By Shirley King "You know, I have to spank her over and over again for the same thing. But it just doesn't seem to work. The next day she's back at it again." Does this sound familiar? This is the lament of many parents. Not only does spanking not work, it can also create many unintentional harmful effects in our children. In his booklet Plain Talk About Spanking, Jordan Riak writes: "the … [Read more...]
Bonding Before Birth
by Shirley King The health and well-being of a woman during her nine months of pregnancy are extremely important in the health and well-being of her future child. It is vital, for the sake of her unborn baby, that she eat well, take vitamins, attend regular prenatal visits with her doctor or midwife, and have appropriate physical exercise. She also needs to avoid drugs, caffeine, alcohol and … [Read more...]
Surfing the Net Requires A Parent’s Guidance
Certainly one the biggest worries these days for the parent's of children using the computer to surf the Internet is how can I be sure my child is safe? If you have a child who uses the Internet, you are probably a parent who is worried for your child's safety; and with good reason. As we continue to move rapidly into this age of computers and information, the negative influences of every … [Read more...]
Explaning Learning Disabilities(LD) and Attention Deficits (ADD) to Your Child
By: Connie Boutet, Ph.D., Psychologist Candidate Cynthia Jordan, Ph.D., Clinical Psychologist Jan Thiessen, B.A., Executive Director, LDA Manitoba As a parent or caregiver of a child with a learning disability (LD) or attention disorder (ADD), increasing your own knowledge of ADD and LD can facilitate your understanding and support of your child's experiences both at home and at school. … [Read more...]
Helping Your Child Mind His Manners & Social Skills
Bad manners and etiquette are the bane of existence for many parents, but it is usually not until they are displayed outside the home that parents will take the problem seriously enough to work on it. Even worse, children who behave perfectly well mannered inside the home appear to forget all of the proper lessons learned as soon as they set one foot outside, and the little gentleman or lady you … [Read more...]
My Child Won’t Stop Swearing!
Though we are well in to the new millennium, some people still believe the only way to make a child stop using profanity is by washing his mouth out with soap. While that approach may have stopped many kids from using bad language again, it also reinforces the negative behavior using another negative behavior. The adult actually has to attack a child to hold them down to put something so awful … [Read more...]
Learning To Adjust In a Blended Family with Step Parents
It's never easy to blend families. The modern step-family (now called blended family) comes with a lot of common conflicts. Most of the common conflicts occur between the parents who are blending their children’s’ lives together. Frequently, they will involve one parent upset because they feel the other parent is taking the side of their own children and disregarding their step-children. The … [Read more...]
Criticism’s Harmful Effects
"That was really stupid! I can't believe you did that. What on earth is the matter with you? What an idiot. Shame on you!" These are examples of verbal criticism. Criticism is incredibly damaging to our children to our children. Criticism Can Do Harm Children suffer in innumerable ways when they are subjected to a steady (or even occasional) diet of criticism. Stephanie Marston writes the … [Read more...]
The Age of Independence
At what age should you feel safe in knowing that you may leave your child at home alone? How old is too young to leave them behind without the watchful attention of a sitter? Such questions may be answered by the law, but when it comes right down to it, not even the legal definitions of “old enough” can make your doubts go away. Parents usually wonder if it is okay to have that lag time between … [Read more...]