not get lots of likes, because of what I’m about to share. (I don’t mind really, as long as one parent gets it)
I laugh when parents stop their little boy from playing with a dolly, because they think it’s inappropriate.
And I’m so sick and tired of people thinking that when a little boy plays with a dolly, that means he is gay!
I used to work with a 7 year old that loves playing with dolly. Most times he comes to lessons with a dolly and other kids used to tease him.
I always tell them off of course, as well as explain to them that it’s ok to play with any toys they want.
There is nothing manlier than a man who holds a baby in his arms.
Something a lot of women out there would agree on.
So, that’s why it’s funny to me how when a grown man care for baby everyone thinks he is amazing, but when a baby boy plays with a doll people seem to think it’s inappropriate 😅
But honestly – there is no such thing as “boy” toys or “girl” toys, there are just toys!
Did you know that playing with dolls helps children, (boy included) develop compassion and empathy, learning how to care for another person.
Why would that only be for girls?
If you think differently, well, that’s on you!
My final thoughts
It is important to remember that play like everything else should be about free choice.
If we wish to raise free thinking, independent individuals it is important to let boys and girls explore all aspects of their personality and not stigmatize or shame them to conform to one way of thinking.
Fathers these days are an equal part of raising their children.
Dear parents, please allow your boys to play with any toys they like.
Playing with dolls should also be an equal choice for boys and girls. Happy parenting!
Positive Parenting With Olu 