01.29.10
Posted in Parents + Kids at 9:05 pm by admin
Please check out our super resource for Eddie Bauer children’s car seats clues
Purchasing the best car seat relies on a more detailed awareness of the field than parents usually start with, as between the various styles, brands, and important safety rules, the decision has genuine consequences. We’ll help by breaking down, one at a time, what you need to know for easy understanding. Twenty pounds, 12 months old — a standard upper limit for the bulk of high quality chairs on the market from well known brands. Don’t forget, while choosing between available models, to set your preference between rear facing chairs and chairs which can face in both directions to avoid choosing something that doesn’t suit your needs. Several of the better seats double as baby carriers, making it less problematic to move from house to car without your baby waking. These are safe for your child from birth to the point when they grow too big for child chairs entirely, but you ought to keep in mind that these seats cost more than others. You’ll find, however, that convertible seats aren’t as useful as baby carriers. An awareness of each model’s key features can most simply be obtained from available reviews and comparisons, helping you choose the best for your circumstances. In addition reviews like these are third party pieces with no mercantile bias tarnishing results. Manufactured with the next part of a child’s life in mind, the booster seat takes over for your children at approximately the thirty to forty pound mark and support them until they no longer need these seats. You’ll choose between the five-point harness and those requiring the car’s safety belt. To make certain your child will be comfortable in it, test both types out and see what the reaction is. Many booster chairs provide what may appear to be minor features like inbuilt toys, but upon seeing how much of your little one’s attention is occupied with them you’ll realize how welcome they really are.
Your family’s needs, your budget, your lifestyle — these are all concerns that must be taken into account before buying any seat, and we can only hope that this piece has made it quicker and easier. The savvy parent doesn’t neglect reviews — they’re quite simply the very best source of information available out there.
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12.21.09
Posted in Classic Automobiles & Others, Parents + Kids at 1:07 am by admin
Safety regulations are the biggest consideration in picking out a seat for your young son, but the differences in style aren’t simply cosmetic touches, and it’s important to know what the effects of your choice are exactly before you make it rather than have regrets further down the road.
The safest baby car seats, made by brands such as Cosco, Graco, to name but a few, are designed with babies of up to twelve months or twenty pounds in mind. Since most — not, we should point out, all — such chairs are rear facing exclusively, you’ll need to make a decision and take care when buying that your chosen item fits the way you want it to. Doubling up as a baby carrier, a seat like this one makes it simpler to convey your baby from house to car — even without stirring. Searching for something your son won’t be too big for so fast? In cases like this, look at the convertible style. Your babies will ride in these seats for just a short time, but it is still more than a year. A convertible chair costs more but can be used for the full time. If you like the idea of a convertible seat but you also need a baby carrier, you have a difficult choice ahead of you.
We strongly suggest you go to this superb site for Safety 1st top rated car seats instructions…
All seats are different, even within their categories, and as a result of this reviews and review websites come into their own when they highlight every feature of any given seat, helping you to choose the best combination available. Choose your chair knowing these reviews are third party pieces. After passing the twenty pounds mark, children still need a safety chair until approximately eighty pounds, and that’s where the booster seat comes in. Having reached this age, your little ones have a part to play in picking out the seat — if you let them test both major categories of booster seat (divided by the fastening technique, either with a five-point harness or the car’s own safety belt) and see which is more comfortable. You’ll notice while reading the reviews, these chairs also come with a number of extras designed to make it easier to concentrate on your driving by distracting the little one.
Selecting your ideal child car chairs can take a long time, with the need to balance your daughter’s needs against your lifestyle and finances. As you can see, the ratings and reviews available are the best guide you can hope for.
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09.30.09
Posted in Parents + Kids, Product Tips + More, Useful Tips at 11:05 am by admin
The ideal pushchair for your baby is one that is comfortable, accommodates his growing needs and is easy to handle and maintain. Given the variety of chairs available in the market today, choosing one can sometimes seem like an impossible task.
If you want something that is stylish yet comfortable, go for Bugaboo pushchairs. The choice of several celebrity mothers, Bugaboo has three main models, the Bee, the Chameleon and the Gecko. They are available in a variety of colours and styles that suit your every need.
The Bugaboo Bee is a lightweight compact model that can be folded and opened with a single hand. Fitted with fully reversible and extendable seating and adjustable handlebars, it is comfortable to use for both parents and their babies. Its biggest positive features are the foam filled large tires and the independent suspension which make it highly maneuverable in all kinds of terrain.
The Chameleon has an adjustable suspension and lightweight frame, making it easy to carry around wherever you go. It can be folded into a very compact size, and can e stored easily as a result. Also, it is suitable for small babies, right from childbirth and can be adjusted to three seating positions.
