We did an extensive search in trying to find something healthy, informative, and equally fun for preschool, kindergarten and first grade kids to do online for a limited amount of time on a daily basis. Let us look at what parents want for their preschool and kindergarten kids and what they actually get.
What do parents actually want?
Parents generally want their kids to get used to computers at a young age, but not get addicted to the same. Hence the ?limited amount of time? is a key requirement to any young children?s website.
Parents also expect that the website should be generally healthy and suitable for kids. The website should teach the kids the essential concepts of early child-hood curriculum, such as, numbers, alphabets, analytics etc. It is a huge plus, if the kids are taught in a subtle and entertaining manner, without giving them a burdened feeling that they need to learn. Such a fun learning approach, goes a great length in addressing their generally short attention spans. In other words, the kids should learn while thoroughly enjoying the time spent on the website. Research has shown, that this is quite an effective way to motivate kids to learn.
In the fast paced world today, most parents are busy with both parents working. In such a scenario, the website needs to be able to engage the young kids without the parents necessarily having to baby sit them along.
The bottom line is that TV engages kids, but a well designed children?s website should be able to engage and interact with the kids much more effectively, while providing the necessary learning.
What do parents actually get?
To our surprise, our search showed that not many sites came close to the above expectations. Here are some of the things we found on the web for children, based on our extensive survey.
One thing that our search revealed is that there are several social networking websites for kids. Sensible parents of preschoolers or first graders wouldn?t feel comfortable with their kids doing social networking on the internet before doing social networking in the real world.
The search also exposed a huge number of websites offering online educational games, with a lot of ad-hoc content and flash based games. On the flip side, these games were rather unorganized. Looking at such content, one easily comes to the conclusion that parents have to spend a lot of time trying to organize and present the content to their kids, so that the kids would get something meaningful out of it. This means that parents have to baby sit them on a daily basis and put in a lot of a-priori homework on their part.
The other common thing we found was that most of the content, actually do not ?teach? any new concepts to the kid. They generally assume that kids know the concepts and proceed directly to ?test? them. This puts a lot more burden on the parents to come up with effective ways to teach the required concepts to the kids. This is one of the biggest shortcomings of online educational games for preschool and kindergarten.
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Fathers Who Teach Gratitude Can Help Kids Live A Good Life By:James Dunsford
Fathers interested in ensuring their children lead happy lives may need to give out a couple of lessons in gratitude, according to new research.
Todd Kashdan, an associate professor of psychology at George Mason University, has found that the act of gratitude is "one of the essential ingredients for living a good life."
However, fathers who want to instill these lessons in their children may have to use some extra parenting skills with their sons, says Kashdan.
According to the professor's most recent paper, which was published online at the Journal of Personality website, men are less likely to feel and express gratitude than women.
In one of Kashdan's studies, he interviewed college-aged students and older adults, asking them to describe a recent experience when they received a gift. The researcher found women felt greater levels of gratitude with the gifts, while men reported feeling burdened and obligated to return the favor.
"The way that we get socialized as children affects what we do with our emotions as adults," said Kashdan. "Because men are generally taught to control and conceal their softer emotions, this may be limiting their well-being."
Some researchers have suggested children as young as 18 months can grasp the concept of gratitude, even without any verbal skills.
Fathers may be able to teach gratitude by incorporating the idea of thankfulness into regular conversations with their children. One way to foster this is for fathers to have their children talk about the good things that happened to them that day at dinner.
Also, charity may be a way to teach a child to be grateful. With keen parenting skills, fathers can talk to their children about donating some of their older, under-used toys to other children who may not have as much.
However, perhaps the best way is to lead by example and fathers who thank their children after they complete a task or help around the house can instill a lesson of gratitude.
Step by Step Potty Training Guide Toddler Will Understand to Potty Training Better By:Mark Twinton
Potty training guide is a vital thing to be finished to help your child to revise their diapers to usual underwear. Potty training guide requests great deals of patience and will takes so much time to do. The most vital things in potty training guide are not to get dispirited and to use support and treats rather than harshness and punishment.
Before you set off potty training guide, there are also some toilet training have to haves that are included in this potty training guide to help you go through the approach of toilet training a little easier.
