Plan Ahead For Kindergarten Registration

It is that time of year again. If your child is already 5 or will be turning 5 on or before Oct. 1 (date depends on your state) then it is time to start thinking about registering your child for kindergarten. There are several steps involved in the kindergarten registration process.

 

If you are unfamiliar with the process, then it is a good idea to call the elementary or primary school your child will attend for more information. If you are not certain which school your child will attend then call the school district's main office.

 

While registration is free there are some costs associated with kindergarten registration. Your child will need a current physical (often documented on the state's medical exam form) and will need to be current on all vaccinations. Your child will also need a current eye exam (often documented on a state eye exam form).

 

Most schools also require a birth certificate and social security number.

 

Some schools require these five documents at the time of registration:

 

~ Birth certificate

~ Social security card

~ Current immunization record (on state certificate)

~ Current physical record (on state medical exam form)

~ Current eye exam (on state eye exam form)

 

Other schools are more flexible and allow registration with only some of the forms as long as all other information is provided by the time school starts.

 

Once your child is registered, then your child will be scheduled for a kindergarten screening in most school districts. The screening is conducted by one or more professional educators.

 

The purpose of the kindergarten screening is not to determine whether or not your child will be admitted to kindergarten but rather how your child's unique needs will be met in the coming school year. This means matching the right teacher, classroom, and program to your child.

 

Most often, kindergarten screening looks at six primary areas: cognitive skills, listening and sequencing skills, language skills, fine motor skills, gross motor skills, and social/emotional skills.

 

The kindergarten screening is not the final judgment on your parenting skills or your child's school readiness. It is simply the first time (in most cases) that the school district will have to assess your child. Early screening allows the school to help you prepare your child before school begins. You may be given a checklist, or other instructions, noting skills to work on with your child. Sometimes children with special needs may be flagged at this point. This can be very beneficial as the earlier intervention takes place the easier it may be for your child to stay on the same time table as his peers.

 

The kindergarten screening also allows the school to better match your child with a teacher, class, and program. Each child's kindergarten experience is unique depending on the level of their skills at entry and the rate of their progress after school starts. The activities and work your child engages in during kindergarten may not be identical to those of all classmates. Many schools break classes up into ability groups or even pull children out of class to work with peers of similar ability or need.

 

Identifying special needs, problems, or abilities early on helps the school plan for the coming year. Will there be sufficient demand for a gifted program or a remedial program, are examples of some of the questions that kindergarten screening helps the school answer.

 

While your local school must make a place for your child no matter when you register it is to everyone's benefit if you register as early as possible. The school needs an accurate enrollment projection but also needs to make educational plans that can most accurately be made after meeting and testing your child. In addition, your child benefits from early enrollment by allowing you to know what to do to prepare your child for kindergarten. Finally, your child is now on a list, which will allow the school to contact you regarding open house, information meetings, and other events.

 

For example, my local school district offers a special program a few weeks before school starts that allows some kindergarten students to start school early. The students can become familiar with the school building when it is not full (and not so frighteningly loud and busy) and begin working on some important skills, which may be interfering with their ability to succeed.

 

Kindergarten registration is a simple and necessary process, but it can be confusing if you don't know what to expect. Knowing what to do before you register, what to expect during registration, and what will follow registration can help make the process less frustrating and confusing for everyone involved.

 

 

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Plan A Great Kids Treasure Hunt Party!

Kids parties have become the latest craze and coming up with unique and fun themes and activities for children's birthday parties and other events can be daunting.  More and more parents are faced with the need to find new and creative ways to entertain throngs of classmates, neighborhood friends, and siblings of various ages.

 

One simple, low-cost, and very popular way to entertain children at any kind of celebration or gathering, indoors or out is with a good old-fashioned treasure hunt. A treasure hunt is the one party game that truly promotes interaction, naturally evokes squeals of excitement, and leaves your party guests with lasting memories of their adventurous day at your child’s party.

