15 Minutes a Day: Do You Care Enough?

Posted on February 25, 2011 by viviankirkfield

Image by George Eastman House via Flickr

When I was young, I wanted to become a teacher.

I believed I could help children step confidently onto the path to a successful and happy life.

I cared enough about reaching that goal to study hard in school so that I could graduate and then pass the licensing exam.

As a kindergarten teacher, I cared enough about my pupils to spend many hours after school, choosing the best books to read to them and creating projects for them to work on.

As a parent, I cared enough about my own children to listen when they had something to say and to talk when they needed to hear me.

As a daycare provider, I cared enough about the children in my group to devise a program that provided a balanced and harmonious day of indoor and outdoor activities.

As an author, I cared enough about the future of today’s children to write a book that provides a winning combination of picture book story recommendations, simple craft projects and easy cooking activities that work together to build a positive self-image, develop pre-literacy skills and create a life-long parent-child bond.

That book is now available!

You can grab a copy at half-price on my website!

The question is…DO YOU CARE ENOUGH?

I care enough about the future of today’s children to offer parents and teachers a ONE YEAR MONEY-BACK guarantee!

Buy a copy of the book and use it for 15 minutes a day for a whole year.

If, after using it for a year, you don’t feel it:

Helped build your child’s self-esteem
Developed your child’s pre-literacy skills
Created a positive bond between you and your child

Please return it to me for a FULL REFUND!

Do you care enough about the future of your child?

Go to my website
Buy the book
Use it for at least 15 minutes on a daily basis

I know that being a parent can often be overwhelming.

There are bills to pay, laundry to do and dishes to wash.

Many of you have jobs outside the home as well.

Parents today practice a juggling act…trying to balance so many things.

But your responsibility to your children has top priority.

Do you care enough about the future of your child?

Buy a copy of the book and use it for 15 minutes a day.

The schools and society are often blamed when children are led astray.

But we, as parents, are the first influencers of our children.

We, as parents, are their original mentors.

Do you care enough about the future of your child to get a copy of the book and use it for 15 minutes a day?

Read one of the suggested stories and talk about it with your child…that takes only 15 minutes.

Get some construction paper, glue, scissors, an old magazine and some crayons and make one of the simple craft projects…that takes only 15 minutes.

Let your child help you prepare one of the easy healthful recipes…that takes only 15 minutes.

How important is your child to you?

Important enough to invest 15 minutes a day?

Here is a chance for you to help your child grow up to be successful in life…a person with a positive self-image.

But you have to be willing to invest the time.

Just 15 minutes a day

Use the book and see noticeable results.

But the key is in using the book.

Many products come with a 30-day money-back guarantee.

I care enough about YOUR child to give you a 365-day money-back guarantee.

Do YOU care enough to give it a try?

Please stop by tomorrow…I’ll be sharing some of the comments from parents, educators, self-esteem experts and picture book authors who have already read the book.

WE ALL NEED A CHEERING COMMITTEE AND PARENTS ARE A CHILD’S MOST IMPORTANT FANS!

The Fourth Lesson of Nanny McPhee: BE BRAVE!

Posted on February 5, 2011 by viviankirkfield

A grandfather teaches his granddaughter to use...

Image via Wikipedia

The dictionary defines bravery as:

“Courage in the face of danger, difficulty or pain…a quality of spirit that enables you to face danger, difficulty or pain without showing fear.”

We often think that brave people are without fear…but this is not what bravery is all about. In fact, in interviews with soldiers who have won medals for bravery, they often admit to having been afraid during their action of courage.

And perhaps that is the true meaning of bravery…when we proceed and follow through danger, pain or difficulties, even though WE ARE AFRAID. There are brave people all around us, dealing with all sorts of problems, but continuing on.

Nanny McPhee’s fourth lesson to the children is to BE BRAVE.

Why, you may ask, do young children need to be brave. Aren’t we there to protect them and watch out for them…and most of the time all they do is play, right? 🙂

Honestly, I think sometimes young children are the bravest of us all…so many new situations and experiences, so much to learn in order to navigate their way through those early years.

In addition, many young children have fears about a number of things which they need to acknowledge and overcome. Some of the most common are:

Fear of the dark
Fear of new experiences and new situations
Fear of illness and death
Fear of monsters (the monster may not be real, but your child’s fear is)

Children need to be brave about other things as well. Picture this: You are five years old and your entire family is crazy about sports….Mom and Dad play on an adult volleyball team and all your older and younger brothers and sisters love football, baseball and hockey. You, however, love music and want to learn to play the violin or the piano.

It takes a lot of courage for a young child to follow his own muse if it differs from that of his family or peers!

There are many children’s picture books that address this issue. One of my favorite stories is OLIVER BUTTON IS A SISSY by Tomie de Paola. In the story, Oliver Button wants to be a dancer and even though Oliver’s father would rather have him playing football with the other boys, he lets Oliver attend dance classes. Oliver stays true to his goal, even though his classmates tease him. When there is a talent show, everyone is impressed with Oliver’s great dancing, and his father and classmates are very proud of him.