Toilet Training Supplies
In this potty training guide, you have to first prepare toilet training supplies particularly toilet training pants. These pants look as if underwear and will help your child shift among diapers and underpants which are spongy and will help to stop accidents. Potty training pants are great for nighttime when your little one will most possible not be able to make it through the night without wetting the bed.
The next vital supplies in potty training guide are a mattress pad. This is in essence a layer between the sheets and the mattress. It stops your mattress from getting dirty and allowing you to clean up after those inescapable nighttime accidents without too much fuss. When the nighttime accident go ons, you just have to change the sheets and clean the mattress pad by wiping it.
If your child has started to go successfully in the potty and is easily telling you when he or she requests to use the bathroom, it might be time to use the grown ups toilet. A toilet training seat will help to accommodate small bottoms on big toilets and make the toilet seem less menacing.
Start Slow
All potty training guides will recommend you to begin slow and be enduring to your little one. The child requests more time to grasp the idea on the subject of why they shouldd do potty training and you have to repeat for many times until they can figure out the concept. One good way to initiate is to dump the contents of a soiled diaper into the potty and explain that this is what the potty is for.
Potty training guide that worth to add to the number of trips to the bathroom is to initiate the manner when your child just woken up in the morning. Once your child accustomed with this routine, you can add to the frequency of trips to the bathroom. During the approach potty, you should explain why potty should be used and how it is all part of growing up. A potty training guide that works requests reliability to work, so just be more patient because it all need approach.
Unwanted Toys 16 Ideas For What To Do With Them By:Chloe Alice Wilson
Knowing what to do with unwanted toys can be the biggest stumbling block when it comes to taking action to get rid of these house cluttering items. Children grow out of them or they did not like them in the first place, for whatever reason, every household has a pile of toys that no longer see the light of day. If every time you look at the ever growing mountain of abandoned toys you quickly walk by or close the door, take heart, finding a better home for them is easier than you think. So where do you start?
Firstly you need to consider which toys should really go in the rubbish and which can safely be given away. You should not give away:
* toys which are at the end of their useful life
* soft toys, unless they are new or in as-new condition
* toys which have suffered significant damage.
In other words only give away toys in a condition that you yourself would buy. If you have the original packing or manufacturer?s instructions give them away with the toy.
Secondly you need to decide whether you want to GIVE your unwanted toys away or make a bit of spare change from selling them.
The following 11 ideas cover donating your unwanted toys to worthy causes:
1. Donate to Charity Shops
Pop into your local charity shops and ask if they accept second hand toys. Don?t be offended if they don?t because due to health & safety regulations it often costs the charity more money (in terms of staff time having to check for loose threads/parts/batteries etc) than actually buying them brand new. If they will accept your donations do not forget to sign the Gift Aid declaration form, to boost the value of your donation by 28%.
Charity shops obviously benefit the charity they are supporting, be that children?s charities, medical charities etc. If you would prefer your toys to go directly to less fortunate children ideas 3-11 may be more appealing.
2. Donate to Charities Online
By using the Ebay For Charity initiative, you can sell your unwanted toys and the proceeds will be sent directly to the charity. Items being sold for charity are identified with a distinctive ribbon symbol along with a description of the charity that will be receiving the proceeds of the sale. Buyers place bids for these goods in the usual way, knowing their money will go to a worthwhile cause.
JumbleAID is another online answer to your mountainous toy problem - they let you post adverts for your unwanted toys (and other things) online and anyone can pledge a donation for them. It is free and easy to use and all of the funds raised go to your chosen charity.
3. Donate to Hospitals
This is only really appropriate for new toys due to safety/infection concerns but sometimes we all find toys that our children received two of or perhaps some that they were not so keen on that never left the box.
4. Donate to Childrens? Homes
Children in homes are typically older so when considering which toys would be suitable go with an average age of about 14. Find your nearest home using a service using an online search to see if these children could benefit from part of your unwanted toy stash.
5. Donate to Women?s Refuges
Women?s refuges help hundreds of thousands of women and children escape domestic violence each year. Often they flee their homes leaving all of their possession behind. Find the number of your local Domestic Violence service online through an organisation such as Women?s Aid, to offer your help through your used toys.
