Parenting Views

My views on education, mutilingual parenting and other parenting topics
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Parenting with Less Stress

 

Parenting isn’t an easy job. It doesn’t come with any manual which is given to you when your child is born. It is something that you figure out as you go along once you become a parent.  It is a lot of trial and error as the child grows up. It can be very trying for both the child and parent to communicate effectively and efficiently with each other.

It can be extremely stressful too if one is unable to manage the problems that parenting brings.   Your blood pressure shoots sky high and everything seems suddenly out of control once your child starts misbehaving or having a meltdown especially in public.

There is no perfect solution, no textbook solution to all the trials and tribulations that will be hurled your way in your journey as a parent.

My job as a parent started about 11 years ago when Monkey boy was born. All the books that I have read prior to his birth didn’t really help me that much. It could be said that there is a vast difference between theory and practical.

Being a new parent back then I was bombarded with  both  well meaning and ill given advice. It took me quite a while to figure out what worked and what didn’t work for my kids.

Even if a particular method worked well with kid #1 it is not guaranteed that it would work with #2 or #3. Each kid came with their own set of difficulties and challenges and  it can be really exhausting tackling them daily.

The kids during Christmas last year

The kids during Christmas last year

Children are bundles of joy to have. However at the same time they can be your  worst nightmare.  It is hard to really know what triggers them off at times and it can be really difficult to read their subtle cues. They can turn from angels into devils within seconds and back again.

It can really nerve wrecking dealing with toddlers or pre-schoolers who themselves do not know what they want. It doesn’t get any easier as they get older. They get more demanding and argumentative.  Back talking starts and you need to have nerves of steel and also be a pro debater to be able to out talk them.

Join me as I start on this series on how it is possible to parent with less stress and share with you the struggles that I had, and am still having as a parent of three.

 

Post in this series

Parenting with Less Stress ( An Introduction)

Teaching Kids about coping with the fear of Failure (Part 1)

– Teaching Kids about coping with the fear of Failure (Part 2)

– Encouraging a Struggling Learner (Part 1)

– Encouraging a Struggling Learner (Part 2)

-Dealing with a Strong Willed Child (Part 1)

Dealing with a Strong Willed Child( Part 2)

An Update on Monkey Boy

An Update on Doggie boy

 

 

 

3 Tips on Encouraging Reading in Reluctant Readers

© Renata Osinska /Photoxpress

© Renata Osinska /Photoxpress

Getting your child to read can be something really difficult to do. This is especially the case when he/she is not one that likes reading.

Seeing  words and more words in the book switches them off and it is a losing battle trying to get your child to cooperate and read as it is not a task which interests them.

How then can you encourage your
reluctant reader?

Here are three tips for you based on what I have personally tried out with my own kids.

  1. Use interactive books


Nowadays there are numerous books available for reading via the iPad. Many of these have interactive features like -Reading aloud with text being highlighted, puzzles and other games related to the storyline.  Elfishki and the Giant Cake and the other stories by Elfishki are 10 minutes stories which will appeal to kids who are used to seeing lots of interactivity.

If you are looking for graded readers to read along or for reading independently do check out the FarFaria Stories of graded readers where for a subscription you can get access to 100 over books and new books are added in every month.

I recommend this source for kids age 2-7 years old.

2. Audio Books

Photo courtesy  of Tales4all.com

Photo courtesy of Tales4all.com

If you are not big on interactive stories or wish to listen to stories on the go Audio books are something which you should check out. You can play the tunes in the car or iPod for your child as  he commutes to school and back or during waiting time in between activities.

Treebobs Audio books has a great series of books to stimulate the young mind.  The narrator and the audio cast use their voice to portray the different characters and their various actions in the story.

By listening to the stories the child brush up on their listening skills and learn to focus and concentrate while developing their own associations to what they are listening to. They create their own notion of what is happening in the story based on their prior knowledge and creativity.

I recommend this for kids age 7 and above.

3.Reading half chapter- half picture books

From the Super Soccer Boy Book

From the Super Soccer Boy Book

Having graphics within a book make it easier for the child to visualize how the story is like.  Younger kids relate easier to visuals then the static word. Having pictures relating to the storyline on each page breaks up the monotony of reading and helps them understand better what is happening in the story.

Another inner page

Another inner page

Super Soccer Boy and the Monster Mutants by Judy Brown is the book that I featured in the pictures above. This particular book has 12 chapters and it makes for an easy read for a 2nd grader.

Doggie boy and I read through the book together. We spend about 10 minutes each weeknight on the book . We read a chapter a day and he and I alternated between reading the different pages of the chapter.

Inner page of Dragonbreath

Inner page of Dragonbreath

Having comic strips within a chapter book also increase the interest a book for a child. Dragonbreath was another book which Doggie boy and I recently read. Initially he wasn’t interested to read the book together with me.

Another inner page of the book

Another inner page of the book

When he saw comic strips  and read how fun the conversations were between the different characters his interest in the story grow. He was even looking forward to the nightly 10 minute reading routine which we had set up recently.

I recommend this for kids 6 and up.

Disclaimer: We borrowed the books Dragonbreath and Super Soccer Boy and the Monster Mutans from the National Library for the kids to read.This post has a compensation level of 3. Please visit Dominique’s Disclosure page for more information.