Here are some clear guidelines for teaching your child to follow instructions.

Following Instructions, Part Three

The first core skill is “Following Instructions.”  Teach your child the following three parts to following instructions:
1.    Look at the person.
2.    Acknowledge the instruction, say “OK.”
3.    Do it right away.

The following guidelines should help you get started:

• Be clear with your child about what you are doing.  You might say, “Cassie, I am going teach you about how to follow instructions.  I have three steps to remember, listen because I want you to say them back to me.”
• Once he or she can say them to you in order, start to practice.  Ask your child to look at you (asking for eye contact) and then ask her to do something simple.  Wait for her to respond with “OK,” and watch her go off to do it (right away).  
• If she forgets a step, prompt her with the right words and go on.  This can be fun.  Ask her to get your slippers and put one on your head.
• Later when a real-life situation arises that requires your child to follow instructions, before giving the instruction, ask your child if he remembers the steps of following instructions.  Review, if needed.
• Two things to keep in mind regarding eye contact.  In order to have eye contact when giving instructions, you need to be in the same room with your child.  (Obvious, I know.) The days of yelling from another room are over.  Also, you will need to think twice before giving instructions.  Be sure that you really need her to do the task before giving the instructions.  Too many instructions (unnecessary ones) can be counterproductive.
• Acknowledging with an “Okay” assures you that your child has heard you.
• Doing the task right away, avoids the child not obeying because they forgot the request.
• While you are instilling this core skill, you do not need to think about consequences.  The assumption is that your child needs ample practice recalling and doing the skill.  Simply having her recall the steps to you out loud is a sufficient consequence in the beginning.
• After lots of instruction, you may feel that your child is acting out of defiance.  At this point, you need to start collecting ideas from friends and professionals about logical consequences.  (Accepting those consequences is the fourth skill.)

These great tips and more are from the highly acclaimed book The Triumphant Child - A practical guide to raising 2, 3 and year olds.

You need to instill a habit of establishing eye contact with your child before moving into the four core skills.

Where do I start? Part two

As you will see in the four following tips on teaching core skills, the first step in three out of four of the key skills is, “Look at the person.”  You need to instill a habit of establishing eye contact with your child before moving into the four core skills.  If your young child has not yet created a habit of looking you in the eyes while talking, here are a few suggestions:

• Begin by looking for small opportunities to catch your child’s eye and then simply smile and/or say something that your child would love to hear like, “You have such pretty eyes,” or “I like it when you look in my eyes.”
• Starting with brief glances at first is great.  You may need to get used to eye contact yourself.
• Try having a staring contest.  Making a game and being playful creates positive associations with eye contact and makes later teaching easier.  Plus you can teach the cue, “Sweetie, look at my eyes.”
• Once you have a few successes and a level of comfort, start asking your child to look at you when you have something important, hopefully positive, to tell him or her.  It might sound like this, “Sarah, I want you to look at mommy in the eyes. (Pause) Good job.  You did a good job on the potty today.”  A warm hand on the arm or shoulder would be a nice affirmation too.

For children and adults, open and honest communication begins with eye contact.  I believe that being intentional about teaching eye contact will make the challenge of parent-as-teacher more rewarding.

These great tips and more are from the highly acclaimed book The Triumphant Child - A practical guide to raising 2, 3 and year olds.

Raising and nurturing a gifted child can be an exciting yet daunting challenge. Unfortunately, these complicated little people do not come with instruction manuals.

Gifted children develop cognitively at a much faster rate than they develop physically and emotionally, posing some interesting problems. For example, ideas forged by 8-year-old minds may be difficult to produce with 5-year-old hands. Further, advanced cognition often makes gifted children aware of information that they are not yet emotionally ready to handle. They tend to experience all of life with greater intensity, rendering them emotionally complex. These children usually do not fit the developmental norms for their age; they have more advanced play interests and often are academically far ahead of their age peers. The brighter the child, the greater the potential vulnerability. Therefore, parents who are aware of the inherent developmental differences of their children can prepare themselves to act as their advocates.