 

What if your child doesn't want a pirate-themed party?  No problem! Treasure hunts aren’t just for pirates. Tradition has dictated that pirates are the great treasure hunters, but the fact of the matter is treasure hunts are loved by boys, girls, and grown-ups alike, and make a great addition to any party theme.  Treasure hunts can be simply adapted with a storyline and a variety of decorations to fit into any party theme.  This is the one area of planning where your child might already have a very clear idea of what they would like, and it would be wise to involve them in this decision, as it makes the party their own. 

 

To adapt a treasure hunt for a princess-themed party, for example, you might announce that someone has stolen the princess's jewels, and whoever finds them by following the clues will be rewarded with a share of the loot.  You place a jewelry box overflowing with plastic beads, candy necklaces and rings, and other gem-like treats in the center of the party table, and have someone sneak the treasure away during the party before making the announcement.  Other themes and decorations might revolve around the latest TV cartoon characters, superheroes, pop idols, a holiday, or your child might want to create their own theme.

 

That being said, be careful not to fall into the parent trap of spending a small fortune buying themed party goods.  Consider purchasing just a few themed bright and colorful decorations and/or centerpieces, and then either complement them with less expensive coordinating party supplies and decorations, or make your own -- there are plenty of great fun ways to put you and your child's artistic talent to work to customize your party.

 

Some crafty ideas kids may love making or having at their party include authentic-looking weathered pirate treasure maps, princess crowns and jewelry, spyglasses made from paper towel rolls, piñatas (handmade or bought), cardboard hooks inserted into the bottom of styrofoam cups to wear on their hands like Captain Hook, paper or felt decorated pirate hats, and bejeweled and personalized loot bags, to name only a few.

 

Although it requires some time, creativity, and resources, you can make and stage your own treasure hunt game to play as a group or competitively in teams.  Design and hide 10 clever clues that lead players step-by-step from one clue to the next, hidden amongst common objects, to ultimately discover the hidden treasure, which might be sacks of “loot” consisting of candy such as chocolate coins wrapped in gold foil, or party favors, toys, and other items valuable to children.

 

Alternatively, if you're short on time, money, and party ideas like many busy parents and party planners, online sites such as Treasure-Adventure.com offer affordable complete treasure hunts with pre-made custom clues full of rhymes and riddles that kids love to solve, the design of which can be the most time-consuming and difficult part of preparing a treasure hunt.

 

Use creativity to build your party further around the hunt for a truly fantastic and memorable party that your child and his or her guests will talk about long after the party is over.  Although the treasure hunt will likely be the main attraction since it is the most action-packed and engaging, don't necessarily limit other activities that might complement the hunt such as a cannonball toss using bean bags or water balloons, "Walk the Plank" using a shallow pool full of plastic alligators and snakes, pan for gold using gold spray-painted rock nuggets, dress in costumes, hold a peg-leg relay, make a castle or pirate ship out of an appliance box, play "Blackbeard says," etc. -- the sky is the limit! 

 

Treasure hunts are also not just limited to children or birthday parties, but are perfect for family fun night, slumber parties, classroom parties, picnics, and other group events.  Treasure hunts bring parties alive with hours of challenging and fun entertainment, with the thrill of the hunt along with the solving of puzzles often being the most enjoyable and memorable part of the day. And don't think you can't top your last party.  By using a variety of themes, new treasure hunt clues and decorations, and a little creativity, you can throw many more successful and unique parties for years to come that never go out of style.  “If you're up to the challenge, spyglass and compass in hand, your prize is in sight, so let the adventure begin!”

 

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Pay Attention to Chart Music

If you are looking for ways to keep track of your culture and to know what is happening in the lives and minds of the youth of your culture, then there are many resources you need to consider. You can read magazines, watch television, watch the latest movies, or spend time on a university or college campus near you. Another great and inexpensive way to get a handle of this generation is to pay attention to the chart music that is on the radio every day of the week.

