Dennis

Kids can be so obsessed with books and have little or no time for writing. Writing is very important because it is the medium by which we can express ourselves and also put forth through stories, poetry, drama and so many other things. It is not easy and so it requires practice and that is why it needs to be emphasized at home. If your kid isn’t doing well at writing or perhaps he or she has an interest in writing but feels lazy to write? Then you need to do something about it. Writing is one of the skills a preschooler must learn because that is the foundation of education. Now that your child is now developing more socially, has real friendships and understands the causes of feelings. Physically they are much more coordinated in high energy activities such as running and climbing and may have progressed to riding a tricycle. All children develop at different rates; however, in this age range, there are some skills that are especially important for your child’s self-esteem and learning. For example, being able to speak clearly is important in order to be understood by others and to write too, especially the alphabets. Your kid might be lagging behind but you could do more to help him meet up the level he should be at already. Here are tips on ways that you can promote writing at home 1. Be an example Parents are role models to their kids and so they take after you because they learn through actions and not just by word. Therefore, begin to write yourself, it doesn’t have to be a great novel but maybe just a story to show how exciting writing could be. This could be done in different ways, like a power point presentation or a poem or even a work memo. All these are to arouse the interest and excitement of the kid towards writing and the impression you give to your kid is very important. 2. Make it part of family time Family time is very important because it helps the family to spend time together and also to bond more because, during family time, everyone is doing the same thing. And since everyone is doing the same thing, you kid will also do the same and get the impression that it is something of high value. If you didn’t have a family time, now is the time to create one. It is an opportunity to get the whole family involves a writing activity including yourself of course. It could be a brief summary of the events that occurred to each of you during the day or week and this could be read aloud. For your little kid, you could ask them to write anything they want. 3. Make it competitive It is not a secret that kids love to compete, whether at home or at school. If you want to control the TV on Saturday night, give the kids a writing assignment [...]

Starting a junk removal business seems like a straightforward self-employment idea. It might also seem like a good prospective business for your kid especially if he is a teenager and your neighbourhood is one that has the market. People are looking to get rid of junk, and they pay you to do it. Better yet, in a time of affluent baby boomers and people reaching retirement, there is more opportunity than ever before for household junk services. While junk removal can be a very successful small business, here are eight points that your kid might weigh while he is deciding whether or not to enter this line of work. Points to Consider 1. Perform a market research in your area Regarding competitor analysis, find out who the local junk haulers are, and try to determine which ones are successful, and why. Call some of them and ask for junk removal prices. This search should include not only independent junk removal providers but also some of the larger junk removal franchise players and others. To be successful, you need to understand not only the prevailing rates charged but also your cost, including overhead, of properly disposing or recycling junk so that you can determine your profit. It is very possible that you do not have any idea of a junk removal business, so knowing the market helps you to get a better start and avoid making mistakes. Another aspect of your market research might be to take a job with another junk removal company for an initial period so as to gain a better understanding of the business. If your kid is planning to make an investment to get into the new enterprise, this will help him gain an understanding of the business before investing in it. You will need to find out rates for various types of junk. Some will go straight to the landfill, while others might be sold to scrap dealers, donated to charities, or other use, and as such impact your cost of removal. 2. Create a business plan Your business plan spells out how you intend to start your business and make money. Start by stating your objective, vision and explaining what exactly you will do (which market you will serve, any specialties, etc.). Then, include your market research showing that there is room in the market for your business. Go on to explain your pricing model, startup costs, marketing strategy, and how you plan to fund your business. it is more like a sketch of what your business is all about and what entails it. 3. Check out the laws There may be local, state and federal laws applicable to the lawful disposal of junk, and especially hazardous waste. There may be fines applied if disposal is not carried out legally. Acquire a business license. Register your company according to your local government requirements and guidelines for waste carriers. You may need to contact your local chamber of commerce branch to get more specifics on these requirements, as they vary between different [...]

