How to dress your child appropriately
Do you have to roam around your child to dress up her? Want to know how to dress your child appropriately? This article will help to resolve your problem. First and foremost, you need to know that learning to dress your child requires 3P’s- ‘Patience’, ‘Persistence’ & ‘Practice’ for both you and your child. Listed below are a few tips on how to dress your child appropriately: Dress your child according to her age. Choose comfortable clothes for your child that does not restrict her movement. Choose clothes for your child that suits her personality, wearing which she feels confident and gets a feel good factor. Buy loose, elastic waist pants for small kids as they cannot manage zips & buttons. Prefer to choose clothes with velcro or large buttons & buttons holes, for kids elder than toddlers. Dress her appropriately as per the weather. For instance, during peak summer season, dress your child in airy clothes, preferably cotton clothes with long sleeves and full length pants. During winters, dress your child in layers of clothes to help her stay warm & to keep the moisture away from her skin. Dress your child according to the occasion. A ruffled dress for baby girl or a miniature suit for a baby boy will make a good choice for special occasions such as a birthday party, wedding ceremony etc. While, day-to-day baby clothing should be easy & casual. Dress your child thinking about what activities she will be doing during the entire day. Like will she remain active the whole day or move at a steady & leisurely pace etc. Buy trendy clothes for your little one. You can also opt for mix ‘n’ match concept to have a variety of clothing options, which will be cost-effective as well. Make sure that you choose comfortable footwear of right size for your child.
Baby Clothes – Hints and Tips
With plenty of baby clothes’ outlets available these days, you might be thinking that buying clothes for a baby would be quite easy. But, to your surprise, this is one of the most difficult tasks as a child grows so fast in the first few years and these clothes will not fit in to her after a certain point of time. Moreover, since baby clothes are quite expensive, here are some easy tips for the parents to buy and take care of the baby clothes: The clothes worn by 9-12 months old babies can easily fit in to 6-months old babies and likewise. So, always buy one size ahead of your baby’s actual age as babies tend to grow fast, leaving little scope for the same clothes to be worn later. Make sure that the clothes you buy for your baby are comfortable to wear, easy to put on and easily washable as well. Before your baby wears the new clothes, wash them in dettol water to maintain the hygiene factor. Avoid washing baby clothes in hard washing powder, rather wash them using vinegar. Preferably, purchase the clothes that have elasticated waistbands & trousers or skirts along with shoulder straps. Clothes such as trousers, jeans etc. that have become short to the baby can be cut down and made into shorts, to be worn in summers. If the clothes that you bought for your baby do not fit her anymore, then you may pass them on to a relative or friend’s baby to whom they may fit in easily. So, to maximize the scope of baby clothes, just keep a check of the aforesaid hints and tips.
Tips to Prepare your Child for School
Some children are hesitant and reluctant when they are asked to go to any new place and meet new people, without their parents besides them. One of the most difficult situations is to prepare the children for the school. Since starting school can be a difficult time for children, it is important for parents to understand and help the children to prepare for this new phase of life. Listed below are a handful of tips to prepare your child for school: Tell your child well in advance, at least 1-2 weeks before starting school that her routine life will be changed. Tell her about the school timings and the schedule she will follow, so that she gets accustomed to the timings. Talk to her about her feelings such as excitement, anxiety & other concerns about starting the school. Together with your child, visit the school, before the school starts officially & show her the positive aspects of the school. Let her meet her new teacher & see her classroom to get familiarized with the new surroundings. Ensure that your child sleeps well in time at night and has at-least eight hours of sleep. Wake-up your child well in time, such that she does not have to rush to the school. Make sure that she brushes her teeth, takes a bath and do other regular hygiene chores so as to feel fresh while at school. Tell her not to skip her breakfast and milk, before leaving for school due to her anxiousness. Leave a loving note in your child’s lunchbox to remind her that she is being missed while she is at school. Reassure her that in case any problem arises at the school, you will be there to resolve them. Once she gets back from the school, on the first day, talk to her about her experience. Tell her to give you the feedback of the entire day.