6. Send Your Toys To Orphanages Abroad
There are many orphanages, child health homes and day care centers abroad who are in need of toys. Some encourage you to send your toys, old and new, to improve the lives of these children as well as monetary donations. To find addresses of orphanages that do accept toy donations, search on Google for ?send toys to african orphanages? or ?chinese orphanages? or something similar and find their donations page. Some only accept monetary donations but you can find addresses if you are persistent.
7. Donate to Family Centres
Contact your local Social Services Department to see if they know of any family centres near you that will take and get good use from your second hand toys.
8. Ask Your Local Church
Ask your local church if they know of families who could benefit from your unwanted toys.
9. Donate to Special Needs Schools, Playgroups or Nurseries
Find your nearest special needs school, playgroup or nursery and ask if they will accept second hand toys.
10. Donate to Toy Libraries
Toy libraries offer services to local children, families and carers based on regular toy loan for a nominal fee (and sometimes for free). Contact the National Association of Toy & Leisure Libraries online to find a library nearest to you.
11. Use The Freecycle Network
Freecycle is an online network of groups that match people who have things they want to get rid of with people who can use them. Their goal is to keep usable items out of landfills. Find your local group from their website and send the details of the toy you are offering in an e-mail. All items must be offered for free.
The remaining 5 ideas cover making a few pounds from your second hand toys to help in the current gloomy economic climate:
When selling your second hand toys you must be aware that all second-hand toys sold or supplied in the course of a trade or business fall under The Toys (Safety) Regulations 1995 which requires that they must be safe and bear the CE marking.
1. Sell Them On Ebay
Sign up with Ebay, an online auction and shopping website, where you can advertise your unwanted toys for sale and interested buyers will make bids if they are interested in your item.
2. Sell Them On Craigslist
Sign up online with Craigslist, a centralised network of online communities, and submit a free online classified advert for your item.
3. Sell Them At A Car Boot Sale
Look in your local newspaper to find the location of your nearest car boot sale, usually held over the weekend. Make sure you turn up early to ensure you get a pitch. You will have to pay a fixed fee for setting up your car boot in the sales area so make you sure you take enough unwanted items to make it worth your while. Portable tables or blankets are a good idea to take with you to display your goods on.
4. Organise a Toy Swap Party
Arrange with other parents a time and a place for everyone to bring their unwanted toys and the chances are all items will change hands very quickly. The downside to this is that you will not end up decluttering your house of toys but you will get some new toys for free.
5. Rent Them Out
Find an online toy rental service, such as Zilok, and make some money by loaning out your unwanted toys by the day.
Start DeCluttering Now
As parents it is a daily task to try and keep on top of the toy chaos that surrounds us. Decluttering the house of unwanted toys is a logical way to restore a bit of order and get part of your home back. Hopefully at least one of the above ideas will work for you and you will feel better knowing another child is benefitting from your efforts.
What ideas do you have for dealing with unwanted toys? Have you tried them and if so, were they successful? I?d love to hear your comments and examples.
If you found this article useful in any way, please consider linking to it or sharing it with others. Don?t miss any future tips on topics related to toys - subscribe to our RSS feed today.
Firstly you need to consider which toys should really go in the rubbish and which can safely be given away. You should not give away:
* toys which are at the end of their useful life
* soft toys, unless they are new or in as-new condition
* toys which have suffered significant damage.
In other words only give away toys in a condition that you yourself would buy. If you have the original packing or manufacturer?s instructions give them away with the toy.
Secondly you need to decide whether you want to GIVE your unwanted toys away or make a bit of spare change from selling them.
The following 11 ideas cover donating your unwanted toys to worthy causes:
1. Donate to Charity Shops
Pop into your local charity shops and ask if they accept second hand toys. Don?t be offended if they don?t because due to health & safety regulations it often costs the charity more money (in terms of staff time having to check for loose threads/parts/batteries etc) than actually buying them brand new. If they will accept your donations do not forget to sign the Gift Aid declaration form, to boost the value of your donation by 28%.
Charity shops obviously benefit the charity they are supporting, be that children?s charities, medical charities etc. If you would prefer your toys to go directly to less fortunate children ideas 3-11 may be more appealing.
