What Really Matters

Hello Readers!

I just finished an amazing book on willpower and it has inspired me to get back on track with my writing. I think the most important aspect of writing is consistency, so I am going to dedicate half an hour everyday to this blog. For now, that will have to suffice, as after a rather nasty kidney infection my energy is quite low. But there you have it! The number one rule is I have to take half an hour a day to write. If in that half hour I do not write that is OK, but I am not allowed to do anything else. I can stare into space or just sit there quietly but that is the extent of it. So without further ado I am going to give this little experiment a shot. It can't hurt and it may just be what I need to jump start my writing again...

Nothing makes you appreciate your health more than having to deal with a health issue. For me it was what started as a rather innocuous bladder infection that progressively got worse and eventually ended up in my kidneys - not fun I tell you!! It has been over a week now and I am finally starting to feel like I am getting a handle on it. During this time my sleep was also affected having to take numerous trips to void my bladder in the middle of the night - I know too much information! But seriously, I had countless hours to lie in bed with my hot water bottle remembering what it felt like to feel normal and healthy. I vowed when I was over this illness, that I would NEVER take my health for granted again. I know we all make well meaning promises to ourselves and before long we are back to our old ways, but this time it is going to be different. I had just small taste of what many people deal with on a daily basis and I tell you it was a big wake up call!

There is nothing so precious in the world as good health and we should treasure it like the finest gold. It really doesn't take much to stay healthy. Add a few more vegetables and fruits to your diet, stay away from fast food except on rare occasions and move a bit more - not rocket science and the benefits are you will be around a lot longer. Hey, if you can't do it for yourself do it for your kids. They need strong healthy parents and caregivers to help get them get to adulthood.

Not too shabby! My half hour is up and I have blogged for the day. See ya tomorrow!

Happy Parenting,

Monicka

The Joy of Giving

Wow!! Can you believe Christmas is only a few days away!! I have been busy trying to get everything done before the big day - all of the baking and picking the perfect gifts for all of my loved ones and all the other little labours of love that make for a lovely Christmas. I especially enjoy sending and receiving Christmas cards, but what a hassle it has become just to post them on time, not to mention we all have to be a lot more eco-conscious and what a waste of trees. That is why I was so happy to find this wonderful website where you can find the most amazing animated Christmas cards and other greeting cards beautifully illustrated with tasteful musical accompaniment. The cost is very reasonable and they even offer a few freebies, such as the Winter Wonderland e-card which features the music from Tchaikovsky's "Nutcracker Suite" You can preview all of the Christmas cards before you send them, so you can make sure to find just the right one for each of your loved ones.

Happy Parenting and a very Merry Christmas from kidsgoals.

Dear all,

As parents, we know that many of our readers like to take the opportunity of Christmas to help our children learn about the importance of giving.

So we were excited by the ideas we found on this lovely website where you can create personalized Jigsaw Puzzles from your own photos .

On this site, you and the kids can upload your own pictures and design a photo jigsaw. For creative kids, you can even work with them to design a picture collage and turn that into a jigsaw. This idea makes a fantastic gift idea for grandparents and other relatives. And your children will enjoy putting a special effort in to create a truly unique gift!

It's Beginning to Look A lot Like Christmas :-))

Seasons Greetings Everyone : ))

It's that time of year again - Christmas is almost upon us. My youngest is turning fourteen shortly and it makes me kind of envious of those of you who still have little ones. Enjoy this time with them, because it is very fleeting. Before you know it they will be little no longer.... sigh.

Experiencing Christmas through the eyes of our little ones is something we should never take for granted. Treasure the time you spend with them when the magic of Christmas is in the air and anything is possible. Take the time to string Christmas lights, bake lots of Christmas goodies together and get the kidlings to write their letters to the Big Guy.


Speaking of Santa, Cassie and I found this great website, "The official website of the real Santa Claus," where you can arrange to have Santa call your child. How cool is that!! Just go to the website pick the day and time and your little one will get a call from Old St. Nick, an actual phone call, not a recording. Imagine how excited they will get, when the phone rings and you tell your child Santa is on the line and wants to talk to them - what fun!!

Happy Parenting :))

Cassie and Monicka

Teaching Kids About Credit

We've talked about the importance of teaching kids about finances and money in the past, so we were interested to read this informative article:

Teaching Kids About Credit

As the author astutely points out, children are highly unlikely to learn about credit cards in school, so it is down to us as parents to teach them what they need to know - ideally well before they are old enough to get into any financial trouble.

Other resources available on the site include a free book all about how to raise credit score in order to improve your chances of obtaining a loan or other credit.

Oops!

OH NO! NOT DOUBLE YELLOW LINES AGAIN!

Goalsetting and How to Eat an Elephant

Goal setting and goal achievement is much like eating elephants, your child might be entertained to discover :) ... goals and elephants should be done one bite at a time!

Being confronted with a big task can be overwhelming for any of us. And it takes real skill to step back and break that task down into manageable chunks.

If you practice this skill over and over with your child, he will be much better equipped to effectively achieve his goals and also to handle big challenges that other people will throw at him from time to time in the future!