Recognition

Some of the earliest signs of giftedness include:

• unusual alertness in infancy
• less need for sleep in infancy
• long attention span
• high activity level
• smiling or recognizing caretakers early
• intense reactions to noise, pain, frustration
• advanced progression through the developmental milestones
• extraordinary memory
• enjoyment and speed of learning
• early and extensive language development
• fascination with books
• curiosity
• excellent sense of humor
• abstract reasoning and problem-solving skills
• vivid imagination (e.g., imaginary companions)
• sensitivity and compassion

If a child exhibits a majority of these characteristics, parents may wish to have the child assessed by an experienced examiner to find out if the child is gifted. Firstborn children tend to be recognized more often than their siblings. When one child in the family is gifted, it is quite possible that others may also be gifted. Early identification is recommended (ages 3 through 8) because it permits early intervention, as important for gifted as for any other children with special needs.

Responsive Parenting

Children learn first from their parents. Parents who spend time with their gifted child are more able to tune in to their child's interests and respond by offering appropriate educational enrichment opportunities. It is important that parents read to their children frequently, even when the children are capable of reading to themselves. In the early years, parents can help their children discover their personal interests, expose their children to their own interests, and encourage their children to learn about a wide variety of subjects such as art, nature, music, museums, and sports. Children who are attracted to a particular area need opportunities to explore that field in depth. Home stimulation and support of interests is vital to the development of talents. Following the lead of the child will help the child flourish.

Family Relationships

Gifted children often can exhaust and overwhelm a new mother and father. Gifted infants often sleep less than other babies and require extra stimulation when they are awake. It is helpful to have extended family in the home, grandparents who live nearby, a close community of friends or relatives, or a teenager in the neighborhood who can spend some time with the child so that the primary caretakers can get some rest to do other things. For single parents, such support is particularly important. From the time they can talk, gifted children are constantly asking questions and often challenge authority. "Do it because I said so" doesn't work with these children. Generally, parents who take the time to explain requests get more cooperation than do more authoritarian parents. If these children are spoken to and listened to with consideration and respect, they tend to respond respectfully.

As children get older, a family meeting can be a good way of sharing responsibility and learning negotiation skills. Family meetings can provide a forum where children have a voice as a family member, and provide avenues for avoiding power struggles that otherwise can occur. It is important for gifted children to feel emotionally supported by the family--even when there are disagreements.

School Placement

Gifted children generally benefit by spending at least some time in the classroom with children of similar abilities. Their educational program should be designed to foster progress at their own rate of development. Parents who become involved with the school can help administrators and teachers be responsive to the needs of these children. Open, flexible environments provide students with opportunities for choices, and enhance independence and creativity.

Early entrance or other forms of acceleration may be considered when the school gifted program is not sufficiently challenging or when there is no opportunity for gifted children to be grouped with age peers who are intellectually advanced. Early entrance is the easiest form of acceleration, academically and socially. It may be best to accelerate girls before third grade or after ninth grade, when they are less bonded to their peer group. Boys are usually more willing to skip grades at any point in their school program. When a child expresses a willingness to be accelerated, the chances are good that an excellent social adjustment will be made.

In the preschool and primary years, mixed-aged groupings are beneficial, as long as the gifted child is not the oldest in the group. Gifted, creative boys are often held back in the primary years because of so-called "immaturity"--the inability to socialize with age peers who are less developmentally advanced. When a 5-year-old boy with an 8-year-old mind cannot relate to 5-year-olds, nothing is gained by having him repeat a grade: he is then a 6-year-old with a 9-year-old mind trying to relate to 5-year-olds! The best solution is to find him true peers--boys his own age who are intellectually advanced. Retention is NOT recommended.

Parent Advocacy

Gifted children need strong, responsible advocates, and parent groups can make a difference. It takes persistence of large groups of parents to assure that provisions for gifted children are kept firmly in place. Parents of children who are gifted need opportunities to share parenting experiences with each other, and parent groups can provide a place where that can happen.

It is important for parents of any children with special needs to meet with the teachers early in the school year. When parents and teachers work together, appropriate programs can be developed and problems can be caught early. It is helpful for parents to offer to assist their child's teacher by making or locating supplemental materials, helping in the classroom or library, offering expertise to small groups of students, or finding others who can provide other enrichment experiences. Effective parents stay involved in their children's education and informed about gifted education in general. When a teacher makes a special effort to understand or assist a gifted child, a note to the teacher or to the principal is generally appreciated.

Conclusion

The key to raising gifted children is respect: respect for their uniqueness, respect for their opinions and ideas, respect for their dreams. Gifted children need parents who are responsive and flexible, who will go to bat for them when they are too young to do so for themselves. It is painful for parents to watch their children feeling out of sync with others, but it is unwise to emphasize too greatly the importance of fitting in. Children get enough of that message in the outside world. At home, children need to know that their uniqueness is cherished and that they are appreciated as persons just for being themselves.
Author: Linda Kreger Silverman
Source: ERIC digest

These great tips and more are from the highly acclaimed book The Triumphant Child - A practical guide to raising 2, 3 and year olds.

