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5 Things Parents Should Look for when Helping Teens Choose a College

October 23, 2020 by Mandy

Writing, reading, and arithmetic are the main things parents want their kids to learn in school, and that’s what they look for in any school they choose for their children to attend.

However, once school is done and the graduation cap is thrown into the air, most parents find that choosing a college is a whole different ballgame. Many kids choose to go to college directly after high school, so you should be ready for this eventuality. Below you can find a few of the things that you should look for in a college when helping your teen choose the best one for them.

Campus Safety

The very first thing any parent or teen should look for in a college is how safe the campus is. From having university lockers so packages are kept safe until students can retrieve them, to well-lit parking lots and paths, there are many ways to keep your students safe. While most college campuses are extremely safe, you want to ask about the things above, as well as check the crime rates on the campus and in the area surrounding the college before making a final decision.

Available Majors

While this may seem like a no-brainer, you need to check to be sure that the college your student is considering has the majors they want to pursue. College is first and foremost about getting a well-rounded education, so offering your student’s chosen field of study is essential.

Class Size and Teacher to Student Ratio

It’s important to know what class sizes are going to be like before your student sets foot on campus for that first year. Is your student going to be just someone taking up a seat in a 400 seat lecture hall or will the professor know your student by name? This is up to the individual student and their parents. If your child learns better in a smaller environment, then you don’t want them to be tossed into an environment where no one knows who they are.

The Location of the College

Location is extremely important to many students and their parents. You want your child to be close enough to friends and family that if something happens, someone can get to them quickly. At the same time, you know they need to spread their wings and test the waters, so them being away from home for college is a good thing. Questions such as whether to go to school in a big city or a rural area need to be addressed as well. It’s not a great idea to go from a small country town in the South to a huge college in New York City and be on your own right away.

Accreditation

Being a college graduate will do your child little good if the college they choose isn’t accredited. Make sure to review a school’s accreditation carefully before making a final decision. A diploma from an accredited college or university goes a long way with future employers. There are even online colleges that are accredited if your child should choose to go the online route with their education.

Try to let them Make the Final Choice

While it’s your money, probably, paying for their college education, you do want your children to be happy in the college they choose. Tour colleges together, then sit down and make a final decision based on what your child wants and what you will allow.

These are just a few of the things you should look for when helping your teenager choose a college. Remember, the final decision should be made together for the best results.

Teaching Empathy by Example: How Parents Can Be There for Kids

October 14, 2020 by Mandy

If your child learns to be empathetic to the extent they’re capable of for their age, and they continue to develop this skill, then you’re setting them up with a fundamental skill necessary for success in so many aspects of life.

Many people have a life-long struggle in developing and maintaining healthy relationships with others. This is because they struggle to understand how other people feel.

Teaching empathy to a child from a young age can go a long way to equipping them with essential life skills and helping them develop rewarding and meaningful relationships with others, that includes you!

A major point here is that if you lack empathy or unaware of how to develop this quality in your child, you could unintentionally teach your child to show a lack of feeling. That is the last thing you want, so make a determined start by reading this article.

Empathy – What Is It?

Empathy is a complex set of emotional reactions in response to the emotions of another person. It involves being sensitive to the feelings of others and being affected by those feelings. It has been said that empathy is someone else’s feelings in your heart.

Empathy is more than sensing or reacting to the feelings of others. It’s a quality that enables a person to imagine a different perspective and consider what emotions might be involved with that perspective. Someone who can do this could be described as emotionally intelligent.

Be The Person You Want Your Child to Be

Your child’s mind is like a CCTV monitoring what you say and do. As your child matures, their attention focuses on how you interact and react to others. This means that if you want to help your child in learning empathy, then you will need to be their role model.

Being empathetic towards your partner, and towards other children in the family is the best foundation for helping your child to develop this quality themselves. Learning to be empathetic is not limited to children, adults continue to learn and develop this quality throughout their life.

Connecting Actions and Feelings

When children are very young they do not understand the connection between their actions and the emotional reactions of others.

Like all children, when your child does something they shouldn’t or they hurt a sibling or friend, instead of simply making them say sorry it’s good to reason with them on how that action has emotionally hurt the other person.

Using questions like ‘how would you feel if…?’ Or, ‘how would you like it if they did that to you?’ You can reason with them on when bad things happened to them, how did they feel then, to show them how others are feeling now in response to their behavior.

Teach Them to Value Others

An important aspect of empathy is learning to respect others who are different from us in some way. Not only that but to value the differences of others. This involves teaching your child to respect other nationalities, religions, and cultures.

Closer to home, it’s helpful to teach your child that everyone has different abilities and that somethings are challenging for everyone. For example, they may join some after school activity like dancing. You can prepare for dance class together and help them to see that everyone will feel nervous, to begin with.

Help them to see how those feelings can change with preparation and also how that preparation will affect the instructor.

