Monday, October 06, 2008

Family Life Today - Halloween Family Fun

The traditional Halloween celebrations come round every October 31st, and these days those who enjoy the festivities the most are the children. Halloween is a time to dress up in fancy dress and take to the streets trick or treating. Some families go to a lot of trouble decorating their homes and front yards in a ghostly and eerie Halloween theme.

Halloween is a traditional Celtic festival, and has survived through the ages most strongly in the Celtic communities in Ireland, Scotland and Wales. From there, with emigration, Halloween has spread around the world, most notably to America. In recent years, the spread of popular American culture has introduced a further expansion of interest in Halloween to fresh places, such as Asia and Western Europe.

The original Celtic celebrations were pagan festivities related to the changing seasons as winter approached. Traditionally it was a time when the living could communicate with the dead, and magic was abroad. The early Christian church, as with many pagan festivals, absorbed these celebrations into the Christian calendar. All Saints Day, also known as All Hallows Day, was set down for November 1st. All Hallows Evening, the night of October 31st, became known as Hallow E'en, later just Halloween, and the time for the traditional celebrations.

Halloween celebrations were a community event, and there was usually a bonfire and fun games. The apple harvest was in full swing, and games such as trying to eat an apple on a string or floating in a barrel of water without using your hands, were popular. Children would go from door to door to gather fruit, nuts and other goodies for the festivities, which was the origin of the "treating" visits of today. In most places, especially in Scotland, the children would sing or put on a performance in return for the treats they collected. Today the treats collected are more likely to be candies and sweets, and sometimes money.

Halloween "tricks" were originally secret and often witty pranks played on some adults by children, with the blame being placed on the mischievous spirits that were said to be abroad on Halloween. This practice was especially popular in Ireland. At some stage long in the past, tricks and treating merged into a choice: give a treat or become the victim of a trick. This unfortunate development led to such practices as throwing eggs at houses and soaping windows, and worse. Today these excesses are rare.

Halloween parties are often held with a haunted house theme decoration. To the delight of children, Halloween menu items often include tomato soup renamed as vampire soup, spaghetti dishes renamed with cemetery humor as worms, and the ever-popular breadsticks tipped with sliced almonds and known as witches’ fingers. With so many pumpkins being made into carved jack-o-lanterns, pumpkin dishes such as pumpkin pie are often a feature of Halloween menus.

Over the last few years, the magical themes of the popular Harry Potter books have added fresh fun to costumes and decorations for children's Halloween parties.

Halloween costume parties have also become popular events for adults as well in recent years. They are a great excuse to dress up and have fun. It seems the trend today is for any costume to be acceptable, not necessarily just the traditional witches, vampires and ghosts of Halloween. Costume design inspirations are now drawn from many sources, such as recent movies and television series. Some costumes are just witty, such as the seasonally appropriate theme of a leaf blower, consisting just of a leaf suspended from the brim of a cap where it can be blown.

Learn more about family life today at http://officialfamily.info/

Monday, September 29, 2008

Free Parenting Tips To Prepare For A Spelling Test

Learning to spell words correctly is an important skill that will help students throughout their life. It helps with both reading and writing which are essential skills for success in today's world. This is why the weekly spelling test is such a staple at schools throughout the United States. Knowing it is important is no consolation to those many students who struggle to learn spelling words each week or worse fail those spelling tests. What can parents do to help their children better prepare for those spelling tests? There are three simple strategies to helping children master their weekly spelling words -- read, say, and write.

Most children receive their spelling words on Monday so the work should begin Monday afternoon or evening. Today you will set the foundation for the week's work. Have the child read the list through and study each word. Then have the child say each word and spell it for you from the written list. Finally, have the child write each word three times. Now put the list away for the day.

When children struggle with spelling it often helps for you to show the child the patterns that can be found in the word list and carefully go over the words that break that pattern. Show the child how to sound out a word and give them clues that will help them remember. Demonstrate how acrobat can be broken into ac-ro-bat, for example.

On Tuesday you will likely want to repeat the same activities unless you feel the child is comfortable with the words and then you can skip ahead to the next day's activities. The intent of these first two days is simply to familiarize the child with the words without placing any pressure on her.

