Category Archives: Parenting

Parenting Tips to Get Homework Done Quicker

School isn’t always fun, especially for the child who has a ton of homework and takes a long time to get it done. There are many parenting outlines that you can use to help your child, but this guide is what I personally use and what many of my friends and family use to get their child on the right track to getting their homework done faster.

The Ledger-Enquirer once wrote an article in March of 2009 about the importance of family and how each family played a role in the way each other developed. The article went on to talk about how the family attended an after school program that helped them succeed as a family and eventually helped them to get their children to do what they needed to do in school and at home. The article was useful since it showed that a child who is having trouble getting their homework done, might be doing so because of something going on inside the household.

Why families are important when dealing with homework

There are many things that a family can do to help a child to do their homework quicker. As a mother of six, I know how much children can argue and how sometimes the household can get louder than what you would like. A distraction like noise could be hindering your child’s ability to study or focus on an assignment. There are a lot of things that you can do to help your child to eliminate distractions and focus more, I will be going over these as well as giving you tips on how to bring their grades up.

Distractions from homework

A child can become easily distracted away from their homework if there is too much activity going on in the household. Try removing all distractions or locating your child’s work space in an area that is away from everything that is going on. As a parent who wants to help their child to get their homework done quicker you should also place pens, papers, and other helpful materials in reach of your child and near their homework area.

Is your child struggling?

If a child is struggling then they might not be getting it. If you are not sure if your child is struggling then you should start paying attention to their graded work to see how they are doing in school. If …

Parenting Mysteries: You Brought Home Baby – Now What?

Here you are, a brand new parent and proud as can be. You brought home your little bundle of joy, and you are simply awed and amazed at how perfect this little human being is. The odds are pretty good that you could spend hours just staring at this little person. At some point, however, you might be wondering just exactly what you are supposed to do now. After all, you are supposed to be playing, reading, and doing a host of other activities to ensure that your little baby is off to a good start, right?

Relax! The very first week, your baby will probably spend much of its time eating, sleeping, and filling up its diapers. Young infants such as these do not do much playing. As a matter of fact, the odds are pretty good that the little one will not care if you read Mother Goose, the book of Revelation, or War and Peace out loud. What does matter is that you interact with your baby.

These early interactions should take the form of skin on skin contact, if at all possible. Even without the skin to skin contact, your baby will love to just be held in your arms, hear your voice as you speak or sing, and just gaze into your eyes. You two are getting to know each other face to face, and while this interaction may seem like it is not leading to too much, it is extremely important and valuable!

You should never be too busy to snuggle with your baby, respond to its cries, speak and sing to the little one, and just take the time to imitate its little coos as you make eye contact. The dishes can wait, the toilet does not have to be scrubbed right this minute, and the letters can wait another day to be mailed out. What cannot wait is the golden opportunity to get to know your baby. At this point in time, this is the most important aspect of parenting. Soon enough the baby’s interests will branch out to include other people, toys, and other items she or he will be able to grasp; yet, at the beginning, it is just the two of you enjoying each other’s company. So do not worry about what you should do once you brought home your child. It will let you know when it is …

Best Parenting Advice Ever About Kids and Homework

You did homework, so did your spouse, so did every kid you have ever known. So, chances are your kids will have to do homework too. But now you are looking at homework from a totally new perspective. You are no longer the one struggling with the assignment or possibly looking for a way out of it all together. Instead you are trying to find good reasons why your child should commit himself or herself readily to the nightly stack of books. You may feel like you have tried everything. After all you’ve done the lectures, the grounding, the cutting off of cell phone privileges. How else does a parent get children to do their homework anyhow? Possibly some of the best parenting advice ever about kids and homework will help you over this necessary hurdle of parenthood.

1.  Setting the Stage The best parenting advice ever about kids and homework starts where most good drama does with the setting. Kids are no different than adults when it comes to concentration, so when it’s time to sit down and do some serious homework they need a serious setting where they can settle in and get the job done. For the youngest of students this may simply mean clearing off an end of the kitchen table, turning off the television in the adjoining room and making sure there is sufficient light. But for older children a little more care may need to be given.

Children may work best tucked away in their own room with the understanding that while they are working on homework the phone, television and any head banging music is off limits. If they share a room with a sibling, then setting up a reasonable use schedule may need some parental facilitation. Non studying siblings need to be somewhere else if they prove a distraction. Studying together at the same time in the same place is possible but depends upon the nature of the students and can only be determined through trial and error.

Kids who are middle school aged or older may occasionally find the need to use the school or public library for assignments. As parents you need to make sure on your own or with the help of a carpool to see that such a setting can be provided. Where ever they study kids need the correct equipment to succeed. Home study areas should always have …

Single Parenting and Homeschooling: You Can Do It

I have been homeschooling my children for 8 years now. I am married, but recently found myself separated. So now not only do I have the joy of raising my children, and homeschooling my children, Now I get to do it alone. At least for now. With this comes the added burden of how to support them, how to keep up with it all on my own. Of course there are new needs for the children now. They are insecure, unsettled, scared, and have many questions. At one point I thought there was no way I could do it all and still home school. As we move through life I find that everything that worked before does not work now. So as we go we change what needs change till I find something that works. For instance before we always started school fairly early in the morning, by 9 AM. We had a set order the subjects were done, time, the whole thing was very organized. We all need some flexibility now. I am working from home. This changes things a lot. So we have to do school, chores, errands, free time, showers/baths, yard work,animals care,and anything else that comes our way around my work schedule. Luckily I found a company that I can set my ours each week, go around my needs for the most part. But if I cant work it during the day, guess what I do that night? Yes you guessed it, I work! So now schooling has changed. Not only do we not have a set schedule, our whole approach changed! The kids must do 1 lesson in Math everyday, they must do Spelling every day, we use Spelling Power and love it! Then we switch gears and move over to the Robinson curriculum, so for the most part the rest of their day is spent reading. I also count it for school if they play educational games, on the Computer or board games, if they write, journal, cook, bake,walk or exercise, park trips, field trips, watch an educational movie, listen to an educational tape or CD. These things all count, and my children d most of those things daily because they like to. The older children help care for younger children while I work. They take turns making lunch. Their chores, well we do them at different times, it depends on my work schedule. …