 

Basically, chart music is the top music of our culture. It is the most popular music that is being listened to by the most people. There is chart music in a variety of music genres, and each week the top music of many genres is put on the radio for the whole country to hear. So if you are looking for a way to get up to speed with the youth of our world or even of your own children's world, then tune in to chart music and pay attention to it.

 

Just how do you pay attention to chart music? Well, the first thing that you need to do is just listen to it. Instead of going for your favorite radio station when you jump in the car each day, find the radio stations that are playing the chart music and listen in to those. Your kids can tell you those popular radio stations if you don't already know. You do not necessarily have to set aside hours of valuable time each week to get to know chart music. Instead you can just utilize your time in the car for a different purpose.

 

Another way to pay attention to chart music is to talk to your kids about the music they are listening. Let them put on music of their choice when they are in the car, and even ask to borrow some of the CD's. Be prepared that you may be offended with their music choices, but determine ahead of time that you are simply trying to use chart music to get a grasp of their lives, not to discipline them in any way. Start really listening to the words of chart music too.

 

The lyrics in chart music are a huge reflection of what the youth of our nation are thinking about and caring about. So listen up and you may find that you learn a great deal. You may be surprised by the depth of thought and emotion that our youth are experiencing each day. Chart music is a great way for parents to keep a handle on the interests of their kids, so tune your radio into their radio today.

 

 

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Paternity Testing: To Be The Father Or Not To Be….

Before you can understand the importance of paternity testing, you must first understand the DNA element involved and why DNA is used to establish paternity. DNA is the pattern for your genetic makeup. Each and every person has a different pattern of DNA. However, persons belonging to certain ethnic backgrounds, certain races, or simply certain features, can have DNA that shows related characteristics. No two people, except for identical twins will have the same DNA.

 

Every person has 46 chromosomes in each cell. The only exceptions are the sperm and egg cells. They each have 23. At the moment of conception, however, the 23 chromosome from the sperm and egg combine to form 46, and at that moment, you have the chromosomes needed to create a new person. This pattern for your genetic makeup is a combination of maternal DNA and paternal DNA. In other words, half your makeup is your mother’s and half is your father’s. Now, since the mother would be the person giving birth, there is no dispute about maternal proof. She was there at birth. But what about paternal proof? How do you determine the identity of the father, without a shred of doubt?

 

Enter DNA paternity testing. DNA testing works in the following way. The DNA of the child is tested. A test strip of DNA “bands” is established. The DNA is then tested from the alleged father. If the child and the man share common “bands” in a number of different locations, then paternity is established with 99.9 percent accuracy. That is as accurate as the results can be. This is a seemingly simple test, to have such a staggering effect on the people’s lives that are involved. Entire families have been ripped apart over paternity issues. Lives have been forever changed, thanks to one little DNA test.

 

Today, paternity testing is utilized to decide custody cases, establish legitimate child support cases, influence adoption proceedings, and to aid in claiming inheritance by providing proof of relationship. By far, however, the largest use of DNA testing is in determining paternity issues. Most courts accept 99.9 percent positive as equal to a result of 100%.

 

There are tests available that can be used at home, but in the case of a legal battle, or establishing legal paternity, only the tests conducted by certified and licensed facilities will be allowed.

 

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Paternity Leave: Why Aren’t Men Taking It?

In 1993, the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) granted American men and women up to 12 weeks of unpaid time off from their jobs for the birth or adoption of a child. This period of time off is generally known as family leave or parental leave.  For women, it is commonly called maternity leave; for men, it may be referred to as paternity leave.

 

To be eligible for parental leave under the FMLA, a person has to work for a federal, state, or local public agency or an organization that has 50 or more employees working within a 75-mile radius. He or she must have worked for the organization for at least 12 months and for at least 1,250 hours during the past 12 months. If a person meets these criteria, the FMLA requires that his or her employer continue paying for employer-sponsored benefits during the family leave and allow the employee to come back to the same or a similar position upon his or her return.

