Suggested Outdoor Activities for Children

If the child wanted to do or is interested in a certain activity, think outside the box. Be creative! Integrate an ordinary finger painting with and activity away from the house such as picnic. Getting kids mobile and active, not only during schoolwork, isn’t just because we don’t like kids to be overweight.

Children can enjoy nature trips such as hiking. Hiking isn’t only good for the kids but it also give the necessary exercise adults should be doing. Hiking could be done almost throughout the year. During spring time, it’s a great time of year for looking at the first flowers of the season and watching birds which are in flight throughout this season.

Bird watching is among the outdoor activities that can be cherished by both parents and kids. It is one among several activities that kids can engage in where they can build up their horizon educationally and enhance their social skills.

Bird watching or birding has aided children in terms of growing their knowledge in the field of creatures and birds. This is an activity that kids and grownups like, the appeal doesn’t wear off since there are thousands of bird species that can be viewed anytime.

In summer, animals are most alive during this season. Kids can watch and sport squirrels in the trees and other animals. Autumn should be the season for acorns, pine cones, seeds and other objects for collection. Winter isn’t the friendly season. Still, even in this cruel weather, hiking can still be regarded. Kids can learn how to analyze animal tracks and their food consumption during this season.

Apart from nature hiking, wildlife watching is a sure hit amongst children. Much like bird watching, all you require is just good eyesight and a green area. Like bird watching, there are field leads where you could distinguish the animals that you have already seen. Just make certain that the wild things are kept back in the wild.

Another great recreation sport with the kids during wintertime is snowshoeing. Just make certain that the kids are decently covered using warm clothes before they head out the door.     

© 2011 Athena Goodlight     

Learning to Play Fair Begins at Home

Playing is very important, for it is the baby's initial step towards developing many skills needed for life.  Through playing, the baby learns to use the hands and feet.  Allowing for plenty of freedom to move, kick, and stretch helps the baby learn to control his muscles.  At bath time, also allow your baby to kick and move freely.

Toys keep the baby happy.  Just avoid handing the baby toys with sharp edges, buttons, fur, or loose objects on them. A baby does not need too many toys.  Invest in a few good quality non-toxic toys.  Too much toys will only excessively excite your baby unnecessarily.   As your child grows older, the companionship of other children, either family members or friends will be needed.  It is important for a child to play with other children, too.  Physically playing and interacting with human playmates teaches them social skills that they can use as they deal with other people as they get older.  We are not ruling out the virtual playmates, but, a parent should know how to set the balance.

Part of the parents' responsibilities include not only to provide the basic needs like food, clothing, and a place called home but also the playmates of just about similar age level if possible.  This is time to teach children about the principles of fair play and understanding the feelings of other.  The earlier a child learns how to play fair and how to respect other people, the easier it will be to apply these important traits later in life.  

Improve Your Child’s Reading Habits with The Help of Ebooks

In this age of video games, any opportunity for learning should not be left out and reading through ebooks is an excellent way for beginning readers to learn and fully develop their reading and comprehension skills.

A lot of people are aware that ebooks exist but are still wary of using them, especially in child learning activities. If you have not taken advantage of this technological tool, you may be missing out on a lot because ebooks can actually facilitate a young child’s involvement with the reading and the literary arts.


Some who have tried sitting down with a toddler to read to him or her a book such as Treasure Island have struggled and experienced some resistance from the child especially after a few minutes.


However, if you were to obtain the ebook version of Treasure Island, it may even have cool background music and images that help add an improved sensory experience to it.

Several ebooks have an audio option that reads the story page by page. Some have icons that can help kids learn about phonics and intonations.


A lot of children diagnosed with attention deficit disorder have improved their attention ability with the use of ebooks. Most children who have difficulty paying attention to a regular printed book becomes interested in reading when done at a computer or other multimedia device or an ebook reader such as a Kindle, iPad, Sony Reader, etc.


To many children, reading a standard printed book is a passive and mundane activity but clicking a mouse to flip to another page or clicking on pictures and icons is practically more dynamic.

It is an accepted fact that there are children who are just resistant to reading. They simply do not want anything to do with sitting down and reading a book and they won’t even let you read one to them.

If this is your dilemma as a parent, try an ebook! If you select ebooks that are of good quality, kid friendly, and not boring, you may just discover you have a zealous reader on your hands. Images and sound can really liven up almost any book. You can even find free ebooks you can download on your ebook reader from dozens of sites online. Kindle has versions for the handheld device and for the PC. I have the Kindle for PC version installed on my child’s computer which automatically stores the ebooks I download for them, ready for reading as needed.

Because of the availability of ebooks, the presently out-of-print classic books can now be read in digital formats.

