children Archives - Page 2 of 18

4 Methods From Talkspace to Discover Whether Online Learning Works for Your Child

November 10, 2020 by admin

Throughout the world, many students are experiencing school in a completely new way. Instead of students learning in a classroom, most educational facilities have begun online or distance learning. Other students are experiencing hybrid plans, combining both in-person and distance education.

Many students are dealing with new ways to learn. However, it’s also important to think about what these children’s parents are going through.

Determining Whether Distance Learning Works for Your Child

If you want to learn how your child is doing with distance learning, you can follow a few tips. Here are four great ways to learn more about how online learning works for your child.

Take a Closer Look at Their Problems

During this time, many children feel that online learning is like entering a new world. Because of this feeling, it’s understandable for children to feel like they’re struggling in certain areas. If you want to help your child, take a closer look at the exact issues they’re experiencing.

Work to Establish Educational Goals

Another important step to take is to understand your child’s goals. These types of goals can vary, depending on your child’s age and where they’re at in lesson plans. It’s also a good idea to ask your child’s school or teacher if they can provide you with copies of current lesson plans.

Focus on Your Child’s Mental Health

As people continue focusing on physical health issues, it’s sometimes easy to forget about your family’s mental health. When you’re used to attending school in person, remote learning sometimes causes mental health issues to develop.

Another way to help your child includes online therapy. Popular online therapy services like Talkspace enable children to speak with therapists. Plus, Talkspace has many therapists on hand who specialize in helping younger patients. Best of all, services like Talkspace are often more cost-effective than working with a local therapist.

Take Time to Speak With Educators

There’s another important group to focus on during this time, and that’s those teaching your children. Educators also have to make many adjustments to work from home. With that in mind, they know a lot about what you and your child might be going through. If your child is dealing with distance learning issues, it’s a good idea to schedule a time to speak with their teacher.

This type of meeting is helpful because it allows teachers to take a closer look at what issues your child might be dealing with. Unfortunately, it’s sometimes hard for teachers to spot what’s happening with one student in a remote setting. It might also allow your child to schedule one-on-time time with a teacher.

Parents Know Best

If things are going well with your child’s distance learning, that’s great. However, as a parent, you probably know the signs of a struggling child. It’s difficult to find children and parents who aren’t struggling with this new way of learning. Fortunately, the stress of this event is something we will all eventually put behind us.

What to Put in Children’s Christmas Shoeboxes

November 2, 2020 by admin

Every year, we all rally together to create special shoeboxes filled with gifts for those who are less fortunate, so children can have not only the bare essentials but one or two treats too – as Christmas should be.

In a nation of wealth, it can be hard to imagine that some of us, including children, don’t have access to even the basics such as a toothbrush. And for those who are even less fortunate, might not even have access to food.

This is why the Christmas shoeboxes are so important. That being said, it can be tricky to know what to put in them, especially if we are lucky enough to not be in such a position ourselves.

This piece will help give you some ideas of combined essentials and treats that could make a child’s year.

A Stuffed Toy

Going straight in with a treat, because if we are perfectly honest, it is too sad not to. A stuffed animal, bear or plushy of some kind is something everyone needs to cuddle sometimes, which is why this is a great option for the shoebox.

Choose a new toy that will be able to fit in the box – they don’t have to be expensive; they just have to be clean. The stuffed toy is often the ‘wow’ factor of the shoebox, so make it count!

You can choose other toys too, such as a soccer ball (and pump) or dolls/action figures/plastic animals.

Personal Care Items

Personal care items are usually the real basics that we might not even think of! This can include a toothbrush, a small hairbrush or comb, a soft washcloth and a bar of soap (that is packaged). A blanket will also go a long way. A water bottle can be useful and consider some of the more outside-the-box essentials such as adhesive bandages. There are now cartoon and colorful bandages out there for children, which will make them much more willing to use them!

Get Crafty

There are not many children that don’t like to get their hands dirty and get stuck into a craft box, so some craft items are the perfect fit to go in next. Think colored pens, pencils, crayons, coloring books, stamps and colorful ink, notebooks, playdoh, stickers… you get the idea! Let your inner child run wild.

If you are not able to make a shoebox this year, then don’t worry! Consider a holiday donation which will go straight to helping those in need this Christmas.

Personal Touches

This is a special part of the shoebox which might just be the best part for them.

Make a friendship bracelet and let them know you have the other half! Or give them a half of something small you have the other half of. Draw them a picture or write them a poem – whatever you like. And whatever you do, make sure to include a personal note or a Christmas card in the box too, which can include a photo of you and your family, and an address so the child may write to you. This could be the beginning of a beautiful pen-pal friendship.

5 Signs of Toxic Stress in Your Children

September 29, 2020 by admin

Did you know that Americans are some of the most stressed people in the world?

When most people think about stress, they imagine adults worrying about finances, relationships, their career, and so much more. However, it’s important to remember that children can be just as negatively affected by stress as adults.

Are you worried about having stressed children? Keep reading to learn 5 signs of toxic stress in children so you’ll be able to recognize when your child is struggling.

Increased Agitation

One of the most common signs of stress in children is increased agitation and other negative emotions. Like adults, stressed kids have a higher chance of overreacting to situations and having a hard time communicating their feelings in a healthy way. In order to avoid these painful outbursts, it’s important to find resources like this post that can teach you about stress management for children.

Having Trouble Sleeping

Lying awake in bed worrying when you’re exhausted is one of the worst feelings. While adults can manage to power through the day after a restless evening, children can suffer a lot more because they need lots of sleep to continue growing healthily.

One simple way you can address your child’s insomnia is to read children’s books about stress together. Not only will reading to them help them feel comforted and sleepy, but the contents in these books can help them learn how to address their stress.

