How to Discipline a Child According to Age
Disciplining your child right from their early days till their growing years is an important phase of parenthood. It is imperative to discipline the child keeping in mind their age. Here’s how to do it:
For a child under 2 years, use the show-tell method instead of instructing them. If your child plays with any pointed object like scissor or fork, offer your child’s favorite toy instead. Don’t reprimand; show and tell the child why it is dangerous to play with pointed object.
Every child goes through the phase of terrible twos. Children mimic and want to do just about everything. A firm, yet polite ‘No’ from the parent will make the child know that he or she is not supposed to behave in a certain way.
Kids in the age group from 5-11 years love to have all the fun. As a parent, set certain rules for behavior for children to follow, but also allow them to enjoy their play time. Justify the rules set for behaviors.
Before you announce punishment for bad behavior, listen to what the child has to say. Explain to the child the reason for not indulging in bad behavior.
During the middle formative years, introduce a reward system like dessert of their choice at the end of the week, etc. This will prompt your schooler / pre-tween to act in a responsible manner.
Avoid hitting the child. Try disciplining through other methods such as show and tell, explaining the consequences of a wrong behavior, etc. And if you do have to spank, smack on the behind to get the message across.
Give your child responsibilities as per their age. Hold them accountable for a task gone wrong. If your child does not complete their homework, let the child face the teacher and consequences, next day on their own.
How to Manage and Treat Sea Sickness
What is Sea Sickness
Sea sickness caused by unsteady movement of boat, is a common problem faced by people on a cruise. Varying degrees of vertigo, nausea, vomiting, are common sea sickness symptoms. However there are some very simple ways to combat sea sickness.
Manage, Treat and Prevent Sea Sickness
- Be well-rested and well-fed before starting your journey. Avoid heavy meals and alcohol; increase your intake on less greasy & healthy foods, water and fruits.
- Treat sea sickness with certain natural supplements like ginger or lemon. A pinch of ginger or sucking of lime / lemon helps in preventing nausea and keeps the sickness at bay.
- A natural wrist band available at selected shops also helps in avoiding sea sickness. The band applies pressure on the acupressure point and avoids nausea and vomiting.
- Certain medicines also keep you away from sea sickness. Ask your doctors to prescribe them.
- Don’t stay cooped up in your cabin all day long. Make the most of fresh air by walking around, sitting in group, or go swimming or read a book by the poolside.
- Keep your eyes fixed on an object or thing like horizon. Having your eyes on non-rocking movement will alleviate your nausea.
- Do not tense up before the journey. Do some deep breathing exercises to calm yourself.
- If you feel sick, lie down on your back with your eyes closed.
- Stick to the center of the ship where unsteady movements are felt least.
- Keep yourself occupied by indulging in some kind of activity as your mind will divert itself from thoughts of sea sickness. Avoid straining your eyes on objects that are influenced by the rocking movement of the ship.
How To Improve Your Child’s Attention Span
“Look here, when I am talking to you”! “Pay attention to this”! These are often statements that are heard when parents are trying to get children to do their homework, study or complete some activity.
Attention is the key. If we can manage to draw their attention to the activity at hand and manage to keep it there long enough, accomplishing the activity is a breeze. Most often it is at this point that we struggle, to get them to be attentive, long enough.
We are aware of the fact that the attention span of a child depends on his or her age. According to experts, you can safely add a minute to every year of age. A four-year old will have an attention span of four minutes at a stretch and so on.
There are various things that we as parents or teachers can do to draw children’s attention and improve its duration as well. A series of simple things, if done regularly can be effective in increasing a child’s attention span.
Even at the risk of sounding clichéd, setting a routine helps.
Time - Keep a designated time of the day for studies, activities, homework or practice. A designated time is the best way to keep other distractions at bay.
Place - A designated place can give the much needed space and quiet that is important for developing concentration. Having a quiet study corner is one of the ways to keep distractions like the television, toys, visitors, music away for the study time. The place and time creates an impression of concentration and work-time. Children soon learn to associate the two.
Praise - Use the power of praise. Praise the child liberally, but sincerely. Children can see through farcical praise faster than you think. Encourage good work, but do not condemn bad work, correct and motivate them to do better the next time.
How To Handle Morning Sickness
Morning sickness is a condition many pregnant women have to deal with. Morning sickness is usually a feeling of nausea often accompanied by vomiting. There could be less appetite and revulsion towards certain smells and odors. It usually starts around the fifth or sixth week and runs its course till about the twelfth week.
In-spite of its name, morning sickness can occur anytime of the day and not necessarily in the mornings alone. It needs to be understood that morning sickness is a natural part of a pregnancy and usually subsides on its own as the pregnancy progresses. In rare cases, it is prolonged and can cause a serious impact such as weight loss and retarded fetal development. At such times, it may imperative to go in for medical intervention.
There are a few tips that can be followed to avoid and manage morning sickness of the usual kind:
- Avoid staying empty stomach – An empty stomach secretes a lot of acids which do not have anything to work against.
- Say no to fried food – Excess oil and deep-fried foods can create nausea and vomiting. So it is good to avoid them as far as possible. Same goes for heavy gravies.
- Start the day with a cracker – To avoid beginning your day with nausea, it is best to have a cracker before brushing your teeth. Brushing your teeth on an empty stomach can trigger a wave of nausea.
- Drink lots of water – Keeping your body well-hydrated is important. Maintaining fluid levels at the optimum is helpful to curb morning sickness.
- Stay away from strong smells and odors – It has been seen that strong smells and odors have an adverse effect if someone is suffering from morning sickness. So, it is best to move away from the vicinity of such smells or odors.
- Get enough shut eye – Try and get the full eight hours of sleep. If required take short naps during the day. This will reduce the nausea and give you enough rest to go through rest the day.
How To Start a Summer Camp For Kids
Summer camps are fun-filled programs offering a range of activities and age appropriate games for children and / or teenagers held during the long summer holidays. The program has activities ranging from drawing, dancing, painting, arts, crafts, yoga, music, language, math, to hiking, canoeing, campfires, jungle safaris, trekking, wildlife tracking, horse riding, etc for big kids. Starting a summer camp isn’t as easy as you think.
Tips to help you start your Summer Camp
- Decide on the kind of camp you want to start. Once you decide on the kind of program, deciding on the age group of the children will be easy.
- Hunt for a good location offering basic amenities like bathroom area, rest area, garden, etc. Look out for spacious rooms to hold all your props and various activities and games. For outdoor camps, look for a large camping ground offering essential facilities.
- Hire the right kind of people to lead activities, organize campfires, hiking & trekking activities, monitor playtime, implement rules, etc for your camp. The right staff makes the difference. The staff you hire should be responsible, fun-loving and enthusiastic about working with kids.
- Many state / city have rules and regulations listed in regards to summer camps. Follow them to the core. Many summer camps are inspected for safety, kind of activities, etc by relevant people. Lack in following the procedures for summer camp will invite legal problems.
- Decide the fees taking in to account all the costs such as electricity, staff, food, etc. Keep fees to the minimal to allow participation of more children. You can also approach your local groups for extra funding.
- Decide the daily schedule. A daily plan of action keeps the participants from feeling restlessness. Create a routine such game time, craft time, snack break, nap time, etc to maintain order.