In this age of video games, any opportunity for learning should not be left out and reading through ebooks is an excellent way for beginning readers to learn and fully develop their reading and comprehension skills.

Nurturing Your Child's Creativity

 Creativity is not measured by intelligence tests, and experts disagree concerning the relationship between intelligence and creativity.  Most of them agree, however, that an individual’s intelligence can determine the quality of the creativity.  But a study at Donald MacKinnon at the Institute of Personality Research found a high degree of self-acceptance and confidence, sheer energy, and a whole-hearted commitment to the chosen task as being more consistent than intelligence in highly creative individuals.

Creative children have certain traits in common at a young age.  Can you observe any of these traits in your child?

Is your child very curious?
“How do frogs hop?” “What makes a rainbow?” “Why is cotton soft?”  Some adults may find such questions bothersome, but curiosity is an essential ingredient of creativity as children constantly try to make sense of their world.
Does your child’s play reflect imagination?
Creative children invent new games with their playmates.  They act out fantasies and experiment a lot.  A playful, imaginative childhood is vital to the development of creativity.
 
Does your child use analogy in speech?
The use of analogy to express a thought clearly shows a direct expression of creativity in language.  It is similar to seeing dinosaur clouds or lollipop trees.

Does your child challenge authority?
It is typical for four-year-olds to ask, “Why do I have to go to bed now and you don’t?” These children sometimes rationalize their behavior with what they see others in their life doing.

Is your child intensely animated?
Sometimes a child’s eyes sparkle when describing a playground game.  He or she may wave his or her hands and the cheeks may appear flushed.

Creative children become very involved in their current project or game.  They are eager to tell of their discoveries, and during conversations they often rush on to complete sentences for others.
Does you child like to guess outcomes?
Creative children like to guess the ending to the story or the movie.  Before they complete an experiment, they are usually confident of the outcome.  The fun of doing an activity such as drawing dot-to-dot is in predicting what the completed picture will be.  But being wrong leaves them undaunted and eager for more.
 

How Learning Takes Place

Learning is central to activities the in the home, in school, and in everyday life. It is a complex process which takes place in the brain. The human brain is considered a frontier in the educational explorations today. However, every parent and every teacher searches for the best road – the most effective way to learning. The important question therefore is: How do people learn? What are the most effective and the fastest method of learning, especially for children?

There are certain methods by which people learn.

Trial and Error
Learning through trial and error comes as a result of hitting and missing. One learns how to sew by different ways of putting fabric together. Some people call this procedure learning by experience. If a child would learn how to swim by this method, it might be risky if not fatal!

Conditioning
This learning method, labeled by psychologists as conditioning is habit-forming way—learning to do something by getting used to it. This, too, has objections, as not all practice makes perfect. One may play a piece on the piano over and over again, but that’s no guarantee that it’s being done right. The point is, if you have to practice and repeat something, you have to do it the right way, or else the brain will be conditioned to do the wrong thing because of the repetitive mistake.

Insight
This happens when a sudden flash of intellect brings on an answer or a solution to a problem. Archimedes, the Greek mathematician and inventor, was believed to have discovered the buoyancy principle in this manner. The answer to the great riddle of the crown asked him by the king of Syracuse came while he was taking a bath. So excited was he that he ran into the street without dressing and yelled, “Eureka!” (I’ve found it!)

Operational though these methods may be, they’re not foolproof guarantees of learning. However, there’s only one sure way in which children can and will learn, whether we like it or not and whether they like it or not. Psychologists agree on this method.

Modeling
It is learning by example, observation, and imitation, or identification. In teaching music to very young children, this effective method is called “learning by rote” (or imitation). While scientific studies are continuously being done in this field, there is voluminous research evidence on the effectiveness of this approach.

Choosing a Good Story for Children

photo credit: Ryan McVay

Children often look forward to story-telling time at the end of the day. How do you choose a good story so it will also be a worthwhile and a learning experience? Here are some pointers.

1. A good story simplifies truth.
It doesn’t make truth any easier, only easier to understand. We best learn a new thing by its being likened to something we already know, by the unfamiliar being compared with the familiar. A good story makes that possible.

2. A good story helps one remember what it taught.
It is like a lighted candle held up to a painting. It is not intended that the beholders should look at the candle but at the painting upon which the candle its throws light on. A good story ties lessons to people and things so that every time someone encounters a situation or do things, they are reminded of the lesson the story taught, not necessarily the story’s detail.

A good story does not make the truth beautiful; it showcases the beauty of the truth. It does not only impress you; through it, the truth is impressed in you.

3. A good story teaches a lesson without being preachy.
It calls attention to a person’s mistakes indirectly. It is a tactful way of making a point. It seldom, if ever, makes an enemy out of someone.

