Read more articles for “parenting” and child development on Education.com

This Mother’s day treat the mom in your life with flowers.

My girl, Aimee, treated mother’s day as a festival that could last in a week. I thought that she only gave Mother’s day cards to me and my mother in law only. But, she had an initiative to give a mother’s day card to the auntie whom she likes. Aimee is a little kid with a big heart and a big hand writing. Surely, the auntie won’t miss a single word to read.  The auntie who gets a mother’s day card is Xin Yi’s mother. Xin Yi is my elder daughter’s friend and Aimee likes Xin Yi and her mother.

Read more articles for “parenting” and child development on Education.com

Just a little reminder:

This Mother’s day treat the mom in your life with flowers.

How would we encourage kids to have compassion for the underprivileged kids? When kids have early exposure to charity work and get them involved at young age, their empathy will grow naturally.

It is Michelle Woo’s idea to expose students from her music center to give a public performance which carries a charity mission.  The charity concert is called “Kids for Kids Charity Concert” and this year,  the 4^th concert is going to be grand because it will be held at Sunway University  Multi Purpose Hall on 23^rd May 2010 at 2 pm.   You can visit  Kids for Kids Charity Concert Facebook Group for more details or you can contact Brian Lee or Michelle Woo for the tickets. The ticket is priced affordable at RM 20 each.  If kids have a big heart to spare their time and efforts for the charity concert , why not you?  Let’s support the charity concert for a good cause and enjoy a good performance. The sales of the tickets will go to New Life Care Center, a Private Independent Welfare Organization in Port Dickson.

Now, let’s get personal with Michelle Woo with her Kids for Kids Charity Concert.

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Have you ever noticed your toddler try to button up his shirt or to put on his shoes? It actually sends signals to parents that he learns to be independent. Preschool or kindergarten also plays a part to teach young kids about responsibility and independence before they enter primary school. That’s true, going to school means that a child is responsible for his life, to be an independent person. When a child, 3+ starts to go to kindergarten or preschool, he learns to adapt his life into a society, apart from daddy and mommy. Read More »

Don’t wait until your children grow up to be a teenage and we start to teach them about money. We can teach the schooling kids about money as young as they are in primary one or year 1. At primary one, they learn the basic math and I see the math book that incorporates the value of money in terms of addition and subtraction. Children are observers and they learn fast from observing their parents. Here are 8 simple ways to teach the young kids, preschoolers and schooling kids about money in plain words or casual conversation.  Read More »

If a child has a self-belief, he will succeed in his study and his social life. There is a case of a student who studied hard but couldn’t manage her negative feeling, a fear of failure. Even how hard he studied, he would forget everything on the day of the test.

Here are 5 effective self-help tips for kids to reinforce  their self-belief:  

1. Help your child in their study. Even if your child takes a tuition, it doesn’t mean that the responsibility for coaching him is on tuition teachers.  You need to monitor his progress as well in their study.
2. Pat them on their back.  Loving touch or hug make them more secure and loved. Give them words of encouragement if they need one. Praise them if they do well.
3. Get to know if your child socializes well at school. If you find that your child become a bully victim, you must overcome this problem first. When the child is bullied for a long time, he will have a low self-esteem. 
4. Encourage your child to do his best but don’t set target. If your child can’t achieve the target, both of you will be disappointed. Don’t use threats and rewards to push the child’s achievements. Threat will intrigue a fear. As for rewards, he will get used to them: no reward, no result. He will ask about the rewards before he do or achieve something.
5. Show them positive words, positive images and invite them to listen to motivational audios or videos. You can hang some positive images with words in their room or around your house to give a positive energy for you and your family.

I also like to share my experience dealing with my child’s negative feeling when she was about to go to primary school.
From a kindergarten to a primary school is a big step. Kids are expected to be independent and responsible for their belonging. Teachers are no longer caring and there are more pupils in a class. My eldest was afraid to go to primary school on the first day. She said she didn’t want to learn difficult things, she wanted to learn easy one. I said it was okay to feel afraid. Everyone needed to move forward in life. We talked about her feeling, what made her afraid, what she should do at school. We took a look at Self Help Books for Kids by Joy Berry; Let’s talk about feeling afraid and feeling shy. When she knew the real situation in the book, it would make her less afraid.

It is no doubt that kids are getting smarter and more mature in the 21st century. Parents, schools and the society play a role to shape a smarter kid.

Moms-to-be are eager to accelerate the unborn baby’s intelligence by taking the right supplements and stimulating  unborn baby’s brain by listening to classical music is one example of parents have brought up a smarter kid. A child 5+ favors High School Musical rather than Mickey Mouse is a sign of  kids are getting mature nowadays.

