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Learning from school is often associated with learning from textbooks, it is true somehow. School develops child’s academic performance while enrichment programs after school are toward developing talent or skill of a child. Parents shall do the checklist before enrolling a child into after school program:

• The objectives and goals must be clear. Ask about what kids will learn during the program, how are the measures for kids achievement, the number of kids and their age in the class. You certainly want to make sure that your child fits into the program where there are kids of his age.
• Safety is the main requirement of after school program. Look for the program that has professional and trained coach/staff.
• Fun and recreational. Avoid rigorous and boring after school activities.
• Take into child’s opinion. He/she will join the program not you. Gauge his/her interest. You may ask for a trial class and you may watch her response during the trial class.

After school program are all about enhancing a child’s sense of competence. Good and effective after school programs support the resilience of kids and help them to grow stronger, mentally, emotionally and physically. Some benefits of after school program are:

1. Widen child’s interest. Kids learn something new, it’s challenging and fun. Mastering a new skill will boost child’s self confidence.
2. Enhance social skills. Kids meet other kids who share the same interest and make new friends.
3. Keeps kids busy and entertained. The program will divert kids attention from PC and television. Kids will put their energy and creativity throughout the program.

You may do evaluation if the after school program fits your child. Enroll one program at the time. Add another if your child can take in. Art, ballet, gymnastic, sports, drama/acting, music are examples of good after school programs which kids can learn and develop a new skill. Kids will take up a new skill easily when they start young as they are within the window of development and parents shall take this opportunity to develop young talent.

photo credit: Orecchio di Grano

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School is a place where kids learn social skills and bullying is part of kids growing up. Sometimes, parents or educator often overlooks and regards it as harmless teasing. Bullying may start as teasing which is fun and playful. When teasing is done constantly and the victim gets hurt and angry, it is no longer fun. Bullying can be in forms of verbal or physical abuse. Verbal abuse even go unnoticed and bring psychological damage to the kids and affect s their performance at school. It is important for parents to notice if the child bullies other kids or the child becomes the victim.

Why kids become the victim of bullying
A child often becomes the victim of bullying if he is one of a kind or different from the rest of the kids. A child who has different physical appearance such as too thin or too fat often becomes the victim. If the child is introvert, she may often keep to herself about the verbal abuse or she may worry about her parents’ reaction. Most parents don’t notice if there is no physical injuries. Look for signs when the child shows no enthusiasm of going to school. Coax the child to talk about her friends and find out if she becomes the victim of bullying. Tell her that it is not her fault if she gets bullied. The following strategies may work:

1. Cool down strategies or show Poker Face. Show no expression or no interest when bullying started. Hold the anger or tears. The kids who bully will get satisfaction when the victim cries or gets angry.
2. Talk with someone. Talk with someone older who has been the victim such as her elder sibling. He may have the solution and sharing the similar bad experience makes your child feel better.
3. Tell an adult. Teacher can be a mediator to help stop bullying. Talk between parents of kid who bullies and parents of bullying victim may help resolve the problem if both parents can understand.
4. Remove the luxury. If kids bring luxury items to school, it can be the prey of other kids. Just bring the basic necessities so your child will not fall into a victim.

Why kids bully
Kids bully because kids may feel superior and they think that bullying or teasing the victim is fun and cool. It brings popularity for them or they may follow others to join bullying because of friendship. It is important for parents to teach kids to respect others and appreciate the differences and not making jokes when they see other kids who are different.

At home, you can try to lessen the effect of bullying. Find activities that bring self confidence for your child and make your child happy. Discourage bullying among siblings.

Bullying have existed years after years even when I was in primary school.  I was a victim of bullying during primary and high school. I remembered that my parents talked to the parents of kid who bullied me by repetitive name calling in primary school and it resolved the problem. When I reunited with my school mate in high school recently, he didn’t even remember that he bullied me once.  But bullying leaves a deep scar for the victim that will remember for life.   For my kids,  they just bring basic necessities, decent lunch and less money in school so older kids won’t prey for them.

Diary of Wimpy Kid is just one example of how bullying happened at school. We, parents sometimes them. Phrases that we speak out or actions that we do can make our kids become the victim.

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Kids will love schooling if they find out that learning is fun. Homework & rote learning isn’t the solution to help kids master or learn the subject. In fact, kids will probably hate school if they have to learn this way. As parents, you can inquire from the school if you are about to register pre-school or primary school for your kids.  Alternatively, you can add fun learning methods below which are more effective and appealing for young kids. Fun learning methods works for kids below 12 years old or kids in primary school and pre-school. When they get used to it, they will carry on when they are in secondary school. In fun learning methods, kids are taught not to be spoon-fed with the information, they must actively involve to find the information and teachers act as a guide.