2. Donate to Charities Online
By using the Ebay For Charity initiative, you can sell your unwanted toys and the proceeds will be sent directly to the charity. Items being sold for charity are identified with a distinctive ribbon symbol along with a description of the charity that will be receiving the proceeds of the sale. Buyers place bids for these goods in the usual way, knowing their money will go to a worthwhile cause.
JumbleAID is another online answer to your mountainous toy problem - they let you post adverts for your unwanted toys (and other things) online and anyone can pledge a donation for them. It is free and easy to use and all of the funds raised go to your chosen charity.
3. Donate to Hospitals
This is only really appropriate for new toys due to safety/infection concerns but sometimes we all find toys that our children received two of or perhaps some that they were not so keen on that never left the box.
4. Donate to Childrens? Homes
Children in homes are typically older so when considering which toys would be suitable go with an average age of about 14. Find your nearest home using a service using an online search to see if these children could benefit from part of your unwanted toy stash.
5. Donate to Women?s Refuges
Women?s refuges help hundreds of thousands of women and children escape domestic violence each year. Often they flee their homes leaving all of their possession behind. Find the number of your local Domestic Violence service online through an organisation such as Women?s Aid, to offer your help through your used toys.
6. Send Your Toys To Orphanages Abroad
There are many orphanages, child health homes and day care centers abroad who are in need of toys. Some encourage you to send your toys, old and new, to improve the lives of these children as well as monetary donations. To find addresses of orphanages that do accept toy donations, search on Google for ?send toys to african orphanages? or ?chinese orphanages? or something similar and find their donations page. Some only accept monetary donations but you can find addresses if you are persistent.
7. Donate to Family Centres
Contact your local Social Services Department to see if they know of any family centres near you that will take and get good use from your second hand toys.
8. Ask Your Local Church
Ask your local church if they know of families who could benefit from your unwanted toys.
9. Donate to Special Needs Schools, Playgroups or Nurseries
Find your nearest special needs school, playgroup or nursery and ask if they will accept second hand toys.
10. Donate to Toy Libraries
Toy libraries offer services to local children, families and carers based on regular toy loan for a nominal fee (and sometimes for free). Contact the National Association of Toy & Leisure Libraries online to find a library nearest to you.
11. Use The Freecycle Network
Freecycle is an online network of groups that match people who have things they want to get rid of with people who can use them. Their goal is to keep usable items out of landfills. Find your local group from their website and send the details of the toy you are offering in an e-mail. All items must be offered for free.
The remaining 5 ideas cover making a few pounds from your second hand toys to help in the current gloomy economic climate:
When selling your second hand toys you must be aware that all second-hand toys sold or supplied in the course of a trade or business fall under The Toys (Safety) Regulations 1995 which requires that they must be safe and bear the CE marking.
1. Sell Them On Ebay
Sign up with Ebay, an online auction and shopping website, where you can advertise your unwanted toys for sale and interested buyers will make bids if they are interested in your item.
2. Sell Them On Craigslist
Sign up online with Craigslist, a centralised network of online communities, and submit a free online classified advert for your item.
3. Sell Them At A Car Boot Sale
Look in your local newspaper to find the location of your nearest car boot sale, usually held over the weekend. Make sure you turn up early to ensure you get a pitch. You will have to pay a fixed fee for setting up your car boot in the sales area so make you sure you take enough unwanted items to make it worth your while. Portable tables or blankets are a good idea to take with you to display your goods on.
4. Organise a Toy Swap Party
Arrange with other parents a time and a place for everyone to bring their unwanted toys and the chances are all items will change hands very quickly. The downside to this is that you will not end up decluttering your house of toys but you will get some new toys for free.
5. Rent Them Out
Find an online toy rental service, such as Zilok, and make some money by loaning out your unwanted toys by the day.
Start DeCluttering Now
As parents it is a daily task to try and keep on top of the toy chaos that surrounds us. Decluttering the house of unwanted toys is a logical way to restore a bit of order and get part of your home back. Hopefully at least one of the above ideas will work for you and you will feel better knowing another child is benefitting from your efforts.
What ideas do you have for dealing with unwanted toys? Have you tried them and if so, were they successful? I?d love to hear your comments and examples.