This article is the introduction in a series of six parts that suggests four core skills to teach your young child.

An introduction to disciplining your prechooler - part one

You have most likely heard that the word “disciple” actually refers to teaching, not only giving a consequence.  But after hearing that have you ever wondered, “What exactly am I supposed to be teaching my child?”

This article will cover four skills:  Following Instructions, Accepting No, Asking Permission, and Accepting Consequences.  However, before launching into the skills, I will give some pointers for creating a habit of eye contact when teaching your child (Part Two).  In teaching these skills to your child, you will give her clear guidelines for living peacefully as well as a sense of security from knowing exactly what you expect.  

If you carefully consider most of the misbehavior in your home, you will be able to link them to one of these four core skills.  Patience is definitely needed.  You may need to reinforce each skill hundreds (really) of times.  But once you know that your child is acting out in defiance, not ignorance of, a home standard, you will be able to decide with clarity when to give an appropriate, logical consequence.

In addition to patience, you need your support network.  Share the steps of the core skills with other people who are significant in your child’s daily life.  As with so many things, consistency pays off.

I encourage you to start small and work toward completing all the skills over a long period of time.  You will find that some skills take hold quicker than others.  My daughter has never had a problem asking for permission…accepting a consequence is another story.

These great tips and more are from the highly acclaimed book The Triumphant Child - A practical guide to raising 2, 3 and year olds.

The World Health Organization (WHO) said that 21 countries have reported 1085 cases of “swine flu” and that the US had 268 cases in 36 of the nation’s states.

WHO and US President Barack Obama urged vigilance and said that the key is to be prepared to address any outcome.

“Swine flu” (Type A influenza – H1N1) is a strain of Type A influenza that is usually spread from human to human. This new outbreak of “swine flu” is transmitted from one person to another by coughing, sneezing or by touch.  Ordinarily, the very young (especially children under 5) and the very old are most susceptible to influenza but this virus seems to be prevalent in all ages.

Leading U.S. pediatrician Dr Olson Huff of Sixty Second Parent said that parents should follow four simple tips to help prevention, especially for young children and babies.

“By adhering to sensible precautions and following medical advice, it’s likely your child will avoid this outbreak or not be severely affected by it,” Dr. Huff said.

1. Keep your family away from people who have flu symptoms.
2. Teach your child not to cough or sneeze into hands. Cover sneezes and coughs with sleeve, elbow or preferably tissues. Discard tissues immediately after use.  If your child is sick have the tissues nearby, along with a trash bag.
3. Keep children home from school and day-care.
4. Careful and frequent hand washing – teach your children to wash with soap and water for 20 seconds. Keep antibacterial wipes or gel on hand for times when you do not have access to soap and water

Dr Huff suggests a practical tip to encourage children to wash their hands thoroughly and to make hand washing fun for children is the use of song and games. Click here for other practical tips on child health and development.

“Songs that last around 20 seconds are optimal hand washing time such as Happy Birthday to You, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and If You’re Happy and You Know it Wash Your Hands. To encourage toddlers play games like Round and Round the Garden using soap,” Dr Huff said.

A person may spread this virus to others as long as symptoms are present. The severity of the illness varies from very mild to those who become quite ill. Death can occur.

Symptoms are what one ordinarily would expect, including fever, cough, sore throat, aching, headache, chills and possibly a rash.

Dr Huff said that treatment is available, although the vaccine to prevent this strain of virus has not yet been developed but is to be made available as soon as possible. 

“Medications called anti-viral drugs are available and can be quite effective. They are available by prescription only so at the first sign of any of the symptoms mentioned, medical help should be sought.”

Dr Huff recommends that parents should encourage a sick child to rest, give fluids and keep the tissues handy. To treat pain and fever use medications recommended by your doctor - do not give children aspirin.

“Remember, use sensible precautions, wash hands, cover coughs and sneezes, try to avoid sick persons and don’t alarm children or others by being too fearful. Follow medical advice and the likelihood is that you and your children will avoid this outbreak or not be severely afflicted by it,” Dr Huff said.

For more information on swine flu, tips for caring for a sick child and other tips from Dr Huff visit www.sixtysecondparent.com. 