 

In addition to the parental leave established by the FMLA, some states have their own family leave laws, which are often more generous than the provisions of the FMLA. What’s more, many employers also offer their own family leave policies.

 

Despite these gains in federal, state, and employer policies, many men are reluctant to take paternity leave. There are a number of possible reasons why this is the case.

 

Most importantly, perhaps, is the fact that many men simply cannot afford to take an unpaid break from work--let alone a 12-week unpaid leave. According to the National Partnership for Women & Families, 78% of individuals (men and women) who are eligible for leave under the FMLA but don’t take it, don’t take it because they cannot afford to do so. The arrival of a new baby means one more mouth to feed, and for many families, the loss of an income at this time would be devastating, particularly if the mother is already taking an unpaid maternity leave.

 

The fear of what will happen to their jobs when they return is another factor that may make men hesitate to take paternity leave. While it is illegal for an employer to discriminate against an employee who has taken a leave, some male employees still have concerns about how they will be treated after doing so. If their coworkers haven’t already set a precedent for taking paternity leave, a company’s male employees may not know what to expect if they try to do so themselves.

 

Another possible reason why men are reluctant to take paternity leave is rooted in social norms. While husbands and wives today commonly share the breadwinner role in their families, many men still feel an obligation to act as the primary breadwinner. For some, this is a hard role to give up, even temporarily.

 

The first few months after a baby is born are critical to the bonding that takes place between parent and child. Moreover, the National Partnership for Women & Families states that parents’ taking parental leave can provide long-term benefits to a child, including improved brain and social development and better overall health and well-being.

 

If you are a man who is starting to plan a family, look into the parental leave options that are open to you through the FMLA, your state’s laws, and your employer’s policies. If you cannot afford to take an unpaid leave, consider the other options that may be available to you. For instance, your employer may offer paid sick time or paid vacation time that you may be able to repurpose into a paternity leave. Taking some time off at the arrival of your new baby will be well worth it for you, your child, and your child’s mother.

 

 

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Partnership Between Parents and Kindergarten Teachers

Pre-school is an educative learning partner of the family. Some reasons that kindergarten is an extremely important educative factor are:

 

-           Kindergarten creates an environment for children and it helps them develop their social skills

-            Kindergarten prepares children for primary school

-             Kindergarten is a protective environment and passes the time with children of their own age

-              There are differences from one kindergarten to the next regarding the closed and open space children dispose of, the instruction or advice, the qualifications of the teachers and their desire to do the best they can to promote good social skills and behavior. Any state or authorized kindergarten is obliged to offer a good learning process. From the management offered at the kindergarten or school, the parents have to find out what the conditions of life are and what type of environment of the unit has to offer, as well as the qualifications and the potential of the personnel.

 

                 The kindergarten teacher will conduct the children’s activities directly or indirectly. Some of the education process is conducted with the whole group of children and some of it is done in stages, as small groups of children or individually.

 

                Parents and teachers need to form some sort of a partnership. There are problems that can come up in such situations and they may vary a lot. Some children that come to kindergarten have trouble adapting, socially and intellectually. There are many reasons for these things and can be discovered with parents and teachers working together to figure out and resolve the issue. Communication is the key to making a Child’s kindergarten experience both fun and educational both the parents of children with difficulties and the ones of children with a normal evolution must be contacted to settle educational programs that involve the family.

 

                Parents can continue educational games their children played in the kindergarten while they are at home, this will help the children gain confidence in their power. In the future this can help their children develop the initiative and confidence to give answers or volunteering to be involved in games.

 

The purpose of kindergarten is to help develop good social skills, to help prepare them for school and to let them have fun while they learn. They have to be introduced to learning and classrooms at this age, or it will be hard for them to adapt and maintain control once they start primary school.

 

 

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Parrots to Poets – It’s all in learning to say words

A ready way for you to check your child’s development

 

As a parent you may spend many anxious moments worrying whether your child is developing well, whether anything is wrong, or worrying about illnesses or learning disabilities. Well, most developmental articles or charts are just general reference points. Some babies grow and pass each stage quickly while others develop slower but do catch up. So, don’t fret if John has not said “ ba-ba or da-da,” when your neighbor’s child born a few days later already has.

