Molding of a child’s self worth, raising a confident child, starts in his formative years where the parents are the major role players. The parent’s positive reinforcements will determine how a child feels about himself and the others around him. Parents and other caregivers have an important role to play in raising a confident child who will know he can do things by himself and for himself to meet his needs. Lin Buress in her article entitled Improving Self-Esteem in Kids says: “The overall happiness and success of children primarily depends on parents building self-confidence in their children, as having high self-esteem will have tremendous impact on a child’s success and independence as adults.”
Continue Reading...Are We Over-Scheduling Kids? Is It All Work and No Play?
Over-Scheduling kids may cause stress. Are you over-scheduling your children? Is it all work and no play in your home? Free play vs scheduled activities for children: is there a happy medium? Listen to the wishes of any of your adult friends. What do you hear most often? How they are too busy or too overwhelmed or how life is too hectic and how they are looking forward to a vacation or long weekend to relax and recharge their batteries. Now listen to your kids, tweens or teens. Listen to your special needs child. Do they feel the same way?
Continue Reading...Importance of “Play” for Kids, Tweens, and Teens
Jill Howlett Mays, MS, OTR/L was my guest on The Coffee Klatch Tweetchat I hosted a few years back. We had a marvelous session on some of the topics covered in her book Your Child’s Motor Development Story Understanding and Enhancing Development from Birth to Their First Sport that came out in the Fall of 2011. Our topic of discussion was Importance of “Play” for Kids, Tweens, and Teens. For the first segment of our session I had a Q&A period with Jill and then it was Open Forum so participants could tweet questions or comments.
Continue Reading...Tips on Helping Siblings of a Child with Special Needs Feel Loved and Important
How do you make siblings of a child with special needs feel SPECIAL also and a valued part of the family? How can parents schedule their days to have quality time alone with the child who DOES NOT have special needs? It is a very difficult position for both parents and siblings. What can these parents do? One week this was my topic for The Coffee Klatch Tweetchat I used to moderate. My guest for that topic was Julie Wolfe, both author and illustrator of My Holly – A Story of a Brother’s Understanding and Acceptance. This picture book is to help siblings of a child with special needs understand and accept their brother or sister who needs exceptional care.
Continue Reading...Review of Unthinkable: A Mother’s Tragedy, Terror and Triumph through a Child’s TBI
Dixie F-S Coskie, public speaker, advocate for the disabled writes of her family’s fight to bring back their teen son to his former self after an accident.
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