The Gecko is a stylish, all-terrain pushchair from Bugaboo that has a sturdy lightweight framework and seats that can be machine-washed for additional hygiene. Easy to fold and store, it features a fully reversible handlebar and two wheel positions which make it easier to push even on sand or snow.
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09.19.09
Posted in Parents + Kids at 10:11 pm by admin
Trying to learn what the best stroller for your toddler is not very easy since there are so many alternatives on the marketplace today. There are many different types of strollers to choose, such as jogging strollers, traditional strollers, travel systems, tandem strollers that hold more than one child, and umbrella strollers. And on top of that, there are dozens of brands you must decide to buy from. Some are more expensive than others.
Twenty years ago there weren’t as many selections and the strollers today are very different than they were then. Manufacturers are applying strollers a much more smooth look and give you many choices in material colour and texture (some are for colder temperatures, and some have breathable fabric that provide air-flow). Theres also lots of accessories usually available (depending on the type of stroller as well as the brand). Several add-ons you can purchase are sunshades, umbrellas, cup holders, adjustable seating positions (some even allow you 360 degree turn radius), locking wheels, and more.
Strollers are also more convenient for travel nowadays. Strollers aren’t as enormous and heavy, thanks to the use of modern aluminum or plastic. You will also learn numerous strollers to be more mixable with car seats of all brands and types, although some will need an adapter of some sort. You should be able to fit nearly all strollers in the trunk of your car, since they fold up so nicely now. If you’re interested in walking for exercise, you can look into purchasing a jogging stroller.
It can be mind boggling when looking for the perfect stroller, because of all the selections that are available nowadays. Though, there are several on-line resources you can go to for assistance. One of these helpful web sites is named Consumer Reports. Consumer Reports has many reviews and they also rate the various brands and models that a lot of people are interested in. You might need to be a subscriber to get some of the info though. There are other sites where they offer guides to help you find the perfect stroller. There is a site, Car Seats and Baby Strollers has loads of information on strollers, car seats, and even safety tips for parents and their little ones. They also provide a free stroller buying guide when you sign up for their newsletter!
It’s important to do your homework and learn as much as you can about the different safety features that are available with today’s strollers. Some come with 5 point harnesses, but some merely have the over the shoulder seat belts. Brakes are another feature that you should really pay attention too. Many strollers possess two-wheel brakes, and other strollers only come with 1. It’s also good to try the stroller by bringing your baby to the store itself and test it out on the store floor. Even if you are planning to purchase online (to save money – and you will), it’s good to test it out first. You can make sure it’s a good fit for your little one by testing it out first.
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05.18.08
Posted in Parents + Kids at 7:07 pm by admin
Visual-spatial learners (VSLs) are those among us with powerful gifts of the right hemisphere. They are our artists, inventors, builders, creators, musicians, computer gurus, visionaries and healers. They are empathic and, often, very spiritually aware, even when very young. These children (and adults!) learn best when they are allowed to wallow in the right hemisphere, the source of creative thinking, humor, and imagery. They think and learn in multi-dimensional images. Most schools, most teachers and most curricula are a haven for left-hemispheric thinking, or auditory-sequential learners; children who think and learn in words, rather than images, and in a step-by-step fashion.
Those who favor their right hemisphere, kids I refer to as “topsy-turvy,” are at a distinct disadvantage. One of the many challenges they face in a traditional classroom is the ability to organize their thoughts (pictures) sequentially, translate them into words, and then handwrite those ideas, legibly. If you are not a visual-spatial learner, imagine performing this task: You are watching a movie rich in color, visual imagery and emotion. The pictures are numerous and streaming before you. Now, write down, in words, all that you see, feel and sense in a logical, sequential report. Can you do it? This is the challenge for children who prefer to learn with their right hemisphere. To capture, in words, all that they see in their mind’s eye and feel within their soul, is a nearly impossible task.
Here are some tips to help your visual-spatial child succeed in creating written reports that capture all that his imaginative, colorful thoughts hold:
First, let’s suppose your child has been asked to write a book report on a selected reading of their choice. A topsy-turvy kid, or visual-spatial learner, naturally thinks outside the box, so, assuming permission from the teacher, encourage your child’s fresh ideas for this “book report.” Will the teacher accept a creative response to the reading such as a videotaped “interview with the author” where the student takes on the role of news reporter or author? In so doing, all the important aspects of any well-written book report could be covered in an entertaining format that would be fun to create and, at the same time, demonstrate the student’s knowledge of the material: author’s biography, information on the main character, inspiration for the story, etc.