Wednesday it is time to see how well the child knows the words. Give the child a written spelling test and then check the words. Have the child write each word that is missed three times. Then give the child an oral spelling test on the words that were missed. If the child stumbles on any of the words then spell the word with the child. Now put the list away for the day.

Thursday can be easy or challenging depending on the words that week and the child's success with them. If the child is still struggling with several words then simply repeat the Wednesday activities. Try to do so as early as possible to give you time to work with the child on a couple words throughout the evening. Remember to emphasize the patterns and clues that you discussed earlier in the week.

Friday is the big day and the moment of truth to see if all your child's hard work has paid off. Try to allow extra time before school to go over the words again. If the child's confidence is low then do not test, simply spell the words out loud with the child. If you drive your child to school this is a great activity for the car.

Find more free parenting tips at http://officialfamily.info

Thursday, June 26, 2008

Good Parenting Advice - Do Not Put Education On Summer Vacation

The words "Schools Out For Summer" strike joy into the hearts of children and often a sigh of relief for parents who are just as eager to take a break from homework as their progeny. However taking a complete break from the books for the entire summer can be problematic.

Studies have shown that children forget between 1 and 3 months of school during the summer vacation. While reading is the least effected, the most impacted subjects are spelling and math. Obviously it is important for children to have time to play and relax -- to just enjoy being kids during the summer. Children should not be pushed into a high-pressure study schedule over summer vacation. But parents can take steps to slow down that loss of knowledge and erosion of skills.

First and foremost, keep children reading over the summer but try to work in some nonfiction as well as fiction onto the reading list. Take a lesson from many experienced teachers and pick a few spelling words from the books children are reading. Perhaps tie test results into some special summer reward and you will have eagerly awaited spelling bees.

Writing is one skill that often erodes during summer, but you can give children a writing journal and a weekly goal. They can write about whatever you think will interest your child. They can report on their baseball games, make up elaborate games, or simply report on the books they are reading. There are lots of great writing prompts out there for kids if you run dry of ideas. It does not matter so much what your child writes so long as they spend time writing so they can work on handwriting skills as well as keep in the groove of putting words on paper. One easy writing prompt is to have the child describe people, places, objects, pets and other animals, insects, and games. Lists are another easy writing prompt -- favorite things, worst things, etc. Then on another day you can use those descriptions and lists to generate another writing prompt.

Math skills might seem the hardest thing to work on during summer but in fact these can be the easiest. Math does not have to come out of a book and you can easily work a lot of math lessons into those long car rides or plane trips as you go on a family vacation. Try counting car headlights (counting by 2s) as you drive or fingers in a restaurant or plane (counting by 5s). Find various shapes around the house and then trace them to create yet more complex forms. Get the kids involved in cooking and learning about measurements. Give the kids a ruler and notebook and tell them to measure various objects around the house. Empty out your pocket change and have the kids sort it and create word problems with the coins.

There are lots of activities you can do at home without the expense of special tools, workbooks or programs that will actively engage your child in learning and help keep their school skills sharp. They will not even notice they are learning because they will enjoy these projects so much.

Renaissance Woman Deanna Mascle shares more good parenting advice at http://renaissancewomanonline.com/family.php

Thursday, May 08, 2008

Parenting Tip - How Do You Learn To Be A Parent?

Parenting is the toughest, most important job most people will ever encounter and yet there is no license required, no training required, and no 24/7 hotline. This is rather short-sighted on the part of society as the cost of bad parenting is immense, but in truth the situation is not as dire as it seems. While no training is required for new parents, it is very easy for parents to learn the ways and means of good parents as well as the traps and pitfalls of bad parents. All it takes for parents to learn more about parenting is to watch, listen, and learn.

Watching is a key element to learning more about parenting. Watch the parents around you and you can learn all sorts of lessons about how to interact with your child, how to discipline your child, and how to teach your child. Almost everywhere you take your child there will be other parents and their children. Watching means observing but also listening. Hear the tone of voice as well as the words those parents use. Some parents use the right words but their tone and physical manner contradicts those words. Watch the children to note their response. Some children respond more readily to their parents. Why? What is different about that parent-child relationship? What can you take away for your own parent-child relationship?