Happy goalsetting with your kids,

Cassie

Goal Setting, Patience, Kids and Mice

Goal Setting, Patience, Kids and Mice
This is my adorable field mouse. Her name is HazelMouse. My goal is to tame her so that she will come to me and sit in my hand. Unlike domestic mice which are bred to be easier to tame, field mice are much more skittish. I'm lucky to have caught HazelMouse while she is quite young. Already she will come up and sniff my fingers before dashing away and having a wash while she thinks about it! It's tempting to grab her but that would destroy all the good work I've done sitting still and being patient with her.

Kids too need to learn patience when it comes to setting and achieving goals. Good things are worth waiting for! But as parents it is vitally important that we remember that time is very different for a child than it is for us grown-ups.

Do you remember how the 6 week summer holiday felt like it went on forever? Similarly, it is really important for kids to have short term goals so that they feel they are achieving things and not just waiting for the good stuff for what seems like years.

Luckily for me, time is different yet again for mice. My HazelMouse probably feels like she has been getting to know me for years, whereas in fact it has only been a couple of weeks!!

Happy goal setting with your kids,

Cassie

A Hobby for Your Kid

As we race ahead into a new year with all of its fresh challenges and fun to be had, you may be thinking about a new hobby for yourself and/or your kids.

For some ideas, check out this article: A Hobby for Your Kid

Happy New Year and Happy Parenting!

Cassie

Nurturing a Love of Writing in Kids

I had a lovely, albeit short vacation. It was very much needed and I feel so much more relaxed and able to take on whatever life throws at me. We all need time to recharge the batteries from time to time,even if you are unable to get away,  half an hour a day to meditate, take a leisurely walk, a bubble bath, or just take a few deep breaths, can be very therapeutic. I used some of my time away to start a journal and found writing down my thoughts and doing a bit of navel gazing, helped me to get back on track with my life. 

Writing in a journal or diary is also a good way for your kids to express themselves or work out a problem they may be having, so you can encourage them to start a journal of their own and ALWAYS respect their privacy, if they don't want to share their thoughts.

Writing is of course the flip side of reading, and getting your kids to love writing is a fantastic way to help them do well at school.

The key thing to remember is to never make writing a chore, by telling your children they have to write. It’s much more effective to encourage writing during play and as a fun thing to do. Praise your child’s creativity when he writes, introduce writing during play, and make sure there is always plenty of paper and writing tools easily accessible.

For more ideas on how to introduce your kids to the joy of writing check out Make Writing Fun For Your Kids!

Happy Parenting,
Monicka :))

Hobbies for kids

My friend was telling me yesterday about his teenage nephew Louis, who is applying for a scholarship to help him study golf at university. Louis is very passionate and excited about golf and has been for years. But if your child has not yet found his passion, helping your kid find a hobby he can really enjoy and be passionate about can be a fulfilling challenge for any parent. The temptation to live through our children can at times be overwhelming, especially if our own childhoods were unhappy or deprived in some way. So the first thing we should remember to do when we are thinking about helping our kids find their passion / hobby is that we need to be enjoying a fulfilling life ourselves. If this is difficult (believe me you would not be alone!) then it is as well to bear in mind this thought: “How could you know what your kids might have become, if you keep trying to live through them?”

For tips on helping your child find and enjoy a hobby, check out this parenting article:

A hobby for your kid

Bullying at School

With school back in full swing, and particularly for children at school for their first year, all parents should keep an eye and ear out to reassure themselves that their kids' social life at school is going OK. Social skills are not a given, and bullying is sadly very common.

Children do not usually tell their parents when they are being bullied. Usually it is because they are embarrassed or scared because of threats from the bully that they will suffer the consequences if they tell anyone. If your child tells you he is being bullied it is very important that you take him seriously.

Check out Monicka's article on how to help your child if he is being bullied.

Happy parenting,

Cassie

Homework Help for Kids - Breaks

Homework help for kids - Breaks

The brain learns and remembers best the stuff at the beginning and at the end of study periods. So breaking up study into chunks is a good idea - it’s important to train your child to take regular breaks from homework to get the most out of it.

And even more importantly, to train them in the difference between “good” and “bad” breaks.What do I mean by a “bad” break? Well if your child sits in front of his homework fidgeting for half an hour then says “I’m giving up for a bit,” and goes and watches TV for the next 30 minutes, that is not good study hygiene and I’d call that a “bad” break!

Here are some points to bear in mind to encourage your child to take “good” breaks from homework:·

• Use breaks, where possible, to reward yourself for completing a goal, either a milestone, like getting to the end of a section of questions, or a time-related goal like completing 15 minutes of intense revision


• Make sure that very young children take breaks after brief periods of study, while older children can work for 30 or even 60 minutes, depending on their individual needs


• Breaks only need to be a few minutes long – this is long enough to give the brain a chance to absorb what it has just learned and get ready for more!


• Breaks should revitalize you for your next study period, not sap your energy! Watching TV is an energy-sapping break and should be avoided.