In my my new parenting book, you will find a simple eco-friendly craft project and an easy child-friendly healthful cooking activity to help you extend the learning experience after you read OLIVER BUTTON with your child.

On that note, I want to let everyone know about an EXCITING PRE-VALENTINE’S DAY SPECIAL on my website.

It’s called SHARE THE LOVE

and it will go from 12:01am SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 5^th TO MONDAY, FEBRUARY 7th AT 11:59pm.

If you buy one copy of SHOW ME HOW! at the regular cover price of $44.95, you will get a second copy for FREE!

If you have been thinking about getting a copy for yourself, but were hesitating at the $35.00 website sale price, NOW IS THE TIME TO GRAB YOUR COPY AND HAVE A COPY TO GIVE TO:

YOUR BFF OR ANYONE ELSE YOU LOVE WHO DESERVES IT AND NEEDS IT.
YOUR CHILD’S DAYCARE PROVIDER OR PRESCHOOL TEACHER.
A FRIEND OR RELATIVE WHO IS HAVING A BABY SOON.
A GRANDPARENT WHO TAKES CARE OF YOUR PRESCHOOLER AND WOULD APPRECIATE THIS SHORTCUT TO STORY RECOMMENDATIONS AND EDUCATIONAL FUN-FILLED ACTIVITIES THAT BUILD SELF-ESTEEM.

At the BOGO price, you are paying $22.50 for a BRAND-NEW FRESH-OUT-OF-THE-BOX SIGNED-BY-THE-AUTHOR COPY (some sellers on Amazon and Alibris are charging over $40 for a USED copy).

I’m posting the sale now so you will be able to order it in time for Valentine’s Day. The SHARE THE LOVE BOGO EVENT will only be available, ON MY WEBSITE, by clicking on the PayPal button. Don’t let this opportunity pass you by!

I hope you’ve enjoyed the Nanny McPhee lessons…stop by tomorrow for the last lesson: HAVE FAITH!

Restful Sleep…Crucial Factor in the Fight Against Obesity

Posted on January 26, 2011 by viviankirkfield

Image via Wikipedia

I know I feel out-of-sorts when I haven’t had a good night’s sleep. And I had heard (thought it was a rumor) that lack of sleep could cause weight gain.

Tonight, one of our local TV stations ran a special report on kids who get too little sleep being at risk for obesity and diabetes.

So I did a little research and found that studies have shown that “insufficient nighttime sleep among infants and preschool-aged children appears to be a lasting risk factor for subsequent obesity.” (WebMD Health News) http://children.webmd.com/news/20100907/sleep-linked-to-childhood-obesity

I’m always blaming fast food, super-sized meals and lack of exercise on the increase our country is seeing in childhood obesity and juvenile diabetes. But, now it seems that we can add another villain to the mix.

And that is one more reason to set up those bedtime routines for your children…and STICK to them. One of the pediatricians on the TV report had several suggestions:

Bedtime should be the SAME time EVERY night for your child.
Wind down 30 to 60 minutes before bedtime.
Children should be getting 9 to 10 hours of sleep every night.
If you are missing an hour or two of sleep for the week, you can catch up on some sleep on the weekends.

You can refer back to yesterday’s post about bedtime routines for more tips. https://viviankirkfield.wordpress.com/2011/01/24/bedtime-routines-rituals-and-can-i-have-one-more-glass-of-water-please/

In that post, I suggested you read CORNELIUS P. MUD, ARE YOU READY FOR BED? with your child and I provided a recipe for Overnight Cookies. Bedtime is a very special time for young children, but without routines and limits, many try to delay going to bed as much as possible. I promised to give you a simple craft project that may encourage good bedtime routines. With your help, your child can “set” his clock to the particular time when he will need to be ready for his bedtime story. Then he can check that time against the real clocks in the house and will know when he has to complete his toy cleanup in order to be ready for that special treat…the bedtime story.

NO TICK-TOCK CLOCK

You will need: A piece of cardboard (from a cereal box would be fine), metal paper fastener, construction paper, marker and scissors.

Cut a large circle (the clock face) from the cardboard.
Cut two “hands” (one longer and narrower than the other) from the construction paper.
Attach the hands to the center of the clock with the paper fastener.
Draw the numbers in the correct order on the clock face.

Parents…keep in mind that if you’ve been trying to lose a few pounds yourselves (as I have been), perhaps getting a good night’s sleep on a regular basis may do as much for you as cutting back on calories and exercising. In fact, if you treat all three elements…restful sleep, nutrition (not diet) and exercise with respect, you may be rewarded with better health than you ever had before. Believe me, I know how difficult it is to call it quits for the night…there always seems to be something else that MUST be done…laundry folded, dishes put away, lunches made for the next day, bills to pay and checkbook to balance…the list goes on and on. This is another reason that making lists of short and long-term goals as well as a daily to-do will help organize and prioritize what needs to be done.

P.S. This post somehow got put in drafts and didn’t get posted on Tuesday…sorry. 🙂

Stop by tomorrow for a look at a very special lady…my grandmother…she was a role model for Positive Parental Participation in an era before spending quality time with your children was a catch-phrase.