Communicate Freely

Communication is the window to your child’s mind and heart. Keep that window open by taking the time to have quality interactions with your child. Ask them about events, conflicts, and problems they’re experiencing at school.

Challenge them through reasoning on how others may feel or think. Help to always consider the perspective of the other person and to use that insight to further affect their own feelings and emotions. This takes time and there are no shortcuts.

Create Opportunities to Display Empathy

Consider creating opportunities for your child to show empathy. If there is a big family decision to make, perhaps moving home, or some other matter that needs to be resolved in the family you could arrange for a family meeting.

This is an excellent opportunity to be an example yourself but also to see how your child is progressing in being able to relate to others and accept different viewpoints as equally valid as their own.

Positively Reinforce Empathetic Behavior

We all thrive on commendation, which is especially true of children. When you observe positive behaviors that reflect their progress in being an empathetic person, then make sure you acknowledge that with them.

You can praise them for their actions as well as reward them in other ways. Perhaps giving them a special treat or taking them somewhere they love to go. The important thing is that they know that you notice and appreciate it when they show empathy.

Ready to Start Teaching Empathy

In this article, you have read about teaching empathy to your child. They will imitate the kind of person that you are. Follow the advice in this article and you and your child will be more empathetic with each other and others.

Empathy in the family will contribute to a more peaceful and happy home life. Don’t stop reading there, you can read more excellent advice for parents that fit with your needs on the rest of our site.

Ways to Get Your Kids to Play Outside

October 5, 2020 by Mandy

Kids nowadays spend most of their time indoors, which is very detrimental to their wellbeing, and as a parent, you should work on getting them to play outside. Outdoor games help the children develop physically, and mentally.

Getting your child to stop the bad habit of staying indoor glued to the phone/television is not easy, but it is possible. It is not suitable for your child to stay in the house without seeing nature, and you can do the following to get him to play outside.

Limit screen time

The main reason why children are comfortable staying home is that televisions keep them occupied. Once your kids spend less time on the screen, they will find other ways to occupy themselves and play outside.

Remember that you are the one who knows what is good for the kid, and even when the child is angry because you limit screen time, he/she will get over it. It is time to take action and get your child out of the cycle of staying indoors.

Work on your backyard

A backyard is the best place for your kid to play, and you should try your best to make it an excellent center for the kids to play. You can turn your backyard to a playground by having some gadgets that enable playing to be fun, and comfortable.

You can get trampolines online, and have them set in the backyard. Once you get such playing gadgets, your children will be excited to play outside.

Organize an outdoor play date

Sometimes your children fail to play outside because they lack the proper motivation, and you can encourage your kids by joining them in an outdoor activity. Despite your busy schedule, organize a play date where you will take your children to the park.

You may also play with them, but you can cheer them on if you cannot keep up with their pace. Being there encourages kids to play better, and they have more fun.

Explore nature with your kids

It would help if you planned a holiday to take the kids/ or the whole family to enjoy nature. It is essential to develop your child’s interest in nature, and taking the kid to a geographical area such as a mountain, or an ocean can help achieve that.

Other practices include taking the child for a walk around your home, and involving the kid in fun activities such as biking, and hiking. The activities mentioned above will help the child know that there is more to life than staying indoors glued to the television.

Come up with fun activities for your kids to engage outside.

You can be creative, and find some exciting activities that your child may do out of the house. One example of such an activity is a scavenger hunt where your kids can search for items and collect them.

Bottom Line

It is essential to get your kids to play outside and get out of the cycle of staying indoors. Ensure that you develop the child’s interest in nature.

7 Baby-Friendly Tips for First Time Parents

September 17, 2020 by Mandy

Babies can be difficult. What with the crying and the lack of consistent sleep and the total dependency on others, they can wreak a bit of havoc on the lives of their parents. As such, if you and your significant other are on the cusp of becoming first time parents, you could use a few tips.

Interested? Then read on because we’re going to provide you with 7 baby-friendly tips for first time parents. Let’s go!

1. Establish a Schedule

There is no set way to parent. Some thrive in a state of barely-contained chaos while others thrive in a rigid schedule. But in the early days, you do need to establish some sort of order.

Babies are highly sensitive to changes. If they’re not getting consistency in their daily routines, they’re bound to develop anxieties and behavioral problems. This results in more crying, which results in added stress for the family at large.

Not only should you keep feeding times at around the same time every day, but you should also do the same for nap times and bedtime. Set bedtimes are particularly important because if a baby gets overtired, he or she won’t be able to fall asleep, and will be up all night crying.

This is not a loop that you want to foster. Maintain a sense of consistency and your baby will respond favorably. Lose that consistency and you’ll be in for a hellacious experience.

2. Consider Supplementing With Formula

If you get on online parenting forums, you’re bound to come across endless arguments over breastfeeding. Some think it’s an absolute necessity, some think it’s totally unnecessary, and most are somewhere in the middle.

