Praise, love and support can help make doing homework a positive, enjoyable activity
theSun, Tues 30 Dec 2008
COME January, my daughter will begin her formal education in primary school. As she is a fun-loving and strong-minded child, I foresee new challenges in getting her to focus on homework and studies for longer periods as compared to what she has experienced so far in kindergarten.
The time spent on homework should be age-appropriate. Older children may be able to sit for a longer period of time to complete their homework while younger ones, who tend to have a shorter concentration span, could be given short breaks in between.
They might find it difficult to complete all their homework in one sitting and would feel frustrated if they are forced to do so. Allow them to stop for a short while every 15 minutes or so and motivate them with praise once they have completed one part of the homework.
It is good to designate a specific place for homework. It should be a quiet (with the television turned off) area, well-lit and with an adequate supply of stationery to enable the child to do his homework comfortably with minimal distraction.
Also find a suitable time for homework to be done. It should preferably be at the same time every day to establish a routine, and which is workable for the family to ensure schedules are met and other routines uninterrupted.
For it to be productive and effective, make sure that your children are in the right frame of mind and temperament. You may not want to get them to do their homework immediately after returning home from school as they could be tired. Allow them some leisure time to rest or release some pent-up energy.
Make homework a positive experience. We need to make a conscious effort to help our children view homework as something that helps them gain knowledge. Homework should not be viewed as a chore or punishment. We need to help them understand that we are there to help them if they need assistance. Provide them the love and support they need.
However, make sure that they understand that although you may guide them through their work, you would not provide the answers. This will teach them responsibility and independence.
Set a good example. When doing your own work at home such as research, writing a report or reading, try not to do it while watching television or talking on the phone.
When your children are doing their homework, you could sit with them and do some of your own work too. Show them that what they are learning can be applied to daily life. For example, if your children are doing some math homework, you could balance your cheque book or review your household budget.
Show interest in what your children are doing to help them feel supported and secure. Talk about school, read with them and ask them if they learned anything fun or interesting that day at school.
Praise, love and rewards can help encourage children to do their homework. When they feel good about their achievements, they develop confidence in taking on more difficult tasks.
Anna feels that children these days are given too much homework and tuition. Her parenting articles here can be found in her blog http://youmekids.blogspot.com.
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Having a stress-free vacation
theSun, tues 16 Dec 2008
BEFORE the kids came along, all you did was pack your own bag and off you went for your holiday! If you were driving, you’d probably be able to get to your destination without having to stop if the journey was not too long.
If you were taking a plane, you’d probably wonder what in-flight movies you could watch and looked forward to catching up on reading or sleeping.
With young children in tow, however, these ideas are best abandoned lest you stress yourself out trying to please yourself and everybody. The time spent in getting from point A to B needs to be considered too.
When travelling with children, you need a bag of tricks up your sleeve to minimise the impatience, boredom, restlessness or what is commonly termed ‘cabin fever’.
Many a time, I got caught with persistent questions of "Are we there yet?" when travelling with my child.
Planning ahead saves you the irritation of having to deal with the little ‘buzzing bees’ that keep coming back to you with questions or complaints.
Bring along some of their favourite things to keep them distracted and occupied such as books, card games, or CDs.
Pack along some new ones too, to get them excited and happy.
Have some healthy snacks and drinks handy as hungry children could get a little antsy at times.
Pack a small bag of presents wrapped in a few layers. These presents could be small toys they’ve forgotten about or cheap novelties.
Dish them out sparingly to make your stash last the whole trip. The additional layers of wrapping would keep the anticipation going into extra time, making the discovery more exciting – hopefully.
For older children, you could stick a page from an activity book onto each layer of wrapping as part of the ‘game’ rules.
They would need to solve the puzzle or complete the simple activity before they move on to unwrapping the next layer and the next, before they reach their ‘prize’.
On a car trip, have a competition to see who is fastest in totaling up the plate numbers of passing cars. Play ‘I Spy’, read billboards and tabulate the most-advertised category of products. Besides keeping them occupied, they would get some math and reading exercise done the fun way.