Good breaks might include:

• A refreshing or soothing drink


• A light snack


• Some brief physical exercise to get the blood flowing – perhaps half a dozen star jumps


• Stepping outside and taking some refreshing breaths of fresh air

Happy homework helping with your kids!

Cassie

Homework Help for Kids - Reward Charts

Homework Help for Kids - Reward Charts

If a child has developed a negative attitude to homework for whatever reason, a reward chart could be a useful tool to help them get things back onto a good footing.

Every day that your child sticks to the new routine for homework, they should get a “point” on the reward chart.

For primary school children, make sure they are rewarded on the same day – with a pretty sticker and lots of praise, for instance – as well as a special end-of-week reward, maybe an outing to their favorite park, or a small toy.

Older children can delay their gratification a little more – so you could arrange for them to earn a “DVD and friends round” evening, or whatever does it for them, once they complete a week or two of their new homework routine. Tailor it to their age and their interests.

Happy homework help with your kids!

Cassie

Homework Help for Kids - Routine

Homework Help - A Helpful Routine

Rather than doing their homework at random times of the day, why not help your children to find the routine that suits them best? Some kids, just like adults, are at their best in the morning, and for these kids getting up a bit earlier and having a regular homework time in the morning before school can be nice.

Many kids will find an afternoon or evening homework routine more comfortable, and in this case it’s important to make sure that they have an opportunity to get rested before starting their homework, especially if they have been doing sports at school. If on the other hand they tend to be full of pent-up energy after school, then some physical exercise would be just the thing they need to wind down from school in a more energetic way.

In either case, a healthy, light snack is a good idea – it’s a long time between lunch and dinner, and the energy from food will help your kids with their brainwork.

Happy and successful homework help with your kids!

Cassie

Goal Setting for Kids

Goals Must be Believable

Many of us need to gradually build up confidence when goal setting. If the first goal we set ourselves is too ambitious, we have difficulty believing that we can achieve it. So don't try to build Rome in a day, and don't encourage your child to set goals that are too demanding initially.

My little friend Charlene, working towards her goal of getting better at math, understood this principle immediately. She had chosen to measure her progress by the number of "red circles" (wrong answers) that she got on her math worksheets.

"I would like to have no red circles at all,” said Charlene. "But I don't think I can do that."

Instead, Charlene planned to reduce the occurrence of red circles by 25% over three weeks.

Happy goalsetting with your kids,

Cassie

Back to School Sleep Hygiene for Kids

School time is fast approaching. Have you started preparing your children for the earlier starts that they need to make during term time?

Some top tips to help you help your kids re-adjust their sleep ready for a fresh school year:

• Start moving sleep back to normal at LEAST 10 days before school is due to start.
• Stick to a proper sleep hygiene 7 days a week - don't allow your kids to stay up later than normal on the weekends. It confuses their body-clocks.
• If you haven't already, create a pleasant and relaxing bedtime routine Reading is always good, and something you can do together no matter what the age of your children.
• Keep the bedroom cool and quiet, with dim lights.
• No PC, TV or video games in the bedroom
• Don't allow use of TV or computer in the hour leading up to bedtime.

If you follow these good sleep hygiene suggestions, your kids have a great chance of building up some refreshing sleep ready for an energised start to the school year!

Happy sleeping,

Cassie

Summer Goal Setting for Kids

A year is a very long time for small children (and even older children), so helping them learn to set goals which can be achieved over the summer is a great way to introduce children to what for them is relatively "long term" goal setting.
For some ideas and tips check out this "Summer Goal Setting for Kids" article.

cyberhugs,

Cassie

Visualization and Goal Setting for Kids

Visualization is an incredibly powerful tool that we have at our disposal and can call on in a moment's notice! Get a clear image in your mind of what your goal will look like. Picture and experience in your mind everything that you want to realize. How does it sound, look smell, what positive things are others saying as you stand there proudly saying, "Look what I did!!! "

You will probably find that your kids are even better at visualization than you are, but keep practicing; I guarantee it will get easier. In fact you will find after awhile that the image in your head will seem so real to you that you may even get emotional about it, all the better. Emotion makes visualizing even more powerful so your aim is to clearly see yourself as if you have already accomplished your goal while emotionally experiencing the incredible joy and satisfaction that comes from bringing it to fruition. Many professional athletes do this on a regular basis as part of their training for that competitive edge. Now that's some powerful stuff. Can I hear a whoo hooo!!!

Happy parenting,

Monicka

Free Summer Book Download

SUMMER HOLIDAYS MEMORY BOOK

With the summer holidays fast approaching here is a nice idea for a kid's craft - a special "Summer Holidays" memory book.

We've put up a free download specially for you - a pdf that you can print to create a book for your child to record their experiences in for the holidays. Page 3 of the book is a diary page that you can print multiple times. It's a good idea to get a piece of cardboard (from the side of a cereal box for instance) to use as the last page to make the book more robust. Then use a hole punch to make holes in the pages and the cardboard back, and tie the book together with string or yarn.

Here is the link for the download page: Free Summer Book Download

We hope you enjoy the book and please feel free to share it with your friends!