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TALKING ABOUT MONEY WITH OUR CHILDREN

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There are complicated topics to talk about, especially with children, one of them: money. Some parents think they shouldn’t talk about it, because that doesn’t belong to the marvelous world of childhood, but on the contrary, financial education must begin at an early age. Parents should take the time to teach their kids how to spend and invest, buy and sell or set a budget, that is basic knowledge that will serve them for a lifetime. It is not a difficult task, because children learn quickly by observing the way their parents act. As soon as children can count, parents can introduce them to money and take an active role in providing them with information.

Although young children don’t fully understand the value of money, they can begin to learn the names of coins. Also, you can play games to exercise his imagination as create a supermarket or a shop in the house where the child plays a rol as a vendor or cashier that exchanges money for goods. Other good ideas: taking your children to a farmers’ market instead to the supermarket to help them understand the connection between work and money or motivating them to sell old toys and clothes, helping to host a family yard sale or doing chores in the house and receive a paid for it.

You can take your kid to the bank and open a savings account to encourage him to make regular deposits. As he grows and also the balance, you can teach him the concept of interest and how the bank pays back. On the other hand, you can also teach your kids how to use his savings in something they really want or need, so they also will learn to enjoy the earned money and make decisions and seize opportunities.

There are some tips to help educate children about personal finance and managing money, here some of them:

Communication is the basis of motivation and education, so as your children grow, teach them values concerning money, that is how to save it, make it grow and to spend it wisely.

Always think about how to prepare your kids for making good spending decisions in the future, in consequence setting goals is fundamental to teaching them the value of money and set the roots for responsibility.

Remember that parents are always the best examples, so use regular activities as opportunities to teach children the value of money: shopping trips, comparing prices, looking at the quality of the products and other features, evaluating ads and any other daily task that could be a source of learning.

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HAPPY KIDS, HEALTHIER KIDS

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There is a direct relation between the food your children eat and their mood.  Some fruits for example are a good source of beneficial antioxidant known as quercetin (a powerful brain-boosting element) and natural sugar that can increase the adrenaline in the body.  Particularly the high fiber fruits such as bananas, raspberries, kiwis, apples or blueberries offer a healthy-sugar-rush of energy. Also, the greek yogurt helps to the better functioning of the nervous system and fights antibodies and provides calcium and proteins to the body.  Although many kids hate it, oatmeal is an excellent package of amins, magnesium, fiber and zinc that reduces anxiety, suppress symptoms of depression and boost energy. This powerful food may be added to muffins, bread, smoothies and cookies. Chickpeas are also excellent for stimulating the smallest of the house, the Vitamin B6, protein and fiber they have engage the brain to produce those happy-feeling chemicals. There are other good mood foods to make children happier as: broccoli, almonds, carrots, cucumbers, avocados, spinach, green beans, chia seeds and sweet potatos. They are things that can modify our mood, concentration and physical ability. All you have to learn is how to cook  and combine them to make funny and nutritious meals that your kids enjoy.

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PETS AT HOME?

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Children love animals and always want to have them at home for companion or pleasure as pets. What is really a pet? It is not just an animal, in most of the cases it is considered as an additional member of the family, something that has a privileged status and rights to be respected. The difference between animals and pets is the bond, the affection. Having a domesticated animal at home is a huge decision that requires analysis and consensus and also is a step that needs organization, logistics and rules for the whole family. For children it is undoubtedly a positive experience, an animal can provide a valuable life experience as well as helping them to develop a sense of responsibility.

If you are thinking about having a pet at home, maybe you should read carefully some tips or recommendations as follows:

  • Make a careful selection of a pet that is suitable for your family circumstances and the size of your house. First, consider it if you have the space, time and money to care for it properly. And second, analyze which is appropriate for your child’s health, age and developmental stage.
  • Teach your child how to play safely with his pets, to avoid dangerous situations. Kids must be trained in how to respond to danger signs and also to not to disturb the animal when it is eating or sick.
  • After all contact with pets and other animals children must wash their hands to avoid infections. And if the animal is sick the best decision is to keep it isolated but cared, the priority is the family´s
  • Be careful letting your child choose pets as reptiles, mice, spiders and others, many of them are not suitable for households. Remember, a pet is a domesticated animal. Also there are certain breeds of dogs that can be dangerous and need extra control and supervision.
  • If you have doubts ask for advice from professionals. Get a healthy and happy pet, from a reputable source. Make sure that vaccine records are in order.
  • Always keep direct supervision of the contact between young children and pets, remember that animals act by basic instinct. Although many parents think it is normal, it is not adequate that humans and animals share the room at night.
  • Size is not a guarantee. Maybe you think that if you choose a puppy as a pet it will be easier to take care of it but small animals can be fragile, hard to train and require time.
  • Each animal has features to consider, cats are more mobile than dogs but less sociable, rabbits do not always enjoy being picked up and cuddled and hamsters are nocturnal so they will be very active in their cages at night. Maybe you can ask friends and other parents about their pets to get more information.

There are many considerations about having a little animal in the house, but in the other hand, there are many rewards: pets are a source of unconditional love, comfort, support and relax, especially for only sons they can be an excellent companionship. A pet can teach a kid to be independent, responsible and reliable. Animals in general can be therapeutic for everybody.