Stress Free Learning
1. As a parent, guardian or a professional associated with toddlers/pre-schoolers(2 to 4 yrs), you must have found yourself already or increasingly becomimg tuned towards observing, noting & finding children at various levels of knowledge of skills acquired. And you can’t help asking WHY SO? How come one child knows so much about colors/cars/animals/birds/flowers or sings, dances so well & the other ones doesn’t. 2. Talk to them or /their parents or observe the situation closely and you will find that the child learnt/gained by just growing up in that particular environment,. e.g. say a mother with green fingers will naturally be relaxed in the garden & will talk generally in a simplified manner about flora & fauna and the child picks up the concept of colors, names of the flowers, importance of watering plants & becomes sensitive towards nature and when a father cleans up his car on a Sunday morning & engages his little one in a conversation during it, the child picks up on the car- its color, shape of wheels & steering and whatever else he if fed with. 3. Let’s note & pay attention that these children picked up all these not from books but from life situations. The books will take off from there. The learning part is quicker & thorough if done in a STRESS-FREE ENVIRONMENT, Learning should be fun. 4. Here are some of the important points we should keep in mind to give stress free learning environment while dealing with preschoolers to enhance their readiness skills for learning. – Make children generally OBSERVANT. Play observation games with them. Talk of everyday life situation with them. Life is an open book. Let them learn from it. – TALK to them, give simple explanations, don’t assume they wouldn’t understand. Enable them to broaden their horizon. – Make them INQUSITIVE. Ask questions, Invite answers, welcome questions from them & accept their answers. – Let them be IMAGINATIVE, let them think beyond boundaries. Let them explore & think and read in between the lines. – Be a bit FLEXIBLE yourself. Accept that there are shades of grey & not only black & white. – Work upon & enhance their LISTENING SKILLS. Read out stories to them. Send them to a play school which focusses on learning through play way methods, has a stimulating environment & activity oriented approach to learning. So dear parents, make a start now. I am sure you will use all those available opportunities & turn them into golden ones. GOOD LUCK ! POONAM SETHI HEAD MISTRESS SHEMROCK PRIDE, HARGOVIND ENCLAVE.
Choose a right pre-school for your child
As soon as a child turns 2, parents start thinking of right preschool for their children. With so many preschools opening day by day, it becomes confusing for parents to choose the right pre-school for their child. This decision becomes one of the most difficult situations for the parents as a preschool serves as the foundation for a child’s success throughout her life. So, before your child turns 2, make sure that you go through the following pointers to select the best & right pre-school for your child. The school should be near to your home, so that your child does not feel stressed and does not have to travel long distances at such a small age. It should be managed by a team of well-educated & knowledgeable professionals with the right aptitude and love for children. The school should have an established brand and a good reputation in the city. The infrastructure should be child friendly and proper hygienic standards should be maintained in the school. School should focus on the overall growth & development of the child. Teachers should be qualified & experienced. They must have a loving & caring attitude towards the children. The food should be prepared hygienically and it should be simple because simpler & healthy meals are much better and safer than complicated, fried junk foods, where there is a chance of contamination. You make your own checklist according to your expectations and priorities. Moreover, if possible talk to the parents of alumni of preschools on their overall satisfaction with the preschool. Also, talk to the teachers in senior schools as to which preschool’s children tend to be selected in their schools.
Time Management for Kids
There are days that seem like a year, while there are others that fly by within a blink of an eye. Managing time is such a tricky concept even for the adults, then how can we expect kids to understand the concept of time management? However, it is the duty of the adults, be it parents or teachers to help the children to understand and help them to utilize their time well. Moreover, since kids do not know how to plan and prioritize their tasks according to the level of importance, here is a small time management guide for them: Start Early: There is no particular time to learn any particular thing. It must be surprising to hear that even little tots can start learning how to manage their time well. This can be accomplished by making it a game like ‘Can you finish putting the toys in the box by the time your favourite rhyme is over?’ etc. Likewise, as children begin to grow they tend to begin to understand time constraints. Set a Routine: The best way to teach your child how to manage time effectively is to set a routine right from the beginning. Since routines are repetitive therefore, helps children to divide their time according to phases of the day viz.- morning routine, afternoon routine, evening routine, play time etc. Your child begins to follow the set routine on a daily basis and gets accustomed to it. Organise the Things: Since children imitate what they see around, so as parents it is your duty to be cautious of your actions. Set an example for your children by keeping your things organised such that they also follow the same habit. This is so because when the things are kept in an organised manner and at their right place, it becomes easy and less time-consuming to locate & use them. Homework Helper: When your child turns into a grown up, encourage her to make a homework chart and jot down the work day-wise i.e. from Monday till Friday, such that she allots substantial time for each subject’s assignment and can spare out time for self-study & play as well. As and when she is done with the homework’s, tell her to put a tick mark next to that work on the homework chart. This habit teaches your child how to keep a track of the work and meet the deadlines within the stipulated period of time. So, keep a check of the aforesaid points and help your child to learn the art of managing time.