Listen to advice. You don't need to take every piece of advice that is offered to you. After all, there are many people who are free with advice and yet have clearly demonstrated they are in no position to offer it. However, there is often some really good advice shared by people you know and trust as well as good advice offered by passing strangers in the supermarket checkout line or in the stands at a soccer game. Be a sponge. Keep your ears open. You don't have to take that advice but keeping your options open gives you the chance to sort out the jewels and benefit from them.

Be an active learner. Seek out information when you face a parenting challenge. Perhaps your child is acting out in a new way and your old discipline technique isn't working. Search the internet, flip through parenting books, and ask some experts in your circle of friends. Sometimes great advice will come to you but other times you will need to seek it out. The more proactive you are about finding solutions to your parenting problems then the better parent you will become.

Parenting is a challenging job, no question about it, but it also comes with wonderful built-in rewards. Some times parents are forced to take a tough unpopular stand but in the end good parenting comes with its own rewards. Those rewards include a happy, successful child and a warm, loving relationship that will extend long past childhood and span the rest of your life. So who needs special training. If you watch, listen, and learn then you can be the parent you want to be and your child deserves.

You can find good parenting advice at http://answersforyourfamily.com/

Tuesday, May 06, 2008

Parenting Advice - Have Questions About Parenting Classes

There is a huge market for parenting classes in this busy world. Many people find that they do not know how to balance their jobs as parents with their occupational goals, so they attend parenting classes to get some advice and to get some grounding in terms of parenting. These people meet regularly with other parents to share tips, get advice and to gain information in terms of parenting so that they can take what they learn in class home with them to create a better working family.

One of the things people learn about in a parenting class is parenting style. There are virtually thousands of options and many people vary their own parenting style several times during the life of the child. Some maintain a nurturing style throughout and display affection and lavish caring towards the child at all ages. Others maintain a more distant style of parenting, preferring to let words promote the parenting style as opposed to actions. Whatever the parenting style is, parenting classes offer a glimpse into the variations between these notions.

Parenting education is another important aspect of parenting classes. Many people go to parenting classes because of the sharing of information. People find, in talking about their issues, that they are able to learn more about parenting. This sharing of parenting education is prosperous for parents and for the children that benefit from new pieces of shared information about raising a family. With the right education, many parents learn how to treat sickness with their child or how to handle a tough psychological problem with their teen.

There are, of course, options for those parents that are parenting baby. A babies needs tend to be more specific and involve a greater amount of care in terms of parenting needs. A baby needs a great deal of attention, so parenting baby training picks up on that and works with tons of valuable information to create the best possible parenting skill-set. From these types of parenting classes, people are finding more confidence to continue parenting baby.

Regardless of the age group of the children, many parents are finding that attending parenting classes is an incredibly helpful way to go about learning more about the troubles and trials of parenting. It is also a great way to communicate and form a network of other supportive parents. One of the major benefits at most parenting classes tends to be the notion of treating each parent, each member of the relationship, as the same and as equal partners in parenting classes.

There are many options for parenting classes. They are typically offered in community centers or within church groups and run year-round on all of the days of the week to accommodate the busy schedule of the average working parent. Finding parenting classes is typically just a matter of looking in a phone book or contacting local representatives for community information. Parenting classes can make all of the difference in the world, even to the most seasoned parenting veteran.

Find more parenting advice at http://parentslearnmore.com/
Christian Parenting - an Alternative Parenting Style?

There are many different aspects of parenting that qualify as alternative parenting, including Christian parenting, gay parenting and surrogate parenting. All of these are somewhat normative in that they involve loving sets of parents that take care of their children, but many of the details can create a stir in the hearts and minds of detractors. Whether or not the debate surrounding Christian parenting, gay parenting and surrogate parenting is necessary is irrelevant because it exists and we are inundated with it.

As the world changes, so do parenting rights. What once was regarded as being purely for a man and a woman under legal definitions has now been spread to meet the changing needs of our evolving society. Gay families now have equal parenting rights in most North American areas. Marriage rights for homosexuals is another can of worms, however.