YouTube can be very interesting and addictive for kids. This is not bad in general especially when your kid starts developing an interest in becoming a YouTube star herself. So when your kid think of becoming a YouTube star does not discourage them, all you need to do is keep a watchful eye on them. It is normal for kids to get obsessed with YouTube videos because it isn’t that different from performing on stage, the only difference that the audience isn’t family and friends but the world. Your kid will only see the positive side of the channel and not understand how this could impact their lives. As a parent your need to offer guidance and support so that he or she can do this safely. Admittedly, allowing children to post videos on the internet can be a bit scary, but it doesn’t have to be. As long as parents actively participate and monitor their child’s activity it is entirely possible for children to safely start their own YouTube channel. Do not feel as though you can’t do anything, with the steps below you will get started in now time: Steps to take when starting a YouTube channel for your kid 1. Think about what you want to achieve Before you do anything, you need to figure out what you’re hoping to get out of building a presence on YouTube. This will help you decide what type of videos you want to create and define the right audience for your content. So, if your kid wants to create contents for business then their target audience would be potential customers. Having a goal in mind from the start means you’ll be creating content that your audience will want to subscribe to, bookmark, and share with a friend or colleague. If you focus on content that is useful to your audience, your viewers will see you as a trusted resource of information. If people like your kids content, this will lead to more subscribers. 2. Know the rules It is said that knowledge is power because with it you know what to do. Hence, it is important that you know that YouTube forbids children under the age of 13 to create their own accounts and children between 133 and 17 are only allowed to open accounts with parental permission. However, the rules do not say that parents can’t open an account for their child; so this is allowed. In fact, it is happening all over YouTube and there are kids with lots of subscribers that are way below the age of 13. So, the great news is that you can open a YouTube channel for your kid and help them to do what they so dearly want. Give them a chance to express themselves and show the world what they can do. How to set it up Create a Gmail account for your child if he or she is under 13 years old. This will give him or her a YouTube [...]

Parents generally get caught in a nagging cycle out of habit; we get stuck in repetitive behaviors just like kids do. Personally, I think giving a general reminder is fine. It’s perfectly okay for parents to say, “All right guys, let’s get to work now.” But after that, they need to get started. The problem with nagging, of course, is that it doesn’t work. Too many times, parents continue to do things that don’t work because they don’t have any other options. Once you turn your back on your child, they stop doing their chores—and then you have to get back on top of them, and the whole cycle repeats itself. With teenagers, this can very frustrating because they can be very annoying with their remarks and smirks or sarcasm, which can just make you get really mad. If you feel like you’re constantly on top of your teenage kids, trying to get them to do their household chores, here are some effective things you can do to give yourself—and them—a break. Steps to follow to get your teenage kids to do chores 1. Stop the show I personally believe that parents really need to learn to stop the show. You might wonder, what does this mean? If your child is not doing his chores, you simply stop everything and tell him or her to have a seat and talk to them about it. You must have a conversation with your kid because, at their age, they are matured enough to understand what they are doing. Find out what his plans are after he finishes the chores and try to motivate him to do it so that he can get enough time to focus on whatever he wants to do later. Appealing to your kid's self-interest is way effective than explaining the abstract concept of responsibility because at their age they actually know their responsibility but do not want to do it. 2. Do not turn the chore into punishment Parents are advised not to use chores as a means of punishment. If somebody misbehaves and does something wrong, don’t give them a consequence of doing the dishes for example. The only time this is acceptable is when your child does something wrong to another sibling. In order to make amends—to right the wrong—they do that person’s chore for them. That’s a physical way of saying, “I was wrong to do that and I’m doing your chore to show you that I’m sincere.” That’s the only time when I advocate that parents use chores as something more than an assigned task. 3. Assign Specific Chores Ahead of Time Asking your teen to do a spontaneous chore can lead to an argument. Put yourself in that situation, where your boss keeps giving you random assignments at work which makes you close late or interferes with your schedule, you would definitely be upset.  If you see your teen watching TV on Saturday morning and you suddenly ask, "Can you please clean the [...]