As your child learns to care for himself, he begins to take responsibility for his own health and well being.

When he learns to eat healthy snacks, bathe himself, and even blow his own nose, he initiates acts of independence that can establish a healthy lifestyle.  So there is value in pausing now for sixty seconds or so to think about what self-care skills your child has learned and needs to learn.  

The skills listed below build during your child’s preschool years.  They develop in small steps with a lot of coaching and practice.  Sometimes it can be tempting to just keep taking care of your child’s teeth and hair combing because it doesn’t get done “right” unless you do it yourself.  However, it is important to remember that you are your child’s first teacher with the goal of imparting a life-long set of abilities and values to your child.  Early on, you will share the responsibility for most of these skills with your child; but, ultimately, you will want your kindergartner headed off to school self-sufficient in most of these areas.  

Nutrition: Eating, Snacking, and Drinking

• Give a simple kid-friendly reason why feeding yourself and making good food choices is important.  There’s no need to go into vitamins and carbohydrates. You could say something like, “Eating good food keeps you strong,” or “Good food helps your eyes and your nose work,” or “When you eat good food, you have lots of power in your body.”
• Consider keeping a plastic container in the refrigerator with healthy snacks for your child to choose from.  You can take it out and let her make a choice without overwhelming her with choices or leaving the refrigerator door open.  A non-refrigerated drawer with healthy snack options is good too.

Grooming: Bathing, Brushing teeth, and Combing hair

• Give a simple kid-friendly reason why keeping a neat appearance is important. Avoid giving a judgmental reason like, “People who don’t take a bath everyday are nasty.”  You could say something like, “Being clean feels great,” or “Your teeth can hurt if they stay dirty too long,” or “Neat hair makes you look nice.”
• Around four and five, start giving your child specific bathing instructions.  Emphasizing starting at the top of her head and working your way down.  This is to make sure that a she does not wash her body and then her face—which could spread bacteria into her system.

Health Prevention: Toileting, Blowing nose, and Washing hands

• Give a simple reasons how good habits can keep you from getting sick.  You could say, “The toilet is the clean place to put pee-pee and poop,” or “Using a tissue keeps you healthy,” or “Washing your hands rinses germs away.”
• If your child starts a nose-picking habit, diligently have him wash his hands every time you see him pick.  The interruption from what he is doing is a logical consequence for an unhealthy behavior and reinforces that hand washing is health prevention.  This should interrupt the behavior and stop a cold from spreading.

Remember that your child internalizes your values largely through observation.  So take a moment to think about what you believe, do, and say regarding healthy eating and exercise.  What can you start doing to model how to maintain health, prevent illness, and promote well being?

Reference: Lasky, P.A., & Eichelberger, K.M. (1985). “Health-related views and self-care behaviors of young children.” Family Relations, 34 (1), 13-18.

These great tips and more are from the highly acclaimed book The Triumphant Child - A practical guide to raising 2, 3 and year olds.

Looking for an appropriate book for your child? Our experts have put together a selection of books any two-year-old will love.

One of the most important things you can do for a two year old is to read aloud to him frequently. Not only does this build vocabulary skills, but it also creates a special closeness between you and your child.

Suggested books for two-year-olds:

(These titles are available at our online store)

Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown

Once Upon a Potty by Alona Frankel

Pat the Bunny by Dorothy Kunhardt

Peek-A-Who? By Nina Laden

The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carl

Wheels On The Bus by DK Publishing

Dear Zoo by Rod Campbell

A Potty for Me!  by Karen Katz

Pumpkin Soup by Helen Cooper

Time for Bed  by Mem Fox and Jane Dyer

We're Going on a Bear Hunt by Michael Rosen and Helen Oxenbury

My Big Animal Book  by Roger Priddy

The Little Mouse, the Red Ripe Strawberry and the Big Hungry Bear by Don and Audrey Wood


These great tips and more are from the highly acclaimed book The Triumphant Child - A practical guide to raising 2, 3 and year olds.

World Asthma day, the 5th of May, will highlight an important issue impacting many Americans and their children. Asthma is the most common serious chronic disease of childhood, affecting nearly five million children in the United States.

Allergic Care Relief Centres said approximately 20 million Americans suffer from asthma, which is three times as many as 25 years ago, with one in eight children suffer from the disease.

Asthma in children is the cause of almost three million physician visits and 200,000 hospitalizations each year and remains a serious public health concern.

