My child needs to put the video games down

Setting limits through a tangible and visible schedule in the home is a perfect way to help children divide their time into equal active and non-active parts.  If your child attends school, create the schedule for the time he is at home.  Create your family schedule together and listen carefully to your child’s ideas.  Let him know the boundaries and limits associated with the schedule up front.  For example, “video game time is limited to one hour per day. When would you like to schedule that time – right after school or after dinner?”  It helps to balance the schedule between desirable activities and non-desirable activities.  For example, if he gets to play video games right after school, then the next block of time should be homework or chores.  Following this would be a more desirable activity for your child and then back to something that is not as desirable.

Also, you may need to help your child come up with activities to replace the time he has traditionally spent on video games.  Show him how fun other activities can be like, board games, reading, drawing, coloring, sports and exercise.

Bottom line here is consistency!  If you create a schedule with boundaries and limits, continue to enforce it through praise and punishment (if necessary).  Your family schedule will instill responsibility, independence and self-control.  The time you spend on consistent expectations for a well-balanced child now will pay off with great results in the future.

How to teach my child to write the numbers

My four year old is having a difficult time trying to learn to write the numbers.  I figured since she could name numbers to ten and can count to 30 that she was ready to write the numbers too.  Do you have any advice about how to teach a child to write the numbers?

Ahhh… writing can be an uphill battle for so many little ones.  First of all, they need to have developed prerequisite skills to writing before they are truly “ready” to write numbers, letters and their own name.  Prerequisite skills would be the ability to use appropriate pencil/crayon grip; strong small muscle control of the fingers and hands; and plenty of practice making lines, curves, zig zags and other movement patterns in the air with their fingers.  Simply playing copy cat with your child can help increase her proficiency and written form.  You draw a straight line and then ask her to copy cat.  Keep these games going as you draw zig zags, circles, curves, mountains, squares, etc…  Make sure you are using unlined paper and don’t worry about where she is drawing (top, middle or bottom).  Children will not understand the top to bottom and lined paper writing until late in their kindergarten year or early first grade – nor do they technically NEED to understand it before this time in their lives.

Here is a great little set of rhymes for making the numbers in the air and then eventually on paper when she is ready:

1 Straight line down and then you’re done. That’s the way to make a one.

2 Around and back on a railroad track. TWO! TWO!

3 Around a tree and around a tree, that’s the way to make a three

4 Down and over and down some more, that’s the way we make a four

5 Straight line down, then around. Hat on top and five’s a clown.

6 Six is found by going down and around

7 Across the sky and down from heaven that’s the way to make a seven

8 Make an S. Don’t be late. Back to the top and that’s an eight.

9 A loop and a line and that is nine

10 A straight line down, its fun, its one, but with a zero beside it makes ten more fun

Children should always begin practicing the writing process of numbers, letters, shapes and so on with their fingers.  For example, put some shaving cream on the walls of the bath tub and let him make the numbers, write them in the air together with large arm movements and fill a gallon size bag with rice or flour (secure tightly) and make the letter formations on the bag.  Your child will be amazed to watch the rice move out of the way when a stroke is made.

Kid safety

Are there any websites you would recommend for finding good information about safety and kids?

Yes, there are a lot of great resources for this important topic.  However, I would recommend the following sites as my favorite finds on the topic of safety and good health for children.

Dose Doctor

Safe Kids

Kids Health

Enjoy these informative websites and share others that you like, too!

Yeah Yeah Out Loud

At Yeah Yeah Out Loud,  Kathy Carpenter teaches you how to be your child’s biggest cheerleader.  She has invented adorable characters, Hur-Ray© (the sun) and Kiddazy® (a flower) that help her spread sunshine and Yeah yeah’s throughout the world.

Children’s self esteem is critical to the growth and maturity of every child in the world. YEAH YEAH Out Loud® (YYOL®) is about empowering children of all ages with tools that facilitators can implement into their program and help discover and increase self esteem.

Kathy caters her positive spirit and unique program to parents, teachers, childcare providers and children’s ministry groups.  Go on over to her website and send a Hur-ay for you card to someone special today.  The world is a better place when we take the time to celebrate with one another.

Here is my YEAH YEAH to you… “have a great day and thanks for making my day so much brighter!”

What is normal language development for a three year old?

I’m worried about my son, he just turned 3 and will sometimes use 3 or 4 word sentences but a lot of times if you ask him a question he will just repeat the last two words of the question. I constantly make him ask for things like “can I have a cookie please?” because all he wants to do is say the word cookie. I’ve just seen many three year olds holding complete conversations and it really has me worried. He has improved since putting him in preschool 3-days a wk. Is this a common problem is there a name for it and what can I do?

I sense your gut telling you there is a problem and your “mother instincts” need to be followed. It is more common than you would think for young children to have speech and language delays at this age. For example, in my own little boy’s preschool there are 36 students and 6 of them receive speech pathology services. That is 1 in 6 receiving extra support. You need to discuss your worries with his preschool teachers and with his pediatrician to rule out any problems or needed therapy. The fact that he is echoing you after the age of three might very well be a sign of a delay. Most children echo at the 2 year old mark.

If he does have a language delay, you will want to begin therapy with a speech pathologist now. Public schools in most states are required to complete the necessary screenings and provide the therapy free of charge (actually, your tax money is paying for this).

The link below is a great guideline for what should be happening with your child right now in language development. Do not feel guilty if he isn’t where he should be. If therapy is necessary, it will not be necessary for his entire lifetime. The earlier you start, the earlier he becomes a fluent speaker.

http://www.childdevelopmentinfo.com/development/language_development.shtml

Language has to do with meanings, rather than sounds.  Language is a measure of intelligence, but not the only measure of intelligence. Just because a child starts putting sentences together in conversation at 2 years of age doesn’t mean he is gifted and genius. He simply excels in the area of language development.

Language delay is when a child’s language is developing in the right sequence, but at a slower rate.  Language delays are more serious than speech (articulation) problems.  Speech and language disorder describes abnormal language development.  Delayed speech or language development is the most common developmental problem.  It affects five to ten percent of preschool kids.