Keep them quiet with an activity book of word puzzles, stickers, mazes, or dot-to-dots. Or compile one of your own by visiting many children’s websites which offer free printable games and puzzles.
Instead of reading to them or getting them to read by themselves, bring along some children’s audio books or better yet, download some free ones onto your PDA or iPod.
I chanced upon this website called Storynory (http://storynory.com) which provides free downloadable audio stories including classics, fairytales, and original ones.
Their stories have become my lifesaver more than once, not only while travelling, but during fidgety moments and even when Daddy is too tired to tell a string of bedtime stories!
Creativity and simplicity are the keywords.
Since you can’t bring along your entire playroom, think of small but fun items to pack into your bag of tricks.
Even a few small disposable empty bottles to match the caps with could keep a toddler busy for some time.
BEFORE the kids came along, all you did was pack your own bag and off you went for your holiday! If you were driving, you’d probably be able to get to your destination without having to stop if the journey was not too long.
If you were taking a plane, you’d probably wonder what in-flight movies you could watch and looked forward to catching up on reading or sleeping.
With young children in tow, however, these ideas are best abandoned lest you stress yourself out trying to please yourself and everybody. The time spent in getting from point A to B needs to be considered too.
When travelling with children, you need a bag of tricks up your sleeve to minimise the impatience, boredom, restlessness or what is commonly termed ‘cabin fever’.
Many a time, I got caught with persistent questions of "Are we there yet?" when travelling with my child.
Planning ahead saves you the irritation of having to deal with the little ‘buzzing bees’ that keep coming back to you with questions or complaints.
Bring along some of their favourite things to keep them distracted and occupied such as books, card games, or CDs.
Pack along some new ones too, to get them excited and happy.
Have some healthy snacks and drinks handy as hungry children could get a little antsy at times.
Pack a small bag of presents wrapped in a few layers. These presents could be small toys they’ve forgotten about or cheap novelties.
Dish them out sparingly to make your stash last the whole trip. The additional layers of wrapping would keep the anticipation going into extra time, making the discovery more exciting – hopefully.
For older children, you could stick a page from an activity book onto each layer of wrapping as part of the ‘game’ rules.
They would need to solve the puzzle or complete the simple activity before they move on to unwrapping the next layer and the next, before they reach their ‘prize’.
On a car trip, have a competition to see who is fastest in totaling up the plate numbers of passing cars. Play ‘I Spy’, read billboards and tabulate the most-advertised category of products. Besides keeping them occupied, they would get some math and reading exercise done the fun way.
Keep them quiet with an activity book of word puzzles, stickers, mazes, or dot-to-dots. Or compile one of your own by visiting many children’s websites which offer free printable games and puzzles.
Instead of reading to them or getting them to read by themselves, bring along some children’s audio books or better yet, download some free ones onto your PDA or iPod.
I chanced upon this website called Storynory (http://storynory.com) which provides free downloadable audio stories including classics, fairytales, and original ones.
Their stories have become my lifesaver more than once, not only while travelling, but during fidgety moments and even when Daddy is too tired to tell a string of bedtime stories!
Creativity and simplicity are the keywords.
Since you can’t bring along your entire playroom, think of small but fun items to pack into your bag of tricks.
Even a few small disposable empty bottles to match the caps with could keep a toddler busy for some time.
Thursday, December 4, 2008
For a happy holiday
The right kind of preparations before a trip ensure no tears from the children and a great time for the whole family
theSun, Tues 2 Dec 2008
WHILE travel arrangements can be easily done, preparing for a fun and stress-free travel with young ones needs a little more effort.
Start with a detailed checklist of things to pack. It is best to start packing at least a few days or even a week beforehand. Leaving packing to the last minute increases the risk of forgetting certain small but essential stuff such as toiletries and first-aid items.
If you travel often, have a separate set of toiletries. This way, you can still shampoo your child’s hair on the day of your travel, and not risk forgetting to put the shampoo into the bag.
Have a carry-all bag for diapers, formula, bottles, drinking water, snacks, wet wipes, spare clothes and some items to keep them entertained.
