Teaching children who have learning disabilities can be a major challenge for parents as well as teachers. Most children know or learn how to deal with problems as they are capable of processing information and have the ability to organize information into a plan or strategy to tackle a problem. But there are also children who find learning to process information a very uphill task. This is not because they are not diligent enough but this could be a disorder.

This disorder has only been discovered very recently. Children suffering from this neurological disorder have trouble understanding or organizing information and have very little ability to reason. They have difficulty in almost all aspects of learning, be it education or day to day chores. Although it is a challenging task to teach these children, proper and a strategic approach can help these kids learn more effectively.

The first step of teaching these children would be to understand the type of inability or disorder they have. There are various types of learning disabilities, like dyslexia, dyscalculia, disgraphia etc. Identifying the right one is the first step in helping them. These children are generally not very quick learners and need special attention to understand even basic things. It is very difficult for these children to connect ends and come to a conclusion or solution. Special care must be taken and one should be careful not to make them realize about their disability. This can have adverse affect of their self esteem.

The key to teaching these children is in understanding them and identifying ways which they can relate to. Some effective ways could be use of pictures, real life images and connecting them to things that they often see.

Are you one of those parents who hover over their kids in anxious anticipation for the fulfillment of an unmet need? You might do it out of concern and your intentions are absolutely honorable, but such behavior might earn you the name of a ‘helicopter parent’.

Helicopter parent is a term used for those who are obsessed with their kids and tend to involve so much into their lives that it almost becomes unreasonable. They cross all the limits of parental considering and end up overdoing their parenting bit. This behavior starts when your child is in kindergarten and if you expect to do the same even when he is in college, its asking for trouble.

One needs to understand that college is a time of transition for a child. This is the phase when a child steps into adulthood and if you keep pestering him like a kid even then it is more like hindering his learning. By over involving yourself with the child you are actually creating problems for your child.

There are many parents who realize this, there are some who are in complete denial and there are some who are absolutely clueless. It is important to realize that you are overdoing something and creating that fine balance between love for the child and freedom for growth become very crucial.

One of the most common ways identifying a helicopter parent is during admissions. Such parents are totally obsessed and involved with the process, deciding on which college to go and what career to choose. It is understandable that they do it for the welfare of the child but maintaining balance is very important for the child’s growth. 

So, are you also a helicopter parent? Ask yourself!

Kids often tend to be very choosy when it comes to food. Often toddlers refuse to eat certain food items and there could also be instances where they just want to eat a particular food. Allowing children to be independent in terms of the food they eat can go a long way in helping them be independent as they grow. This might mean that your child isn’t eating the prescribed food but as long as it has normal energy levels and hasn’t faced any health related issues, it is okay to let it decide on what to eat and what not to. This is especially true for that stage where the child isn’t growing very fast and doesn’t need an awful lot of calories.

Kids normally wouldn’t have a proper diet throughout the day but over the week they end up making up for it. However, if you are very concerned you can give your child vitamin on a daily basis, but this is not really needed.

The key is that you should not force your child to have anything but should always ask him/her to try something new. It has been established that after offering a new food for 10-15 times a child normally gives in to it. 

It is important that a child has three proper meals a day but sometimes it does happen that the child doesn’t want to have a meal. This shouldn’t be a case of much worry as at times when they have, say a big lunch they might not want to eat dinner. So, these are normal behaviors and should not be much of a concern.

• photographer

Nowadays when digital cameras won’t cost an arm and a leg to you and working in Photoshop is as easy as ABC almost anyone can pick up a camera and take a photo. However, don’t forget that this kind of activity requires a good eye and creativity. This job is interesting, exciting and can bring decent money.

• blogger

If you adore writing and expressing yourself with an online journal then blogging is something you really need. There is a great number of useful and free programs that will help you to earn money, for example, Google Adsense. The most important things are: to keep your target market in mind and never give up.

• freelance

Actually, the range of options for freelance working is really impressive. You can do a lot of things: writing, editing, web design, artwork, graphic designing, organizing … Just keep in mind the fact that the word “freelancer” starts with the word “free”, so your paycheck won’t be regular.

And remember, if you need help you can always consult WorkingMums.co.uk.

• choose natural fabrics, for example: wool, silk, cotton and linen. They will make you feel more comfortable, such things “breathe”, allowing air to circulate;
• buy maternity clothes in your pre-pregnancy size or a few sizes larger. Believe me you will need some extra room;
• buy basic items in stretch fabrics, because your body changes very quickly;
• look for adjustable waistbands. You’ll be able to wear such clothes even during your third trimester;
• plan your wardrobe and don’t buy too many things – anyway after giving birth to your baby – your body will change;
• try to choose easily combined things;
• choose comfortable flats and shoes without any heels;
• make sure you have the right bra that will give the whole needed support for your new bust. 

Be very attentive while choosing baby clothes. Moms of newborn children want to buy everything and they don’t understand that children grow very quick and most likely they won’t need all these things.

Be happy and beautiful!

It is always difficult as a parent to decide on whether or not to send your kid to boarding school. The thing to be kept in mind while taking a decision is that, whether the boarding school is right for your kid, will he/she thrive in it. For this you need to understand the basic differences between two types of boarding schools: therapeutic and traditional.