Role of parents and teachers in a child’s life
Parents at home and teachers in the school need to work together to groom children to succeed in life. On one hand, the schools need to fulfill their responsibility of preparing the children to become lovable, respectable & responsible individuals of the society. On the other hand, parents need to help the teachers to fulfill this responsibility, by preparing their children at home. This suggests that both teachers & parents play a critical role in providing the foundation for learning. Parent’s Role Spare some time from your busy routine and spend quality time with your child. Seize every opportunity of having heart-to-heart talks with your child. Allow her to talk about her feelings & concerns and how she feels about herself. Make sure that you listen attentively and ask lots of “why” and “how” questions. Create a loving home environment where your child can express her thoughts freely and concentrate on studies. Pay attention to what your child loves to do. Find out her likings & disliking and encourage her to be passionate about her interests. Involve your child into different activities which do not require great investment in terms of time or money. For instance, make a Memory Box with your child to help her recall about time spent with her grandparents. Go for a cycle ride with your child and strengthen the bonding. Inform the teacher very honestly about the child’s behavior and work at home. Teacher’s Role Develop & nurture teamwork skills in your students by providing them with enough opportunities to work in groups, in the classroom. Recognize the worth of each child. Always encourage & praise the children whenever they do something good. Give respect and love to the students and treat them with dignity. Also, be helpful and sympathetic, humorous and lovable. Make tests fun and interesting learning experience for your students. Apart from taking the test in the regular question-answer manner, conduct a fun quiz competition in the classroom, at the end of every month. Ask questions on the basis of the home assignments and classroom exercises that you gave them during the entire Give the children valuable assignments that are interesting, interactive and engaging for them. Explain the objective of the home assignment clearly in the class, so that the children thoroughly understand the basic aim & concept of the homework.
BREAST FEEDING
Feeding the new born baby with mother’s milk is the best nutrition and protection from illness for the new born baby. Besides containing all the vitamins and vital nutrients that the baby needs in the first six months after birth, breast milk is a boon for the baby. Not only for the baby, breastfeeding is beneficial to the new mother as well. Here is a list of the benefits of breastfeeding for the new born baby and the new mother: Popularly known as liquid gold, colostrum is that thick yellow first breast milk that is extremely rich in nutrients and antibodies to protect the baby. Breast milk is easier to digest for most of the babies especially, the premature babies. Breast milk is always safe, fresh and exactly at the right temperature for the baby to consume. Breast milk helps fight diseases such as low respiratory infections, asthma, obesity, type 1 & type 2 diabetes etc. Breastfeeding can protect the baby from developing allergies. It may even protect the baby from obesity as breastfed babies are better at eating until their hunger is satisfied, thus leading to a healthier eating pattern as and when they grow. Besides acting as a boon for the baby, breastfeeding can be good for the mother’s health as it is linked to a lower risk of health problems in women such as type 2 diabetes, breast cancer, ovarian cancer etc. It also helps the mother to reduce the stress level thus reducing the risks of postpartum depression. Feeding the baby with breast milk may boost child’s intelligence by helping in cognitive development of the baby. Breastfeeding may also help to lower baby’s risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS). Thus, the new mothers should make sure that their babies are breast fed whenever they cry.