Or, will the teacher allow your child to construct a diorama depicting the conflict or climax of the story? What about making a mini-film of the key events? Or, perhaps a storyboard or cartoon book? Can they be allowed to write and play a piece of music based on the book? If the book was a period piece, could the student be granted permission to design costumed paper dolls to recreate the key scenes? There are countless ways that a visual-spatial learner can demonstrate that the material has been read, the principal concepts understood, the critical information researched and the student is prepared to report on the subject. Any format which affords a VSL the opportunity to rely on the right hemisphere, using visuals, color, humor, etc., will allow that student to succeed.
Imagine your child is to research a famous person in history. John Martin, a popular Middle School teacher at Rocky Mountain School for the Gifted and Creative in Boulder, Colorado, once asked his students to select a famous scientist from the 1600s. Along with writing a short report, the students were asked to:
Draw a headstone for their famous scientist’s grave. (This required researching the scientist’s birth date, date of death, and writing an interesting, appropriate epitaph. It also included art!)
Create a birth certificate. (This required researching the parents’ names, place of birth and date of birth.)
Create a timeline of events, including the scientist’s contributions, as well as other important political events, inventions, music and art of the era, etc. (This allowed the student to see what was happening in the world at the same time the scientist lived.)
Create a business card for the scientist. (This required an understanding of the profession, the scientist’s education and accomplishments, and finding out where the scientist lived or studied. It also included an art component.)
Write a letter to a head of state (king, queen, president, etc.) requesting funding to continue research.
Write a newspaper article interviewing the scientist about his or her work.
There were other aspects to the completed report, but the point is that this teacher, a visual-spatial learner himself, understood the importance of including multiple activities that utilize the gifts of both hemispheres to create final reports that demonstrated all the information the students had researched in an engaging and meaningful way. By making the project fun and interesting for his students, Mr. Martin was successful in turning a dreaded research paper into an appealing exploration into the life and times of their subject. (No doubt the finished reports were far more interesting for him to grade than standard written biographies would have been!)
There will be times, however, when a written report must be generated. You can help make such an assignment less drudgery by teaching your child to organize mental images into written ideas using webbing, note cards or specialized software, such as Inspiration® or Kidspiration®. Webbing is a process of getting all the related ideas for a particular topic onto paper, then building from those ideas. For example, suppose your child’s assignment is to write a report about a favorite animal. The request is to research the subject and write a detailed two-page report. To create a web, start by brainstorming all the ideas that come to mind when thinking of a favorite animal. Because a topsy-turvy kid will naturally think of the big picture ideas first, then the details, a web should be easier to create than a standard outline which works from details toward a big picture. When you start creating the web, let your child to do the brainstorming while you create the written web. No idea is silly or should be thrown out at this stage, although it is likely that not every idea will be included in the final report. Once your child sees, from the organization of the web, how specific ideas are related, encourage involvement in the written aspect of the web.
Next, ask your child to read books, watch related videos, talk to a veterinarian, visit related websites on the Internet, etc., to gather information on each of the areas determined necessary for the final report. Notes should be taken and are likely more meaningful and useful if written on color-coded index cards. For example, in our research on horses, green index cards might be used for any information learned about the feeding of horses, yellow cards might indicate all information learned about various breeds, and so on. Keep in mind that “notes” don’t have to be written words. If your child prefers to think in pictures, it may be more meaningful to take notes in pictures, actual drawings of what they have learned. Whatever method allows the student to gather and retain new information is what should be used. Hand-drawn images of what horses eat are just as relevant as written words to the child who thinks in pictures.
Finally, help your child organize what has been researched so that this information can be conveyed in the final report. The report can be written directly from the note cards with all pertinent facts organized together, by color.
Now, for the actual act of writing. Nearly every VSL I’ve worked with has had difficulty with the physical act of writing legibly. Images come to this type of learner so rapidly that the hands cannot keep up. Letters are mentally viewed as 3-D objects and it is difficult to remember the correct direction or even positioning on a flat, one-dimensional piece of paper.
One day, the prevalence of the computer will infiltrate every classroom and those children with right-hemispheric gifts will experience the joy of being able to successfully put to paper all of their thoughts, stories, poems, notes to lectures, etc. Why is the computer so critical to success for VSLs to get their ideas down on paper? Because the very act of typing requires both hands to work harmoniously, integrating both hemispheres of the brain. Because the speed of typing over writing by hand offers freedom for the images to continue to flow without interruption due to poor fine motor skills, confusion over letter direction, and other issues that delay the process. And, because when you can manipulate images in your mind, the letters p, b, d and q are all the exact same shape! But on a keyboard, the letters are seen in their capital form so that a Q looks nothing like a P, or a B, or a D, no matter how you are able to twist and maneuver that shape.
If your child struggles to complete assignments because of poor fine motor coordination, try teaching keyboarding skills and allowing the reports and other homework to be typed. Many topsy-turvy kids are quite proficient on the computer and at an early age, so enjoy teaching your child how to increase speed by developing proper keyboarding skills. If we could look into the future, we would no doubt see that the skills of handwriting and perfect penmanship will become obsolete but the skills of typing will continue to be prized.
