Ten Things to Do With Your Child At Home That Encourages Reading and Writing....

1) Read to and with your child. Talk about books or other reading materials with your child. Make sure to always say who the author and illustrator are...

2) Leave a note in a child's lunchbox. (My kids love getting notes from me in their lunchboxes.)

3) Help your child with homework.

4) Talk about your day or share stories at mealtime.

5) Discuss or retell plots from television programs.

6) Keep a parent and child journal. Share writing. Or keep a book where your child keeps important things from his life such as certificates, pictures, awards, etc. Kids love to go and look back on those keepsake items. It also encourages them to talk about it.

7) Keep lists, such as grocery lists. Have your child help you make one.

8) Create a library at home with different genres of books. Also visit a library.

9) Cook with your family following a recipe.

10) Record family trips.

The Importance of Encouragement and the right way to use it

Encouragement helps children identify their own feelings of pride and success. It doesn't evaluate but rather shows a genuine interest in children's behavior. It is important when you encourage a child to focus it on the BEHAVIOR...For example, if a child is sharing his toys for the first time, make sure to say something positive about the fact that this child is exhibiting a good behavior, which is sharing. You can say: thankyou for sharing, that was very nice of you....

Importance of Choice

Young children want to be independent. One way to encourage their independence, especially during the toddler years is to give them a choice among two alternatives. When you give a young child choices to choose from, this gives them the opportunity to exhibit independence. For example, if a young child is being difficult and doesn't want to wear his or her jacket outside when it's really cold. You can tell the child here are your choices: 1) either wear your jacket because it is cold outside, or 2) If you don't wear your jacket, then we can't go outside. Tell the child to pick one. If the child really wants to go outside, he or she will pick choice number one, and feel great that he or she got to be independent and make his or her own decision.

The Importance of A Child's First Years...

            The video The First Years Last Forever¹ by the producer Dennis Goulden is important because it portrays how vital the early years are in the development of a child. In addition, the name of the video is also appropriate because infancy and early childhood is when young children learn important skills that will be utilized for the rest of their lives. The name of the video clearly illustrates the impact that what a child learns during the first years is important for his or her development and growth.

            From the moment infants arrive to this world they are dependent on others. So if a caregiver or parent does not form an attachment and show bonding such as the sense of touch, the child will grow up not being capable of loving others.  The first three years of a child’s life according to the video The First Years Last Forever is when ninety percent of brain growth happens (Goulden). Therefore, it’s imperative that caregivers and parents be knowledgeable about early childhood. One method to creating knowledgeable caregivers is to spend more money on early childhood developmental programs as noted in the video (Goulden). This is the time infants and young children want to know everything. In the video, there is mention of how important the first years are in terms of what is learned and how learning occurs. If a child does not have a supportive environment, family or a culture then that child could develop social-emotional, cognitive or physical developmental problems later on.

Works Cited

<!--[if !supportLists]-->1.      <!--[endif]-->Goulden, D. (Producer) (n.d.). The first years last forever [Web]. Retrieved from http://video.search.yahoo.com/search/video?p=The First Years Last Forever video

My Thoughts on The Media

 

I do agree that media is a powerful force in children’s lives. However, there needs to be moderation between media and other activities. When children watch media violence, they end up imitating what they see, and this is clearly shown when they are involved in playing. Children think that the violence they watch on television is normal. It’s vital that parents explain how and why media violence is not a good thing because children are unable to distinguish fantasy from reality.  I believe that there is a relationship between violent shows and the rise of violence in our society. Television sets in homes are more common than in the past which has led to a rise in the creation of programs that have some sort of violence or sex.  So it’s not surprising that there have been more shootings, and violent behaviors in society. Although there is nothing that can be done to stop the production of violent shows, there are ways to control children’s exposure to them. That’s where parents should be involved in taking active control and initiating limits on the kinds of programs that children can watch.