Help For Parents And Kids!

Traditional ways of learning required a teacher, a chalkboard, a desk, a ruler, pencil, and a textbook. A teacher with a stern, professional posture stood before the room with barely a smile on her face as she taught her class. This was the image seen in many movies and some adults actually had her in their class many years ago. She or he may have conducted a rather boring class, spending a lot of time talking over your head or talking to the chalkboard. The teacher restricted the class to textbook studies only and quizzes and tests every week. Every now and then it was a real treat for students to watch a movie in her class, even if it was boring and the film jumped around on the screen. As for field trips, forget about it, students were lucky if they got to have an additional recess from time to time. Then when test time came, the worksheets seemed to be as old as them. Oftentimes a student, with a raised arm, would say, “I can’t read number 15.” Then other students would nod or murmur in agreement. It would be a long school year in Mr. or Ms. XYZ’s class.

Years ago the Internet didn’t exist so we will just excuse Ms. XYZ for not having readily accessible information that could give her the ideas to stimulate her students. She may have been too busy grading papers or tending to her own family. Whatever her excuse, she has none nowadays. There are plenty of websites, articles, and other ways to make learning fun for children. The following suggestions may help you as a parent, who would like to assist your children or the teacher, stimulate her skills while making life more interesting for her class.

1. When beginning a new subject or topic to teach, why not decorate the class related to a theme. For instance, if you will be teaching about dinosaurs, why not have posters hanging in your classroom about dinosaurs?

2. Provide something fun related to your topic that children could take home to color, solve a puzzle or show off such as stickers or a colorful book that they can keep.

3. Always have an interesting DVD ready to “kick off” a new subject.

4. Set a time during the day, maybe Friday, where the students are required to work on a project together related to the topic. Students could try to piece a puzzle together, watch a video and write or draw what they really like from it, or play a game that will help them remember what you have taught them.

5. You may want a speaker to come in and talk about the subject other than you. Find out from parents if they know someone that would be willing to come to the classroom to speak on the topic you are teaching. Have the speaker bring something with them that will help the students remember his or her visit.

6. Talk with other teachers about what you are doing and maybe they would be willing to help you. They may be interested in getting their class to participate.

7. Research your local community on events that will aid you in your teaching. There may be a “free zoo day” and you just happened to be teaching on animals.

8. Watch out for sales. Sometimes products you may need to accompany your topic can be purchased at a reasonable price.

9. Tell parents both verbally and physically how you can use their input.

10. Visit online forums, blogs or create your own social networking profile to connect with other teachers to exchange ideas.

Brainy Baby: Right Brain $3.20 While there are many tapes designed to stimulate a baby's mind, Brainy Baby is unique in addressing left and right brain functions in distinct programs. Called "whole brain thinking," the theory is that if children are stimulated to use both sides of the brain--preparing them to think logically and creatively--they will become more adept at learning and problem solving. Capitalizing on this res...

Brainy Baby: Left Brain - Inspires Logical Thinking $14.99 It's called "whole brain thinking," the notion that if children are stimulated to use both sides of the brain--developing their abilities to think both logically and creatively--they will become more adept learners. Underscoring such research, the folks at Small Fry Productions (makers of Bilingual Baby) have produced Brainy Baby, which joins a host of worthy tapes designed to stimulate a baby's m...

Bee Smart Baby, Action Words! 2 [VHS] $6.99 ...

20 Minutes to Effective Parenting: Communication Skills $16.99 Are you ready to change your life - and your child's - in 20 minutes? That's all the time it will take to learn ten simple techniques, based on scientific research, to communicate more effectively with your child. Learn how with 20 Minutes to Effective Parenting: Communication Skills, the first in a series of instructional videos for parents created and hosted by Don Murray and endorsed by Dr. Kat...

Don't Doubt The Dream [VHS] Hang onto your chair... and your heart! Don't Doubt the Dream is an intense journey into the stressful, confusing and complex environment faced by at risk kids - kids with attention deficits, learning disabilities, or cognitive, emotional and behavioral problems. Many call it the most powerful workshop they have ever attended. This dynamic, award-winning presentation has inspired audiences worldwi...

Brainy Baby - Left Brain VHS $4.91 Left Brain - This unique video (one of a 2-part series) is for our littlest viewers perfect for Baby's first video! These 2 tapes work together to help develop both Left and Right sides of the brain. Left Brain features classical music and gentle voices, and focuses on such cognitive skills as Logic, Patterns, Letters & Numbers, Sequencing, Analyzing details, and more!...