Stepparenting: A Dirty Job

Love alone is not the reason for getting married. Five years ago, I met a wonderful man and his 7-year old son, Ben. Ben has major behavior issues and I found Ben quite challenging. A few years later, Mike proposed marriage and I accepted because I loved my then fiance so much. I was already once divorced and vowed any future marriages would be made with good sense. My good man doted on me and treated me like a queen. In retrospect, I think Mike was so attentive to combat his difficult son. Well, I have been married one year now. It feels like 20 years. My husband actually likes that it feels like twenty years. His response when I say it has been twenty years is, “That is a good sign baby because twenty years went by so fast.” He is delusional.

I am sure to my stepson it feels like 100 years. He is 12 years old now and is a miserable boy. He blames me when he gets bad grades. He blames me for everything. The truth is his challenges have been present long before I even existed in his life. He stares am me at least 10 times a day like I am alien. I swear some times he just wants to knock the crap out of me! He barely talks to me. Basically, he wishes I did not exist.

I must exist because my stepson needs new clothes, he needs to eat and have a place to live. I am expected to “be a mother” yet accept nothing in return. That is why I deem stepparenting a dirty job. I am expected to be sweet and supportive to a boy who despises me. How do I manage to do this? I keep my distance to avoid a war. It is the only way I have been able to survive one year of marriage. My poor husband is left to do most all discipline related actions. Sometimes he wonders why he married me. As a single father, I am sure he expected some relief with two parents in the household.

Don’t just think twice if you are considering being a stepparent. Think about it at least a hundred times. It is a dirty job that can leave you covered with unhappiness and bitterness.…

Parenting Tips for a Working Mother

Helped by new government standards and improved childcare provision, mums now have more choice when it comes to deciding whether or not to work. Nowadays, 45% of new mums go back to work after the birth of their baby.

There are many important reasons why you as a first-time mum might want to continue working. Yours may be the only income if you are a single mum or your partner has been made redundant; you may be following a career; you may want to work to give you a sense of value; or perhaps because your own mother coped successfully with work and children. If you have always worked, you may also have to ask yourself if you would feel right about being dependent on your partner financially. Work can also give you another outlook on life – because staying at home with baby can often feel very isolating for some mums.

– Make sure you tell your employer as soon as possible about your pregnancy. Employers are legally required to keep a woman’s job open for her if she is going on maternity leave. If you are intending to return to work, discuss with your employer the opportunities for working part-time on your return. Or perhaps job-sharing (equally sharing your current hours with a colleague), or working more family-friendly, flexible hours (coming into work later and leaving earlier) may be possible. Sorting things out during your pregnancy will not only give your employer time to make new arrangements to help you. It will also enable you to organize good childcare where your baby will be loved and well cared for;

– There is a standard entitlement for maternity leave. In general, every woman who is in work while she is pregnant is entitled to at least 18 weeks’ maternity leave. Maternity pay depends very much upon your individual circumstances regarding length of service with your employer and your National Insurance contributions. Check your details first with your employer. If you need any further help, contact your local Benefits Agency Office (you’ll find the address in your phone book) who will be able to work out your entitlements based on your personal situation.

Whatever your reasons for working, you are bound to experience mixed emotions about leaving your new baby when the time comes. It is normal to worry that your baby will not be happy without you, or that …

Parenting: Being a Stay-At-Home Mother

In defense of stay-at-home mothers. While my children were growing up, I was a stay-at-home mother. Often times, people would ask me what I did for work. When I said that I didn’t work outside of the home it seems the conversation had immediately lost interest and was dropped. It was as if I suddenly became a “lesser” person just because I didn’t have a “job” or bring home a paycheque. But to me, doing without some luxuries and that extra cheque, was far less important than the “job” I was doing….looking after my children!

WEIGHING OUT THE PROS AND CONS of stay-at-home parenting.

If you’re only working so that you can afford all those little “extras” in life, I definitely think that stay-at-home parenting is the best option. Yes, some mothers do have to work due to extenuating circumstances in their lives. When a mother is single and working just to pay for rent/mortgage on her own, or if married and her husband is working a lower paying job, then it is probably a necessity for her to work.

However, it’s a fact that there are so many instances of mothers working only so they can have that extra SUV in the driveway, or the 3,000 square foot luxury home, the yearly expensive holidays, trips to the spa, and/or all the trappings of a modern, stylish life. I would add here, that it would be at the expense of their children. Yes, I am probably sounding harsh to those very mothers, but is it that important to have so much material wealth, taking valuable time away from your children, leaving their upbringing to the care of strangers or day care centers? If a young toddler were able to have their say, I am certain that they would vote to have their mothers at home with them, and probably settle for less toys and fancy, brand name clothes. These things hold no value or desire to a child!

There was a time in history when the parents had to work to literally put a meal on the table. Fortunately, in this day and age, North Americans are doing quite well, that there is usually a little money left over for the finer things in life. It depends on how many of these finer things you think you need to have. Priorities need to be put into perspective.

LIVING WITH LESS…