Parenting is not easy, but it can be very rewarding. We get so busy with work and household choirs that our children don't get all the attention they need. When you have laundry to do how many of you put your child in front of a television set? Don't feel bad because like many of you, I have been guilty of this too. This is valuable time that our children could be learning something to help them down the road. We are with our children more then anyone else, so we need to focus on education whenever we can.
This day and age a college degree is needed to get a good job. According to the Georgetown researchers, by 2018 63% of American jobs will require some sort of post secondary education. That number is pretty staggering, and gives us further proof of how important education is. My wife is in her first year teaching 1st grade, so she brings a good insight as to where our daughter needs to be. We are lucky that we have a beautiful, smart 4 year old daughter who is ahead of where she should be for her age. The jobs are so competitive that we don't just want our daughter to be average, or just at grade level. We decided to sit down and discuss what we could do to further her along, and here is what we came up with.
1. Spend at least 15 minutes before bed reading to them. No matter how busy you are this gives them something they look forward to. This also gets them to go to bed with out complaints, because most kids like being read to.
2. Sit down at the table as a family for dinner. This gives you a chance to hear how everyone's day went. Have them help you clean the table when your done. My daughter loves helping do everything and its extra time you get to spend together.
3. Put 20-30 minutes aside for flashcards. These things are great for everything. You can use them for learning colors, numbers, shapes, words and many other things.
4. Make a choir list and fun way to keep track of when they do the choirs. We bought some stickers and printed of a choir sheet. My daughter gets so excited to put stickers on her completed tasks.
5. If we have work we have to get done we let our daughter play games on the computer. There are some great games in Nick Jr and a couple other websites. These games are educational but have all her favorite characters to keep her interested.
6. Most of all, keep your promises to your child. If you promised to play a game, then take 10 minutes and play a game. If they can't count on their parents to keep promises then who can they count on.
We all want the best for our children. We want them to go up and being happy and successful. I think following these steps will help set a foundation for success. Making these changes for 2013 has been great for both our daughter and us. I hope your children enjoy the extra time with you like our daughter has enjoyed with us .http://voices.yahoo.com/new-era-parenting-11988368.html?cat=25
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