Traditional boarding schools can be a viable option for those children who are motivated to learn and no extra effort is required to motivate them. These schools sometime have specific focus towards certain subjects. On the other hand, a therapeutic school is ideal for those children who have behavior issues, like disturbing the class or skipping school. Most of these schools conduct regular classes like any other school but they have special sessions for children who have such problems and help them deal with their emotions.

However, one must understand that there is a huge difference between a military school and therapeutic school. In a military school a child’s attitude is changed through discipline and rigid rules. One the other hand, a therapeutic school looks at helping the child have better control over his emotions and nurture them with teaching rather than rules. The only thing that remains same is that both the types of school have professionals dealing with the children.

The best thing about boarding schools is that most of these schools challenge the students more in terms of education as compared to traditional schools. Many colleges and institutes take consider boarding school children over others.

So, it is important that parents take into consideration the various aspects and then figure out whether boarding school will be right for their kid.

It is common to see mothers who have lived in poverty abusing their kids. However, it doesn’t mean that they cannot change even if their financial situation doesn’t improve. A recent study states that if proper counseling is offered on parenting skills and if they are provided with emotional support, their behavior towards children can be improved considerably.

After the study, it was found that mothers who had family history of abusive behavior towards children were successful in refraining from such act of abuse and neglect considerably after visiting therapists for a period of time. There was great deal of improvement in abusive mothers who went through an intensive counseling program compared to others who didn’t.

When asked, even the women who received these services said that they were able to handle their children in a much better fashion and these sessions on parenting skills helped them a lot in terms of child management. After the counseling, the mothers were less likely to be abusive and used much better parenting strategies.

The study was conducted on 35 families that were identified by the Child Protective Services in Texas. In all these families the mother was the legal guardian and had three children on an average. The average age was 28, had an income of $10,300 annually and was single. The age of the children varied from 3 to 8 years.

This study has proved that proper counseling can help mothers in terms of parenting skills and help the better upbringing of many children. 

Teen pregnancy is a growing menace for parents these days as the number of cases have been on rise. It is no doubt an area of both concern and angst for parents. They are definitely correct in being upset over this, but they also need to understand that it is not just the girl who is responsible. So, when faced with such a situation parents need to help their child instead of accusing them and getting angry with them. However, when you try to help your child, you need to ensure that the choices that you make are well informed. Also the boy should also be made a part of this responsibility as he is equally at fault too. 

Some of the dos and don’ts of such a scenario are mentioned below.

• Parents should make sure that they do not harass the girl, but rather speak with her calmly. Also involve the boy and his family in the damage control action.
• The teenage father doesn’t have a right to prevent abortion and but has right to paternity test
• The girl should be presented with viable options and she has the right to decide on what to do

Apart from these there are several other things to be taken into consideration. Abortion is an option, but there are alternatives too. There is ample support for such children in case she wants to go ahead with the baby. But the problem with teen mothers is that they themselves aren’t very responsible and when entrusted with the responsibility of a new born it could be too much for them. On the other hand, abortion can have a lifelong regret and sense of guilt. So, parents need to be very cautious while advising the child on action to be taken.

A recent study by National Kidney Foundation has revealed that women with albuminuria have greater chances of giving birth prematurely. Albuminuria is a condition is which the level of protein albumin in urine is abnormal. This is a very significant finding as it allows doctors to be better prepared for premature delivery in women. They can get to know about this condition by a very simple and inexpensive test.

Research reveals that this condition suggests that a woman could have problems related to her blood vessels, specifically the lining of the vessels. It isn’t that albuminuria is the only cause of premature birth; it could be caused due to malfunction in blood vessels.

Albuminuria is the initial symptom of kidney disease and damage to kidney leads to the leakage of protein albumin into the urine. It has also been found that albuminuria is closely related to other diseases by heart attack, stroke and heart failure. This could be essentially a sign that the entire blood vessel has been affected by albuminuria.

The study was conducted on 111 women, who had given birth after a gestation of less than thirty seven weeks and another 293 women who had normal delivery. During the research, the albumin levels were measured and the results showed that women who had higher level of albumin in their urine stood greater risks of premature delivery as compared to those with low levels of albumin. This report will be definitely of great help to doctors as they will be able to streamline their efforts better.

Car seats are primarily safety gears and you cannot take your kid home from a hospital without one. The problem with them is that the kid needs to be placed upright and this could lead to breathing problems while the baby is sleeping. The reason for this is that these seats compress the chest resulting in decrease of the size of the airway which is a major reason for lower levels of oxygen in blood.

It is natural for parents to wish that the infant finds some sleep, but they should ensure that they do not use a car bed for the kid to sleep in. It has been found that the early days of a kid is the time when parents are most desperate to find a perfect place for their kid to sleep.

This study was conducted on 200 healthy infants by putting them in cribs and in car seats. It was found that the kids sleeping in the car seats had considerably low levels of oxygen. Consequently, it has been established that sleeping in a car seat could be very harmful for a kid. However, it doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t use a car bed while traveling. Just ensure you don’t let your kid sleep in it.