Sharing Hobbies

  While children often have a natural love and appreciation for their grandparents spending time together can be even more enjoyable when the two generations have a few things in common. One of the best ways for grandparents to form close and lasting bonds with their grandkids is to spend time with them when they are young, introducing them to Grandma and Grandpa's hobbies and interests.

Little Buddies

   Most times, when children get together with their grandparents, the goal is to have fun. Grandparents and grandchildren are frequently the best of buddies and the kids are likely to enjoy most any activity that includes their favourite family members. Sharing interests with grandchildren provides more than just some fun and memorable days; many times, kids will develop lifelong interests in golf, fishing, painting, bird watching, sewing, or flying radio controlled airplanes because a loving grandparents took the time to introduce them to a new hobby.

Kids and Art

   

   Kids are naturally creative and enjoy expressing themselves through various art forms. Grandparents can help to encourage their grandchildren's artistic endeavors by providing materials and participating hands-on with their grandchildren as they explore various media.

Fostering Creativity
   Young children are often uninhibited in their expressiveness happily creating without regard to the idea that there might be "right" and "wrong" ways to use materials. In order to allow children to be truly engaged in their art, this type of attitude should be promoted and encouraged to last as long as possible. All too often, creativity is squelched in young children by well meaning adults who try to guide kids to repeat what has been done before, rather than allowing them the freedom to create in their own unique methods and styles.

Thirteen Ways to Raise a Nonreader

1. Never read where your children can see you.
 

2. Put a TV or computer in every room. Don’t neglect the bedrooms and kitchen.
 

3. Correct your child every time she mispronounces a word. 

How to Improve Your Child's IQ: Learning the Basics

By Andrew Loh

   Many of us will do whatever we can to assist our children reach success both in the school and future life. Parents try hard to make their children smart and talented by sending them to best school and by creating highly conducive environment for emotional and physical growth. But, in spite of putting hard effort, most of us are not really satisfied with the progress that our children achieve. In many cases, parents try to measure the degree of their children's success with the grades or scores achieved in the classroom. Sometimes, parents also try to compare their children's score with their peers in the class. Experts believe that such comparisons could be wrong and counter-productive in the long run as intelligence or talent are those characters that cannot be created nor can one establish. Now, the big question is can parents raise their children's intelligence? The expert opinion and feelings are equally split, with some of the experts agreeing to this hypothesis while others totally disagreeing to the idea.

How to say no to your child

   How to say no to your child and being a consistent disciplinary figure is crucial for your child's sense of security.

   When our children are babies they can be so darn adorable that we hate to do anything that displeases them. Most of our time is spent trying to make our children laugh or smile and when it comes time for discipline, many of us take the soft road to spare our own hearts as well as our children’s. It can be soul-wrenching to see a baby’s lower lip turn down and see his entire body shake with sobs from the insult of being reprimanded by those whom he loves so very much. However, if we want to raise children who understand the meaning of the word ‘no’ and want to keep the number of screaming, kicking tantrums to a minimum, we must start from the very beginning with a firm stance that shows we mean business and won’t back down, no matter how adorably sad our little one’s face may be.

Disciplining Children

  
   Disciplining children can be a parent’s worst nightmare. No one enjoys having to tell children that they are acting inappropriately but on occasion it does need to be done. Disciplining children, however, is an integral part of teaching children about our cultural norms. Discipline is distinct from punishment in that all discipline strives to show children what is considered appropriate, and why this is the case. Through discipline children learn personal responsibility, societal norms and how to function healthfully and happily in their society.

B.F. Skinner's Behavioural Theory

   

   Parents have long known that children respond to a system of rewards and punishments. While to say that this is a simplification of the theories of famed behaviourist B.F. Skinner would be an understatement it is accurately descriptive of the most basic aspect of his beliefs. Operant behaviour and operant conditioning, Skinnner's most widely acclaimed work, is based on a system of both positive and negative reinforcement.