There are a number of keyboarding programs available for young kids. In fact, I’ve even seen modified keyboards designed for smaller fingers and hands. These children will be using computers all of their lives, why not teach them early on and let them use this technology to their advantage when they need it most? It may very well put an end to the battles over handwriting and help to speed the process of completing homework assignments and getting their thoughts on paper.
If keyboarding is simply not an option, teach the art of handwriting as precisely that: an art form. Buy your child calligraphy pens and offer ample time to learn the art of creating beautiful letters in a slow and purposeful fashion. When your student sees the art in writing by hand, it may become a joy to create rather than a chore. Gradually shift from special, calligraphy pens to standard pens and pencils but don’t rush the process! The visual-spatial learner must have time to create the written words in a true art form. Borrowing an analogy from my dear friend, Dr. Linda Silverman, pioneer of the concept of the visual-spatial learner, if you have ever watched your grandmother or great-grandmother write, you know that the process was a slow and deliberate flow of forming letters from a writing utensil. People of that generation were encouraged to pursue beautiful penmanship as an expression of their soul, not rush through and produce illegible chicken scratches. Writing should not be a rushed event. In fact, prior to the advent of the ball point pen, writing had to be a slow process or the writer would have ink all over the page!
Lastly, make sure the process of creating written documents is fun. Humor engages the right hemisphere so use it liberally. Praise acts as a powerful reward to the child who sees herself as deficient relative to auditory-sequential peers who can write organized ideas with seeming ease. The rewards of producing a written piece that captures the essence of your child’s thoughts, or creating a document that incorporates all he has learned on a particular topic will be a joy to watch unfold.
©Copyright held by Alexandra Shires Golon (2004). From Golon, A.S., If You Could See the Way I Think: A Handbook for Visual-Spatial Kids, (2005) Denver: Visual-Spatial Resource.
Alexandra “Allie” Golon is Director of the Visual-Spatial Resource, a subsidiary of the Institute for the Study of Advanced Development, in Denver, Colorado. As a founding member of the Visual-Spatial Resource Access Team, a former G/T teacher and homeschooling parent to two exceptionally gifted visual-spatial learners, Allie brings a wealth of experience to her books, Raising Topsy-Turvy Kids: Successfully Parenting Your Visual-Spatial Child, and, If You Could See the Way I Think: A Handbook for Visual-Spatial Kids, which has also been used by teachers as a rich source for classroom strategies. Allie has been invited to present on parenting and teaching visual-spatial learners and on homeschooling issues at state, national and international venues. She has counseled dozens of families regarding harmoniously parenting visual-spatial learners as well as on various homeschooling issues, and has appeared on talk radio programs and in various print media. For more tips on parenting visual-spatial learners, please visit http://www.gifteddevelopment.com or http://www.visualspatial.org.
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05.08.08
Posted in Parents + Kids at 6:10 am by admin
During one “generation gap” quarrel with his parents young Michael cried, “I want excitement, adventure, money, and beautiful women. I’ll never find it here at home, so I’m leaving. Don’t try and stop me!”
With that he headed toward the door. His father rose and followed close behind. “Didn’t you hear what I said? I don’t want you to try and stop me.”
“Who’s trying to stop you?” replied his father. “If you wait a minute, I’ll go with you.”
This is a joke doing its rounds on how the new generation gap has taken shape!
The friction between the young and old exists for ages. The joint family concept had the elders putting the flame off now and then. The younger generation of those days had to meekly submit to the advice of the elders and worked themselves up to success. But of late the nuclear family consists of the parents and maximum two children these days – the office goers, career oriented fathers and mothers have rarely little time to spend with their children. The children are forced to make independent decisions right or wrong.
This kind of generation gap happens more when the children grow up and the son gets married. Nowadays the parenting concept accepts only parents and not the grandparents. The competitive world makes the parents concentrate more on their children who have to mould their career and settle in life rather than spend time for their old parents who are becoming more and more dependent on their children as they grow older.
The old parents being alive are considered to be a burden. The son is more enthusiastic about giving the best to his children and wants them to compete with their peers. He does not want to lose control over them and certainly feels that there should be a set pattern in bringing up his children.
The grandparents now feel that their son who had been so obedient and submissive now ignores him and does not allow grandchildren to play with them. The son in turn feels that his parents do not know anything of technological advancement and their son in turn should cope up with the latest technologies and not waste time in playing with grandparents. They would prefer their children playing on the computers rather than the grandparents.
Has the new generation gap, which is emerging now, taken a turn to disregard the elders? Or should the older persons step down and adjust to the new developments?
Hpriya Sivan
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