Froodee

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Help Your Child Improve His Spelling Skills

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They say that Americans are some of the worst spellers in the world. Perhaps it is because English is not exactly the easiest language when it comes to spelling words. Then again, it might be that not everyone pays attention. Whatever the reason may be, there is no doubt that every responsible parent would want to help his child to do well in school – and part of that is being a decent speller. If your child is struggling with spelling, here are some things that you can do.

Practice makes perfect. It is a cliché, but it works. Children who struggle with spelling need to take some extra time to work on it. Be supportive and help your child – a few minutes everyday will make a world of difference. More than merely writing out words, drill your child in oral spelling, as this will sharpen his skills as well.

Teach the cardinal rule of spelling: “I before e, except after c, or when sounding like an a, as in neighbor and weigh.” You might have heard that the schools in the UK are tearing this rule down, but it has been tried and tested, and your child will really benefit from knowing this rule by heart.

Here’s another rule: “When ing comes to stay, little e runs away.” This helps your child spell words ending in –ing properly. Words like freeze and please becomes freezing and pleasing.

Bottom line: make it fun for your child and show him that you are there to support him.

Get Your Kids Into The Olympic Bandwagon

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We’re right smack in the middle of the Winter Olympics. Have your kids gotten into the spirit of it all yet? It saddens me that today, some kids would rather play sports via the PlayStation (or any other gaming console) than actually go outdoors and kick some butt. With the Winter Olympics going on, though, it might be a great time to show your kids just how fun actually playing sports is!

How do you do this? Simple: tune in to the broadcasts of the Olympics as much as you can. No matter how you look at it, the games are glamorous enough to encourage your kid to try sports himself/herself.

You don’t stop there, though. More than simply watching the Olympics on TV (and the Net, perhaps), your next step should be to “drag” your kid out and have some real fun.

If you’ve got a little girl, you might want to take her out to the skating rink. There’s no better time than now! Just make sure you glam things up a bit by dressing her up nicely in an Olympic-style tutu. Some glitters and made up hair won’t hurt, too.

For little boys (or girls, even), try cycling. If the weather doesn’t permit, find an inside bike track. Gear your kid up with enough padding and a helmet. Equip yourself with a stopwatch and a red flag (a hanky will do) and go get some training done.

There are many other activities that you can choose from depending on your child’s preferences. The bottom line is that you wrack your brain to up the activity a couple of notches. You never know, you might have an Olympian in the making!

Why Do Kids Get Bullied?

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I have always believed that getting bullied is NOT the fault of the child who is on the receiving end of the aggressive behavior. It is the same reasoning behind believing that there is no excuse for men raping or beating women.

According to a recent study, however, there are certain factors that contribute to a child being prone to being bullied by his peers. The study was led by Clark McKown from the Rush Neurobehavioral Center in Chicago. His team identified at least three problem areas in nonverbal communication. They are:

• Reading nonverbal cues
• Understanding their social meaning
• Coming up with options for resolving a social conflict.

While I maintain my belief that these problems do not justify bullying in any way, the identification of these problems can help parents and educators in dealing with victims of bullying. If these problem areas contribute to being bullied, then they can be addressed and hopefully, the bullied child can find a way out of his situation.

Experts point out that the bottom line is to teach children social skills. He says that it is worse for those who are rejected by their peers because they already have problems in this area to begin with. Rejection and isolation just make it worse as they do not have opportunities to practice their social skills.

This highlights an important thing for parents: make sure that you children get enough exposure to their peers as early as possible to help them gain the necessary social skills.

Autism Numbers A Cause For Concern?

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The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released information on autism in the United States on Friday, and the official numbers are that about 1 in 110 children have the condition. This is a considerable change from the old numbers that the CDC has been broadcasting in the past – 1 in 150. However, CDC officials are trying to tone it down slightly, saying that they do not know yet if it is a real increase or if the increase is due to other reasons such as better diagnosis and better record keeping practices.

Autism is a condition which can be diagnosed by observing the behavioral patterns of a child. Unlike other physical conditions, no blood work or biological tests can be used to determine if a child has autism or not. The traditional definition of autism is limited to children who exhibit severe unnatural behavior, mostly repetitive, as well as severe problems with regard to speech and social interaction. Today, however, the definition of autism has become much broader. Even children with milder behavioral and speech conditions can be considered autistic.

On the one hand, I think that it is good that national attention is being brought down on autism. For so long, the general public has needed to be more aware of it. With this kind of attention, perhaps more people would understand autism, potentially detect it, and seek professional help if necessary. On the other hand, I am quite concerned about what are considered “milder” and “minor” conditions. Are we labeling kids too easily these days? Parents, what do you have to say?

Does Your Nanny’s Nationality Matter?

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Discrimination based on race or ethnicity is something that the average, socially-aware person does not find acceptable, right? Social awareness has reached such heights that practically everyone has been exposed to its concepts. Yet if you take a closer look, there are certain practices that seem to encourage racism.

Have you ever heard of Tibetan nannies? Apparently, they are all the rage in New York these days. The popularity of nannies from this part of the world is quite unbelievable, to the extent that you would find web sites dedicated to finding a nanny of this nationality.

According to the proponents of the trend, Tibetans are perfect for the job because they have very well balanced personalities, are “Zen,” and have had cleanliness and neatness ingrained in them since childhood.

But does it really matter what your nanny’s nationality is?

Joan Friedman, the owner of nanny agency A Choice Nanny, says that probably not. She says that, most of the time, people ask for nannies based on ethnicity simply because they’re jumping into the bandwagon and they don’t know any better. What she does is to tell them it’s illegal to make choices based on ethnicity. More than that, she emphasizes that a person’s nationality does NOT guarantee a fit and that it’s quite “inappropriate and limiting.”

Any rational person would see the truth behind Friedman’s statements. People are different, no matter the nationality. The next time you are on the lookout for a nanny, you might want to bear that in mind.