Notepad Corner

When is the best time to introduce solid foods to your baby? This is one of the most frequently asked questions that first time mothers ask on their pediatricians. 23 years ago, I also have asked the same question not to my baby’s doctor but to my mom. My two sons who are now 23 and 14 years old began to eat solid foods at 4 months old. Normally for healthy babies, the recommended time you can  start introducing solids little by little is at 4 to 6 months old. However, most studies shown that it’s not about the age, there are cases wherein a four month old baby is still not ready to eat solid foods, therefore it is still best advised to consult your pediatrician. 

Crafting is a great way to spend time with the kids, keeping them entertained for hours and allowing the whole family to have fun. The scope for activities is extensive, meaning you can always find something new to do and teach the little ones a new skill. This can also be a cheap hobby – especially when you purchase the right equipment. Here are some must buys when you want to start crafting with your children: 1. Non-toxic pencils or crayons Non-toxic coloured pencils are the best option for drawing and colouring-in activities since, unlike paints and felt tips, they are less likely to mark furniture or stain clothing. They are also inexpensive and last for a long time when you use a good sharpener. 

A child is characterized by his youth, innocence and vulnerability. He is helpless and has no means to protect himself. He is entitled to the fundamental privileges and human rights starting from the day he was born. Children in due time grow into adults and will be the future leaders of the next generation. Thus, they need to be well-loved and well-taken cared of. It is heart-breaking and depressing to see children in the streets begging for alms, a lot of children dying from hunger, children being molested, children being subjects of sex slavery and other forms of inhuman practice. Every parent has the full responsibility and obligation to give his child a decent life, to bring up his child physically, spiritually and emotionally healthy to grow and learn to be responsible and useful members of the society. The children civil rights are acknowledged worldwide.   Child protection laws are designed by the government to safeguard the young people below 18 years old and to

Children are as self-conscious about their glasses as teenagers; more so, in fact. Glasses can subdue the liveliest of kids. Children do see the alternatives advertised – contact lenses. It’s no wonder that they long for contacts. Are they ready for it, though? Emotionally, yes The first day they go to school with their glasses on, children are often so embarrassed, they wish they could disappear. That’s how ill at ease they are. Their friends add to their torment with their unrelenting teasing. When they do forget for a while that they have their glasses on, their obstructed peripheral vision teases them into remembering their sad lot. They sure are ready to be rid of these tormentors that sit right on their noses. Maturity-wise, no Children are so given to living in the moment that it is often impossible for them to remember all the safety measures that they need to adopt when they use contacts. Disinfecting their lenses properly, remembering to take them off bef

Schooling is all about intellectual, emotional, moral, physical and social development. It is an all round holistic development of an individual in order to succeed in the future.   Most students abhor studying due to academic pressures that bring stress. Allowing your child to join and participate in their school’s extra curricular activities such as sports club, school programs or other forms of school student activities can bring balance to academic pressure. My youngest son- Yahmir, 2nd Placer, Cosplay Competition at Tanabata Festival in their school Extra curricular activities is generally accepted today as part of a school’s curriculum. According to studies, it is one of the effective ways to motivate students to develop increased interest in studying. Among the benefits of participation are:

Whether you enrol your children in a local school or a British international school in Tianjin , good study habits is very important.  It is a gift that you can impart to your kids and they will surely appreciate your intent by the time they reach university.  Education can be tough especially on children who do not have good study habits.  Acquiring knowledge and learning continuously is what studying is all about.  It helps students prepare and become proficient in each of their subjects.  The question is how do you encourage kids to develop good study habits?  Start before school age The basic foundation in developing study habits is when the student is willing to learn.  Thus, from the beginning when the child becomes conscious and active about the things around him or her, start the process of learning fun and exciting ways for them.  Develop their reading habits, encourage inquisitive minds, allow them to experiment and experience frustrations and disappointments, explai

Children these days have formed an attachment to gadgets and game consoles that traditional indoor games seem to have lost on them. They are content at simply sitting in one corner while their fingers and eyes kept busy. But this should not be the case, children need to be active for them to develop their mind and bodies as well as keep them healthy and strong. When you find yourself holed up at home during the rainy season, go for energy burning and mind boggling games that are fun and thrilling not only for kids but for kids-at-heart too.

