Back to Top BEST STARTS FOR KIDS Beginning Mathematics: Counting Why is it, at one extreme, some three years can do abstract maths in their heads, while at the other extreme, some five years olds can't reliably count to five. ​ What makes the difference is: Exposure to real life mathematical experiences using concrete (real) materials ​ Having an awareness of mathematical concepts e.g size, shape, colour, patterns, counting, etc ​ Having an understanding of mathematical terminology e.g. add, take away, lots of, divide, more, less, larger, smaller, etc ​ Having positive mathematical experiences while young. e.g. while driving in the car, cooking, gardening, building with parents Early positive exposure to maths makes children's independent maths abilities higher. For example: I'll retell a conversation as best I remember it, just so you realize what's possible... because it stunned me. One day I was driving down the road and I had my three year old in the back of my car. His older brother had been learning his first lot of multiplication tables, that being x 2. ​ 'Two lots of two... that's four isn't it Mum? He held two fingers up on each hand. 'Yes,' I replied. 'And two lots of four, that's eight isn't it.' 'Yes.' I again replied and caught a glimpse of him with four fingers on each hand, moving each consecutive finger as he counted them. I was impressed by his early understanding, as I hadn't ever see him do it before. 'And two lots of eight, that's ...' I smiled as I thought... he's run out of fingers. But I caught a glimpse of his face in the rear view mirror. He was initially perplexed but then his eyes rolled up to the left and he imagined. '... And that's sixteen isn't it Mum,' he said. And he smiled because he knew what he'd done was hard. So how did this happen? ​ When I analysed how he could do this I realized it was because he'd been exposed to maths concepts incidentally from a very young age and had lots of practice with real maths examples. Size: "Look how much taller it's grown. It's the same height as your brother. Will it get as tall as me? Who can find the biggest tomato?" ​ Number & Comparison: "I wonder which plant will have the most? Let's count and see." ​ Subtraction: "If Grandma wants three tomatoes from this plant how many will be left for us?" ​ ​ ​ 1 (a.) T hen progress real counting to five. ​My son could just 'see' the answer in his head in abstract form. ​ So what can I tell you that may help help your child to understand maths early? To begin; I'll divide maths concepts into basic areas to help you understand how you can expose your children to maths as part of everyday activities. ​ BASIC COUNTING SKILLS: ​ Some of this may seem obvious but I've learnt over years never to assume any knowledge and to begin at the beginning, particularly with mathematics because it's sequential. Below I'm suggesting an order of the introduction of difficulty as your child learns to count. For activities you will need to go to the link page at the end of this page. ​ Rote counting is the sequence. Real counting is the number of items. ​ 1. Begin with rote counting to three and reinforce with real counting. Include simple songs, chants, rhymes to reinforce three. How many yellow blocks are there? How many yellow flowers? Let's put five blueberries on each dessert. ​​ N.B. Children will initially have to move items as they count them. ​ Later they'll be able just to touch them or point to them. Finally they'll be able to count with their eyes. ​ Some will be able to recognise collections of dots such as on dice. ​ 2. ​​Progress rote counting to six, then eight then ten. Find real examples of counting up to ten. Important Considerations Consideringing that 'th' is one of the last sounds for a child to be able to say, listen to how, many four or five year olds, actually count. 'firdeen, fourdeen, fivdeen, sixdeen, sevendeen...' But if they're younger or still can't accurately produce even the sounds above, counting often sounds more like this: 'birdeen, bordeen, bideen, dideen, dendeen...' ​ The similarities between birdeen (thirteeen,) and bordeen (fourteen) are obvious and children often omit one of them. Also fifteen and sixteen have the same middle sound so again one of these is frequently omitted. And then having sixteen and seventeen both beginning with 's' adds yet one more confusing factor. 3. Progress rote counting to twenty. ​N.B: There are often Counting Pitfalls ​ The most common pitfall people make is thinking if their child can do it faster it must be better; but that's rarely the case. For example. Children may parrot 2 + 2 = 4 with no concept of addition at all. If your child has the chance to understand real or concrete maths before moving them onto visual representations of maths, or abstract maths, they'll have a lot better chance of understanding how maths works and feel more positive about it over the long term... because they'll be good at it. Many children have difficulty keeping the counting sequence correct between 13 and 17 inclusive. ​ *** ​​What I did to overcome this problem, was to enunciate my sounds very clearly and see if the child could hear which sound each number started with. I also raised my pitch as I counted through fourteen, fifteen and sixteen emphasizing each number differently. I also reinforced the progression with numerals once they were reasonably reliable with their counting. Useful phraseology: "Thirteen is a bit like three teen, fourteen is obvious, fifteen is like five teen, six teen and seventeen are also obvious and that helped some children who understood the concept but had a speech delay. ​4. Progress rote counting to thirty. Another pitfall is twenty nine to thirty, which trips a lot of children up and it often needs to be treated specifically. Many children will go 'Twenty ten, twenty eleven, twenty twelve, etc' ​ Considering we're looking at learning to count over years guided by the child's ability I've included the next two areas as well. But I strongly suggest looking at the Web page The Importance of Proximal Development to help guide you. ​5. Progress rote counting to one hundred. ​ Another Counting Pitfall: Yet another pitfall while counting to one hundred is omitting the fifties, the sixties or the seventies completely. This can be overcome by introducing a numerals chart and explaining how our system is based on lots of tens. ​ ​ ​ 6. Progress rote counting to one thousand. Something to be aware of: Going from one hundred and nine to one hundred and ten to one hundred and eleven also seems to trip children up and may need to be taught specifically while most others in the sequence through to one hundred and ninety nine progress naturally. Include numerals incidentally at first so children realise numerals represent a value. Numerals particularly useful once you get over thirty. ​ There are a multitude of simple counting songs and activities on 'The Importance of Counting Page. ' The Importance of Counting Learning Maths Incidentally Fun Maths Games for 5-6 Y Share this page with a friend For more Maths Ideas go to the links below: Steps To Learning 5: Next The Importance of Counting Learning Maths Incidentally Fun Maths Games for 3-5 Year Olds Back to Top Best Parenting Advice.com is a high quality parenting website designed with child and family success in mind. It highlights what successful parents do differently to those who struggle. Best Parenting advice.com provides free online resources for busy parents who want the best practical advice on: how to give kids a best start in life, better tips for parenting toddlers, effective child rearing strategies, behaviour management tips, successful goal setting and organizational strategies for successful families, easy family dinner recipes, self-care tips for time-poor parents and free kids learning games. The aim of Best Parenting Advice.com is to provide quality practical parenting tips and advice to best help children and families succeed, using the convenience of a website. ​ This website provides examples of what worked for me over decades and you are welcome to use these ideas as you see fit but you do so at your own risk. Best Parenting Advice.com does not provide any guarantee that this information will work in every circumstance with every family or with every child. It is your responsibility as a user of this website to ensure that you adhere to any recommended safety suggestions either implicit or explicit on this site and supervise your children while playing any games suggested. Similarly users of this website are advised to follow any recommendations for seeking professional advice as all information on this site is generic. Best Parenting Advice.com is an independent website and is not affiliated with any other groups, clubs, religious organizations or educational systems. Best parenting takes time. The best parenting advice ever is simple: Do your best, don't give up and love your children, no matter what.

back to top BEST STARTS FOR KIDS How Many Squares in This Room? Vocabulary Development: corners sides next to beside above below angle straight curved right angle similar same different shapes square triangle circle rectangle centre outside inside ​ Some of the skills they will likely develop are: ​ improved shape recognition increased critical thinking the ability to translate and rotate shapes the ability to predict refining skills by revision self-esteem building social skills of turn taking or developing their ability to work independently ​1. Describe what makes a square: Explain: all 4 sides are straight all 4 sides are of equal length the 4 corners are all 90 degrees ​ 2. Locate some examples of squares in the environment ​ 3. Children could estimate the room in the house they expect to have the most squares in it. ​ 4. Set up a 'How Many Squares Are There in a Specific Room Challenge.' You could make it an individual game or teams. And each team has their own colour post it notes. Give children a pad of post it notes for them to claim that specific square as their own. ​ Rules: No one is allowed to remove someone else's Post It note. The game ceases at a predetermined time (say 5 minutes) Each square is checked to ensure they are actually squares The number for each team is collated. The winning team choose a privilege (it might be a programme to watch on the T.V. or something for dinner) then go and collect all of the Post It notes ready for the next game. ​ ​ ​ Go Back to Activities Gallery Back to Top Share this page with a friend Best Parenting Advice.com is a high quality parenting website designed with child and family success in mind. It highlights what successful parents do differently to those who struggle. Best Parenting advice.com provides free online resources for busy parents who want the best practical advice on: how to give kids a best start in life, better tips for parenting toddlers, effective child rearing strategies, behaviour management tips, successful goal setting and organizational strategies for successful families, easy family dinner recipes, self-care tips for time-poor parents and free kids learning games. The aim of Best Parenting Advice.com is to provide quality practical parenting tips and advice to best help children and families succeed, using the convenience of a website. ​ This website provides examples of what worked for me over decades and you are welcome to use these ideas as you see fit but you do so at your own risk. Best Parenting Advice.com does not provide any guarantee that this information will work in every circumstance with every family or with every child. It is your responsibility as a user of this website to ensure that you adhere to any recommended safety suggestions either implicit or explicit on this site and supervise your children while playing any games suggested. Similarly users of this website are advised to follow any recommendations for seeking professional advice as all information on this site is generic. Best Parenting Advice.com is an independent website and is not affiliated with any other groups, clubs, religious organizations or educational systems. Best parenting takes time. The best parenting advice ever is simple: Do your best, don't give up and love your children, no matter what.