Make sure the bag has convenient compartments or pockets to keep everything organised. It saves you the frustration of rummaging through the mass of items to find that elusive pacifier to soothe the screaming baby by your side.
Pack small items, odd-shaped items and things that don’t stay upright well in hard containers before you put them into the carry-all.
For example, put milk bottles in a pouch or a plastic container that fits snugly so that they do not topple over other items. This maintains order and keeps the bottles from falling over when you place the bag down.
It also helps to keep the carry-all in proper shape for you to carry it comfortably when you are on the go.
Also pack an extra T-shirt for yourself just in case your baby throws up on you or your toddler decides to let your shirt taste some of his applesauce.
Get convenient flight times. Avoid stopovers if possible. Imagine waking two sleeping children, dragging a stroller and car seat while carrying a little baby and two carry-alls across terminals.
Try to time your flights so that if a stopover is unavoidable, the children can read, play or walk around the airport, and hopefully nap during the flight.
Get hotel rooms, holiday apartments or even suites that are well-equipped with at least a mini fridge, kitchenette or a microwave oven. You need more space for all the paraphernalia when you have children.
Having to hop over strollers, car seats, luggage and shopping bags before you reach the bathroom is not part of holiday fun. And if you have a baby, you would need space for a cot, be it one provided or a portable one you have brought along.
Then there’s milk or children’s juices that you need to keep cool in a fridge or some oatmeal that you need to make in the kitchenette.
Ordering room service all the time could be expensive and feeding children in a comfortable and controlled environment such as your room, suite or apartment would be more manageable and less stressful than eating out at a restaurant.
It’s the school holidays so start making travel plans with your children if you haven’t done so already.
theSun, Tues 2 Dec 2008
WHILE travel arrangements can be easily done, preparing for a fun and stress-free travel with young ones needs a little more effort.
Start with a detailed checklist of things to pack. It is best to start packing at least a few days or even a week beforehand. Leaving packing to the last minute increases the risk of forgetting certain small but essential stuff such as toiletries and first-aid items.
If you travel often, have a separate set of toiletries. This way, you can still shampoo your child’s hair on the day of your travel, and not risk forgetting to put the shampoo into the bag.
Have a carry-all bag for diapers, formula, bottles, drinking water, snacks, wet wipes, spare clothes and some items to keep them entertained.
Make sure the bag has convenient compartments or pockets to keep everything organised. It saves you the frustration of rummaging through the mass of items to find that elusive pacifier to soothe the screaming baby by your side.
Pack small items, odd-shaped items and things that don’t stay upright well in hard containers before you put them into the carry-all.
For example, put milk bottles in a pouch or a plastic container that fits snugly so that they do not topple over other items. This maintains order and keeps the bottles from falling over when you place the bag down.
It also helps to keep the carry-all in proper shape for you to carry it comfortably when you are on the go.
Also pack an extra T-shirt for yourself just in case your baby throws up on you or your toddler decides to let your shirt taste some of his applesauce.
Get convenient flight times. Avoid stopovers if possible. Imagine waking two sleeping children, dragging a stroller and car seat while carrying a little baby and two carry-alls across terminals.
Try to time your flights so that if a stopover is unavoidable, the children can read, play or walk around the airport, and hopefully nap during the flight.
Get hotel rooms, holiday apartments or even suites that are well-equipped with at least a mini fridge, kitchenette or a microwave oven. You need more space for all the paraphernalia when you have children.
Having to hop over strollers, car seats, luggage and shopping bags before you reach the bathroom is not part of holiday fun. And if you have a baby, you would need space for a cot, be it one provided or a portable one you have brought along.
Then there’s milk or children’s juices that you need to keep cool in a fridge or some oatmeal that you need to make in the kitchenette.
Ordering room service all the time could be expensive and feeding children in a comfortable and controlled environment such as your room, suite or apartment would be more manageable and less stressful than eating out at a restaurant.
It’s the school holidays so start making travel plans with your children if you haven’t done so already.
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