Mother and child bonding usually starts during pregnancy but the unique bonding experience between the mother and child created by breastfeeding is beyond compare.  Some young and first time mothers were misled thinking that infant formula does very well as a substitute for breast milk, maybe because of lack of awareness or due to the abundance of different feeding formula available in the market. The fact remains that the human milk is unique as it protects the health of the child by providing a special nutrition. Breastfeeding should begin as soon as possible after giving birth in order for the infant to nourish the thick yellow liquid called colostrum, the first breast milk which is very rich in antibodies and nutrients. In order for your baby to get the colostrum he needs, he must be fed every 1-3 hours or 8-12 times within 24 hours after birth as his tiny stomach can only hold a small amount of milk.  Babies must be breastfed on his first 6 months to continue until 12 mon

Children find studying difficult and boring especially when they are not used to spend time studying on a study routine after school. Setting up a daily study schedule will help them establish the routine whether he has or has no homework to do. Our responsibility as parents is to create a system to motivate and help our children to improve concentration and make studying more interesting. Providing your child his own study table is a contributing tool to motivate him to enjoy studying. It is necessary for his study area to be free of distractions. Placing the study table in his room is a better option provided his computer is off when he studies. Provide him a comfortable chair to sit on as well as good lighting to be able to read and work properly. Make sure that his table is clean and equipped with the necessary school supplies and reference books like dictionaries that he would be needing to refrain wasting his study period looking around for the things he needed. Remember tha

Research shows that all babies are born with the ability to be empathetic, though this capability varies from one child to another as they grow. Parenting experts say that it is imperative to include empathy as part of discipline. At age two to three a child already has the ability to identify and understand another’s beliefs and situation. Come age four to five, they can already understand the reasons for others’ opinions. Bringing up empathetic kids is a challenging task, in order for empathy to do well and flourish parents must nurture its growth. Teach children to put words into their emotion like helping them choose and find the right words to express their feelings will let them help comprehend the notions of others. We parents must bear in mind that in order to establish and maintain empathy in our children, we should respect their individuality by setting a good example for how to indicate sympathy and concern. We can develop their potential to be empathetic by

It’s not always easy to get your children to appreciate the value of money, however it is an essential skill that they must learn as they are growing up. Imparting good savings habits while your kids are young is a great way to prepare them for the financial challenges that they will face later on in life.  Here are 4 great ways to teach your children the value of a dollar, and how to appreciate and respect money. Introducing Pocket Money Giving your kids pocket money is a great way to introduce them to the world of money. To make the most of the experience, you should create a list of ways that your kids can ‘earn’ their weekly pocket money. Whether it’s completing homework on time, helping with the dishes or completing a list of jobs, your kids will appreciate their money a lot more when they know that they have worked for it. When you just give them a weekly allowance regardless of their behaviour or contributions to the household, you diminish the value of money and

If you suspect you have a budding artist or a creative genius growing under your nose, then you’ll probably want to do everything you can to help your child achieve his or her full potential. Even if your expectations aren’t quite as high as “the next Da Vinci”, encouraging your kids’ creativity is an important part of a well balanced and nurturing childhood. If you’re new to the idea, here are five ways to help bring out the creative side in your little artist. Have a Dedicated Creative Space Your child will be far more likely to pursue his/her desires to engage in creative activities if it is easy to do so. Have a dedicated part of the house, whether it’s a whole room or simply a desk or play mat, which your child can access at any time. Here your child can easily access his/her art and craft supplies, and get creating without having to worry about parents clearing a space or making the area safe to work in, as it is always good to go. If your child is old enough, loft

How did your last parent-teacher conference go? Did you walk away from your 20-minute slot feeling like you actually learned something about your child’s behavior in the classroom? Or, did you feel like you got the same stock answer as everyone else: Johnny seems to be doing ___-ly in the classroom. While he is excelling in ____, it seems that he could spend a little more time on ____. I’m hoping that by doing _____, he’ll be brought up to speed with everyone else in the classroom! If you’ve heard that routine time and time again, then maybe you should start learning the effective questions that experienced parents know to ask! Here are a few of our favorite questions, which you can certainly use in your next parent-teacher conference….

