Parents + Families

Childhood Obesity.

Childhood Obesity 7 tips to help your child slim down & avoid devastating health problemsJun 03 '04Nine million American kids are now dangerously overweight, with the numbers increasing every day, warns an expert. "It's estimated that as many as one in four children in the U.S. are overweight," Amy Lanou, Ph.D., nutrition director of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine in   . . . more

Every Child Counts values families

http://www.everychildcounts.org.nz Every Child Counts recognises the vital role families play in children?s lives.  Families are the main source of support for children.  Our willingness to support families so that they can provide the best they can for children is an expression of the health of our society.    The diversity of families in which New Zeal  . . . more

Parent Care or Parent Beware?

Parent care or parent beware?
Picture this...You?ve just walked into your hairdresser?s. The secretary ignores you when you arrive. After she?s got off the phone from her boyfriend, you discover you?ve been double-booked. When you complain the indifferent response causes you to walk out. Unthinkable, isn?t it?Yet this is precisely how some education institutions appear to treat prospective custo  . . . more

Learning languages boosts brain power.

 







Learning languages enhances the brain, scientists believeLearning a second language "boosts" brain-power, scientists believe.
Researchers from University College London studied the brains of 105 people - 80 of whom were bilingual.
They found learning other languages altered grey matter - the area of the brain which processes information - in the same   . . . more

Making Promises to Your Kids

Making Promises to Your Kids
By Mark Brandenburg MA, CPCC
I was bringing my kids home from a long day of play one summer night not long ago. It was a difficult ride home, and they were tired, hungry, and whiny. I wanted to get them home as fast as I could.
As we neared our house, my son exclaimed, "You said you'd take us for ice cream!" I cringed when I heard this, because I remembere  . . . more

Easy Guide to the NCEA Level 1

 
Mathematics NCEA external exam papers
They're coming SOON
Check out this easy guide with essential information for preparing for the exam. Scroll down the page and click on each topic for some great suggestions.........
http://www.lbc.school.nz/departments/mathspn/front%20page.php
 
 
 
 
   . . . more

Help for Young New Zealanders

The Kids Help Foundation Trust offers the telephone counselling service for children and young people called What?s Up. On the website you will find information about The Kids Help Foundation Trust and What?s Up?s services, policies, and procedures. You can also get copies of our publications, press releases, and newsletters and find out how to get involved in What?s Up. http://www.what  . . . more

The Importance of a Second Language

Benefits of learning a Second Language through fun and play By Aline Shand ?Exposing your Child to a new world of words boosts her brainpower, vocabulary and self-esteem? Lynne S. Dumas For years it has been thought that teaching a second language to preschool age children would be a waste of time, money and resources. This has changed in the recent years as more and more research has been com  . . . more

Joint parenting for separated couples

 
 
The Home and Family Society have published an excellent leaflet for separating couples with children .  It is titled:
Joint parenting- a simple guide for separating couples who have children.
The leaflet is published can be found at http://www.homeandfamily.org.nz/publications/index.html?mlink=m5 under the heading 'Practical Parenting'.
 
 
&  . . . more

Build a lifetime in the first 3 years.

"Experiences in the first three years of a child's life have a profound effect which impacts into all aspects of adulthood".Brainwave is a charitable trust that has been set up by leading paediatricians, medical, educational, legal, academic and business professionals who are dedicated to ensuring that this crucial information is available to those who need it most.
Brainwave is in exis  . . . more

What are the different types of Fostering?

Short Term Fostering:
Short term fostering can be anything from an overnight stay to three months. There may be problems or illness in the family, or the child may have been harmed or abused in some way.
 
Usually short term fostering provides a safe place for a child to live, while social services work with the child?s family. At the same time, the foster parent and social worker will hel  . . . more

Getting Attached

By Jane McConnell
The Natural Child Project

Japanese children sleep between their parents until adolescence. Korean infants spend more than 90 percent of their time being held. In contrast, American babies spend two-thirds of their time alone, in infant seats, strollers, car seats, cribs or swings. and American mothers deliberately don't respond to their babies' cries 46 percent of time in t  . . . more

Why Should We Involve Children In Music?

