Parenting related discussions, videos interviews and researched based approach to life skills and education of children
Parenting, as every sleep-deprived one of us can attest, is hard work. Wonderful, rewarding, meaningful and difficult. “Each stage has it’s challenge, from managing a toddler’s tantrums to keeping teens safe from the harms of drugs, alcohol and fast cats
Read MoreIf it’s happened once, it’s happened a thousand times. You call out to your child for dinner, ask her to get undressed for the bath or tell him to come inside from the back yard, and it’s as if your requests evaporate into thin air. Or you check in to see how homework is coming along, only to see that he hasn’t even gotten started. Frustrating? Incredibly. Uncommon? Certainly not.
Read MoreHave you delighted in how eager your pre-schooler is to embrace every aspect of life? Have you experienced their never ending chatter, asking questions, getting messy, tasting, squishing, touching and enjoying everything that crosses their path?
You might be aware that young children can develop their thinking, their language, imagination, speaking and listening skills through creative play. Have you marveled at how skilfully your child’s preschool teachers involve the children in their care in creative play? We know preschool can be a wonderful experience which helps our little ones for communicate and interact with others and of course enhances their learning.
Read MoreHave you experienced bullying as a child or an adult? Is your child being bullied and you feel helpless? Bullying can have detrimental physical and psychological effects on a child and can result in isolation, depression and even suicide. There is a lot that can be done to overcome and to prevent bullying and today’s show is all about practical solutions that work for you and your child.
Read MoreWe all know what it can be like when our child has an emotional meltdown – and it can happen over the littlest thing – like the toast being cut the wrong way! What about the supermarket meltdown when you say “no” to the candies! At those challenging times it can feel like everyone is looking at you, you don’t know what to do to calm your child, you feel judged as an incompetent parent…and you just wish you could be anywhere but here? Right?
Read MoreDo you often disagree with your partner about how to parent? Do you feel like you’re doing most of the parenting and your partner has checked out?
When I first brought my son home I was an over protective mother – even when it can to his dad! I was constantly at my husband saying things like: “don’t hold him like that” Don’t throw him in the air – he’s just eaten”, “Don’t be so rough – he’s just a baby!”
Read MoreIn this video parenting expert Dr Rosina McAlpine's talks about how to turn the constant No's we get from our children into a YES. She discusses how we should take an audit of how many times we say No to our children during the day and how this is reflected back at us. Obviously we can't say yes to everything but Dr Rosina shows how we can give a No in a way that will change the way you and your kids interact with each other.
Read MoreLife is not always easy and we all encounter setbacks, obstacles and difficulties at one time or another. How resilient are your children when it comes to navigating life’s challenges? How do your children handle life’s downs? Are they OK if they lose a race, fail a test, fall over and hurt themselves or have a disappointment? Resilience is the ability to get up and move on when things are tough, some of the most successful people failed the first time but were resilient enough to persevere. Help your children understand that “you never fail until you give up”. Help your child
1. understand what it means to be resilient
2. learn about some of the strategies to help them cope with adversity and bounce back when times are tough.
In this short video, Parenting Expert Dr Rosina shares her heart-felt personal story about her own low self esteem as a girl and her research into how to support healthy self esteem and self confidence in children.
Rosina discusses:
What is self esteem (internal validation versus external praise)
Do we really want to raise ‘confident’ children even if they are ‘overconfident’?
Why we want our children to have low self confidence if they are new at a task and high self confidence when they have mastered a task
Self-esteem and self-confidence are words we use regularly in our day-to-day discussions with friends, family, colleagues, peers and with our children. Many people use the words interchangeably, assume they have the same meaning and even define one using the other but what most people don’t know is that they are NOT the same and that it’s important to know the difference as it can have a huge impact on the quality of your life.
Read MoreHelping children understand the opportunities that developing effective learning strategies can bring and how learning provides the vehicle for personal and professional development are fundamental to developing a positive attitude to learning at the individual level and a skilled workforce at the national level.
Read MoreIt’s crucial that children understand how to act ethically and are aware of the social and environmental consequences of their own and other’s actions if they are to make a positive difference in the world.
Read MoreA child can function more efficiently and effectively in a clean and tidy environment. Further, a child’s diet and exercise play crucial roles in their physical and mental well being. These are very valuable life skills for your child.
Read MoreEffective communication and social skills enable children to develop strong relationships with family, colleagues and friends and work in a productive, harmonious and enjoyable way. Learning how to cooperate and work in a group as well as understanding when to lead and when to follow are valuable skills. Other social skills for children to learn include understanding how to avoid unnecessary conflict and how to be a good communicator. Building relationships is essential for creating a happy and productive life.
Read MoreGood health is a great foundation upon which to build a great life. The press is filled with scary news about how our children are obese and unhealthy. So as a parent what can you do to help your kids learn about how to be healthy? One important part of child development is instilling knowledge and good habits around eating and exercise. What kids learn about health when they are young will help them throughout their whole life.
Read MoreIf a child is experiencing a difficulty in their life, having the skills to clearly identify and articulate the difficulty, feel empowered to set goals and the take actions to overcome the difficulty allows the child to turn a negative situation into a positive one. This is very empowering and encourages children to be resourceful, develop their imaginative skills, discover what inspires them and achieve their goals. Creating opportunities for children to nurture their creativity is beneficial for both work and play.
Read MoreHigh self esteem and self confidence allow children to feel good about who they are and believe in themselves. These children are more likely to try new things and pick themselves up and bounce back after a difficult experience. These are very valuable personal attributes and life skills for your child.
Read MoreDo you and your children regularly take time out to relax and play together? This is very important in today’s society as most parents are rushing, overworked and lack a good work-life balance. This is also true for our children who are busy with school, homework, sporting activities, after-school tutoring and social networking and the list goes on. Being able to relax and to play reduces anxiety, illness and increases the joy in life.
Read MoreDoes your child give their power away to other people or things outside them? Does your child say things like “that person makes me angry” or “you made me do that” or “she makes me jealous” or “having that thing makes me happy” and in this way give their power away to people and things outside themselves?
OR does your child claim and use their own power by acknowledging that they are responsible for their own feelings, thoughts and behaviours? If a child believes people and things outside them have power over their thoughts, feelings and actions then they can feel powerless as they can’t control things outside themselves. If a child takes responsibility for their own thoughts, feelings and actions then they are in control and powerful.
Parents often call sweets, chocolates, crisps, cakes and biscuits ‘treats’. Generally, children LOVE their ‘treats’ and will do almost anything to get them. While calling unhealthy junk foods ‘treats’ may seem harmless, but upon closer consideration it may actually be more harmful than helpful. Instead of using the word treat, call junk food exactly it is, by its name or call it weekend food and explain that it is only weekend food rather than everyday food. Talking about junk food - the sugary, fatty and processed foods as weekend food:
1. helps parents understand that how they name ‘unhealthy’ foods can affect how their children feel and behave in relation to those foods, and
2. explores helpful ways to label and educate children about sweets etc…
Through her research based approach, Parenting expert Dr Rosina McAlpine provides practical, up to date parenting advice - Win for parents, Win for kids and Win for business