Fun Learning Methods for Kids

1. Practical Examples
Besides kids learn theories from the textbook and do homework on their workbook, kids need practical examples. Take an example of give & take away with the real objects so kids can learn subtraction and addition easily.

2. Show and Tell
I guess every child likes to pretend play as a teacher. In show and tell, a child takes an initiative to be a teacher, an opportunity to explain to his peers about a particular topic. An example: when they study about flower or plant, each child can bring one particular flower or plant to classroom and she must gather the information about that particular plant or flower before show and tell. Kids will learn about presentation skill.

3. Mind Mapping & Visualization
I believe drawing and coloring is the most fun activity for kids. Why don’t transform information they learn into drawing and charts or map. If you are interested about memory techniques for kids, you can visit Students Winning Edge.

4. Case Study or Working in a Group
Kids love to think and they can find out the solution if we ask a question “why” or give them a case. Case study is an exercise which kids are taught to think in a real life situation which often prevail in adult working life. Students are normally required to work in a group. Besides exercising creative thinking skill, kids learn to work together to and to cooperate since they are young. They have to produce the solution or answer as a result of working in a group.

5. Quiz
Quiz can be a fun learning activity. Spelling quiz or a series of questions in maths or other subjects which students can compete against each other to answer the questions in a short time.

6. Project
Kids will learn how to summarize their observation, information and together with their creativity in a project. Below is the rain forest project that my child made when she learned about rain forest and visited rain forest.

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Ever thought about Goal Setting for Kids? Goal setting is one of the most important skills that a person can learn, and the earlier this skill is learned, the more chances there are for successful outcomes in a person’s life. Adults know that goal setting is all about planning, making progress with that plan and reaching final goals or achievements. Once a child learns how to do this, they can use this tool for more success in school and at home.

Goal setting for kids will help your children to do well on their school tests and in activities such as sports, music programs or outside academic or arts programs – even at home, and with their personal finances. Teaching your child how to be a goal setter will give them a sense that they are capable of whatever they want to do. That’s valuable! Learn more about Goal Setting for Kids.

How to help your child be a goal setting child

Goal setting for children is basically the same as for adults, with a few caveats. Because they are young, and not as emotionally or cognitively developed, goals should be smaller and more tangible. The idea with goal setting for kids is to get them started in the life-long frame of mind for thinking, planning and taking action to achieve results. The basic premises of goal setting remain the same. You can help your child learn to set goals by working through these steps with him:

Ask, “What do you want to achieve?” – Help your child describe in specific terms something he would like to do that will take some work/planning (getting an A on his next math test, earning money to purchase a certain kind of bicycle).

Ask, “How will you get there?” – Help him plan out the steps to take and the mini-goals to reach on his way to the ultimate goal.

Establish accountability – Have your child write down what he wants to achieve and what his plan for getting there is. He can read it each day to help him with personal accountability, and he can share it with you, or another trusted adult to help him stay motivated, inspired and on-track.

Achieve – Achievement is not only for the final outcome, but also for the small goals that are met along the way.

Review plan/goals/outcomes – Throughout the process and at the end as well, review with your child the plan and how it is going. Do adjustments need to be made? How does he feel about his progress and where it is leading? How was the goal setting experience for him?

If your child does not reach his ultimate goal, talk to him about what he learned on the way. He still has learned valuable lessons about planning and goal setting, and he’s probably learned about himself. Encourage him to not give up on dreams that are important to him, but that if one plan doesn’t work, he has to revise the plan and try again.

Teaching your child to be a goal-setting child is one of the best things you can do.

You will be giving him or her, a valuable gift that they will use for their entire lives, empowering them to achieve wonderful things in every area of life. Goal setting for kids is a skill that will be built on throughout an entire lifetime. Find out a fantastic resource about Goal Setting for kids.

Winsome Coutts holds a teacher’s certificate in education and has written hundreds of articles on self-development. She has studied with Bob Proctor and John Demartini, popular teachers featured on “The Secret” DVD. She is the passion behind Goal Setting for kids and is a parent and grandparent.

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Young kids like to observe things and learning science through hands-on experiments and observation is fun and exciting. Kids are curious and you can help them to understand science by answering their questions. A trip to the zoo,animal farm, butterfly park or science center can be learning resources as kids learn and have fun from the observation. At home, you can use everyday materials to make science project with your kids. Please choose short time, safe and easy to do science experiments for young kids.