Hyperactivity

Have you ever gotten the jitters when you feel stressed? Most adults are able to put on a mask that hides their stress from the rest of the world. Kids aren’t as experienced at this, which means their stress can also come out as hyperactivity.

If you notice that your kid is a lot more active than usual, this could be a sign that they’re trying to find a way to burn through their nervous energy.

Changed Eating Patterns

Stress in children can also change the way they eat. Stress can cause your child to eat much more or less than normal and even affect how long it takes them to finish their meals. Proper nutrition is essential for their wellbeing, so it’s crucial for parents to pay attention to what and how much they eat.

Withdrawal From Loved Ones

Another major symptom of toxic stress is withdrawing from loved ones. It’s normal for children to seek out some alone time every now and then to decompress, but it should be concerning if they start isolating themselves on a regular basis. Respecting your child’s boundaries is great, but you should always be patient and try to get them to open up about their feelings so you can help them feel better.

Now You Know More About Toxic Stress in Children

If you notice any of these 5 signs of toxic stress in children, it’s important to take all of the steps necessary to improve their mental health.

Do you want to know how you can help your family thrive? Make sure you browse our blog to find more helpful tips and guides.

Cool Indoor Activities That Your Kids Will Love

September 9, 2020 by admin

This year has forced so many of us to find ways in which we can entertain ourselves indoors. especially those who who have kids. Even the most creative of parents will have reached the end of their tether in terms of coming up with ideas which they can do in order to keep the kids entertained. One of the keys to helping the kids is understanding that they will be back to school soon and that educational indoor activities will help them to have fun whilst also preparing them for getting back to school. With this in mind, here are some ideas which you can try with your kids.

Gardening

Teaching your kids about garnering is more than just recruiting them to help keep your herb garden alive. This activity will help them in terms of understanding the important role that plants play in our lives and of course the source of food. Start with a simple pot plant and take it from seed to sprout with your kids taking responsibility.

Learning Board Games

Games ave changed over the years and whilst the computer games which we have now are often based around strategy, speed and skill traditional board games will teach your kids about much more. Board games like Monopoly or Yahtzee and Chess can really help your kids to learn something whilst they are playing and having fun.

The Night Sky

Most kids love the idea of becoming an astronaut one day and you can harness this energy and use it to teach your kids about the night sky and what it means. This will help them to begin to form an idea of what all of this is about and you can use some great apps which break down the stars and the constellations so that your kids can learn what to look for in the sky.

Science Experiments

Every action and reaction in life is based around science and there are so many incredibly fun experiments which you can do at home with them. Even something as basic as creating a volcano using coke and Mentos will fascinate them and you can find some great tutorials on YouTube which will break down what you need by way of resources in order to perform multiple science experiments. Science is always an area that kids love because they love to wonder so much.

Try out these activities with your kids to get their brains engaged once more.

Why Is Home Health So Important for Families With Kids?

September 2, 2020 by admin

Home health is one element of general health that unfortunately tends to go by the wayside for a lot of people. It’s important that you remember to consider your home’s health with the same seriousness that you would the health of any family member. After all, your home’s health can have a serious impact on your family’s health. For families with kids, it’s even more important. Here’s how this home health checklist can be even more influential when you have kids.

Home Health Checklist Created By: JES

Structural Health

You need to pay close attention to your home’s structural health in general; after all, poor structural health could lead to extremely serious concerns, including complete structural failure. However, even minor structural health concerns can be more serious when you have children in the home.

Structural health often centers around your home’s foundation. A strong home foundation is definitely ideal, but there are many potential reasons for foundation concerns. These can range from issues with the soil around your home to problems regarding the initial pouring of a concrete foundation. Regardless of the problems, it’s important to fix them because structural problems can end up causing irreversible damage without a fix.

Basement Health

Do you have a basement? If you do, you might think that the most important thing for maintaining safety in your home’s basement is ensuring your kids stay out of it. True, having a child who falls down the basement stairs could be a serious problem. However, the biggest problem could actually be issues with basement waterproofing.

Basements tend to have a reputation for issues with waterproofing. This typically occurs because the basement is below the ground’s surface and has surrounding soil that can be very wet. If water enters through the basement walls and you’re unable to get rid of it, you can have a musty smell, mold, mildew, and other problems. These can seriously impact the health of young children.

Crawl Space Health

Even homes that don’t have a basement often have a crawl space. Crawl spaces are a great way for inspectors to get in and look at things like your home’s pipes and structural supports without having to dig into the home itself. However, the problem is that crawl spaces can run into the same problems as basements, oftentimes even with waterproofing problems as well.

One big problem with crawl spaces is that many people don’t think about how much of an impact crawl spaces have on the rest of the home. Sure, you probably know that your basement and your home share air with each other, but did you know that your home gets up to 50% of its air through your crawl space? If your crawl space’s air is unhealthy, your home’s air will be unhealthy, which can cause health concerns for your whole family.

Home Concrete Health

The last element of home health to pay attention to is concrete health. Almost everyone has some form of concrete around their home. You may have concrete on your driveway, in your home’s basement, on your patio, and many more areas. If this concrete isn’t healthy, you could end up with very serious overarching problems.

Trips and falls are extremely common with concrete issues. This may be because of cracked concrete, uneven concrete, or even just concrete that doesn’t have the right grip. These can be even more prominent with children, because children can trip over even very small uneven spaces between concrete slabs.

Conclusion

All home health hazards are important for any home, but this is especially true for many homes with children. If you have children, it’s important that you keep your home as safe and secure as possible for everyone’s sake. That may mean talking to a home health expert, such as a foundation repair expert, to learn more about your home health options. Remember, your entire family lives in your home. That should be reason enough to maintain its health, even if you need to call in outside help.