Best Parenting World

Your Gemini Baby..

May 21 - June 20

Gemini children are lively youngsters who can seem to be everywhere at once! They can be precocious and are often chatterboxes. Your Gemini baby will love to explore and needs plenty of space to do so. In fact, a Gemini baby may become irritable if cooped up. Geminis are friendly and bright and alert. A young Gemini will enjoy playing with toys that involve using his hands and fingers and some Geminis may be ambidextrous.

Gemini children have lively imaginations and often live in a world where reality and imagination are mixed together. They are very inquisitive and will want to explore anything that takes their interest. Young Geminis will be interested in a wide variety of sports and will want to be friends with other children of both sexes.

When raising a Gemini you should ensure that he has the freedom to explore and investigate. Geminis need to be free to follow several interests at once and to be able to change direction. You will need to teach your child to distinguish between illusion and reality, encouraging him to tell the truth. Geminis are naturally honest but may avoid telling the truth as a defence against being misunderstood.

In dealing with children with autism spectrum disorders, its all about relationship. These children are within a realm where they feel and respond much differently than others. There has been much focus on trying to eliminate certain behaviors or to evoke particular responses in children which actually become rote and repetitive for them without context. One of the goals in aiding these children should be in helping them find meaning. In order to do this we must be willing to not look at the child as broken, unable to respond, or even unable to communicate. These children DO communicate, however they are not always able to manipulate their senses to communicate in the typical ways of other children. As a result, they can become easily frustrated and trapped. The therapist must enter their imaginative world and learn to communicate in their language.

In today’s mental health system there is a pattern of fraud and coercion that takes way the freedoms and dignity of children and their families. Children are receiving stigmatizing labels and being prescribed psychotropic drugs with many untoward effects. Psychiatrist Thomas Szasz, MD made the comment that if an individual hit us with a blackjack and robbed us of our dignity we would call them thugs, yet psychiatrists label and drug children and rob them of their dingity and nothing is said. All in the name of profit. Rarely, if never are the families given informed consent. Szasz has also stated, “From a sociological point of view, psychiatry is a secular institution to regulate domestic relations. From my point of view, it is child abuse.” Families are provided with literature that appears so matter of fact but is funded by the pharmaceutical companies and tainted with their bias. According to the Pughkeepsie Journal, the ’support’ or should it be said front group for Children diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder received substantial funds from the pharmaceutical companies: “CHADD received $315,000 from drug companies in the year ending June 2000, about 12 percent of its budget.”

As thinking, acting human beings we have the ability to choose our response to events, people and circumstances. We do not become responsible when we mature; we mature when we become responsible.

Psychologists teach that the only reasons people are ever motivated or moved to action is to gain a reward or avoid a penalty. As you teach this principal to the children in your charge be sure to explain what they will gain or lose by the choices they make.

Personal Responsiblity is an ever widening circle of people, places and events affected by our decisions. In the center of that circle, an area which many people never get beyond is:

ME: I am in charge of those things that directly affect me as a person. Examples are: Grooming, nutrition, exercise, education, choosing friends, a mate or a career. My choices might irritate or disappoint others but the consequences will ultimately hurt only me.

The next circle of influence is:

Uh oh.

Your kids arrive home with their school reports and it’s poor marks from the math department. Now what do you do?

You may not be a math teacher, but thankfully there are ways you can help your kids improve their grades.

Studies have shown that children are much more likely to perform well in a subject that interests them.

So here are 5 ways to get your kids excited about math and actually looking forward to the next math class:

1. Inspire them.

Some kids don’t enjoy math because they just can’t see the point of it. Unlike reading or painting, all those mathematical symbols and numbers don’t seem to mean anything.

What you need to do is show them how important math is in the real world.

Tell them stories about the great engineering feats throughout history. From building the great pyramids of Egypt, to the Hoover dam, to the latest space missions to Mars, nothing would have been achieved without mathematics, and mathematicians.

2. Get practical.

Involve your kids in some real world math away from the classroom. Find something your child is interested in and relate it to math in some way.

Your Taurus Baby..

