Life skills your child may not be getting from school.
Photography: Intelligence
Did you ever notice that it’s not always the smartest students that end up being the most successful in life? Although there is no doubt that schools are capable of providing a strong academic foundation there are many areas they simply do not cover adaquately nor should they.
The self-help site Zen Habits has compiled a list of 27 life skills your children need to increase their chances of success in life.
Some key areas covered in the list are:
- Financial Management Skills
- Critical Thinking
- Motivation, Procrastination and Passion
- Counterbalancing Competitiveness
- Organization Skills
- Household Management
- Setting A Life Purpose
Have your children been taught these skills in school? Have they learned them at home? Do they even need them?
You can read the complete list of critical life skills at Zen Habits and decide for yourself.
Healthy Diets For Your Children
Photography: Blueberries
Canadian Living magazine has compiled a list of Top 10 Superfoods our kids should be eating. How many of these foods are part of your children’s diet?
- Whole Grain Bread
- Blueberries
- Yogurt
- Sweet Potatoes
- Natural Nut Butters
- Beans
- Broccoli
- Omega-3 Eggs
- Avocados
- Organic Chicken
To find out more you can read the complete article entitled Top 10 Superfoods For Kids.
They have also included a short 10 question quiz to test your overall knowledge of healthy foods.
Photography: Swimming Safety
Most kids love to play in the water. Seeing their children have so much fun, parents sometimes fail to appreciate the dangers involved. Tragically, every year we see a number of children involved in drowning accidents. With some care and attention these tragedies can be prevented.
Here are 11 simple water safety tips provided by KidsHealth.org:
- Never Swim alone
- Get some life saving and CPR training
- Know Your Limits
- Swim in Safe Areas
- Be careful when Diving
- Avoid Excess Sun Exposure
- Drink Plenty of Fluids
- Know when it’s time to get out
- Don’t drink and Swim
- Use a Personal Flotation Device when on a Boat
- Let someone know your plan
On the West Island most pools offer swimming and water safety courses as well as First Aid and CPR. Check out an indoor or outdoor pool in your area for a schedule of lessons.
Additional Resources: Child Water Safety
Red Cross Water Safety
The Red Cross offers a collection of water safety tips for the beach, boating, home pools, lakes, rivers and oceans. It even has specific recommendations for Water Parks.
Red Cross Tips
Recreational Water Illness
The Center for Disease Control has a number of topics on Recreational Water Illness. This includes infections, rashes, hot tub issues and preventive measures. If you’ve ever been concerned about health issues that come from Swimming or water activities you will find this site invaluable.
Prevent Recreational Water Illnesses
Pool Safety Document
This docment provides some simple guidelines for home pool owners. Even if you don’t own your own pool, the information is still useful if you or your children use a neighbor’s pool.
Pool Safety Tips
Pool Safety
If you have a home pool or are visiting someone with a pool make sure you take a look at this information on Children and Pool Safety.
Children and Pool Safety
Water Safety
Safe Kids Canada prepared this short two page summary of water safety rules for both pool usage and swimming in open water.
Water Safety Rules
Party planning tips and guidelines to make your next birthday party a success.
Photography: Birthday
Staging successful children’s birthday parties requires planning, resourcefullness and a healthy amount of energy. Luckily, there are many resources available online to help you out. Here are just a few to get you started.
First of all keep in mind these four points suggested by The Creative Kids at Home website when planning a birthday party:
- The Birthday party is for the birthday child and his or her friends
- Get someone to help you during the party
- Keep manners in mind
- Make sure there are plenty of activities
Birthday Planning Checklists
For a Step by Step Party Planning Checklist in point form starting from a month out right to the big day check out this Birthday Planning Guide.
Quick tips you may not have thought about for birthday planning are available in this Educationl Birthday Parties article.
If you work better with a list, there’s a step by step Birthday Planning Checklist on the Birthday In A Box site. You can download a nice single page pdf checklist as well.
Kids Birthday Party Theme Ideas
Are you running out of ideas? Looking for something different? Check out the Amazing Moms site for an extensive list of themes, party games, and party planning tips.
For another list of Birthday Theme Ideas you can get a head start with this article from Canadian Parents on Birthday Party Planning.
Children’s Birthday Party Length
Finally, if you’re wondering how long is suitable for a child’s party, here are some guidelines:
- One Year Old: 30-60 minutes
- Two Year Old: 1 to 1.5 hours
- Three Year Old: 1 to 2 hours
- Four- Five Year Old: 2 hours
- Six Year Old: around 3 hours
