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Have Fun Raising Your Kids By Dr. Daryl C. Greene Last month a teacher asked me if I could write a column on parenting school age children. It seems to me that preparing your children or grand children for a successful career at school begins at birth. Our primary task for the first six years of life is to get to know our children, to bring out the best in them and to prepare them for school. Here are my helpful hints and encouraging words: Don't let your children watch TV until they four years old. It is tempting to let the TV be your electronic baby-sitter. However, this retards mental development. When you do introduce them to TV watching, limit the viewing to educational programming. Talk with your children all the time. Get down on the floor and play with them. Play with toys together. Have family meals at the table and include your children in the conversation. Play with books. Read with expression. Pick funny stories. Take your children to the library as often as you take them to the grocery store. Teach them to read when they are four. You will know they are ready when to your surprise, they read the Wal-Mart sign to you before you pull into the parking lot. Be a multi-media family. You may want to use a VCR or DVD player to introduce some child friendly movies. But limit the viewing to one recording a day and be at hand to talk about the things your children are watching. Fill your house with music, including children's songs and classical music. Introduce simple computer games to preschool children. Send your children outside to play. If you have an only child, invite other children over to play outside. If no child is around, it’s your turn to go outside and play and have fun. Fresh air is physically healthful and mentally stimulating. Be positive, affectionate, and complimentary. Don't order your children around as if they were little soldiers. When they hit the Terrible Two's, make all your requests multiple choice. When they get to the Terrible Fours and start asking why, answer them to the point of exhaustion. Also introduce them to the Discovery channel. Rasing a child is hard work. but if you are doing it right, it is fun too! Your investment of love and care will not be wasted. Your child will be well prepared to be successful in school. Dr. Greene is an ordained minister of the United Church of Christ and a resident of Richmond, IN. He is also the author of Feeling Better: The Wisdom of the Doc, You Can Feel Better: How to cope with chronic pain and physical disabilities, and co-author of Walking Free: the Nellie Zimmerman Story. For further information about his books, please visit www.densmorereid.com To return to the column list, Click Here |
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