Parents are their child’s first and most important teacher. This is why parents and teachers ought to be involved in their children’s schools and children will do better and have better feelings about going to school. Studies have also shown that what the families do is more important to a child’s school success than how much they spend on the kid or make or the education they have. The truth is that kids that have been doing good at school before may begin to do poorly at their grades at times. These may be due to several reasons like: 1. Bullying This can tremendously affect a kid's grades because bullying can be so physically, emotionally and psychologically damaging. When a kid is being bullied for being a straight A student or for other kids of reasons, he or she becomes very disturbed and will it hard to continue to do or be his very best. If people keep condemning you for being smart, you might just end up being dumb purposely in order to avoid the bullying. This happens to kids a lot, especially when they are left alone to handle the situation with no adult help from parents or teachers. 2. Alcohol intake The news that high school kids drink, should not come as news to you. It has been published in the Journal for Health and Social Behaviour that alcohol consumption leads to increased social stress and poor grades. 3. Overworked Sometimes this can be due to being involved n so many things at the same time. For high school kids, they tend to take on more than one odd job and this causes them to lack sleep. The effect of lack of sleep results in poor concentration and inability to learn or absorb information which leads to poor grades. 4. Lack of excitement again Some kids may find school boring because they probably know what is being taught already and do not feel challenged. They tend to just relax and not read anymore, however, this reflects on their grades. Sometimes it may be due to vision or hearing problems which will affect the kid’s concentration. It is also seen that students who like their teachers perform better than those who don’t. 5. Death of a loved one Students that have experienced the death of a close relative are likely to pay less attention to their studies. Likewise, students from broken families, where parents often fight or are divorced will most likely underperform at school and at times even to college. There are so many reasons why kids grades are poor but below are tips on how you as a parent or guardian can help them improve on it. 1. Meet your child’s teacher When the school year starts, find a way to meet your child’s teacher. You should let the teacher know that you are concerned about your kid’s education and want him to learn. Make it clear that she or he should contact you if there [...]

This is one of the most dangerous situations a kid could pass through. It has life-long repercussion on the one being bullied and can really ruin the life. Kids these days are so open to various forms of bullying and parents hardly get to know until it’s too late because kids do not say anything at times. Another thing is that, for those kids that speak up, their parents may take a wrong approach to the matter and make it even worst or some might even ignore and tell the kid to man up especially if it is a boy involved. Kids that are different, weaker physical and often powerless are those that get picked on a lot and so, they need the most protection and support. This can only come from parents that love and care for their children. Parents should know that kids do not always come to tell you that they are being bullied; some kids bear the shame and humiliation alone but exhibit it through some signs. It is the responsibility of every parent to take note of these signs and the steps that will be listed below in order to help your kid when he or she is being bullied. Signs to look for when your kid is being bullied at school When your kid begins to refuse to go to school Recurring stomachache, headache, and other physical complaints Agitation and moodiness which has no genuine reason Lack of sleep including nightmares and difficulty falling asleep Lack of appetite and changes in eating habits Bedwetting Appearing sad, sometimes lonely and anxious with no cause at all for such attitude Less socialization by avoiding peer interaction after school and on weekends Wanting to be a lone more often Unwilling to do other things and sulking most times Feeling less capable and low self-esteem Afraid of riding the bus to school Sudden change in school performance, through poor grades Communication about suicide through statements or social media posts eg “no one will care if I died today” The most obvious sign or one that parents take note of, is the refusal to go to school. Especially if it is a kid that used to feel really happy to attend classes and do assignments. So, when such a kid suddenly changes their behavior and you can see any reason as to why they would not want to go to school, then this raise a red flag and this lets parents assume that there must be something wrong with his peers or at school. Anyway, if your notice some or few of those signs stated above make the effort to find out if it is bullying. It is better you clear out your doubts than regret later. In the event that your kid is being bullied, try to follow the steps below which is listed to handle the matter properly. 1. Avoid making assumptions The most important thing is to have an open mind. Do not try to find [...]