If you found this article useful in any way, please consider linking to it or sharing it with others. Don?t miss any future tips on topics related to toys - subscribe to our RSS feed today.
Baby Gender Prediction Choose Your Next Babys Gender By:Jerry Lindenburger
As a mom you probably go through times in your life when you think you can?t possibly manage work and taking proper care of your family. In fact, there are probably times when you feel you?re not doing a good job at one or the other or maybe even both. Don?t despair! There is help for you whether you work from home or outside of the home, your family is large or small or you have other commitments like volunteer work.
Time Management - Knowing where and how you spend your time is key to balancing your life. Start by keeping a calendar of all your activities. You can do this online, on a paper calendar or in a journal. Track everything from showering, exercise, meal preparation, driving time, and so on. You will probably see areas where you can cut some time out by doing certain activities while you?re waiting in line at the grocery store or riding in the car. There are lots of useful ways to spend idle time and you can figure those out as you fill out your calendar or journal.
Set Priorities - As women we often have a hard time saying ?no? because it is in our nature to help others and want to be useful. However, you must know when to say ?no? to those activities that don?t help you reach your family, personal or business goals. And even if the activity does in some way help you reach your goals, you will need to prioritize the activity according to its value or importance.
Don?t be Afraid to ask for Help - Another trap women tend to fall into is the ?I can do it all? syndrome. For some reason society has taught women that they have to be ?Super Mom? otherwise you?ll be seen as lazy or a bad mother. That is a lie! When you are feeling overwhelmed by work, family and kids, have a friend, relative or neighbor give you a hand by helping you clean your house, or taking the kids away for a couple of hours while you get some work done. Whatever the situation may be, don?t hesitate to ask for help.
These are just a few of the suggestions you?ll find in my report, Real Life Guidance to Balancing Work and Family. The "Real Life Guidance to Balancing Work and Family" report shows you how you can find a balance between work and family, without letting any of those balls you are juggling fall on the floor. This report gives you real life solutions, and the best part is that you can get started right now.
Not only are there tips for everyday life, but inside The ?Real Life Guidance to Balancing Work and Family? contains valuable insight for work at home moms and moms who work outside of the home.
In addition, I also show you how to get started and then keep the momentum! So don?t wait another second. Stop doing the juggling act and get your life in balance now with the Real Life Guidance to Balancing Work and Family report.
Time Management - Knowing where and how you spend your time is key to balancing your life. Start by keeping a calendar of all your activities. You can do this online, on a paper calendar or in a journal. Track everything from showering, exercise, meal preparation, driving time, and so on. You will probably see areas where you can cut some time out by doing certain activities while you?re waiting in line at the grocery store or riding in the car. There are lots of useful ways to spend idle time and you can figure those out as you fill out your calendar or journal.
Set Priorities - As women we often have a hard time saying ?no? because it is in our nature to help others and want to be useful. However, you must know when to say ?no? to those activities that don?t help you reach your family, personal or business goals. And even if the activity does in some way help you reach your goals, you will need to prioritize the activity according to its value or importance.
Don?t be Afraid to ask for Help - Another trap women tend to fall into is the ?I can do it all? syndrome. For some reason society has taught women that they have to be ?Super Mom? otherwise you?ll be seen as lazy or a bad mother. That is a lie! When you are feeling overwhelmed by work, family and kids, have a friend, relative or neighbor give you a hand by helping you clean your house, or taking the kids away for a couple of hours while you get some work done. Whatever the situation may be, don?t hesitate to ask for help.
These are just a few of the suggestions you?ll find in my report, Real Life Guidance to Balancing Work and Family. The "Real Life Guidance to Balancing Work and Family" report shows you how you can find a balance between work and family, without letting any of those balls you are juggling fall on the floor. This report gives you real life solutions, and the best part is that you can get started right now.
Not only are there tips for everyday life, but inside The ?Real Life Guidance to Balancing Work and Family? contains valuable insight for work at home moms and moms who work outside of the home.
In addition, I also show you how to get started and then keep the momentum! So don?t wait another second. Stop doing the juggling act and get your life in balance now with the Real Life Guidance to Balancing Work and Family report.
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