 

Every baby is like a sponge and receptive to things in his or her immediate environment. A baby who has people talking and interacting with him or her all day long tends to learn words faster than children who spend long hours alone in a crib or play pen with toys. As a child grows, its brain too develops along with other systems such as bones, muscles, and motor skills. And, from birth until age three the child absorbs everything around it—sounds, sight, music, words, and more.

 

As you know, communication begins during the first few days of life—a baby learns quickly that it can seek comfort from its mother and that crying is what gets attention in terms of food, comfort, and companionship. The first sound a baby recognizes is that of its own mother.

 

So, be prepared for a baby that absorbs sounds and sights quickly, and if you are lucky, the baby at six months of age will make a few basic sounds that form words, and speak a few words of your native tongue.

 

The progression you will see is from cooing and blowing raspberries the baby will babble and then use repetitive words like ba-ba, or da-da, followed by strings of gibberish and magically at eight months or a year, the baby will start forming proper words.  You may have noticed babies that speak two languages at the same time, their mother tongue and English—this is because a small baby when exposed to two different languages constantly begins learning both without a hitch.

 

Here is what normally happens: from birth to five months a baby reacts to loud sounds, when you move, he follows you around with his eyes and by turning his head, responds when you speak or coo to him, learns to show pleasure as well as displeasure by fussing, crying, giggling, and gurgling.

 

Then between 6-11 months a baby understands what you say and parrots the sounds -- mouths ba-ba and ma-ma and other syllables-- and communicates with gestures.

 

Once a baby is between 12-17 months he or she can sit with you and look at picture books, learn to follow what you ask, recognize objects, and family members. So, if you say, “Where is dad,” the baby will point to his father. The baby will also speak with two syllable words, and will imitate simple words.

 

At 18-23 months you will find a great change as many skills are enhanced and the baby loves being read to. He will listen to stories, point to body parts and objects, understand clearly actions like come, open your mouth, eat, and can pronounce vowels, say few words, and ask for things like milk or cookie.

 

It is from here on that learning is rapid. So, it is important for the parents and care givers to optimize learning during this phase.

 

 

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Parents Supporting Adult Children?

How does that grab you?

 

If you noticed this, maybe it's because you are one of millions of older parents out there today, that are still supporting your adult child or children. Hey, they've been through college. They’ve gotten that position with a fairly good company. Maybe it's not their final goal in that career they wanted, but it's a start. And the expectations of the salary they thought would be guaranteed, well it's not that great.

 

Now, almost right away, the new car came into the picture. The cell phone and cable TV... well, they are real needs, maybe more than food. The rent at their apartment keeps going up. Many other expenses keep popping up. The student loan still needs to be paid also. Lucky adult children usually get help with that, of course. Life is still somewhat fun and games and the temptation of all the easy credit lines are just waiting for that next victim. It is your son or daughter.

 

But how could this happen to them?  Thousands of dollars of credit card debt. You really thought you taught them better than that.

 

Soon, the new job is not so great. There are lay-offs, downsizing or many other reasons companies let people go. Now, the kid (who is an adult) is in a financial jam. They need to move back to your house, because they can't afford rent, electricity or even food anymore. This is a reality that is happening more with adult children between the ages of twenty-four to thirty.

What can you do to help? Set guidelines and some boundaries to really help. And NO... helping them with their payments with your savings or money you still earn will not help. If you put them on a plan to pay you back instead of the creditors they owe to, this can soon turn against you and them, because their credit score will look outstanding in the eyes of even more creditors. It would be perpetuating a big financial lie for them. Your credit score and their credit score are now two separate entities as adults. The pain of added service fees, late fees, increased interest rates and possibly debt collection aggravations are all the consequences due to poor financial planning of their own doing.