Your Child & Computers – some FAQ’s
– Amol AroraAmol, a software engineer is our tech-xpert and is the head of the technology division at SHEMROCK Should I buy a computer for my child ?.. is it a necessity ? if yes, how should I ?Wondering whether and how your child can benefit from this new techno environment ?.. Well the best way to embark on this journey of taking your child through this enjoyable techno-journey is buying a computer at home. Most people shy away from buying thinking that computers are not a necessity but a luxury. But we are not far from the day when computers will be an absolute necessity (a fact everyone accepts). Now just think, way back in internet history (say 3 years back !!) this hype and buzz was nowhere to be seen and the way we are going, you surely wouldn’t want yourself or your child to be left behind. So call up your neighborhood assembler or that distant cousin of your friend who assembles computers. You could even go in for finance of the computer for as low as 0% rate of finance ( check out the classifieds in the local newspaper) or you could go in for a branded computer. I have a computer at home, how do I introduce my little one to it ?Well if you have finished the above step and bought a computer at home, start by taking your little one and letting him feel the mouse and see how the cursor moves around. You’ll be amazed to see how fast he picks up the connection between the mouse and cursor. Remember you should be comfortable with the computer and not paranoid about the thing and be relaxed, so he feels reassured about the whole exercise. Now, side by side explain to him the main parts monitor, keyboard, mouse, and the computer (or C.P.U. is he is old enough to learn that with much effort). Let him click the mouse and tell him that there are two keys ( or three as the case may be ). If he clicks on anything that makes some properties, windows or anything weird pop up just carefully put your hand on the mouse and close the thing so that no damage is done. Remember to close all your important work that you were doing on the computer (if!) Never react on impulse at anything he does, be cool about the whole thing. An important thing that has to be overcome for your child to be comfortable is his fear of doing something that could make the computer go kaboom!.. Encourage him to explore and see what happens on doing what but it is important to supervise him during all his initial escapades as we know that this is a complicated machine and does start behaving strangely for the slightest of reasons !! Also your child will need you around whenever a window pops on the slightest click ! I tried to introduce my child to computers but he seems to be scared, and doesn’t really enjoy it ?On one hand some children feel very comfortable with the idea of handling a computer on the other hand some still don’t get over the fear (computer-illiterate grown ups grumbling about the new generation idiot box and its kids doesn’t make matters either !! ) A sure shot way to get the child to overcome his inhibitions is that his kindergarten school, where they should be having a multimedia system. Under the presence of his teacher he feels assured that there is an expert (how many times have we heard from older kids you don’t know mama, ma’am told me to do is this way not your way !!), also having his friends who fell comfortable with the idea working and enjoying on the system arises the feeling of not wanting to be less than anybody (betchya cant do this kind of thing !! ).
Top Healthy Food Items to Satisfy Your kids’ Sweet Tooth
Kids crave for sugary sweet food items. But there are plenty of healthy food alternatives to the sugary snacks. Parents must ensure that they feed their kids with healthy & nutritious sweet food items so as to instill good and healthy eating habits throughout their life, thus avoiding calories intake that are low on nutritional value. Here is the list of top healthy food items to satisfy your kids’ sweet tooth: Fruits- One of the most healthiest and natural source that can help satisfy sweet cravings is to have fruits. To ensure a healthy balanced diet for your kids, feed them with fruits whenever they feel an urge to eat something sweet. Yogurt- Another healthy option to satisfy the sweet tooth craving is to consume yogurt sweetened with real fruit preserves, 1 teaspoon of honey or jam. Sugar-flavoured Syrups- Use these to flavour milk, cold coffee, lemonade or protein shakes for a sweet and calorie-free beverage. Help your child with a serving of one of the several varieties of syrups in yummy flavours like vanilla, orange, lemon, roohafza, etc. Smoothies- Toss some fruit, yogurt and juice into a blender with some ice cubes. Experiment with different flavour combinations until you find your kids’ favourites. Popsicles- Make your own popsicles with fruit juice or use some of your smoothie mix. You can also buy sugar-free or 100 percent juice popsicles available ready-made. Sugar-free Puddings- Either buy pre-made sugar-free puddings or make on your own. Pudding can be a good source of calcium, as well as a creamy, sweet treat for your little one.