Are You Reading Aloud With Your Child or Do They Read On Their Own?

Posted on | by KD Novelties

Why Reading Aloud is Important

Reading is an essential skill to have. It allows people to learn, it gives them access to information and ideas, it allows them to communicate with others and become an active and productive part of their living community. So how do you go about teaching your child to read at their full potential?

One of the best things you can do is read aloud with them.

Reading to children, or having them read aloud along with you, can yield a great many benefits when it comes to reading, vocabulary, and comprehension.

Reading to your child is often their first experience with reading itself. It is important that children develop relationships with books early on. This can be accomplished with books read to children as well as allowing children to play with baby books, typically of the plastic or thick cardboard variety that allows kids to chomp and play with them physically. While kids grow comfortable with books as objects from the standpoint of a plaything, reading to children will help familiarize them with the action.  It will also help boost vocabulary and communication skills as well.

As children get older, reading aloud to them remains important. Reading out loud can help boost their reading comprehension skills on several levels.  “Children learn when they make connections between what they hear and what they know. One method parents can use to help make these connections is called a think aloud, where you talk through your thoughts as you read (Gold, Gibson – Reading Rockets).” This method utilizes their imagination in order to visualize the story being told. If your child is reading along with you, they can begin to familiarize words by sight with their sound, making them much more effective readers. Books personalized for children can boost the read aloud, think aloud, method.  As you verbalize thoughts when reading, children can associate with the story as they become the stars of the storyline.  These types of customized books can be especially helpful with reluctant readers or struggling readers as well.

Your Child is the Star of Each Story!

Having your child read aloud to you can be helpful for them, too. You can hear where their strengths are and where they may be having trouble, but having your child read aloud to you on their own can help build their confidence, find their own voice, and learn how to build their own vocabulary, enunciation and other basic communication aspects as well.

Above all, as beneficial as reading aloud can be, it ultimately provides you and your child with ample quality time that you will cherish for years to come. Setting aside time for reading with your child will help build your relationship and can allow you to share interests, stories and imaginative ideas.

Kids and Sleep: What Parents Should Know

Posted on | by KD Novelties
Kids and Sleep: What Parents Should Know

Sleep is essential. It plays a vital role in our physical health. Not only does it allow your body to rest and recharge, but sleep is also involved in healing and in the repairing of your heart and blood vessels, too. Sleep problems is a deficiency or lack of restful sleep, which has been linked to an increased risk for heart disease, kidney disease, high blood pressure, diabetes and stroke. In children, sleep is essential for growth and development. A child’s body and mind are working overtime and they are developing at a rather rapid rate. In order for children to be healthy and to develop normally, it is important that children are sleeping as often and as deeply as they should for their age.

As a parent, it is important to ensure that your child’s sleep is as beneficial as possible. There are plenty of ways to maximize the advantages of your child’s sleep and there are things that you should know for each stage of your child’s young life.

Infants and Newborns
Babies who have just been born have not yet developed their internal clocks, so their naps and periods of sleep will generally vary by night and day, which may be a challenge for some adults who are used to the day/night sleep cycle. In general, babies need to sleep about 18 hours per day, spread across various naps and other stretches of time. Within the first few weeks after birth, you should generally wake your child up every 3 to 4 hours until they have good weight gain. After that, babies can sleep for longer periods of time.

Slowly, infants will begin to sleep for longer stretches of time on their own as well. Babies will generally make noises or cry while sleeping, and in most cases they will only be awake for a few minutes before falling silent and drifting back off to sleep. If your child persists, however, then they are likely uncomfortable due to being hungry, wet, cold, etc. Make sure to attend to their needs quickly and quietly and not to add any additional stimulation if necessary.

It is never too early to begin a bedtime routine. Once your child begins to fall into more predictable sleeping patterns, you can begin to establish such a routine. Incorporate soothing activities such as reading, bathing, singing, etc. just before bed. Placing your child in the crib before they actually fall asleep can help introduce the idea of a bedtime and help the nighttime routine stick and become more like second-nature.

Toddlers
Toddlers generally need to sleep 12-14 hours per day, spread between 1-2 naps during the day and one stretch of sleeping at night. Setting specific bedtime and nap time hours is essential, and it helps that you stick to them, too. Some parents may think that letting their kids stay awake through nap time will make them sleepier later on, but they may only grow overtired which will have the opposite effect and they will have a harder time sleeping instead.

It is important to establish quiet time during this stage, whether around nap time or bedtime. Encouraging quiet activities around nap time can help calm kids down and may even guide them into napping. When it comes to establishing a bedtime routine during the night, it helps to encourage the same soothing activities recommended for infants. Bathing, reading, and other quiet activities can help soothe kids and help kids relax and give in to sleep much more easily.

Preschool and School-Age Kids

Bedtime Stories

Some preschools and kindergarten programs feature a dedicated naptime or quiet time during the day, though this often depends on whether the school schedule is a full day or a half-day. At home, children should be getting about 11-12 hours at the preschool age and then about 10-11 as they get into the upper elementary grades. It is important to pay attention to your child’s behavior at this stage. Some kids may need more sleep than others, for instance some kids may still need naps whereas others may be fine with quiet time or other calm activities. Kids who are not sleeping enough, or sleep deprived, can become hyper or irritable, which can cause problems with attention and focus while in school.

