What Can You Do If Your Child Doesn't Enjoy Reading?

What do you do when your child would rather do anything else than read? It can be really frustrating as a parent if your child has no interest or worse still an aversion to reading. You know that you need to encourage them to read to improve their literacy skills but what do you do when it becomes a battle rather than a source of enjoyment?

Reading is a skill just like any other. And when you do not have the basic skills then for some children trying to gain the skills becomes worse than not trying. Imagine you were learning to play tennis. How motivated would you be if the ball never went over the net? It wouldn't be much fun would it, especially if the other player was getting stressed about it.

So the key is to relax yourself. Find ways to have fun reading in different situations. Reading doesn't just have to be sitting down with a book.

If your child is struggling to read and is spending more time stumbling over the words try reading the book to the child first. Then let your child have a go at filling in some of the blanks that you leave. Then try taking turns reading a page or line. Make sure the book is about something that the child is really interested in. Try and find interesting facts books on a topic they enjoy such as sharks, dinosaurs or soccer. If the subject matter is interesting then your child is more likely to want to master the skills to decode the information.

There are lots of tools available online that can support your child's reading skills whilst they are having fun. Educational games can improve language development, word recognition or spelling. Kids usually love using the computer and game based learning can be great fun as well as educational.

Ebooks that are animated and read the story aloud as the child follows the words can present reading in a different medium which is removed from the normal associations they have with sitting down to read a book. You can also let them master the tool themselves to develop their self confidence. Look out for books where emerging readers can have a go themselves and click on a word to hear it spoken.

Try playing word games, like word snap or making words out of different letters. These can be made at home for free and introducing the fun element of play can engage a disinterested reader.

Let your child write their own stories and print them out. You could illustrate the story using images available on the internet, from magazines or let your child draw the pictures themselves. Your child will love showing and reading their books to anyone who will listen! If your child is not a confident writer, then write or type the story out for them.

If you remove the battle and encourage a love of reading using different methods your child will be developing their skills in a way that they enjoy. Just as with learning to playing tennis once one skill set is developed it encourages the desire to learn more.

Jeanette McLeod

http://www.wizz-e.com

Animated, read along picture books for young children

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Jeanette McLeod - EzineArticles Expert Author

Discipline For Toddlers - Is Punishment the Best Solution?

Discipline for toddlers is one important issue that parents need to think about. Toddlers aged two to six years old are undergoing the normal development and throwing tantrums is considered part of the process. They exhibit behaviors such as screaming, crying, biting, throwing things, hitting and other actions that can hurt themselves or others. They are also at the stage that they are testing their limitations how far their tantrum can get them. It is important for parents to establish restrictions so toddlers will know early on where their boundaries lie.

One strategy parents can do as discipline for toddler technique is to establish threat and punishment.
This will be effective if parents can provide threat to toddlers that are realistic and not that far-fetched to happen. For example if your toddler is throwing things around the house or throwing his food on the table, you cannot say "If you do that again, you'll be left here and we'll all go to the carnival." Think of realistic threats like "we will not give you ice cream after dinner" or "you cannot watch your favorite TV show later".

Another important thing that parents need to remember is to be consistent. Toddlers should not always think that you are bluffing with your threat and you will not really execute the punishment. They will tend to repeat the offense over and over again.

Lastly, parents must not be emotional when they give punishment. This means that you don't need to yell at your toddler, just explain to them in a firm tone why their actions led for you to punish them. This way, it will be easier for them to understand why they are being punished.

Discipline for toddlers can indeed be tough for parents. Handling tantrums can really stressed out parents. Threat and punishment can be an effective tool in disciplining toddlers.

With the right knowledge, parents can conquer this challenging task of raising toddlers, reduced parenting stress and live an enjoyable family life. Learn the techniques of discipline for toddlers by visiting my resource site at http://www.squidoo.com/discipline-for-toddlers.

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Why Do Registered Sex Offenders and Pedophiles Like MySpace?

There is no charge to use MySpace, no registration fees; MySpace is used by many teens and most give out a great deal of personal information.

Why would a registered sex offender and a pedophile not love this environment? This is dreamland for these people. They can access over 50 million people, from their own homes, and no one knows it! Think about it...50 million...that's frightening!

Now one of the Internets largest social networking sites, MySpace has become the ideal environment for sex offenders and pedophiles. They can easily just blend into the environment, often passing themselves off as teenagers MySpace does not have adequate staff to monitor their users, and in spite of the fact they say they are doing all they can, there is little comfort in the knowledge that no one is really watching what is going on. If we know that, the sex offenders and pedophiles know it as well.

MySpace is where kids go to share everything about their lives in daily blogs. MySpace does prohibit users posting addresses and phone numbers, but, like in all avenues, we know that teens don't always follow all of the rules. With MySpace's admitted short-staffing, who is there to monitor what is posted?

When you register for your page on MySpace, you are required to fill out your personal profile. You are required to be 14 for a MySpace account, however, with the short-staffing-no-monitoring-issue that is so prevalent at MySpace, this rule becomes a joke.

All a sex offender or a pedophile has to do to get to your child is to read their personal profile and just send an invitation for conversation.