In an age when there are so many pressures on teachers to teach a variety of subjects to children, music is often pushed to the side and seen as not important. How can we be so far from the truth? I challenge any teacher to find another subject that teaches coordination, language, concentration, confidence, team skills, tolerance and understanding of other people and other cultures, while develo  . . . more

Why do we smack our children?

Most New Zealanders now condemn all forms of interpersonal violence and many would like to see perpetrators of violence treated harshly when they appear before the Courts. There is one major exception to this revulsion towards violence ? and that is the belief that hitting children is an appropriate and effective means of controlling the behaviour of children.


Many of us have experienced phy  . . . more

Musical Development in Children

Every child is unique and develops at their own pace. This is a rough guide to your child's likely musical development.


Before Birth
A baby in the womb can hear sounds from 20 weeks after conception.

0 - 18 Months
From conception to eighteen months your baby is developing rapidly and its response to musical activity will not only be rewarding but highly beneficial to his or he  . . . more

Ways to have peaceful holidays for all.

Some of us face seven weeks of summer School Holidays with dread. Our internal and public monologue goes something like "How absolutely ghastly! Fifty days without relief. How on earth will I occupy them? I can't bear the thought of fifty days of fighting. Who was out to punish mothers when they thought up a long summer holiday?!"

Others of us look forward to the School and Kindergarten h  . . . more

Anxiety Management with Children

The following are common unhelpful strategies which well-intentioned parents and teachers use in response to anxiety in children (alternative strategies are provided in the next section):
> Excessively Reassuring the Child: While some reassurance is helpful, it is a fact that the more reassurance one gives, the more the child needs and demands it. Reassurance is a form of positive attention and  . . . more

Carers NZ

Carers New Zealand is an information and advocacy organisation for the one in five New Zealanders who provides care at home for sick, frail, injured or disabled family members. It works with regional organisations that support carers, providing information resources and guest speakers. Carers New Zealand also undertakes research, makes input into policy and service developments important to care  . . . more

Help for Kinship Carers

"If you are raising someone else's child and giving them a home, you may be able to get financial support to help with the upbringing of the child..................."

A new brochure, "Help for Kinship Carers- a guide for someone raising someone else's child" is available through Grandparents Raising Grandchildren Trust regional coordinators, the New Zealand Family and Foster Care Federation, Ci  . . . more

Walking School Buses

Walking to school is about to get way cool with StreetWise Rangers

By now you might have heard about the walking school buses which are starting up all around the country. StreetWise Rangers is a new theme EECA has developed to make the walking school bus even more fun and exciting for children. The story below tells you all about these superheroes...


Ten thousand light years away from  . . . more

How to Use Your To-Do's To Boost Baby's IQ

Chances are you want to provide a wonderful environment for your
baby to learn and grow. But your life is busy. You have a young child -- a child who needs to be bathed, dressed, fed, and nurtured. And when you're not caring for your little one, perhaps there's your housework, shopping, cooking, and laundry. Luckily, all children learn to talk. It's something that comes naturally, right? Not al  . . . more

Choosing Childcare

This article gives information about:

What are your childcare options
Preparing your child for care
What ifs of childcare
What are your Childcare Options?
Selecting the right childcare to suit your children and lifestyle can seem like a daunting hurdle. Through exploring the available options and talking to other parents, you can settle on an arrangement that can benefit both yourself an  . . . more

Seven Sparkling Ways to Encourage Kids? Writing

It?s natural for children to bubble over with ideas, schemes, and jokes. Unfortunately, capturing those ideas on paper is not so natural for many kids with learning disabilities (LD). They may freeze up, forget their ideas, or fight the pencil.

Help your reluctant writer at home

Your struggling writer needs practice at home, but you don?t want to make it seem like another school chore. The   . . . more

Helping Chn Overcome Shyness

Helping Chn Overcome Shyness

To assist children to overcome shyness, try the following ides. They are designed to help increase self-confidence and overcome situations that make a child feel shy.
|||bullet|||Strengths and Weaknesses. It is important that your child be in touch with their strengths as well as their weaknesses. On a sheet of paper, help them list on one half their strengths --   . . . more