You may see more changes below that affect our kids in terms of:

Education
Teamwork and communication skills become more important for schooling kids. You may see that show and tell and role play develop kids for public speaking. Project assignment at school is to develop kids’ writing skills. Computer, art, drama and sport are taught from pre-school level. Learning ABC is more fun using Kids Activities, Games and Crafts.  Parents have choices for school: public, private or even smart schools. From a blackboard and chalks to a whiteboard and a marker and eventually, an interactive smart board connected to computer and internet bring a progress in learning process. There are tuitions and enrichment programs for learning kids. Schooling Kids can now learn fast and easy with Memory Training Techniques.

School/Teachers-Parents Communication
It may happen that the communication between school/teachers and parents will be conducted via school’s website and emails rather than printed materials. Parents can access to school’s website to view the child’s progress and other information about the child.

Internet
Kids are more computer or internet savvy today. Preschooler, a child 4+ is taught to use the mouse to browse the computer screen. Kids can learn to read independently from the native speaker by using Interactive Phonics Learning Program. Primary school kids learn typing using Microsoft Word. To do the school projects, kids use Yahoo or Google search for information search as their resources. Teachers also use You Tube as resources to get an inspiration for choreography of the school production. Some of my kid friends have their own e-mail address though they are only 8+.

Technology
Technology benefits kids if we can supervise the kids how to use it wisely. Parents have choices for electronic toys for babies. Wooden Toys and Genius Toys are designed in such a way for kids to play and learn, develop kids creativity, imagination and problem solving skills. Electronic games such as PlayStation can entertain older kids. Electronic dictionary helps kids build vocabularies. Some Kids have their own computer and television in their own room. We don’t agree with these as we can’t watch over them. Our kid’s friends bring a hand phone though we think they are still too young.

I raise 2 young kids and I view how today’s kids are different from my generation.  If you are parents, please share your opinion and get free smart parenting e-book  as a token of appreciation if your comment or feedback is published.    

Please note that this is not a professional advice but I share my experiences as a learning mama whose kids who often catch common cold.  I hope my tips for kids with common cold can be resources for other moms. Common cold is a very common mild infection affecting nose and throat. However, if common cold is not treated early, it will lead to severe infection and complications such as bronchitis, pneumonia or asthma. My youngest kid was hospitalized once due to bronchitis. So, I try my best that it will not happen again.

When your kids attend pre-school or kindergarten, they will get common cold frequently. I can’t protect my kids catching cold from other kids, so I treat the common cold as early as possible when the symptoms show up. I’m using some herbal or home remedies for my kids and family with common colds. Some herbal remedies used in our food or kitchen are known for their antibacterial and antiviral properties

Ginger. I brew ginger herbal tea for 15 minutes or more and add honey to disguise the slightly hot taste of ginger. I’m using ginger herbal tea, manufactured from Hovid pharmaceutical company. Other than ginger is Folium Mori or Mulberry leaves herbal tea which also works against common cold. You can prepare your own ginger concoction:

• cut ginger into small pieces or slices
• you can add tea if you want
• pour in fresh boiling water and brew for few minutes
• strain or remove the ginger pieces and add honey or rock sugar to sweeten the drink

Garlic & Onion.  It is better to eat them raw to get the benefits but the smell is rather strong. The heat or cooking will take away the good use of garlic as a cure for cold.  Pharmaceutical company like Blackmore or Natural Factor have produced garlic tablet, garlic oil, garlic capsule from garlic and this makes easier for kids to benefit from garlic. My kids are taking low dosage odourless garlic from Blackmore, recommended for kids 6-12 years old.

Echinacea.  Echinacea Purpurea can treat cold in adults and kids by enhancing the immune system and fight infections. It is available in liquid or tablets. The liquid is rather strong and for a child, 2+. You should dilute the Echinacea liquid with honey and water.

Vitamin C. Low dosage maintenance of vitamin C can prevent common cold and high dosage of vitamin C in short period is to shorten the period of common cold.

Turmeric. I didn’t try this but my friend did. She grounded fresh turmeric root and squeezed the juice ½-1 teaspoon and fed the juice to her child for a relief of sore throat.

Manuka Honey. It is a kind of honey that has antibacterial properties.

Lozenge. It soothes sore throat. You can find lozenge in Manuka honey or Echinacea.

Lo Han Kuo.  Lo Han Kuo is a type of sweet fruit from China. You can make concoction from this fruit and it is  also available in ready made beverage. My kids are taking it for a relief of cough.

Food to abstain during common cold are:

• Dairy products, according to Blackmore Health Bookmark
• Fruits, which may trigger phlegm, advised by Indian doctor
• Chicken, which may cause more allergy for cough, advised by Chinese

I wish my sharing can be  tips for parents or tips for moms to raise Healthy Kids, guard them against common cold. Please participate in sharing your tips at Tips for Moms and Kids and get free giveaway e-book.