Parenting  

1. Coaching Your Teenagers on the Quest for Good Grades
It is important that as a parent, you create a flexible environment that supports your teen, and provides her with the opportunity to grow into a self-reliant young adult. As a teenager, she will think at times that she has all the answers, and not need you. However, she will be happy to have you as a "safety net" when she realizes she does not have all the answers. This can include how well she is doing in school. Obviously grades are important but sometimes the quest for good grades can become an obsession, or not taken seriously enough. As parents, we can fall into the common trap of measuring our child’s success solely on grades alone. Rising to their full potential What can help is to set the expectation that it is mor...
Author: V. Michael Santoro, M. Ed. Date: Fri, 05 Aug 2005 23:58:22 -0400

2. How to Listen to Your Teenager without Appearing to Have Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD)
In one of the Family Circus cartoon strips, the little girl looks up at her father, who is reading the newspaper, and says, "Daddy, you have to listen with your eyes as well as your ears." That statement says almost all there is to say about listening. Being a good listener means focusing attention on the message and reviewing the important information. Listening can be considered an art, as well as a skill, and like other skills, it requires that you exhibit some discipline to be effective. However, in today's world where multitasking is considered essential to surviving in the workplace, it is not uncommon to be talking on the phone while we are reading mail or sending e-mail, and simultaneously conducting hand signals with a co-...
Author: V. Michael Santoro, M. Ed. Date: Fri, 05 Aug 2005 23:58:21 -0400

3. Unilateral Disarmament - The First Step to Improving Communications with Your Teenagers
Many times, we are so conditioned in how we speak that we do not realize whether or not we are effectively communicating with our teens. This is especially true when they upset us. To ensure that you are fostering an environment that will encourage your teenager to talk to you, as opposed to fearing you, the first step is to evaluate your communication style. How you express yourself and what you say to your teens, especially when you are angry, can inhibit your relationship with them. Reacting by shouting short sarcastic phrases will usually turn off most people, including our teenagers. The following are twelve examples of statements and questions that you should avoid saying: 1. When I was your age 2. What part of th...
Author: V. Michael Santoro, M. Ed. Date: Fri, 05 Aug 2005 23:58:20 -0400

4. What's Troubling Your Teenager? - Peeling Back the Onion Layers
Onion layers are a good analogy for problem solving. Like onions, problems can have multiple layers, and if you do not dig deeply enough, you may end up not solving the real problem. A good way to indicate whether or not you have "peeled back" enough layers is to see how you "feel" during the problem solving process. At times it will seem like you have discovered the proper solution, but something just doesn't "feel right" about it. At that point, it is advisable to trust your instincts and discuss the problem with someone. I have often said myself, "You know, everything seems right, but it just doesn't feel right." You may not even be able to articulate why at the time. Usually, as you discuss it, while reviewing the availab...
Author: V. Michael Santoro, M. Ed. Date: Fri, 05 Aug 2005 23:58:20 -0400

5. Ten ways to Become Best Friends with Your Teenagers
Best friends! It may seem impossible to believe, but today’s teens do want to consider their parents as friends, even though they think we could never understand the realities of their world. They are also interested in what it was like being a teenager during the Stone Age. Life without cell phones or the Internet must have been unimaginable! So even with this interest, can parents and teens really become best friends when competing with busy schedules, and raging hormones? The answer is a resounding YES…and it is worth the effort! What is important to understand is that both of you have to want the new relationship on a long-term basis. You cannot appear to be going through the motions, or acting like you are fitting this ne...
Author: V. Michael Santoro, M. Ed. Date: Fri, 05 Aug 2005 23:58:19 -0400

6. Monitoring Your Teens for Drug Use without Appearing to be Spying
Even if your teenagers do not use drugs, you still need to keep an eye on them. It is much better to realize that things could change, and anticipate that your teen COULD become a user. Essentially, it is not wise to make assumptions about topics such as drug use. Also, having been a high school teacher afforded me the opportunity to witness peer pressure, and how even good kids could be convinced to try drugs - just to fit in. It is important that you play a proactive role in ensuring that your teenagers and the rest of your family remains drug free. About drug use Initially, I learned that the signs of drug use included three basic symptoms: A loss of interest in hobbies A change in friends A drop in...
Author: V. Michael Santoro, M. Ed. Date: Fri, 05 Aug 2005 23:58:19 -0400

7. Study Skills - How Can YOU Help Your Kids?
Some years ago when touring the Scottish Highlands, a man I met said something that's stuck with me ever since. He was elderly, yet was still working away on his small farm. He had no intention of retiring, and when asked if he felt the pace of the years he said no, he really enjoyed his work but - and this is what stuck with me! - "It's a day's work getting started." In other words every day he had to gather up his strength and resolve, get out there and get going. And this doesn't apply only to farming, does it? The same principle applies to our kids when they have to get down to serious home study or 'homework': "It's a day's work getting started!" So how can we help our kids when their teachers aren't there...
Author: Frank McGinty Date: Fri, 05 Aug 2005 23:58:18 -0400

8. Teaching Kids to Value Books and Reading
Joys and Importance of Reading Recent research indicates that seventy percent of high school graduates are unable to read at the twelfth grade level. In many cases, reading is subordinated to other actvities in children's lives. Is that what you want for your child? If not, get your kids interested in books at an early age. Your voice is your baby's most beloved sound. Take advantage of your baby's natural inclination to focus on the sound of your voice and read aloud to him. When your baby fatigues or becomes distracted by other stimuli, stop reading and resume at a time when you and your child are ready to return to it. Preschool children whose parents read aloud to them an average of twenty minutes daily ...
Author: Connie Leyendi Date: Fri, 05 Aug 2005 23:58:17 -0400

9. Home And School Education - Your Kids Can Benefit From Both!
Once, as a Learning Support Teacher, I made my way down to the annexe that housed the school's History Department. The annexe was about 100 metres from the main school building, down an attractive, leafy hill. On the way I was irked by two girls in front of me complaining about the hill, the wind ruffling their hair, the distance from one classroom to another, and so on. I joined the History class with the moans and groans still ringing in my ears. However, the topic of the lesson soon gripped me: Life in Thirteenth Century Scotland. The ordinary people in those days lived in squalid huts, unlike the nobles with their heavily fortified castles. But even they faced many challenges. Fighting was a way of life and...
Author: Frank McGinty Date: Fri, 05 Aug 2005 23:58:17 -0400

10. What Should You Consider When Choosing Baby Clothes
Are you expecting a baby? You might be tempted to buy baby’s clothes, although you know most of the time baby will always sleeping and crying during their first months, which obviously don’t need fancy clothes to wear. But still you find dressing your baby with cute outfit will be an unforgotten moment. You will find various kind of cute baby outfit. Dresses, jumpers, pajamas, and swimsuits are popular baby clothes most parents would like to have. Colors choices can be anything, but mostly baby girl wear pink color and baby boy wear blue color. But do not think, however, that this is the only color in which you can find for baby clothes. You can find baby outfits in almost all other colors. The designs are also awesome for baby...
Author: Amy Fadden Date: Fri, 05 Aug 2005 23:58:16 -0400

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