As our education standard rises, so is the demand from our kids today. This can really have a toll on them and they might suffer from stress and anxiety. It might not be too obvious but it is quite real that kids as young as those in kindergarten and most especially in primary school face a lot of academic activities that might affect them physically at times. All kids are not the same and some may be facing quite a hard time coping with all of the academic requirements and lessons or even adjusting to the class they are in. Many experts have stated that our kids today are under more stress than those of the previous generations. In 2011, an article in the American Journal of Play, researcher Peter Gray found kids have to spend much more time on school and adult-directed activities than their parents or grandparents did. There are a lot of expectations from kids these days and a lot of standards set for their educational achievement to each grade that they complete. For example, kindergarten kids are expected to be able to read by the end of the year compared to previous years. Kids can get diagnosed with ADHD as early as when as they are in kindergarten. They get easily distracted by the things they see around them and feel anxious when they sit still for too long alone. At times teachers may not understand these situations and demand a lot from their pupils, these can add to the kids' stress and at the end of the day, the kid can develop an anxiety disorder. Parents too can contribute to their kids stress unknowingly by involving them in so many activities. As their work increases so do their stress levels for both parents and students. The stress is having an imminent effect on kid’s health both physically and mentally. When it comes to the standardized test, kids anxiety can particularly grow higher and this results in bad or poor grades. Some of the effects of the stress are lack of sleep, restlessness and when the test actually starts, the kid may just shut down. Regardless of the fact that we want our kids to handle all kinds of stressful situations in careers, relationships and other life-related scenarios, too much stress may have the opposite lesson on a kid. When kids are overscheduled, it becomes very hard for them to focus on the books alone and they struggle with all the other activities. Take an example where, a kid has other activities apart from school to go to, things like dance, basketball, and karate. Having skipped to a more demanding class finds it hard to come up with these other activities and begins to stress out. Has no time for home works and finds no pleasure in whatever she does due to exhaustion. Kids with tight schedules as these end up suffering from stomach aches and other physical ailments that only seem to come up at [...]

Lying and cheating are not good characters that any parent would be proud that their kid possesses. One may also wonder with how little they may be sometimes, what makes kid lie and cheat. They can fabricate stories and you wonder where they got these ideas from. Well, you should know that lying peaks between the ages of 6 and 10. A study at the University of Waterloo, in Ontario, observed that some kids at 4 years lied once every two hours, some 6 years old kids lied at a clip of every 90 minutes. This could be due to the assumption that kids at this age, do not really understand the consequences of lying. It is believed that kids lie at different stages like these: From 0 to 3, kids are in a confused state where they are dependent on adults for their survival. Things that look like lies are often honest mistakes, or efforts to protect themselves or an adaptation of what they hear or see. Children that are age 3 to 7 are still figuring out the difference between fantasy and reality. They create imaginary worlds to play in. From 5 to 10 kids slowly develop an understanding of what it means to lie. This is a stage where they become aware of what lying is even they might not grab the full consequences of the action. From 10 upward, they know perfectly well what lying and cheating is and the full consequences of their actions. So when dealing with a lying and cheating kid use the best-suited technique that will match their age and understanding: Here are some tips on how to deal with a lying and cheating child 1. Act cool One of the mistakes parents do is to get really upset or start expressing their anger quickly or disappointment.  It is not easy to stay calm but remember that as parents our kids observe our every move. Because of this, we have to be role models and at all times and so, we must exhibit good characters. If you want your kids to be honest, then act that way towards others and in whatever you do. You cannot be dishonest, lying or cheating and expect your kid to do differently. Remember that kids learn from our actions, so if you do even a little dishonest act like taking too much change or even telling a friend that you are on your way while you still at home, all of these can set an example for your kid. Stay calm as best as you can. Getting angry will not make your kid change automatically when they lie or cheat. If you do get angry it will take the focus off the issue and put it on how you reacted to what he did. If you just discovered that your kid lied to you or cheated on a test at school, calm down and count to 10. Do not immediately approach them but let them be [...]

