development

Parental Involvement is Key to Your Children’s Development & Successes

How involved are you in all aspects of your children’s lives?  I have written quite a bit about parents being involved with their children as much as possible. Experts have long concluded that a key ingredient for your children’s development and future successes is your involvement!

What does “involvement” mean? Your active participation!  It includes talking with them, asking questions, and actively listening.  Put your cell phone aside and strike up a conversation.  It means spending time with them such as playing games and attending their functions, no matter how trivial these games and functions may appear to you.  It means attending parent-teacher meetings and developing a relationship with their teachers to make sure you know how your children are progressing in school.

Especially during the holiday season, there are usually a number of activities to attend with your children.  Try your best to attend all that you can.  And, please do not promise your children that you will attend an event and then make up an excuse for not, in fact, attending.

When should parental involvement start?  As soon as your child is born!  From holding your children in your arms, to talking to them, to reading to them – those are just a few examples.

There are many stages to your children’s development and you should be an active participant in all of them. If you haven’t made an absolute commitment to them, consider doing it now.   They are more than worth it!

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The Positive Effects of Playing Board Games With Your Children

The Positive Effects of Playing Board Games With Your Children

We often talk about children spending too much time playing video games, but what about playing board games?  Are there any benefits to playing these types of games?

Using Music to Help Children Build Language and Literacy Skills

Studies have shown that music helps students learn not only rhythm and motor skills, but importantly also language and literary skills.  One such study, by Professors Patricia Cullingham and Richard Allington in 2011, found that when we see or hear words in a new context, our brain creates new synapses (connections) to those words. Professors Cullingham and Allington advocate that children be exposed to vocabulary and other literacy skills in different and meaningful ways. Music has been a very effective tool in bringing meaning to new material including skills in literacy.  

How can parents use music to help their children with language and literacy skills? First, parents can use songbooks so that their children read the words and sing their favorite songs. Second, parents can sing songs with their children.  Visit this website for songs that build reading and language skills - CLICK HERE.

Third, take the words that are repeated in songs and read them in print.  Two books that can be used are Over the Rainbow and Puff the Magic Dragon, both beautifully illustrated by Eric Puybaret.  Fourth, encourage your children to take part in afterschool music ensembles that inspire creativity and involve expression through the arts.