Archives for Positive Parenting Tips

Contemporary Art Makes Any Home Look Good

When most people think of art they think of paintings, such as, “The Mona Lisa”. Currently, contemporary art has become the next big thing. The best thing about it is the fact that it can be used to decorate the home. Also, if the artist knows what they are doing they will have a selection available that will allow you to decorate all the rooms of your home, ranging from the kitchen to even the bathroom.

Contemporary art allows the home to look good because it is made, basically, for that purpose. Of course it is still art that goes on your wall but at the same time it adds more of a sense of your personality to your house.  When you look around online or go to the different art galleries you will be able to see a ton of things that you may want to consider for your home. Things you may run across may include, but are not limited to, sculptures, that can be placed on your dressers and tables, and paintings, which you may want to hang up in your living room or bedroom.

Contemporary Art Makes Any Home Look Good continued »

12 Fun Ways to Celebrate National School Lunch Week

Parents and teachers can do much more than drag out the Food Plate chart during National School Lunch Week, Oct. 10-14.

Thanks to the Internet, you can choose from a variety of online quizzes, interactive games, live events in your school and community, and even simple do-it-yourself “fun with food” experiments in your own kitchen.

12 Fun Ways to Celebrate National School Lunch Week continued »

What Parents Need To Know About Teacher Certification & Education Reform

photo credit: Wikimedia.org

Do you have school-aged children? Are you aware that, according to the U.S. Department of Education, “in the next decade, 1.6 million teachers will retire, and 1.6 million new teachers will take their place. This reality presents a true challenge and an amazing opportunity.” American parents need to take full advantage of this opportunity and get involved with education reform. Education is a critical component of successful parenting.

What Parents Need To Know About Teacher Certification & Education Reform continued »

Innocent Looking Crib Sheets Can Hide A Deadly Secret

How can a crib sheet be dangerous? Crib sheets are important because of the amount of time a baby spends in bed, so they should be chosen with great care. However, crib sheets that are poorly fitted can end up becoming a dangerous play thing for a baby. They can wrap themselves around the little one and inadvertently cause asphyxiation. This can be tragic for any parent. The beauty is that it is totally preventable. Here’s how:

1. Using innovative modern baby sheets

Innocent Looking Crib Sheets Can Hide A Deadly Secret continued »

Online Homeschooling Made Fun

For a long time, people thought that the only good way to homeschool their kids was to replicate a traditional school classroom at home. Replete with a strict class schedule, as well as workbooks and textbooks for every subject. However, with changes in technology and the continuing availability of online resources, well; times they are a-changin’.

When I first started homeschooling, I quickly realized that workbooks, textbooks, teacher’s manuals and endless lesson planning just didn’t work for us. Thankfully, I was able to find out that many families successfully homeschool their children, without ever really using a traditional workbook or textbook. There are many online curriculum programs and educational websites out there. If you truly want to keep your children engaged and excited about learning, especially younger children, try and find programs and websites that are interactive and fun.

Online Homeschooling Made Fun continued »

10 Easy to Improve Memory Activities for Kids

Kids start out as a blank slate. Their brains develop very quickly from birth to three years old, and the development continues at an accelerated rate until they are adults. Improving your kid’s memory is a fun and easy activity. Games are the best way to improve memory and there are easy and fun ones you can play with your kids. You don’t need a lot of money or equipment to improve your kid’s memory. All you need are some basic supplies and imagination. If you need ideas, there are plenty of free resources on the internet.

How Memory Works

10 Easy to Improve Memory Activities for Kids continued »

Prairie Dogs Riding a Roomba

Child Left Behind

It doesn’t matter if you homeschool your kids or send them to public school or private school, at some point the topic of standardized testing comes up. Each state has rules about testing kids no matter what category they fit in.

Standardized testing has a place, but America is becoming very lop-sided on this issue. No Child Left Behind (NCLB) might be fine in theory, but in reality it has led to a great many problems. Most schools now “teach to the test” in order to achieve passing scores and receive federal funding. Some schools have or are considering tying teacher’s salaries to scores on the standardized test. This and many other reasons have contributed to test cheating. Not so much student cheating, but rather cheating by teachers and administrators. Many erase wrong answers, lead the student in choosing the correct answer, give out the correct answer… Recently, Atlanta, Georgia was involved in a big stink over standardized test cheating. Another disturbing fact about teaching to the test is that only what is being tested is taught. Other skills that are just as important are skipped over or barely introduced because they do not appear on the test. One way to counter this problem is to develop tests worth teaching to.

Child Left Behind continued »

The New Daddy Workout

I remember the days when I took off my shirt and women would sigh; some would even faint. My sculpted arms and broad shoulders proudly proclaimed my alpha dominance to all of the men in the room. When I needed, I could do the laundry on my abs.

Well, none of that is really true…but it was definitely a lot easier to keep in shape back when I still had time to go to the gym

The New Daddy Workout continued »

Most Important Traits of a Teacher

The job of teachers is educating students and helping mold them into individuals that will be able to successfully function in society. Being an effective teacher involves more than having a degree and knowledge of the subject you are teaching. There are many people who have jobs as teachers, but the most successful possess the following traits.

Attitude

Most Important Traits of a Teacher continued »

Out of Balance? Be a Bounce Back Person

An Interview with Judy H. Wright, Empowerment Coach and author of Out of Balance? Be a Bounce Back Person

Welcome Judy, can you tell us why you decided to write this particular book?

Out of Balance? Be a Bounce Back Person continued »

How to Establish Bedtime Routines for Children

One of the most endearing things about a child is their ability to live each moment to its fullest becoming totally immersed in whatever it is that has captured their attention at any given time. This same special quality can also make bedtime frustrating as some children have a great difficulty to put aside the moment and exchange it for one of inactivity and rest. How can we help them to take that much needed break without a fight?

Children (whether we realize it or not) need and crave stability

How to Establish Bedtime Routines for Children continued »

Don’t Let Them Lose Their Creativity

Young children are excellent problem solvers and naturally creative individuals. They’re typically not afraid of failure and intuitively engage in the kinds of divergent thinking that people who value innovation tend to prize. Unfortunately, by the time they’ve made it through second grade, that creativity and ability to immediately grasp ideas and concepts in an out-of-the-box kind of way diminishes rapidly. This is such a common phenomenon that we tend to view this early creativity as something that kids naturally grow out of in a sort of biological and hardwired kind of way. After all, kids lose their baby teeth and their childish inquisitiveness at about the same time right?

How It Can Happen

Don’t Let Them Lose Their Creativity continued »

Top Fire Resistant Products for Your Nursery

Decorating a child’s nursery was never going to be an easy task. First, you need to decide what color scheme you would like, and this is usually dependant on the gender of the baby, or you could opt for the safer option by choosing neutral colors such as white and yellow.

Once you’ve decided on the color scheme it’s a good idea to list what furniture will be needed. No matter what you pick, whether it’s fancy wardrobes, grand rocking chairs, toys, appliances etc, a parent will always choose safety first. With so many products in the market today, you will have a wider variety of products to choose from. There will be products that have been made fire retardant, and in some cases this means chemicals have been used. Fire retardant products that have been coated with chemicals can release poisonous gases and toxins, and when exposed to for long periods these can be harmful. So from parent to parent, let’s put the fire extinguishers aside and have a look at top fire resistant product s for a child’s nursery. Top Fire Resistant Products for Your Nursery continued »

Maru Loves Paper Bags