How to Set Boundaries that Support Our Children’s Growth!

It is the start of a new school year and we are busy trying to help our children organize themselves for success. The warm autumn days beckon our children to play outside until the family dinner. After dinner, there are new television shows to watch. Our children want to play with their toys, look at books, and play on the family computer, phone, or tablet.

Setting Boundaries Ideas

Many parents ask us how we can set household boundaries and rules to curtail these distractions and complete homework and prepare for a new school day without arguments and negotiations. We recently asked family members for their best suggestions on setting boundaries. Summarized below are some great tips:

Plan ahead for distractions with a weekly evening schedule that defines the time for afterschool play, eating dinner with the family, completing homework, independent reading, discussing the day with parents, getting ready for bed, and preparing for the next school day.
Identify an alternative schedule when there are special events at school, dentist or doctor appointments, sporting events, and family obligations on a school night.
Work with the school to plan ahead for homework assignment completion. Most schools send out homework packs once a week for students with their parents support to complete within several days. Other schools provide an afterschool homework club that you can have your child attend for added support. Other parents plan homework sessions with friends where children can rotate their homework assignments at different households to enlist the support of an expert parent in reading, writing, arithmetic, history, performing arts, and science projects.
When children fight with others and siblings, it is important to be clear about household rules with consequences for misbehavior. When siblings hit or hurt each other, they should be removed from a situation and sit with a reflective timeout. Typically, a timeout is a minute per age. For example, a five-year old’s timeout will be for five minutes. After the timeout, discuss with the child what has happened and have them make amends with the sibling or other child.
If children continue to misbehave, they may need to return home or stay away for others as they are probably tired, overstimulated, or upset about a situation.
Limit screen time to no more than an hour a day unless it includes homework assignments. It is important to give your children time to relax and play outside.
Keep your children on a regular meal time and sleep schedule to ensure that they are well rested and ready to learn and enjoy life.
Schedule regular times that your child can play with neighborhood and class friends even if it includes scheduled afterschool activities. This ensures that your child has a support system.
Be there for your child when they are under stress or are sad and support their problem-solving skills.
Be a role model of personal healthy growth and development.

Happy first weeks of personal growth during the new school year!

Joyce

Raising Culturally Sensitive Children

The current political climate in our country continues to challenge families with how to teach their children about cultural sensitivity. Some children love having friends with different backgrounds and cultures. Others have little exposure playing with diverse populations of children. Still, other children are from families who are afraid of (or do not wish to interact with) other ethnic groups or cultures.

10 Considerations

Parents often ask us how they can raise culturally sensitive children. Summarized below are 10 considerations for parents wishing to raise children with empathy and respect for cultures other than their own:

Parents can model acceptance and appreciation by becoming friends with families from other cultures.
Parents should seek out social networks with interests common their children. These networks can be found by participating in team sports, performing arts, and through hobbies or clubs.
By sharing common interests with diverse community members, our children can become comfortable playing and working with people from cultures other than their own.
Parents must ensure that the groups they form or join are inclusive of all cultures, religions, and ages.
When families become active in community services for people in need, their children have the opportunity to develop empathy for those who are less fortunate.
Church communities can invite leaders of other faiths to speak to their congregations as part of an interfaith activities program.
Suburban schools can partner with inner city schools to share resources, community activities, and field trips. These partnerships can raise children’s social and cultural awareness of their community.
As various cultural communities form networks, they can learn that they share many similar values and needs because they are all human beings.
When talking with a friend or colleague who expresses elitist or cultural superiority, it is important to remind them that you are not comfortable with specific remarks. It is vital to set a clear expectation that all cultures are to be treated with respect.
When inviting a child from another culture to your home for dinner, it is helpful to provide a meal that is traditional to your culture. This will allow them to share a cultural experience with your family.

Respecting Different Cultures

As we consciously help our children become accepting of people from different cultures, our children will become “richer” human beings who have a sense of connection to people throughout the world.

