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It’s hard to find a child who enjoys doing homework, so how do you help them stick with it when your children find homework too tedious or too difficult? If parents take interest in the homework assignments of their children, their children show interest in completing their assignments. Parents should show that they value education as well as homework. There are many ways through which parents can help their children with homework.

Parents should set aside time  daily to help their children with their home assignments. This can be done by analyzing their daily work schedule. The number of hours you wish to give to your child depends on his learning needs, his age, type of assignments, level of difficulty and of course, your working hours. Some children might be more productive in the evenings, while others might show more efficiency after an hour of sports. Extracurricular activities such as music classes, dance classes, and tennis lessons also take a lot of time. Though all these are crucial for the all-round development of your child, these should not interfere with his homework time.

It is important that you choose the right place for your child’s study. Many parents spend more time and money on making the study area fancy. This, however, is not at all important. A study room should be well lit, clean, airy and most important, quiet.

Distracting elements like loud music, television, and computer games should not be close to the study area. Telephone calls should be avoided by all means during your child’s study time, unless urgent. Some children work efficiently with some kind of background music. The important thing is to analyze different aspects that can make your child more productive.

Parents should ensure that study materials such as pens, pencils, writing paper, a dictionary, erasers, calculator, paper clips, and acworld map are available in your child’s study area. Children sometimes complain about not having enough resources to complete their homework and use this as an excuse not to do their assignments. Providing your child with an Internet connection using a laptop or a desktop is a good idea only if it is not misused. Sometimes, the Internet can provide a lot of information for the completion of a homework assignment. It is important, however, that your child does not start surfing websites that are irrelevant in context to his assignment.

Often, children imitate their parents and elders. Therefore, parents should cultivate good habits like reading and writing. Educational games, for instance, can be used from time to time. Visiting places like the public library, museums, and botanical gardens with your child can have a positive effect on him.

Parents should show interest in school activities like parent-teacher meetings or spelling bees. Parents should interact with teachers to understand their child’s needs. Parents who participate in their child’s school activities can contribute more to their child’s growth in and out of school. If you have hired an online tutor for homework help, you should also talk to the online tutoring organization to learn about your child’s progress. K-12 tutoring can be of great help as far as homework is concerned. With the recent popularity of homeschooling, online tutoring has become an important part of education. Parents should join hands with educators and online tutors to work out new ways to make homework more engaging for children.

This Article contributed by Solomon Brenner author of best selling Black Belt Parenting and Master Instructor of Action Karate. This week action karate is hosting a focus seminar . Please call to check availablity.215.355.5003

10 Ways to Build Your Child’s Confidence

A confident child is sure of his/her abilities, recognizing and accepting both his/her strengths and weaknesses. We all want our children to be confident. But for many children confidence does not come naturally. Confidence must be nurtured even for the child who seems confident already. Read on for 10 ways to build your child’s confidence.

1. Say you are proud Tell your child when they have accomplished something and you are proud of them. Tell others about your child’s accomplishments and positive qualities. Let your child overhear you praising them to others. I often tell others, in front of my son, what a great reader he is and how well he does at math. He thinks he’s the best at math in his first grade class. Maybe he was, maybe he wasn’t. The point is that he thinks he is good and that gives him the confidence he needs to keep trying and learn new things.

2. Give responsibility Giving your child jobs to do around the house helps them feel valuable. It also teaches them adult skills. Assign your child chores that they must accomplish everyday. As they complete their chores they will acquire a feeling of self-worth and confidence in their abilities. Have your child help you with the dishes. Even my two-year-old puts her plate in the sink after she is finished eating. My four-year-old loves to help me fold laundry. My six-year-old has to make his bed and keep his room clean. All of my children help me clean up toys. My children also love to help dad wash the cars.

3. Don’t label One of the worst things a parent can do is to label their child. Yet it is so easy to do. I found myself often saying in a teasing tone that my youngest child was a “stinker” or “little monster.” I realized my labeling was impacting not my daughter but my son when I heard him telling his sister that she was a “monster.” As parents we need to be careful that we give our child positive labels that reflect inner personality traits.

Sometimes parents focus on the physical traits of a child. Either saying that they are beautiful or a certain trait is ugly, like having big feet or a nose that is too large. Focusing on our child’s physical characteristics whether good or bad teaches them that looks are what matter.

4. Encourage talents Write down all of the things that your child is good at. Then choose one thing that your child wants to pursue. It could be as simple as taking your child to the library each week because they like to and are good at reading. Or you could enroll your child in sports, child dance class, drama, art, or music class. The goal is to provide a positive experience for your child and allow them to excel at something.

5. Listen Let your child know they are important by really listening to them. Get down on eye level and give them your complete attention. If your child feels that you are not listening they will stop talking. They will feel that their opinions and feelings are not valued. And if a child feels that their own parent won’t listen to them then they will believe that no one else will want to listen either.

6. Establish routines When you have set routines and a home that is predictable your child will feel more secure. Your child will be less likely to be afraid to venture out into the world when they know they can come home to a secure and loving environment. Having established routines helps your child understand what is expected of them and reach those expectations thus increasing their confidence.

7. Address your child by name Calling your child by name shows that you value them and that you feel that they are important enough to address by name. Using your child’s name gives them a label that they can wear proudly. When my son was younger he would go up to people and proudly say, “I’m Tyler.” He knew who he was. Children who are confident will address others by their name more frequently. They are unafraid to address others by name and will be better able to ask for help.