Some easy-to-do science experiments at home for young kids are:
1. Float and Sink. Draw a table to record the items if it sinks or floats. You need a variety of items such as light and heavy items and items made of different kinds of materials such as metal, wood and plastic.
2. Reflection. Flat and curved mirror (concave or convex) will show different reflection of you. My kids laugh when they see their reflection on the concave or convex mirror.
3. Pull Action with Magnet. You can experience with different objects made of different materials. Which objects do the magnet pull?
4. Having Pets. Pet is a also an object for observation. When we have hamsters, we let kids find out the information such as their behaviours and food and compare it with the real observation.
5. Create electricity. You can create static electricity for an object. Comb kids’ hair several times and cut tissue paper into small pieces. What happen to the tissue paper when the comb is placed closely above them.
For more kids science experiments for young and older kids, you can visit Kids Science Experiments.

If you like to get more ideas of Science projects , you can browse Science
Science Projects for Young Kids.

Here is an example of  online play that relates to science, helping the plant grow. Kids will learn that too much water and sun will make the plant die.

When kids do science project, help them to write down or record their experiment and observation. They can note down what materials they use, the procedure, the result or what happened. They can add picture, photos, their own drawing, a chart and table. This exercise will train them to be an organized and observant person when they grow up later. Remember to have fun with science project even if the result doesn’t come as expected.

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Summer is a time to go outdoor and enjoy nature. Parents shall encourage kids to explore nature and nature projects for kids is one kind of fun summer activities. If your kids have studied about plants, flowers and animals in their science subject, it’s time to go outdoor to make some observations and collect specimens during summer. What tools kids need to have in their observations:

1. Record book
2. Magnifying glass
3. Binoculars
4. Camera (optional)

Plants Observation

Kids can study about germination, a process where a new plant emerges from a seed. Seed is a little baby plant protected with a tough shell around and a tiny hole in it.  If we provide them with the right environment, the seed will grow into a plant. Kids can use soil or moistened cotton wool. When the seed gets water, water goes through this tiny hole. Tiny root pushes through the hole and if you provide water and sunlight, the new plant starts to grow.

Take a walk in the park or garden, kids can observe and study closely about the leaves, flowers and tree structure and how respiration, photosynthesis and pollination happen on the real plant. They can collect different kinds of seeds, leaves or flowers from different kinds of plants. Kids can choose one plant and observe it every day or every few days and watch what happens to the plant. Kids can compare between the facts and their real finding.

Fun project for kids:

• Create gift wrap from the printed leaves. Use different kinds of leaves with colourful paint. Paint the back of leaves which have veins and print them to the large plain paper.
• Tie dye t-shirt with natural dyes from beetroot or berries.
• They can collect different leaves, flower, seeds, wood branch for their collection box and use magnifying glass to reveal their findings.

Animals Observation

Insects such as ants and lady bug, mollusc such as snail and crawly animals on the beach can be an object of observation for your kids. Please be careful with some insects or sea animals that can sting or are poisonous. Seashells can be interesting specimens to collect. They can use magnifying glass or binoculars to observe the animals and their activities.

Fun project for kids:

• Make a collection box for bird feathers and seashells.
• They can make decorative box or photo frame from painted seashell.
• Create a mini man-made pond with stones, water plants and water and put it in the garden. Let’s see what animals will visit the pond and make it as their home.

Encourage your kids to write their finding or observation after they explore nature.  This way will cultivate their curiosity and the love for nature and science. They will learn how to write a report and compare their finding with the facts.  Summer activities through exploring nature and nature projects for kids are not only fun but children take up learning outside the classroom.

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Summer is perfect time for kids to have fun. Kids makeover is one of fun summer activities for kids.  Kids love to be different sometimes and kids makeover play is certainly fun and encourages creativity and imagination. Kids makeover play together with some role play can boost communication skill, confidence and self-esteem.

Body Art Painting

Every child loves to draw, to color and to paint. Decorating part of  their body with art painting could be exciting. Stickers are easy to use but where is the fun. Kids can experiment body art painting with semi permanent henna tattoos, no pain but fun. Egyptians and Indians have practiced body art painting by using paste from henna plant. The henna tattoos will last around 2 weeks. You can buy ready made henna paste these days. The body art painting can apply on the forehead, arms, feet or even tummy.  Let older kids experience how to paint her friend’s body. The simple pattern of henna tattoos for kis are simple curves, leaves and flowers. They can practice with tooth paste first because the henna paste has the same texture as tooth paste.

Hairstyle Makeover

Bored with the ponytail? How about hair braiding? Make use gift wrapping ribbons, hairclips or even  real flowers to decorate kids’ braiding hair.

Dress Up Play

Kids like to play dress up as a Princess or her idol. Let them mix and match clothes, scarf and use other craft stuffs such as beads, crepe paper or shiny decorative paper. They can dress up other kids or their siblings.

photo credit: GiddeanX

Mask Making

Create your own mask by painting and decorating the mask. Put on the mask and they are ready to play.

photo credit: A. Strakey