Technology and overstimulation is becoming more and more of a problem when it comes to sleep, especially with older children. Make sure to establish a TV and mobile device free period of time before bed. This is generally a good habit for adults as well, as looking at screens can interfere with the quality of sleep. Specialists recommend that you turn off any and all screens about an hour before bedtime so that you can wind down. Try reading, writing in a journal, bathing, or any other activity that does not involve a screen and can be soothing as well.

General Tips
Aside from setting a sufficient sleep schedule, it is essential that kids sleep well. There are many healthy habits that can help keep you physically healthy but can also maximize the general restfulness of sleep as well.

● Keep a consistent sleep schedule: this makes it easier to sleep as well as helps to prevent a loss of lack of good sleep.
● Exercise every day: activity is important when it comes to being healthy in general, but staying active can also make it much easier to sleep restfully at night as well.
● Don’t go to bed hungry: while eating a heavy meal 1-2 hours before sleep can interfere with the quality of your sleep, going to bed hungry can lead to a restless night, too. Just as infants wake up and cry from naps due to hunger, older children may find it difficult to sleep if they are hungry enough to notice it. Try to provide a light snack before bedtime to prevent this from occurring, such as a glass of milk, some fruit or a small bowl of cereal.

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Should Your Kids Make New Year Resolutions?

Posted on | by KD Novelties

The idea of New Year’s Resolutions may not hold too much meaning for some, especially since so many people end up abandoning their New Year’s aspirations by the wayside come the second week of January. But the idea still holds, and there are plenty of people who make their lives better and improve their character by making an active choice. The idea behind a New Year’s Resolution is to essentially to look back at the previous year and consider what you want to happen for you in the one approaching. With this in mind, you can list changes that you want to make, goals you wish to achieve or healthy habits that you want to embrace. This sort of positive thinking can be beneficial to children, especially as they get older and become more self-aware and begin to grow into individuals of their own.

Lead By Example
When it comes to developing healthy habits and overall behavior, kids learn best by example. Sit down with your kids and talk with them. Ask them questions about their year and what they hope for the year to come. But don’t just get into a discussion about observations and aspirations. Share your own resolutions with them and lead by example.

Parents, like many other adults, tend to make the same resolutions year after year. Lose weight, eat healthier, and travel more. But many of these aspirations are abandoned due to continuously busy schedules and life simply getting in the way. While it is still good to think about bettering your lifestyle as best as you can, you can also consider adopting other resolutions that may be more attainable. As a parent, you can make aspirations to commit more one-on-one time with your kids, devoting a certain amount of days per week to read them to bed, play a game, or prepare a meal together. You can improve daily family routines that will help you all excel in the upcoming year such as everyone in the house getting involved with chores, cooking dinner or planning family time together.

Stay Positive
Make sure that you present resolutions and the idea of making them in an optimistic way. Sure, resolutions are about bettering yourself and your life, but it does not mean that it has to be presented in an obligatory manner. Kids don’t want to feel like they have homework and they may generally respond negatively if the idea of making resolutions is approached in a preachy way or enforced with a punishment of sorts, or even the mere idea of negative side effects arising as a result if a goal is not met. Kids should feel excited about the resolutions they make! This enthusiasm will better ensure that they are successful in their endeavors and will help them feel confident enough to do so as well.

Keep it Simple
This advice does not just apply to kids looking to make New Year’s Resolutions but to adults as well. Keeping your list to around three is a great (and realistic) start. Having too many resolutions can feel overwhelming and it may seem impossible to complete the list. Sticking to a few goals and working at them day by day, you and your child are more likely to see positive results.

Resolutions
Now that you have an idea of when New Year’s Resolutions may be good for kids, how they can be helpful in building character and how to go about doing it, what are some good resolutions for kids? Here is a starter list to help you get going:

1. Read more!
—- As a parent, you can help your child choose a number goal if they would like based on their age and reading level. Make a game out of it and create a chart to track your child’s progress throughout the year!

2. Learn and maintain healthy habits
—- This resolution can apply differently depending on the age of the child. For instance, kids aged 3-5 can resolve to brush their teeth on their own, or at least try, every morning and night, whereas kids aged 7-12 can resolve to drink more water or make healthier lunch choices at school.

Courtesy of Dr. Theresa Fuller S.M.A.R.T Resolutions

3. Eat more veggies
—- A bit like the previous resolution, eating veggies can help kids live better, but when it comes to eating healthy you can incorporate meal prep and cooking into their resolution, too. Have your kids prepare one meal a night that includes veggies – studies show that kids are more likely to eat new foods, especially veggies, if they had a hand in the preparation.

4. Stay active!
—- Whether your children choose to pick up a new sport or devote a certain amount of time per day or per week to a certain activity, this can be a really fun resolution.

5. Do chores
—- Without making it sound too much like a demand, discuss with your child a chore or two that they can become in charge of this upcoming year.

6. Be kind.
—- Encourage your children to perform acts of kindness. There need not be a specific reason or prerogative behind the gesture, but by enforcing the idea, kids may develop the habit of treating others well, being polite and helping others without needing to be prompted as they get older.

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