Giving your child the support that they need to begin reading with confidence takes patience on the part of the parent (amongst other things). You’re there for them through skinned knees, bad days, and sleepless nights; but that’s just the beginning. Giving your child the tools they need to begin reading is a great start, but nurturing that reading skill growth is another thing altogether. Devoting the same time, effort, and empathy to your child as you do with helping them understand other important concepts in life will open up a world of possibilities to them. …
Getting the most out of reading time with your child can be difficult to accomplish. Your child might still be wound up from a wild day or want to do a myriad of other things instead to pass the time. How do you get them more involved and incentivize them to crave reading time more? Make it fun! Easier said than done, right? Not in the least bit. Let’s walk through the best strategies for making your reading time more fun and enjoyable for your child.
Read to them Every Day
Even if you only have a few minutes, it’s better than nothing. Kids latch…
Reading can help us build a lasting bond with our children in ways that we may not even realize. Maintaining the family ritual of reading with your little one can provide a predictable structure that supports early development. Taking the time to read together for 20 minutes every day or always sharing a bedtime story can help you establish consistent parent-child bonding time that is extremely valuable. This bonding time can open your family up to discussions that can help your child better understand diverse people and perspectives. Whether we are reading for information or entertainment purposes, reading opens the…
Our children spend more than 80% of their time outside of school, which means that their intellectual thirst for knowledge doesn’t stop when they leave school grounds. Even before your child reaches school-age, they can still benefit by you reading aloud to them while they follow along. Over time, you will find that your child will remember the basis of the story and then shortly after will learn to distinguish which words mean what on the page. How quickly your child transitions through these developmental stages all depends on how much time and effort is prioritized for reading. …
Stress has a way of creeping up on us when we least expect it. Parents understand how crippling stress can be on your waking hours and how it can lead to insomnia at times. But, have you ever considered that your child might get stressed out too? Before you think that’s not possible due to their young age and small stature, take a minute to peruse the common causes of stress in children and what you can do to keep them on the path towards a good night sleep.
Common Causes of Stress in Children
As you’re exhausted from doing the 5 billionth load of laundry…
The end of nap time is the end of an era. No longer do you, as a parent, get a breather in the afternoon for a few hours. The main question that comes to mind when considering the implications of the end of nap time, is when you know for sure, naps are off the table for your child. Intuition will only get you so far in this case. …
Getting a good night sleep can is important for both your physical and mental health. Becoming healthier doesn’t happen overnight (no pun intended); it takes practicing good sleep habits night after night until it becomes second nature. Here are a few recommendations that you can use to instill healthy sleep habits to improve your sleep hygiene.
What is Sleep Hygiene?
Put simply, sleep hygiene is a term used to describe the variety of practices, rituals, and behaviors that , when turned into habit, help you fall asleep easier at night. If you find that you’re getting restless at night and/or…
Sleep is the cornerstone of everything that drives our bodies to be as productive as possible. It is also the main driver in keeping us from doubling over in agony from the stresses of life that wear us down on the daily. Sure, some people have been known to operate on less sleep than others, but for the most part, our bodies require a specific amount of sleep (depending on our age) to adequately heal and keep functioning at the high level that we need it to function at. Most people may advise that if you’re not feeling great to…
Nightmares plague children from an early age and can lead to them not getting the necessary sleep that they need to adequately function during their waking hours. This is incredibly important since children’s minds and bodies are constantly in a state of growth; any impedance to that growth can throw their entire system off kilter completely. That is why taking the time to address nightmares and night terrors in a soothing manner with your child can empower them to deal with theses occurrences in a healthy way. …
Our lives revolve around sleep more than we might think it does. It’s not just the amount of sleep that you get that can affect your waking life, it’s the quality of sleep that does the trick. Lack of quality sleep can leave your drained and wreak havoc on your ability to consistently produce results that will benefit your relationships in the workplace and at home. Let’s explore the many ways that lack of quality sleep can negatively affect your productivity and what you can do to keep your performance level from getting derailed.
Sleep Deprivation
The RAND Corporation found…
Along Came A Monster
Brian’s fear of monsters takes him on an unexpected journey of discovery & imagination where he becomes the hero in his monster’s life.
