January 2018
Page 11
BUILDING A COMMUNITY OF KIDDIE COMMUNICATORS
Tablets, iPads, cellphones, E-Readers, and other electronic devices are exposed to children as soon as they develop an interest. Children, as young as six months old, are often able to navigate technological devices, including unlocking and accessing apps. By the time they’ re school-aged, the obsession with technology escalates and the connection to technology causes a disconnection to the family.
So how can parents compete with the engagement and entertainment that technology provides? It’ s a simple fix really, teach your kids to communicate and engage in conversation at an early age. Communication is an effective way to develop a stronger bond with your child. General questions just won’ t cut it. You’ ll simply get a vague reply from your child. At that point, in the child’ s mind, the conversation is over. Many parents have a strong desire to build a positive relationship with their children which is why they ask this question. However, modeling how to respond to this question is often something parents neglect to teach. Instead of asking a child how was their day, spend time sharing your day with them. You can share different aspects of your day, including the good, the bad, and the ugly( G- rated version). These are often conversations that children need to hear in order to better understand how to articulate their daily activities expressively.
As an educator, I’ ve come to realize that children use one-word answers not because they don’ t have more to say but because their goal is to respond to the question that was asked, correctly. Parents should be commended for their commitment to creating a communicative culture with their precious gems.
Behaviors that we model consistently for our children are actions that they will begin to naturally emulate.
For older children, avoid asking questions that can be answered with one word. Use the following types of scenarios: Explain something exciting or interesting that happened to you or anyone in your class. Teach me something you learned today.
Act out a part of your day for me. Tell me about a situation that’ s frustrating you. Statements, such as the ones listed above are reminder questions that help trigger a memory or thought. These types of statements help children develop more dialogue. Teaching children to become conversationalists helps them to gain social skillsets as well as connect and engage with the family and various people they come in contact with throughout the world around them.
Dr. Nadra Powell Owner / Educator of High Achievers
Education Center Inc
Pat Astrin Broker / Owner Realtor / ABR Million Dollar Producer HUD / REO Specialist
JANUARY 27, 2018 www. emetrohealth. com
Jennifer Astrin Real Estate Agent
RENT YOUR HOME NOW!
Buy Sell Rent Invest
ASTRIN REAL ESTATE Looking for AGENTS Hablamos Espanol
3565 Hwy 20 SE SuiteD Conyers, Ga 30013
770-313-4124 770-679-1770 Residential Commercial
WWW. PATASTRIN. COM
Here are a few helpful tips for promoting conversations with your little one. Parents can aid in the communication process by teaching their child how to engage in dialogue. Instead of asking children vaguely about their day, you can tell them about your own day. Providing little ones with examples of conversations helps them understand how to host their own conversations with others eventually. Here’ s an example.
“ Today was a very exciting day at work. I had back to back appointments and each client had a different issue. I usually have about 8 clients per day but today I had 19. The busy atmosphere at work made every minute exciting.”
NEW YEAR, NEW YOU!
New Year, New You! 2017 is now in the past, so throw out the mistletoe and pack away all the guilt. The guilt from over indulging during the holiday season. Get to work! We all want our houses to be clean and our bodies to be hot and healthy like they were back in the day but let’ s face it, there’ s only 24 hours in a day.
I know, I know you don’ t have time. Not to mention, you, like most Americans, started last year with a goal of losing weight but life got in the way.
Don’ t feel bad. 45 million Americans will join a gym or go on a diet in January. 80 % of them will quit before January 31st. I spent a great deal of time hanging out with the 80 % crowd. I was finally able to get off the merry go round a few years ago when I broke up with the notion of dieting and began to eat to live. Since then I’ ve lost and kept off over 90 pounds. As a Coach, I help other people with weekly meal plans and shopping lists because the number one reason people fail, at any task, is poor planning.
When I was growing up, before we took our trip to Grandma’ s house, my mom would pack our snacks and my dad would fill up the car with gas. Then he would pull out his road map and highlight our route. My mom always sat in the front, as she was Dad’ s human GPS. Her job was to read the map and keep us on track. Yep, this was back in the day, before cell phones and car navigation systems. The moral to the story is; we always made it to Grandma’ s house! We planned ahead and although we had to travel a great distance to reach our goal, we stayed the course.
This is exactly what I want to encourage you to do in 2018. Allow me to help you develop a plan for your wellness journey. I’ ll serve as your human navigational system, by providing customized weekly menus, shopping lists and recipes delivered to you each week. As your Coach, I’ ll take care of the details so you can enjoy the journey.
The only way to create fundamental change in your habits is to stick to the plan and stay the course. No matter what, don’ t quit in January. If you do, you’ ll be back in the 80 % category which is where this all started. January is the best time to embrace change. Let’ s get started!
Healthy New Year To You And Your Family!
Source: Nielsen
Coach Venus, MBA, MAFM Body Transformation Coach, Motivator,
Speaker www. losethefatkeepthecurves. com losethefat9 @ gmail. com