So, if you are a parent of a special abled child, make optimum use of their summer vacations by engaging them into various different group based activities that they enjoy and learn from at the same time.

Speak to many school heads and many of them will bring this issue to light. Rather than concentrating merely on academics, parents need to understand that every child is unique and is blessed with a unique capability. As the saying goes ‘never judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree’, parents need to understand and explore the hidden talent of the child and try to nurture and foster the same rather than pressuring the child over academic performance. Parenting is a roller coaster ride with its highs and lows and bonding with children, working together with the teachers at school and parent can certainly help.

What kid really need to sustain in this world where Newton’s law ‘Survival of the fittest’ still holds true is a support that someone is always with them in their journey and who else than a parent can fill this space. Here are few tips on how you can foster your child to become independent through life skills.

1. Teach them to Respect people – To earn respect, you need to give respect and this needs to be instilled into the child early on. Etiquettes helps groom a child’s mentality and the way to do it is to do it yourself.

2. Encourage Extra-curricular activities – A holistic approach and an open mind can work wonders for the child, so beyond academics join them with extra curricular activities like sports, music or anything else that interests them.

3. Put them in Situations and observe then respond – Put them into situations without helping them. Try to observe how they respond to situations. This will help them make decisions, boost their self esteem

4. Relax and Have fun – Don’t take everything seriously. Children do make mistakes and will keep making them as they are learning every moment. So, just try to ignore silly mistakes and give them freedom to do mistakes by assuring them that we all make mistakes when we try. It’s okay to make mistakes some times as long as you learn from them and avoid repeating them.

5. Follow a hobby - Hobbies always help in unwinding yourself and rejuvenating and starting early always helps.

All this helps them through their journey of life when they grow up, making it easier too.

*Sourced from the Internet

It’s time to Discipline – Off-course, you don’t have to be rude in your way to tell them. Rather than pointing out some chore they haven’t finished, tell them that they would get a chance to play outdoor as soon as they finish their chore. Now, there’s an option for your child to choose from.

Don’t Ignore – Many parents simply take everything their children do easy. They feel that with age they will themselves learn to behave well. But, parents need to

One Warning always – Always warn before taking any strict action about an issue. For example if your child is not letting you work on your laptop, warn the child that if he/she don’t allow you to work then they will get a time out. You have to do it only once and not keep repeating that because if you keep repeating and don’t take action after a warning, it would be like fuel the fire.

Instant Actions – Immediate actions are important so that children take whatever you say seriously enough. If the behavior is worth a punishment, give it immediately. This could either be a time out of a few hours of no outdoor activity for a day or two or something else. For example if you kid is calling you names or talking with you rudely, then you need to make them understand that such behavior is unacceptable and they will have to pay for it, by depriving them of their favorite privilege for some time.

Restitution – In order to avoid some disrespectful behavior of your child yet again, restitution could be one of the way out. If you child for example behaves disrespectfully with someone, doing some kind gesture to the victim in order to repair the damage already done and avoid reoccurrence is what restitution is all about.

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*Sourced from the Internet

How to figure out whether the child is depressed, is a common question for parents. Here are few tips to help you know whether your child is caught in the depression trap.

Self Esteem Issues– Children suffering from depression might experience intense feelings of unworthiness, ugliness, shame, and failure.

Internet/ Phone Addiction – To distract themselves from depression, children may stay online extensively or may be addicted to mobile phone games. But they themselves aren’t aware that in fact, this addiction could further lead to isolation.

Unacceptable Behavior – Children with depression might exhibit reckless behavior like speeding, unsafe sex, excessive drinking, but to name a few.

Issues at School – Depression can lead to issues like poor attendance in school, feeling aloof, frustration with school-related work, drop in grades and more.

Violence – This issue is more rampant in boys suffering from depression. They turn aggressive, violent and self-harm themselves, besides showing disorders around eating.

Here are a few more symptoms that are common among depressed teens -
1. Feeling sad or hopeless
2. Feeling angry, irritated and hostile
3. Frequent crying
4. Poor performance at school
5. Lack of interest, motivation or enthusiasm
6. Fatigue or low on energy
7. Issues with concentration
8. Detachment from family and friends
9. Aches and pain that cannot be explained
10. Suicidal thoughts

Warning around Suicide

• Google search history showing searches around suicide, death, pills and weapons
• Showing reckless and self-harming behavior
• Speaking about death, suicide even if in a jovial way
• Giving away favorite stuff
• Saying goodbye to loved ones
• Writing poems or stories associated to death

As a parent you observe your child for such behaviors and if you feel that the child is showing any of the alarming signs around suicide act immediately.

Should homework and projects and studying for clearing exams in flying colors be the only objective of parents, or the concentration needs to be more on something that the child can live with, on something that can help your child throughout the lifetime? So, what is it that your child needs to succeed in life?

The answer to this question lies somewhere in the quote of Einstein. “If you want your children to become intelligent, read fairy tales to them. If you want your children to be more intelligent, read more fairy tales to them.”

Well, it means that reading is one activity which can help transform your child into a successful adult. You need to keep in mind that the first five to six years of life are the most important ones.

Developing an early reading habit in your child can help them in many ways not just academically but socially, neurologically, psychologically and even with linguistics. If you as a parent work with your child and read to them in their early years with expressions, it works wonders. If the child learns to read at an early age, the brain functioning and development is immense. There have been umpteen studies that have proved the importance of learning in brain development. Little ones who are put into reading early on can easily recognize words at sight faster compared to others. Here’s how reading is going to help your child.

Academics – At grass root level when you instill something in your child, it most probably stays forever as it becomes a way of life. Also during these early years, the learning is very fast and it affects academic performance later on.

Social – Reading helps your child become confident and boost up self- esteem because they will be the ones amongst the lot who will be one up against the peers because of their understanding of reading. They could end up receiving awards and recognition as well.

Psychological – A joyful reading experience at home will help a child to become independent and instill a decision-making ability as well as spark imagination and creativity. A child who reads a lot also is able to channelize energy into the right direction, thus increasing self- productivity.

Neurological – A newborn has around 200 billion neurons or active brain cells as they are called. If the child’s brain receives the right stimulation then every brain cell can sprout into 20,000 branches that are interconnected. Hence, if parents are reading, singing or talking to the child regularly, it is obviously going to play a critical role in the development of the brain cells and thus the intellectual capabilities.

Linguistic – The children who start reading early on are obviously good with their vocabulary, oral communication, spellings as well as writing capabilities. They also tend to get better and better with their scholastics. The reading skills also enhance oral communication abilities besides writing.

Well, so a better idea is to ease the pressure of doing homework from your kindergarteners or 1st graders and concentrate more on reading to them as much as possible.

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