I found this book from the library couple years ago and kept going back to read it again and again. It filled with so much useful information for any parents or educator. This is just the summary of bits of wisdom I learned; read the book to get further details and examples.
Empowerment Parenting:
- Build habits through clear, realistic, time oriented, and consistent rules that allow them to reach their goals.
- Empower children through choices and allowing children to experience the consequences of their actions.
- Encourage children through effort based praise, for instance: praising for trying hard, keeping a positive attitude, and continuing to work at solving problems. For example saying things like, "You did so well; you must have practiced hard," instead of "You are very smart."
- Encourage children to take responsibility by allowing them to experience the consequences of their actions.
- Establishing a learning environment means encouraging the behaviors that, over time, become habitual. The earlier we start, the easier the task.
Gaming can be just as destructive to a child's academic performance, social skills, and emotional balance as other addictions.
- Eat dinner with your kids, unplugged.
- Start a family activity night play spots or board games instead of video games
- No media in the bedroom, including cellphone.
- Screen time as a reward (after tasks are done, never before)
- Unplug the media and bring out the books; you will be helping your child master a skill that will get them both into and out of college - with a degree
- Introduce media creation instead of media consumption: word processing and presentation skills, digital drawing, Legos: Bricks in Space, and We Do Robotics. Apps: Book Creator, My story, iMovie, iPad Boot Camps.
a. Delay as long as possible before giving phone
b. Have rules about calling instead of texting you. It's important they remember how.
c. You CAN control how your child uses their phone. Don't give up that power.
d. Explain that digital footprints last forever. Talk about respecting their body and other people's.
Some recommendation of smart phone rules:
- Have a cell phone spot in your home: Turn the phone off and place them there upon entering the house. It will become a habit, just like hanging up your keys.
- Whenever possible, power down before conversations
- Cell phones should not be permitted in bedrooms. Cell phone should be turned off minimum one hour before bedtime.
- No cell phone during meal time.
- Setting the time for instance between 30 minutes after dinner.
- Ensure they get a reward, an activity they enjoy: TV, game time, etc
- Get your kids to exercise -> good for the body and brain.
- Make sure they get enough sleep, have a regular bedtime.
Mastering Time Management
- Have a timer, chart, or other cue to help them learn the specific increments of time it takes to complete a given task.
- Use statement about time for instance, "Let's see if we can get this done in 10 minutes.
- Consider getting your child an analog watch sot hey can spot the 5, 10, 15 minutes increments of time.
- Praise them for trying.
- Understand how to use their planner or calendar to keep track of school assignments, projects, and extracurricular activities.
Setting Educational Goals: Children who have the goals of making the honor roll, graduating from high school, and going to college were found to have: 60% better grades and 40% fewer emotional problems.
Communicating Effectively
Teach them to learn to say these sentences: I'm sorry. I was wrong. I need help. I don't know, I fell...{hurt, ashamed, nervous, furious, stupid, welcomed, ignored, overwhelmed, happy, unimportant, wanted, nervous, etc...}
As parents, we are the #1 role models for our kids. Our biggest homework is to be the kind of learners that we want our children to be; to show them the habits and behaviors we value, by living them. There need to be media-free zones and times in all our homes if we want children to develop good communication skills.