Kids are easygoing, they hang around and delay things we want them to do because time has no meaning to them especially when they are still younger than 6 years old. Dawdling, therefore is just but normal during this stage. However, we can teach them to understand the significance of meeting time goals by turning instructions into fun and not annoying orders.  We can disguise influencing our children to come on and hurry in different ways.  One good example is to play run races with them or play simple games like beat the clock. Let them feel they’re in control on how fast or slow they do things so they will exert effort more when they lose your game. Kids move slowly and waste time throwing tantrums when they woke up at the wrong side of the bed, if you’re in a hurry for his preschool schedule, better allow enough time to get ready, that is to wake him up 30 minutes early. We must remember that being a kid, he still don’t understand what hurrying means. 

The school year is just about to close. Thinking of an ideal gift to give for our graduating teen is really mind racking. We as parents want to give something unique that our graduates will truly cherish and enjoy.  Aside from the traditional presents like new gadgets, clothes, shoes and more, a concert ticket can be a great reward. For music enthusiasts, who would say no to attend a Bruno Mars’ concert? The singer’s upcoming concert is just in time for the school closing celebration and all you have to do is score some tickets to surprise your teenagers with. Though you can also give them a music player or an instrument to nurture their love for music, allowing them to watch a concert of their favorite artist might actually be once in a lifetime experience that they will cherish forever and this is all thanks to you!

Time out is an instructive parenting technique in disciplining children. It is a form of punishment that involves separating a child for a short period of time from an environment where inappropriate behavior has occurred.  photo credits: hawaiipirc.org In my personal experience with child discipline, I find it most effective when I first explain to my kid why I need to separate and isolate him for a while, for him to understand what it means. Isolating a kid without discussing the reason why can cause child stress and discomfort.   So whenever my kids show inappropriate behavior then they know that they need to go off to the chair for a little quiet time to calm them down. Choose a location in your home for the thinking chair where there are no distractions so solitary moment   can be an opportunity for them to think and reflect on their deeds.

Most of the kids these days are lured to play video games and online games. Most often, some are even willing to skip meals just to eliminate that monstrous creature or get that precious weapon to clear the level. Parents might not be able to understand their language and most of the time they end up raising their hands and say “whatever!”  every time they convince their kiddos to stop and get some sleep. Being able to raise a computer savvy kid is something to be proud of, but when it becomes addicting thereby compromising their health and their education, then it’s another story. Your kid can no longer improve his potential to other things if right at the very beginning he cannot discern the difference between real and virtual happenings. Convincing them to go to bed early is one of the most challenging quests, especially during the holidays or during weekends. They would immediately reason out that they don’t have any school homework and sleeping late is just alright. Howe

We as parents are responsible to lay the ultimate foundation for the bright future of our children. Instilling values is one of the most important aspects of parenting that we should not forget. It has been proven that children learn by example. If you will set a high priority on showing and teaching on your values, your children will practically learn to do the same. Infusing values to our children can be done in several ways. Discuss among your children about your beliefs; tell stories that support your principles in life. It is important to monitor your child's behavior in school or when they are outside of your home with their peers as it can weaken parental influence and the development of moral values for behavior.

Birthdays are considered to be one of the most important events in a person’s life and more often than not, we celebrate it with our family and closest friends by throwing a party. Customarily, we throw a party and rejoice the merriest birthday at age 1, 7, 13, 18 for a female debutante and 21 for the male counterpart. Since your one year old child cannot remember how his or her first birthday party turned out, taking pictures of the activities for the first birthday party of your kid can preserve memories, something that you can reminisce over and over again.  

Have you been spanking your kids as a form of discipline? What made you think that it is an effective approach? Parents doing it most likely experienced spanking during their younger years and they are just continuing the cycle as it has been a known norm in disciplining children. Studies were conducted and shown that 2 to 7 percent of cases of mental disorders including paranoia, major depression and anxiety disorders were attributed to physical punishment during the person’s childhood years. Even though the percentage isn't that significant, it is still something to think about. Spanking kids isn't illegal provided that you hit them not too hard that will hurt so much to cause trauma. May I reiterate that spanking to discipline a child is totally different from child abuse wherein the purpose is just to hurt the child physically and make his or her life miserable. Aside from spanking, there are still other disciplinary actions that are equally effective minus