Warm wishes,

Joyce

Can My Grandson See Dad Yet?

Can My Grandson See His Dad Yet?

It has been over a year since my grandson has been able to visit with his father who works in another country. Thankfully, Kenji and his dad continue to meet online twice a week and enjoy discussing everyday activities and plans for the future. As summer is soon upon us, Kenji’s dad is in the process of relocating his business contract to live near his son and family. This change is heartwarming and full of wonderful future shared adventures.

It is helpful that Kenji and his dad continue to build on a history of long-distance Facetime visits. For example, when Kenji was a preschooler, he needed prompts to help him talk with his dad. We would build a Lego project to share with dad and collect thoughtful art projects to discuss with dad. As Kenji became older, he would build a Lego project with his dad while talking with him on the phone. Sometimes, dad and son would build the same project at the same time in two different countries. Now Kenji is a second-grade student and he is able to carry a thought-provoking discussion with dad. They talk about important topics in each of their lives. For example, they discuss the differences of weather, schooling, and daily activities in two different cultural communities. Regardless of the topic, both dad and son are bound together with their love and commitment to each other from afar.

May each of us value the little child within us as we play with our children!

Joyce

What Will We Do With Children This Summer?

What Will We Do with Children This Summer?

It is spring and our children are getting excited about summer camps and activities. Many communities are now scheduling children for summer camps with an alternative plan of online activities if communities are forced to reenter lockdowns due to new COVID outbreaks. Activities that remain flexible include:

Sports camps that reinforce independent skill development drills in sports like soccer and karate
Snow skiing and outdoor sports camps while social distancing with others
Park play, nature hiking, and beachcombing
Swim lessons in a private pool without other students and masked instructors
Cultural camps offered remotely
Outdoors camping and backpacking trips
Computer literacy camps
Entrepreneur online camps
Sewing camps with individualized learning options
Music camps with individualized learning options

Social-Emotional Focus

As you and your children consider summer camp options, consider:

How to enhance the social-emotional needs of your children
Opportunities for your child to socialize with others
How to best limit computer time and enjoy the great outdoors
Activities your child can do to give back to his or her community with community service activities

Much success with adaptable play camps this summer!

Joyce

Preparing Our Elementary Kids Return to School

It has been a year since many children in California and nationally have returned to a traditionally classroom since the COVID 19 pandemic. Many smaller elementary schools and school districts have successfully reopened their schools to students while enforcing clearly defined health and safety procedures.

Safe COVID Practices

Summarized below are best practices these schools use to ensure that their students are safe at school:

The school continues to share with families what the staff has done to ensure safe learning for students. Classroom teachers and the school’s administrative staff provide regular updates.
Students sit in socially distanced desks in classrooms.
They wear masks at school.
Students bring their own food and socially distance from others when eating lunch and snacks.
They bring their own hand sanitizer or soap for regular handwashing.
Many schools test students every two weeks to ensure they do not have COVID 19.
Most students continue attending school online two to three times a week as part of a hybrid learning model to limit the number of students at a school site each day.

How Are Kids Feel About Their Schools

As students return to school, they are:

Excited to visit with their teacher and classmates in person
Excel at school because they are so happy to be back in the classroom with other students and their teacher
Can receive added support more readily due to the many resources available to students at the school
Express more confidence about their computer literacy skills after logging into the online classroom daily, completing homework online, and learning to make a slide and take pictures of their work that they have emailed to their teacher
Appreciate the ability to work independently on the computer and in small classroom projects because of the training they received as distance learners
Are proud of the resiliency skills they have gained while sheltering at home and through distance learning
Are able to demonstrate various strategies they have learned online on how to reduce stress and anxiety while completing new computer applications.

Home Sheltering Successes

May your children celebrate the many computer literacy skills and self-resiliency skills they have acquired while sheltering in place for nearly a full school year.

Joyce