8. Play with your child Parents playing with children helps build their self-confidence because it shows them their parents enjoy being with them. Children learn through play and one of the many things they can learn is confidence. Play is a great time to role-play and praise your child. Playing with your child and allowing them to dictate the play gives them a feeling of importance and accomplishment. My girls love to play dolls or have a tea party with mommy and my son likes to pretend to go camping and play board games.

9. Set rules and consequences Children need to have set rules and consequences. This helps them feel valued and secure. A child who is required to follow rules will realize that their parents love them enough to set and enforce rules. Interestingly enough one study found that few teenagers wished their parents had established fewer rules, but many teenagers wished there parents had given more rules.

10. Be a positive mirror How your child perceives herself is based largely upon how you perceive your child. Do you reflect negative or positive images? Does you child know that her opinions matter to you? Does he think that you enjoy being with him? Providing positive reflections of your child helps him feel good about himself. It is also important to help your child realize that you value them because of who they are not just how they perform.

For more information visit:  The Cute Kid

Many children have dreams of being a famous actor on stage, a rock star, athlete, or doctor. But along the way many times those dreams are squelched by the realities of life. Yet if we didn’t have children who dream we would never have anyone who achieved. As parents it is important that we help our children achieve their dreams to the best of our ability.

Recognize and encourage individual talents and interests
As our children grow they will start expressing interest or talent in certain areas. It is our job as parents to recognize and encourage our children to develop their interest and talents. A child who is interested in bugs should be allowed to collect and examine bugs. She may grow up to be an entomologist (bug scientist) doing what she loves. The child who is always taking on roles and making people laugh should be encouraged and told that he has talent.

Realize that your child will not always have an interest in what you want them to. My sister and her husband wanted their son to play sports. Their son doesn’t mind playing sports but would much rather be drawing, something he is really good at. Let your child chose the activity that they participate in. Don’t ignore their opinions and desires, just because you think as a parent you know best. Chances are that they will be much better at something that they chose themselves. By succeeding at the activity their self-confidence will increase. And who knows they may end up using the activity in a future career.

Expose your child to a variety of hobbies and vocations. There are many different hobbies that children can have. Most people think of hobbies like athletics, dance, or collecting rocks. But hobbies can be so much more. Maybe your child enjoys climbing so try mountain climbing. Or languages fascinate your child. Encourage her to learn as many as she can. You might have a budding gardener who loves to see how things grow. The more opportunities your child has to talk to other people about their hobbies or be exposed to new things the more likely it is that your child will find a hobby or two that they love. Encourage your child to talk to others about the jobs that they do and the things that interest them.
Many children do not realize the variety of vocations that are available to them. Their minds are limited to the standard doctor, teacher, grocery store clerk that they meet in their everyday lives. The more you expose your child to different options the more likely they are to find a career that is in align with their dreams. Every time you take your child somewhere talk about the jobs that different people do. At the museum there are museum curators or the people who have collected the objects from archeologists to paleontologists, forest rangers in the mountains, artists at art exhibits, and a variety of jobs from scenery to costumes and actors at the theatre.

Create an environment of success, Try not to push your child instead nurture them. Allow them to choose their life’s path. When you push a child eventually they will push back. But if you help your child to achieve their own goals they will only reach higher. Create an atmosphere that will allow your child to aim high. Let him know that you are confident he will succeed. Attend the events she is in and brag often about her success to others.

Don’t scoff at your child’s dreams or remind them how few people succeed. Instead help provide needed training. Encourage them to reach for the stars. If at some point the success they dreamed of in not achieved then at least your child will know that they tried. If your daughter wants to become a singer encourage her to try. Even if she doesn’t become a famous singer she could still use her voice by singing commercial jingles or doing radio ads.

Children may need help to balance their hobbies, studies, and friends. Being involved in extra-curricular activities means giving up something else. Just remind your child that their studies are not something that can be given up. If they want to pursue other areas then they must maintain their grades as well.

For more information visit:  The Cute Kid

Prep: 35 min | Bake: 35 min. + cooling

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup butter, softened
• 1-2/3 cups sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 2-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 2/3 cup baking cocoa
• 1-1/4 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1-1/4 cups water
• 1 cup (6 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips

Frosting:

• 1 package (8 ounces) reduced-fat cream cheese
• 1/3 cup confectioners’ sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 carton (8 ounces) frozen reduced-fat whipped topping, thawed

Topping:

• 3/4 cup flaked coconut
• 1/2 cup candy hearts

Directions:

• In a large bowl, beat butter and sugar until crumbly, about 2 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in applesauce.
• Combine the flour, cocoa, baking powder, salt and baking soda. Add to the butter mixture alternately with water, beating well after each addition. Fold in chips. Pour into a 13-in. x 9-in. baking pan coated with cooking spray.
• Bake at 350° for 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack.
• For frosting, in a bowl, beat cream cheese and confectioners’ sugar until smooth. Beat in vanilla. Fold in whipped topping. Frost cake. Refrigerate until serving. Just before serving, sprinkle with coconut and candy. Yield: 24 servings.

For more recipes you’ll fall in love with this Valentine’s Day, visit:  Taste of Home