April 20 - May 20

Taurus babies are usually quiet and calm. They are pleasant characters, sometimes a little shy, and they dislike being the centre of attention but respond well to affection, showing a great deal of affection in return. Although outbursts are rare, a Taurus baby dislikes being opposed and can be stubborn about getting her own way. A young Taurus will work steadily at a task.

When raising a Taurus it is best not to try to force your child to do something. The danger is that your child will turn stubborn and Taureans can hold their ground for a long time. It is best to avoid harsh commands, instead loving hugs will melt any resistance.

Young Taureans can charm all adults, especially those of the opposite sex. Shows of physical affection toward your child are essential, but take care not to smoother her. Taurus children are sensitive to their surroundings and they will thrive in harmonious settings of both colour and sound. Soft sounds and shades of pink and blue will be calming to your baby.

This may come as a surprise.

But despite all the advances in education, many kids still struggle in the math class.

Math is an important subject, yet many kids just don’t “get it”.

Teachers can only devote a limited amount of personal attention to each student.

And parents are so busy with their own work nowadays, they don’t have time to help their children with school work.

That’s where YOU, the grandparent, come in!

Grandparents teach their grandchildren through example and play a role in encouraging them to be successful and set goals.

Grandparents are naturally forgiving and patient, and children sense that.

As a grandparent you can help right from the time your grandkids are toddlers, by asking them questions involving numbers, and showing them how important math is to our lives:

- Ask them number-based questions, like: “How many books do you want to read tonight?”

- Or: “How many miles to grandma’s house?”

- Show them basic fractions by dividing groups of jelly beans into halves and quarters.

- Bake cookies together and teach them how to measure ingredients.

Although it’s hard to say when the first stuffed dogs appeared, I would guess that it was soon after dogs were domesticated. We do know that as long as there have been children, there have been dolls, rattles, miniature weapons, and hand-made animals. Anthropologists have found evidence of toys dating back to the earliest records of human life.

Play is universal and cross-cultural. Though it may vary among cultures and generations, it’s clearly instinctive and a key part of our development. A child’s play is his way of learning about himself and his world. Play opens the door to a child’s imagination. Some of our fondest memories from childhood are recollections of time spent playing with special people and favorite toys.

A classic among childhood toys is the Teddy Bear, who made his appearance in 1903 and is still popular today. Although the Teddy Bear may be famous because of his political affiliation (he was named after Theodore Roosevelt), just about any stuffed toy can become a child’s favorite. Especially for infants and toddlers, there’s great comfort and reassurance in having soft, cuddly companions like stuffed dogs to snuggle up with.

John Bishop’s Goal Setting for Students.com

Legacy to Your Children

It’s 6:30 at night and you just got home from a long day at work, but the day’s not over yet. First, there’s dinner, then homework and don’t forget the chores. And, you have to finish a proposal for an important meeting tomorrow morning. Add a little stress from the monthly bills and the possibility of your company being downsized and you have pressures of the far too many US families.

In addition, your children live in a rapid paced, MTV world where they are bombarded with media messages that define success as "bigger, better, faster," and "you can have it now ? and not have to work hard to get it." All too often the messages they see are that you can lose weight with a pill, flatten your stomach muscles in only five minutes a day, or learn how to play soccer from a 20-minute video. Your children are growing up in the world of instant gratification, and shortly, they will be entering the school of hard knocks.

EARLY PREGNANCY SYMPTOMS

Although a lot of women experience pregnancy symptoms, and find signs of being pregnant, other’s don’t “feel” pregnant. Certain signs and symptoms of being pregnant can be confused with other illnesses. The following list are some telltale symptoms of pregnancy. Morning sickness is one of the most common signs of being pregnant, but you also might be one of the lucky ones who never experience this pregnancy symptom. Missing a period is another sign and symptom of being pregnant. We’ll go into greater detail below, and you can read below.

MISSING A PERIOD

One of the most common signs and symptoms of being pregnant, missing a period can also be caused by other reasons. Although missing a period is one of the most common of the pregnancy symptoms, stress, illness, weight fluctuations or coming off the oral contraceptive pill can also be the cause of this. Irregular periods are a common symptom of polycystic ovary syndrome, a condition in which periods can occur several months apart. If you still feel like you are experiencing other pregnancy symptoms, continue reading the other signs of being pregnant.

TENDERNESS OF THE BREAST