Most of the time they will claim to be a teen themselves, creating a whole online identity to match. They will usually start out this new friendship by talking about things they "have in common", music, sports, hobbies, peer pressures, whatever they can glean from the child's profile.

Once they have gained your child's trust, they will move on to conversations that have a more sexual nature. It is important to note here, that it is possible to have conversation on MySpace that is not visible to others.

Open your own MySpace account and learn all of the functions of the website. If your teen has an account, invite them to be your friend, they can not refuse, and this will allow access to their site.

If the account is set to private you can not access their page if you are not on their list of friends. All a predator needs to do is send an invitation to a private account. Many teens have thousands of online "friends."

Sex offenders and pedophiles both know that in spite of the rules and regulations of MySpace, if a child ignores their advances and follows proper protocol by reporting these advances, that MySpace, is so understaffed that there really is not much that can be done. All a predator needs to is establish another profile and begin searching again.

So set some rules for your kids if they are now using MySpace or plan too.

1) Make it mandatory that you have access to their MySpace page.

2) Get their MySpace login info and password.

3) Don't allow them to post personal information about themselves such as where they go to school or what school sports teams they play.

4) Set very clear expectations for your child and hold them to those expectations.

Amy Cainfield is a child advocate and expert on the dangers of social media for children. She is also a contributing editor for the MySpace watchdog site, http://www.MySpaceMonitor.com and teen chat acronym site, http://www.TeenChatDecoder.com

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Educational Toys and Early Childhood Education

arly childhood education is basically defined as children learning through play. It is important that parents begin educating their children from infancy to six yeas of age through interaction and introducing educational play which will aid in the development of these crucial areas...

* Physical Development: Developing fine and gross motor skills. Basically movement is the key, crawling, walking, running, climbing, throwing, touching and eye-hand coordination.
* Social Skills: Teaching children how to interact with others, how to share and co-operate with others, how to build strong relationship that will last as well as social etiquette and good manners.
* Emotional Development: Building self-esteem, self-awareness, self-confidence, as well as recognizing and understanding various feelings and emotions.
* Language Development: The expression and or vocalization of symbols and sounds as perceived and interpreted by an individual through the growing and learning process.
* Creativity: Developing unique and special abilities and talents in your child
* Cognitive Skills: Developing the ability to learn and solve problems, understanding the world around them, their environment and gain knowledge.

This may sound like a task that is overwhelming for the average parent and parents may be under the impression that they need an advanced education in early childhood development to help their children grow in these areas, but this is far from the truth. Certainly knowledge of this caliber would be a great asset, but children in this age group actually grow and learn through their playtime.

Years of research shows that educational toys actually promote and aid in the development of the above crucial growth areas. Specific types of experiences stimulate various areas of the brain, which, in turn develop a child's physical and mental abilities. However, any toy will provide some educational and developmental benefits. So parents must keep in mind that not every toy that claims to be educational is in fact educational and may not necessarily develop these crucial areas of early childhood development. Even the most successful educational toys have their limits. Educational toys are most effective when parents provide quality interaction with their children.

The educational and developmental success and advances of any society depends upon a parent's desire and ability to foster the health and well-being of their children, the next generation. In other words, parents have a responsibility to their children to prepare them for what lies ahead. When parents fail to provide chil­dren with what they need to build a strong foundation for healthy, productive and successful lives, the future is at risk.

We all must remember that today's children will become tomorrow's adults, which also means tomorrows parents. So parents, spend time with your children, introduce educational toys into their playtime and have confidence that the investment you make in your children will produce successful, productive parents of your grandchildren.

APlusEducationalToys is committed to helping children have fun while they learn and grow. With over 30 years of experience in child development, early childhood education and over 25 years in children, youth and family ministry, we offer you expert advice and guidance choosing age appropriate, creative educational toys for your child. For more information and to view our products, come visit us at...

http://www.apluseducationaltoys.com

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Child Locator Devices - Are They Better For Teens Or Young Children?

Oh that relentless argument...To pry, or not to pry. Many parents are split on this issue. Some demand a major level of involvement into their teens' private life in the name of protection - and some just agree to let kids be, well - kids. This could probably go down as the debate of the century. Not only do parents have to decide how far they will take their prying concerns, but they also have to choose common sense when it comes to keeping tabs on a "little one," and child locator devices can do just that.

When asked, some parents will say that they wouldn't track their teen with GPS. The reasoning behind this: "Kids have to learn and make mistakes just like we did." Others say that they absolutely would track their teens if they were continuously breaking the rules...But, better yet - if they are constantly breaking rules they might as well lose all privileges that result in freedom, therefore annulling the need for tracking at all.

Either way, and however you slice it, there is a need for GPS tracking in certain circumstances. You as the parent probably already know this. That decision is something you will come to and carry out for the benefit of your family and your child's safety.

I would say that it is much easier to make this decision when it comes to the younger children. They are so much more vulnerable than a teen. They wander, Just imagine the situations they could end up in with no defense - no skills to find their family or fight back if they have been kidnapped. This is where GPS tracking becomes priceless. With an inconspicuous device located on or in your child's belongings, back pocket, necklace and various other places, you could make the difference between a disaster and a close call.

Read up on the most advanced child locator devices on the market at http://www.squidoo.com/childlocatordevices.

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