June 25, 2009 at 3:58 pm | Posted in Basic Knowledge, Confusing Situation, Disney Stories, Good Bets, Quite Young | Leave a comment
Tags: Animation, Book Version, Books, Child's Basic Knowledge, Classic Stories, Disney Stories, Fantasies, Games, Gimmick-y Books, Kids, Kids Appeal, Magazines, Movie Animation, Novelty, Pop-up Pictures, Shows, TV Shows, Video Games
Kid Appeal
Make those video games and TV shows they go for work for their benefit here. If these have book versions, it might help to have these around.
Stories from Disney, for instance, are always good bets. If the youngster has seen the movie animation, he’ll be glad to relive what he saw by going through the book version.
The Star Wars chronicles began as movies, but there are now video, magazine and book versions as well. Selling the books to kids can be made easier if the child’s basic knowledge of the movie story, together with his fantasies about it, are enhanced by the book.
Children today are fortunate in that respect. Many classic stories like Alice in Wonderland, Gulliver’s Travel, Anne of Green Gables and Tom Sawyer are made into films. Should one be showing in your channel, encourage your child to watch it. It may be wise to watch it with a child if he’s quite young in order to explain some intricate or confusing situations and not run the risk of making him lose interest.
Gimmick-y’ Books
Choose books with “gimmicks” like those with holes on their pages or pop-up pictures meant to introduce a new letter or number. They bring in the element of novelty that will make reading seem like play.
Watch out for the current fads. Dinosaurs have long been fascinating to children. When you read about them with your children, emphasize the size, the teeth and outstanding features of these reptiles. Some books do just that. Try not to scare the young ones in the process.
June 24, 2009 at 4:08 pm | Posted in Common Problem, Effective Way, Enjoy Stories, Entice Young People, Greater Kid Appeal, Lots of Competitions, Outside Interests | Leave a comment
Tags: Books, Child’s Interests, Children, Competitions, Computer Games, Electronic Toys, Generations, Greek Classic Books, Habit of Reading, Heavy Literature, Kids, Make them Read, Negative Results, Parents, Pleasure, Russian Novels, Shakespeare Books, Toys, Young People, Youth
For generations, parents have had to tackle a common problem regarding their children: how to make them take to reading. This may not seem like a problem at first glance for, very likely, the children already know how to read. It’s teaching them to enjoy stories and caring for the books themselves that is harder to do.
If in the past, parents were hard put instilling the habit of reading for pleasure as well as learning in young people, they are doubly so now. For today they have to deal with a lot of competition such as from computer games. TV viewing and other outside interests that have nothing to do with books. How to entice young people away from those new electronic toys and lead them to the path of reading is what parents must try to do.
Choose Books for His Age
An effective way to do this is the tried-and-tested one of supplying the child with books intended for his age. Choosing books this way is important because it assures a better chance of capturing the child’s interest. Give him a book for grown-ups and he may not even get past reading its title. It might even have negative results—unless he’s something of a genius when at the age of say, seven, he already comprehends “heavy” literature like the Greek classics or Russian novels, or even Shakespeare (I know of a girl who read Gone With the Wind at the age of nine). You hope eventually he’ll get there, but meanwhile, choose titles with greater kid appeal.
June 4, 2009 at 4:20 am | Posted in Better Place, Constant Source of Irritation, Favorite Book, Few Tasks, Primary Tasks, Simple Reason, Younger Si8blings | Leave a comment
Tags: Books, Child-friendly, Countless Ways, Environment, Fun Games, Household Chores, Housework, Husehold Tasks, Siblings, Source of Irritation, TV Programs
When you were kids, you probably heard your parents complain that you never did anything “to help around the house”. Today, we’re still telling our kids to clean their rooms, help set the table and do other household chores. And when we do, we still hear them ask, “Me? Now? Why?” or worse, they “pass the buck” to younger siblings.
Kids detest housework for the simple reason that it interferes with their free time. If Mama calls them in to help set the table when they’re out playing, or Papa asks them to help wash the car when they’re engrossed in their favorite book or T.V. program, they will simply not respond, no matter the amount of cajoling of threats.
The key to converting your kids is by transforming household tasks into fun games. One of the primary tasks of parenting is to bring up your children to be responsible, confident, happy and independent. What better place to start than at home?
The first thing to remember is not to treat your kids like little adults. Make each chore child-friendly. For instance, don’t tell your young child to clean the bathroom. Instead, assign only a few tasks a child can easily handle, such as washing the sink, putting away the toothbrushes or polishing the bathroom mirror. Make sure that the environment, too, is child-friendly; don’t expect your child to put the tooth-cabinet where they belong. Give her a stool to stand on, or lower the shell to a height she can reach.
Make household chores fun and easy for your child. If the putting away of toys is a constant source of irritation between you and your child, try this: buy a big box (one used to pack canned good or bottles in), wrap it in brown paper and let the child draw pictures on it or decorate it. Let them imagine that the box is a truck or wagon, decorate it accordingly, and push it around the house, picking up their toys as they go. Or they can pretend that they are robots or wind-up toys who pick things up. In setting the table, provide a model to copy. Cut out paper placemat and paste them onto a piece of cardboard to guide the child. There are other countless ways to encourage kids to help around the house.