4. A good story motivates.
Kids need information, even adults do. But to do something about what you know, you must be motivated. And to be motivated, we must feel what we learned. Like most people, we do what we feel like doing. That’s how simple it is even with children. A good story helps them feel what is taught.

I am not to influence you on what books to be read for there are multitudes of books and stories available out there. When it comes to teaching good values to children, and you have no idea where to start, the Bible and other literary classics are readily available. From there, you can diversify to other reading materials; just take note of the guidelines suggested above.

Happy reading.

Copyright © 2009 Athena Goodlight (8/1/2009 Bookstove)

Dyslexics: Coping with Their Learning Difficulties

One out of every five children is possibly affected by dyslexia, making it one of the most widespread of the learning disabilities. In the USA alone, 10 million children are dyslexic. Many children are suffering, yet still more remain undiagnosed and unable to receive the needed support to overcome this condition.

Understanding Dyslexia

In 1896, W. Pringle Morgan, an English medical practitioner, provided the first description of dyslexia.  Prior to that, the disorder was thought to be a form of mental retardation.  Published in the British Medical Journal was Morgan’s case of a 14-year old boy who had extreme difficulty in reading yet excelled in game and was at the same level with his peers.  This intrigued many scientists who had been studying the disorder for years.  They finally realized that those who have the disorder could actually possess above average to exceptional intelligence.  Some, they found out, even excel in sports and the creative arts.  Because of this, their notion that dyslexia is a form of mental retardation was finally ruled out.
From the Greek words “dys” meaning difficulty and “lexia” meaning verbal language, dyslexia can be defined as a specific learning disorder resulting from neurological and genetic causes.   It affects one or more of the basic processes involved in understanding spoken or written language.  This results in the difficulty of the brain in stringing words, numbers, and symbols at least average intelligence. Dyslexia may show up as a problem in listening, thinking, speaking, reading, writing, or spelling or in a person’s ability in math.  Letter and word reversal and disorganization of word order are common symptoms.  Problems with coordination, memory, depth, perception, and discerning left from right may arise.  This explains why most dyslexics find it difficult to transfer information exactly from what is heard to what is seen and vice versa.

Researchers determined that a specific gene is responsible for dyslexia.  The condition results from a brain difference.  The right hemisphere of the brain of dyslexics is larger than that of normal individuals.  This may be the reason why dyslexics excel in areas controlled by the right hemisphere of the brain – such as artistic and athletic; 3D visualization ability, musical talent; and creative problem solving skills but are poor in perceptual, motor, linguistic, and adaptive—areas controlled by the brain’s left hemisphere.
For years, the organic cause of dyslexia has puzzled doctors who have been studying the disorder.  A significant breakthrough, however, was provided in 1998 by Dr. Sally Shaywitz, a researcher at the Yale University of Medicine and author of the book Overcoming Dyslexia.  Dr. Shaywitz’ s findings revealed that areas in the back of the brain that are usually activated when readers sounded out words are significantly less activated in dyslexics.  Areas in the front of dyslexics’ brains show more activity than in those of the brains of normal individuals.

Battling Dyslexia

The best way to treat dyslexia is to recognize it in the earliest stage, between the ages of 5 and 7 when the elementary reading skills are still easily learned.

The nature of dyslexic’s learning difficulty should be explored by a physician.  This is done by conducting physical examination and obtaining a comprehensive health history.  Upon confirmation of dyslexia, the child should then be referred to a specialist in psychoeducational diagnosis for further evaluation and treatment.
The primary goal of the specialist is to determine what appropriate educational intervention should be administered since no single learning method works for all dyslexics.  Each dyslexic has his own particular learning difficulties.  For instance, one dyslexic may be poor in reading but seldom reverses words while another may have long attention span but have poor memory.

Choosing Appropriate Learning Strategies

After determining the specific learning difficulties of the dyslexic, as well as his strengths and needs, the specialist then chooses appropriate learning strategies.  These strategies are usually based on the three main styles of learning:  auditory (use of sounds and words), visual (use of images and mental pictures), and kinesthetic (touch, active participation, hands-on activities).

Science has progressed enormously.  With the extensive researches done, there are specific scientifically-based programs that work.  Finding the right school with the proper reading programs and well-trained teachers is also essential.  Dr. Shaywitz, in an NBC News Today interview, states that “there’s a huge need to educate our parents and our teachers.”
Though dyslexia is permanent, it does not leave dyslexics in a helpless condition for the rest of their lives.  However, recognizing it and accepting their limitations are the very first steps in dealing with the disorder.
Dr. Shaywitz’s advice is, “go get help.  It’s remarkable.  The news is so good.  We’ve learned so much and people who go and get help can totally turn their lives around.”

published by by Athena Goodlight 10/2009 Healthmad