Global Initiative for Asthma, who organize World Asthma day, said that this year's theme of You Can Control Your Asthma is focused on strategies to recognize and gain control over asthma.

Leading U.S. Pediatrician, Dr. Olson Huff, said that up to 80% of children with asthma develop symptoms before age five and physicians must rely on parent's observations to make an accurate diagnosis. Learn more on early diagnosis from Sixty Second Parent.

"The problem is many parents don't realise their children have asthma," Dr. Huff said. "Being aware of the symptoms of asthma and diagnosing it is it the first step, whilst seeking knowledge from the latest information will help keep your child's asthma under control and allow you both to lead a normal and happy life."

Senior Medical Consultant of Community Care of North Carolina, Dr Laura Gerald, said that there are several steps parents can take to help control their child's asthma. The first step is to recognise and understand asthma. Read more from Dr Laura Gerald on Asthma and Children.

Doctor Gerald said asthma is a disease characterized by inflammation in the lungs that difficulty breathing that usually results from some sort of triggers that may include viral infections such as colds, house dust mites, smoke, pollen or other allergens in the air, animals, exercise, air pollution, and changes in weather.

"Symptoms may include coughing, shortness of breath, chest tightening and working very hard to breathe, or wheezing," Dr. Gerald said. "Asthma may run in families and occur with other diseases or conditions such as allergies or skin problems like eczema or atopic dermatitis."

Dr Huff said it is important to try to identify what your child's triggers are so that those things can be avoided or minimized and that medications are generally safe and effective in preventing and treating asthma attacks.

"Children with asthma can lead a normal life, if managed properly, and avoid missing out on activities such as school and exercise and minimise sick days and hospital visits."

Asthma is a serious but treatable condition.

For information and support visit our parent website Sixty Second Parent, which offers tips to help parents gain the knowledge necessary to recognize, prevent, and/or appropriately manage asthma symptoms, share experiences with other parents and seek advice from childhood development experts.

 

Looking for an appropriate book for your child? Our experts have put together a selection of books any three-year-old will love.

One of the most important things you can do for your child is to read aloud to him or her on a regular basis. Not only does this build vocabulary skills, but it also creates a special closeness between you and your child.

Suggested books for three-year-olds:

(These titles are available in our online store).

Bread and Jam for Frances by Russell Hoban

Curious George by H.A. Rey

Franklin in the Dark by Paulette Bourgeois

The Little Engine That Could by Watty Piper

Sheep in a Jeep by Nancy Shaw

Kitten's First Full Moon by Kevin Henkes

The Napping House by Don and Audrey Wood

Chicka, Chicka, Boom, Boom by Bill Martin Jr., John Archambault, and Lois Ehlert

Don't  Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus by Mo Willems

Richard Scarry’s What Do People Do All Day by Richard Scarry

Jamberry by Bruce Degen

Guess How Much I Love You? by Sam Mcbratney and Anita Jeram

There Was an Old Lady by Pam Adams


These great tips and more are from the highly acclaimed book The Triumphant Child - A practical guide to raising 2, 3 and year olds.

One out of three children in America are overweight or outright obese.

One out of three children in America are overweight or outright obese As a result, their health and emotional well being now, and their ability to enjoy a productive and long life in the future, are greatly impaired.

What can you do to prevent this epidemic from affecting your children?

Here are some points to consider:

• Take a good look in your refrigerator and your pantry. What do you see? If there is an abundance of foods that are high in fat, sugar and calories, then permanently change, what you buy and what your family eats.
• Insist on the family eating together. Studies have shown that this one act alone improves family communication and reduces the intake of high fat, high calorie foods.
• Take your children grocery shopping with you and teach them how to read the labels and select healthy. Make a game out of it and give rewards (NOT Candy!) for the right selections.
• Exercise together. Take walks together, go to the park often, find safe bikeways, define safe walking paths to school and use the backyard for tag, sack races and dodge ball.
• Encourage neighborhood participation. The more kids engage in activity together, the more they will want to play together.
• For goodness sake, limit TV to no more than one hour on school days.
• Never allow snacks during TV time.
• Be creative with snacks; provide carrot sticks, apples, bananas, grapes, cherries and a whole variety of fruits and fresh vegetables.

There is an old German proverb that says: “a man is what he eats.” So, it is for our children. Don’t feed them fat and they won’t be obese!

These great tips and more are from the highly acclaimed book The Triumphant Child - A practical guide to raising 2, 3 and year olds.