While Christian parenting and gay parenting may seem to be polar opposites, they are often greeted by opposition in the public arena because of the controversial viewpoints that exist. While on the one hand, Christian parenting detractors vocalize their opinions on the notion that Christian parenting involves teaching children a "mythology" at a very young age without offering choices, they also advocate that this parenting approach traditionally expresses solid value systems in children.

The same perplexing two-pronged sentiments are expressed towards parents of the homosexual persuasion. One the one hand, many people seem to intrinsically doubt the notion that two homosexual people can be parents. On the other hand, people also think that the only requirement of a marriage and a family relationship is for the two people to be loving and capable of compassion in regards to one another. In that respect, one would assume that the viewpoint in terms of gay parenting seems a little bit contradictory.

Surrogate parenting is another topic that often gets thrown into the mix that affects Christian parenting and gay parenting. Surrogate parenting is the controversial practice of seeking out a vessel to carry a child until childbirth and then passing the child over to another parent. Many people object to this practice because they view it as being "baby farming". This objection typically comes right on the heels of the statement that a surrogate mother is one of the most tenderly giving women in the world because she gives of her own body. This confusing point of view is more evidence as to the perplexing arena of debate surrounding the various types of controversial parenting.

Christian parenting, gay parenting and surrogate parenting all face an enormous amount of criticism from the general public in terms of what is required as ethical parenting. These issues are typically not ethical issues, however, and instead stem from a very basic and primitive paranoia about the raising of children in the Western world. Christian parenting, gay parenting and surrogate parenting are all important aspects of parenting that should be noted for their loving compassion before any social issue gets in the way of good sense.

Find more parenting advice at http://officialfamily.us/
Good Parenting Tips - Who Really Writes Parenting Books?

The best parenting books tend to be the ones written by those with actual parental experience. It seems that this qualifies them to write and discuss parenting, but it may not always make them the best authors. Still, when it comes to taking the advice of either a parent with a little dirt on his or her fingers or the advice of an "expert" with no children, many parents would select parenting books written by the former.

As parents, it is common to wonder how a person with no child-raising experience is at all qualified to write parenting books. Instead, most parents want a book written by someone with knowledge of parenting and all of the trials involved in the most harmful and dangerous of life's professions.

Many parenting books tend to take a viewpoint that looks at it as parenting from the inside out. This simple philosophy refers to the notion that authors of these books are reflecting on their own personal experience as a parent and are, therefore, offering parenting advice from someone experienced with parenting from the inside out. As someone who has been down many of the same roads before, parenting advice can typically be well-founded when it comes from an experienced parent.

Of course, not everyone that writes a parenting book needs to undergo systematic training for effective parenting. Often in lieu of systematic training for effective parenting, an author of parenting books may have a degree in pediatrics and may be experienced in child psychology. The author can then approach the prospect of writing parenting books from a position of expertise and not necessarily a position of experience. In this matter, the advice and words from an author with such expertise would be well-founded, but the matter of whether or not it would be as broadly accepted as the same advice from an author that was an actual parent is another matter altogether.

Various BBC parenting specials, for example, often utilize the advice of several of Britain's highly trained pediatricians in their construction. These BBC parenting specials ask for advice from several of the UK's top experts on parenting and piece together a feature documentary based around that qualified information. The BBC then also asks the advice of parents. In many of these specials, it is often amusing to examine the differences in advice given from the childless experts in comparison to the seasoned veteran parents. While both pieces of advice are typically genuine and can be considered "right", it seems that the advice from the actual parents in these cases is generally more realistic and based on actual experience as opposed to potential theory.

Parenting books are constructed in the same fashion, but other times a parenting book may be written by a parenting expert based on theories that they are aware of. A parent is more than capable and more than experienced when it comes to knowing about parenting, so trusting their ideas when it comes to parenting books is probably a good idea. Whether you decide on parenting books from so-called experts or from regular parents, both can contain good ideas and great advice for the ultimate task of parenting your children.

Parenting books are often very helpful to parents, especially in terms of getting answers to the load of questions most parents have. Seeking out advice can be difficult, but most of the books on the market contain great advice that is easy and rather pleasant to read. Parenting books can be really helpful in many situations by developing a good understanding of the life-long job of being a parent and tempering it with some good advice.

Find more parenting tips at http://officialfamily.info/