All About Attention Deficit Disorder, Volume I [VHS] $12.95 In honest and straightforward language, this comprehensive guide describes how to recognize the symptoms of Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD), how to best treat it, and how to handle its effects in everyday situations. Parents, teachers, physicians, and mental health professionals benefit from learning the latest on medication treatment for the disorder that affects approximately 20 million childre...

Simple Signing with Young Children: A Guide for Infant, Toddler, and Preschool Teachers (Early Childhood Education) $15.66 Written for teachers of hearing children from birth to age six, Simple Signing is the perfect introduction to teaching young children through sign. There are chapters for infants, toddlers, and preschool children, with age-appropriate signs. The chapter written for teachers of infants focuses on using beginning signs as a bridge to communicating with words, while the toddler chapter focuses on sig...

The GIANT Encyclopedia of Learning Center Activities: For Children 3 to 6 $20.00 This book contains hundreds of accessible, teacher-written learning center activities. The GIANT Encyclopedia of Learning Center Activities is the eighth book in Gryphon House's GIANT Encyclopedia series. The learning centers in this book can either be permanent year-long centers or set up and removed according to the season or children's interests and needs. Through play, young children learn to ...

Creative Therapy for Children With Autism, ADD, and Asperger $11.72 CREATIVE THERAPY FOR CHILDREN WITH...

Subtraction Flash Cards $2.99 Subtraction Flash Cards are designed to help yoiur child develop basic math skills. Show youir child the card and have them say the problem out loud. The answer is in on the top reverse side of the card....

Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons $13.98 'Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons' is a complete, step-by-step program that shows parents simply and clearly how to teach their children to read. Spending twenty minutes a day is all that...

Baby Bargains: Secrets to Saving 20% to 50% on Baby Furniture, Equipment, Clothes, Toys, Maternity Wear and Much, Much More! $11.15 Congratulations, you're expecting a baby! What you may not be expecting is all of the requisite gear you "need" to look after your dear bundle. Fear not. Denise and Alan Fields, authors of Bridal Bargains, are here to tell you what's super and what's silly, and how to find it at the best price. You'll learn all about how (and where) to shop for a crib and dresser (including how to get Europe...

Parenting With Love And Logic (Updated and Expanded Edition) $15.09 Parenting with Love and Logic shows you how to parent effectively without anger, threats, nagging, or power struggles while teaching your children responsibility....

need help to find the fun out of the night games?

I and my neighbors want to do something fun in February MAT and our parents do

"Kick the can!" Put a coffee can in an open space. The person who is "it" is at his side and in 50 (or other) for all hides. Then he / she tries to get people before they can go to the box and kicking. Maybe it sounds like Kidstuff, but he played as a teenager and had an explosion. In addition, our parents knew where we were and what we did because they can hear us!

Parenting Basics : How to Get Children to Sleep in Their Own Bed

The Benefits of Bedsharing $79.95 Bedsharing can help the whole family feel good and be better rested. Most breastfeeding mothers around the world sleep with their babies, yet modern beds are designed for adult comfort, not infant safety. When the baby is sleeping separately from the mother, Mother responds to her babys needs in minutes; if they are bedsharing, she responds in secondsthus there is less dis­ruption to everyones s…

On Becoming Baby Wise: Giving Your Infant the Gift of Nighttime Sleep (On Becoming. . .) $5.45 The infant management concepts presented in this book have found favor with over two million parents and twice as many contented babies. On Becoming Babywise brings hope to the tired and bewildered parents looking for an alternative to sleepless nights and fussy babies. The Babywise Parent Directed Feeding concept has enough structure to bring security and order to your baby’s world, yet enough fl…

Seven Steps to Nighttime Dryness: A Practical Guide for Parents of Children with Bedwetting $4.29 Seven Steps to Nighttime Dryness is written for parents who need assistance with helping their child achieve dryness. Written by Renee Mercer, a nurse practitioner with years of success in helping kids learn to stay dry at night, she outlines a positive, very practical approach to ending bedwetting. In seven steps, you will learn: (1) What does and does not cause bedwetting; (2) How to selec…

Nighttime Parenting: How to Get Your Baby and Child to Sleep $4.94 Why do some families have fewer sleep problems than others? What works for most parents most of the time and why?Parenting is a full-time, twenty-four-hour-a-day job. Nighttime Parenting was written to make that job easier and to help the whole family–mother, father, baby–sleep better. It helps parents understand why babies sleep differently than adults, offers solutions to nighttime problems, a…