The truth is that breastfeeding is considered to be the most beneficial way to feed a baby. However, that doesn’t mean that you should sacrifice yourself and your mental health in order to facilitate it. Baby formula will suffice, either as a supplement to breastmilk or as a standalone entity.

You’ll find fairly quickly that breastfeeding is an all-encompassing effort. It not only requires you to feed and pump throughout the day, but it also forces you to wake up in the middle of the night. As such, those who are gung-ho about breastfeeding often experience sharp declines in their mental states.

It’s not easy to take care of a baby if your mental health has hit rock bottom. Baby formula will help to ensure that it doesn’t.

3. Nap Whenever Possible

Infants rarely sleep for more than 3 hours at a time. Most wake up within 1 1/2 to 2 hours. What that means, of course, is that you’re not going to be sleeping any longer than this either.

For this reason, whenever possible, you need to take naps. No, taking short naps isn’t going to offer the highest quality of sleep, but, to be honest, you’re not going to be getting any high-quality sleep. The early days of raising a baby are all about survival, for you, for your spouse, and, of course, for the baby.

4. Take Advantage of White Noise

Getting a baby to sleep isn’t always the easiest of tasks. But there are some things you can do to make it easier. One of these things is to take advantage of white noise.

White noise mimics what the baby was hearing inside of the mother’s womb. As such, it provides a great deal of comfort to the baby. Playing it in the baby’s room at bedtime creates a calming environment whilst also blocking out any other noises that might jar the baby awake.

There are all sorts of white noise machines available out there. If you don’t feel like buying one, you could also just download a white noise app on your phone.

5. Burp!

Because they’re still developing physically, babies have a difficult time keeping milk down. It’s not at all uncommon for babies to spit up. In fact, it should be expected.

But to keep the spitting up to a minimum, there’s something you have to do. You have to burp your baby. Burping your baby prevents gas from building up in his or her stomach, reducing the risk of milk coming back up.

To burp your baby, you simply pat him or her on the back firmly. Doing this repetitively will eventually result in a belch, upon which your mission will be completed.

6. Swaddle!

When it comes to comforting babies, there’s no way to overstate the importance of swaddling. What’s swaddling, you ask? It’s the act of wrapping a baby up tightly in a light blanket so as to help that baby feel warm and cozy; it’s highly effective in getting a baby to fall asleep.

You should be swaddling your baby not only before bedtime but before naps as well. Curious as to how to swaddle a baby? Click on the aforementioned link!

7. Say No to Buttoned Clothing

Baby clothing comes with two general types of closures: 1. buttons, and 2. zippers. Though you’re certainly permitted to choose whichever you want, we highly recommend going with zippered clothing, in particular.

Why? Because buttoning clothes up in the dark is a bit of a challenging task, especially when you’re tired and agitated to boot.

Zippers, on the other hand, are easy to open and close. Just find the notch and pull and — voila! — you’ll be good to go. Clothes off, clothes on, and back to bed!

Make Good Use of These Tips for First Time Parents

Parenting isn’t easy, especially in the early days. There’s no need to make it any harder than it has to be. Make good use of these tips for first time parents and you’re sure to stay afloat.

Seeking out other such tips? Our website is the place to be. Check out our other articles right now!

Fun and Educational Ways to Entertain Your Kids At Home

September 12, 2020 by Mandy

If this year has taught us anything it is the importance of learning ways in which to entertain ourselves at home and that is certainly true in the case of parents up and down the nation. After the first few weeks of being under lockdown conditions, finding creative ways to keep the kids entertained was certainly tough. As we approach a reopening of parks and public spaces, as well as the prospect of getting our kids back to school however, now is the time for fun and educational activities at home, and here are some ideas which you can try out.

Cooking Up Some Fun

Bringing up your child so that they understand how to cook is a wonderful thing to bestow upon them and it is something which will greatly help them in their future. Kids love getting involved with the preparation of meal or perhaps even some baking and with this activity you can begin to show your kids the basics of cooking, utensils and ingredients.

Opening The Mind

As any parent knows, it is often fascinating to be reminded of the fact that the things we take for granted are something that our kids aren’t even aware of yet and that is why helping to open their mind with regards to the world around them is a great idea. Pick a new country each week, learn a teach your kids a little about their culture and what it looks like, you could even teach them how to cook a dish from that country or culture.

Get Arty

Kids love to draw, paint and color in and this could be a lovely way to spend time with them and encourage them to flex their creative muscles. Instead of simply asking them to go off and paint you something however, make sure that this is something which you are all involved with, as the activity will be much more fun if you do.

Learn About Birds

If you hav birds coming into your garden then this could be wonderful little hobby for your kids, to learn more about them. Ornithology is the study of birds and you can pick up a little guide book in many places that will teach you a little more about these little creatures. A great activity idea would be to build orbit a bird table and keep the food stocked up and then watch the birds come in to eat, and identify them.

These are just a few ideas as to what you can be doing at home with your kids to provide them with some fun and education.