YouTube has been a life saver for many parents today and you do not have to feel ashamed if you are one of them. You might have been very happy to have had something that caught your kid’s attention and made them have fun and let you do what you needed to do at that time. But as time went by, you just discovered that your kid only wants YouTube and nothing else, in fact, he or she cries for it, begs for it and just has all their attention on the screen. Perhaps that was when you knew that something was wrong but you might not be sure whether your kids addicted or not. And you probably do not have a clue what to do about it too. Well, this article will settle your worries and answer the questions you have been asking yourself. Signs that tell you that your kid is addicted to YouTube Spending too much time in front of a screen has been linked to a lack of sleep, speech delays, and even poor social skills. But based on a research conducted out of the University of Michigan, the bigger issue is ‘whether screen use causes problems in other areas of life or has become an all-consuming activity’. If your answer to this question is yes, then it is considered screen addiction. 1. Your child can’t control their screen use When your kid begins to find it difficult to let go of the screen, it is a clear sign of screen addiction. If you have tried to impose limits on the screen time but your kid just could not follow through, then this could be an issue. 2. Loss of interest in other activities Take note if your kid only focuses on the screen and nothing else. If playing YouTube is the only thing that motivates your child. You will have to take this seriously if books, toys, and sports do not get them as excited as YouTube. This will mean that they are investing too much time on their screen. 3. Preoccupies your kid's thoughts When your kid is always talking about YouTube videos even when he or she isn’t with the screen and always wondering what his favorite YouTuber will post next. Or even acting out scenes from angry birds, these could be a sign that your kid’s addicted. This means that they will not be able to concentrate on other activities like school work, or books or extra-curricular activities. 4. It interferes with socialization When your child prefers spending time with his tablet than with family and friends, then it is a sign of screen addiction. You might notice that your kid brings his or her phone to the dining table or sneaks peaks at his tablet while his grandmother tries to make conversation or prefers staying indoors than going out to play with friends. This should grab your attention. 5. Screen use cause serious family problems If you and your kid have [...]

It is not easy to just stand in front of a large crowd and speak out especially when you are not prepared. This is quite hard for adults to talk less of kids that are just learning new things every day. It is very challenging for children to comfortably stand and present a poem speech etc in front of known and unknown faces or even within their class at times. This is normal and your kid should not feel less confident because all that is needed to overcome this fear is practice. First of all, you should know that public speaking for kids has a lot of benefits and this is the most reason why you should help your kid speak in public. Why your kid should speak in public 1. It is a much-needed skill There is no way that your kid will avoid ever speaking in public whether he is in a private or public school. They will have to do oral presentations and other activities in front of classmates and teachers. Kids that do not have the ability to speak out are going to get panic stricken and overwhelmed each time they are called and this can be very damaging to a child psychologically. Besides not every school teaches public speaking skills so it is important that you teach your kid so that he or she will excel in his grades and would not shy away from activities that require him or her to speak publicly. 2. It helps boost their confidence Public speaking skills help your kid to become more confident and develop the character of boldness. By being able to speak in public your kid will exhibit that ability to face a crowd and express himself fluently which will be beneficial to him in the future. 3. It is a life-long skill It is a life-long skill that your kid will need at some point in time in his life. This is because almost everybody speaks in public at some point in their lives especially if they assume a leadership role. By becoming confident and capable speaking your kid puts himself above many other people who refuse to stand up and speak. You never know what your kid may end up doing so by learning these skills your kid will be able to use it wherever they find themselves. 4. It helps improve their knowledge Public speaking gives your kid the opportunity to improve on their knowledge. You are given a topic to work on most likely something that you have no clue on and this gets you to research and find out things pertaining to the topic, thereby making you more informed. The fact that your kid has gone through the preparation of the speech and worked on how to communicate with others effectively makes him or her understand the content much better. Tips on how you can make your kid a good public speaker Invite family members who will help rather than be [...]