 

The truth is young adults are extremely susceptible to falling into credit card debt, no matter how they were raised. It's not your fault as a parent and you should not take responsibility.... now should you?

 

But, you can help them through... the right way and they will never get back into credit card debt again. They can gain the wisdom you know they need. There are healthy ways to help and it starts with you as the parent. Of course you care and would do anything to help them through their debt situation, but be very cautious. Help them with a real plan of paying it all off themselves. If they’ve moved back into your home, give them some leeway, but put together a plan for their contribution towards food, utilities and luxury services in your home. To live in your home again for a temporary time, they must keep a job or two… whatever it takes to be responsible for their debt payments and other cost of living expenses. It will be tough, but some well needed and valuable lessons will be learned by both of you, or the lessons you tried to instill in their earlier youth will be revitalized in reality for them. Realize for your own health and well being that you are not being harsh or mean, but you are helping to make your son or daughter into a more responsible adult by letting them face their own debt mistake. A true happy and responsible adult is one who can earn their own way through life and gain more wisdom. A true adult takes responsibility for themselves no matter what. All healthy and successful parents want to see their adult children thrive, be self confident and self reliant.

 

 

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Parents It Is Your Job to Keep Your Child Safe Online

We all have different ways with dealing with government. Many people think it is the government’s job to take care of us in many ways and others think that the government should stay out of our private lives and let us sink or swim as we may.

 

In no area is this more contested than with our children. The government oversees how our children are educated. In low-income families the government sees to it the children are fed and clothed. When it comes to abusive parents the government steps in and removes the child placing the child’s safety over the right of the parents to keep their child.

 

However, the government cannot protect your child or teenager while they surf the Internet and browse through the various websites and chat rooms available there. Why? Because the Internet is international, no one government can police the Internet.

 

This makes some parents unhappy because they are used to the government doing everything for them and consider it their right to do so as American Citizens and because they are used to it.

 

Many parents for years used the television to baby-sit their children. At least with the television they knew that pornography and other inappropriate content was not landing on their child’s TV screen. Now that babysitting job has been turned over to the computer and many parents will not or cannot monitor their child’s activities while on the Internet.

 

The NCMEC says that one in five children is solicited for sex online. While I am not sure how accurate their statistics are, I do know that there are child sex predators out there and that there is a lot of opportunity to communicate with children over the Internet.

 

There are spammers who send pornographic content out indiscriminately to all of the email addresses they can find which means it is not difficult to imagine this content finding its way into your child's email.

 

There are people who will try to trick you into giving out private information over the Internet through email and through websites. It is very easy to accidentally click into a website with inappropriate content.

 

At the same time, teenagers and children alike are curious and you do not always know what they choose to expose themselves to. But as a parent you need to know. it is your job to make sure that your child is safe online.

 

It is not the government's job. It is not the job of the owners of various websites. It is your job as a parent to be sure your child is safe online. There are plenty of ways to do this.

 

1. Put the computer in a common area the same as you do with your television. This makes it easy to monitor what is happening online and discourages your children or teens to participate in risky behavior. It also discourages predators from talking with your child if they know there are people around.

 

2. Get software that monitors your child or teenager while they are on the computer. This software will block inappropriate content from appearing on your child’s monitor. It will also let you view logs that show where your child has been on the Internet. It will monitor what they say in chat rooms and email. It will let you set timers that take a picture or screen capture at those times so you can actually see what they viewed online. You can even set up alerts to notify you by cell phone or email when your child accesses inappropriate content. You can download monitoring software here at this website, http://www.onlinesafetyshield.com

 

3. You can talk with your children and explain to them the dangers of giving out private information over the Internet, surfing the wrong kind of websites, or engaging in risky behavior and what to do about it if they have a problem. By communicating with your child they know they can always come to you if there is a problem.

 

Parents please keep in mind that it is you that has the awesome responsibility of keeping your child safe on the Internet. Do not leave it up to others to decide what is or is not appropriate for your child.

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