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CURIOUS CHILDREN, CREATIVE ADULTS

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Curiosity is a natural attribute of the human being that should be kept as an asset up to adulthood. The brain is designed to learn so it is inevitable that children try to comprehend their environment and can’t stop exploring and experiencing all the time.  At an early age child´s curiosity is focused on mom and dad, parents are the door to the world, so they are responsible for the best conditions for learning. As children investigate, smell, touch, see and taste they fuel the emotional, social, physical and ethical development. But capitalizing the curiosity in children is not an easy task, it requires dedication and the time, adults must provide the enriching experiences but also the necessary independence that helps kids make the adequate decisions. It is the perfect balance: create an atmosphere that intrigues but doesn’t over stimulate and offer experiences according to the stage of development but that are aligned to the children interests.  Some of the following tips may be helpful in this extra challenge for parents:

  • Teach your children to explore and expand curiosity with enthusiasm even in activities that may seem risky or dangerous to you.
  • Always have in mind the safety but not as restriction to your kid´s creativity. Encourage your children to put all their senses in action giving them new objects, textures, shapes, sounds and tastes.
  • Let your children interact and observe the real world out of home. Take them to walk, to meet people and visit interesting places as gardens, zoos, nature centers, planetariums, aquariums and museums.
  • Encourage curiosity in your children by letting them ask freely what they don’t know or understand, something may be obvious for you but unknown for them
  • Provide materials that stimulate children’s interactions with others and may expand language and communication skills as toys, books and music
  • If you child likes to figure how things work choose toys as puzzles or blocks with which he can build and create
  • Curiosity is a natural path to learning, so try to respectfully listen and respond to children’s questions
  • Experimenting is a logical way to learn, let your children try new approaches to different situations
  • Don’t discourage your young learner just telling him “that is not possible”, always offer a reason not to do things and different alternatives.
  • Surprise your children, the unexpected enhances their curiosity: organize a little party, invite them to sing aloud, bake a cake, something different that they like.
  • Invent a story that your child should finish, invite him to invent characters or a new title
  • Ask questions to your kids, make them think about their opinions (and be prepared to hear all sorts of answers).
  • And finally and the most important, let your child be a child and explore the world his own way.
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DEVELOPING GOOD READING HABITS IN KIDS

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One of the skills a child needs to grow is reading, it is the most useful thing a human being can achieve to succeed in life. So developing good reading habits is more than an obligation, is an investment. As parents we have the challenge of installing such a good habits from an early stage in our kids (even if we are not great book lovers) because we are their first teachers and examples of life. What can those habits do for the child´s development? Keep “reading” and you will find out the answer.

Better vocabulary: when a child reads is exposed to more new words and phrases than he normally uses in a daily conversation. He gets an enriched language and if the parents read aloud with him his pronunciation improves and also his cognitive performance.

More attention: distraction is the preferred company of children, they can pass from one thing to another without effort, so reading helps them to get focused for longer periods of time.

Preparation for school: toddlers who are taught to be in contact with books or spend hours reading prior to attending school are better prepared than others and will have an easier time adapting to the environment of learning.

Love for books: it is possible to learn to enjoy reading as any other activity of entertainment. Children who love to read from an early age are more likely to enjoy reading later in life.

Reading promotes interest for knowledge: children with good reading habits easily learn about other cultures and develop interest for any knowledge and research. Reading leads to asking questions and seeking answers, which means children learn more every day.

As parents, how can we motivate in our children good reading habits? There are many ways to do that, you can have a routine of reading every night letting them choose the book also the entire family can stimulate comments or short conversations about the content of the reading. We always must remember that parents are models so try to read a little more in front of your children than you’ve been reading lately (books, newspapers, blogs, magazines… everything works), talk to them about your feelings about the text. Another good practice is visiting the local library or your favorite bookstore, this last one always has a special place for kids that truly motivates reading and the best benefit, is a great place to explore new books and authors for free.

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SAFETY AT HOME AND EVERYWHERE

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Danger is an unknown word for kids, they only think about entertaining, exploring and playing. Everything we have in our homes is a world for them to discover, a place to develop marvelous adventures and fantasies. But  home can be also a common place for young children to be injured, that’s why we must try to make it as safe as possible as our children grow.  To minimize the risk of injury the best practice is looking at every place trying to identify where the hazards are and after that, taking measures in order to prevent any accident. There are basic recommendations to protect children, easy rules to follow in house that can avoid unpleasant episodes.

  • Never leave your children unattended, do not allow them to stay in the bathroom playing in the tub without the proper adult supervision.
  • If you have a pool, put safe fences around it to keep children away from the water and teach your kids to swim from an early age.
  • Choose carefully the toys for your kids, prefer those that don’t use batteries or aren’t made of small parts that can be swallowed.
  • Never leave medicines, cosmetics and cleaning products unlocked or in places where children can easily take and eventually drink or eat them.
  • Cover electrical outlets and protect children from electrical wires.

There are many web sites where you can find interesting information and other tips about safety at home. There is not “enough” data when it comes to the welfare of your family. One of those excellent resources is the page of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Some of the statistics you can find: each year in the United States, emergency departments (EDs) treat more than 200,000 children ages 14 and younger for playground-related injuries. About 56% of playground-related injuries that are treated in EDs are fractures and contusions/abrasions. Do you want to read more? Look at the web page: https://www.cdc.gov/safechild/playground/index.html.

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