Back to Top BEST STARTS FOR KIDS My Favourite Children's Books This page contains the following information: Vocabulary builders Peak a boo & flap Books Concept books Book to encourage wonder Rhyming books Funny books Books with social messages Informative books ​ If a children's book has stood the test of time & is still popular, it's likely fantastic ​ Beginning books help develop a child's vocabulary & comprehension ​ Peak a Boo Books help develop interest, prediction & recall ​ Books develop imagination & creativity ​ Books help develop rhythm & rhyming ability (This helps your child with word families when learning to read) ​ Books provide factual information. They also often teach about social interactions and give insight into cultural norms ​ Reading just one book to children daily exposes them to a million more words by the time they go to school, than if you didn't ​ 1). VOCABULARY BUILDERS ​Some of my favourite simple board books contained real photographs identifying pets, farm animals, simple types of transport: and especially of items that make a noise like baa, woof woof, meow, etc. As my children became familiar with those I introduced others that contain items that are in their world like flowers, a cup, a butterfly, a leaf, a spoon, a car, etc. ​ ​ I've seen similar books to those I'm describing at chain variety stores for around $6.00 each for the small ones. And there are excellent larger ones for around $10 -$20 from some supermarkets. Usborne currently makes a good one. There are also good sets online from $15.00 to around $24.00. Anchor 1 2). PEAK-A-BOO AND FLAP BOOKS ​ As children begin to develop some language ability Peak-a-Boo Books are great because they will learn the book and it will encourage them to talk as they predict what animal will appear next. A dog may be bowwowwow, a cat meow, a cow moo, etc. Regardless of how it comes out, any attempt they make at speech needs to be encouraged. If they say 'Moo,' you say 'That's right, it's the cow.' After a month or two, or as they get better at attempting speech you can say, ' And who says Moo, its the cow.' Then again after an interval just say and who says Moo?' This will encourage your child to attempt to say cow. Again encourage any attempt at the word. There are many such books and I suggest again to go for books that have recognizable images rather than those that are too abstract. "Where's Spot" was very successful for a reason. ​ IT'S IMPORTANT TO NOTE THAT YOUNG CHILDREN LOVE REPETITION SO IT'S IMPORTANT TO READ THE SAME QUALITY BOOK OVER AND OVER AGAIN 4). BOOKS FULL OF WONDER AND LOVE ​​Some of the best selling books of all time were so successful because they fill the reader with wonder. ​ 'The Very Hungry Caterpillar' by Eric Carle, after providing information on number, identification, health and life cycles has a striking colourful ending. 'Where the Wild Things Are,' by Maurice Sendak is also a surprising book of imagination that children love. ​ When I read the story 'Owl Babies,' by Martin Waddell young children always smiled at the ending .' Are You my Mother,' is another similar one. Children love both of these books because they relate to the lost babies in the story. ​ 'A Dark Dark Tale,' by Ruth Brown is such a simple story but children love it because its a little bit scary and then turns out to have a funny ending. ​ 'Possum Magic,' by Mem Fox is a timeless favourite. 5). BOOKS I FEEL HAVE EXCELLENT RHYTHM AND RHYME ​ There has been a shift away from publishing children's books that rhyme but as an educator I love them. Children often don't learn the nursery rhymes their grandparents did, so parents need to provide opportunities for children to learn about word families, so when they begin to learn to write, they know for example, that rat, cat, sat, mat, hat all belong to the same family and ball, fall, small, etc belong to their family. Most words have a family they belong to. ​ Knowing rhyming helps set children up well for later reading and writing. ​ Some examples of rhyming books that I particularly love are: Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes by Mem Fox (a board book) 'Edward the Emu' by Sheena Knowles 'Room on the Broom' and 'Sharing a Shell' both by Julia Donaldson 'Our Cat Cuddles' by Gervase Phinn 'Wombat Stew' by Marcia Vaughn 'Ten in the Bed' by multiple authors 'There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly' illustrated by Pam Adams and published by Childs Play Books that have great rhythm are also wonderful. It's as if the words tap dance across the page. For example: ​ 'Edward the Emu,' by Sheena Knowles. "E dward the E mu was s ick of the z oo" taken from Edward the Emu You can hear the emphasis on the strong beat D a da da D a da da D a da da D a... ​ 'We're Going on a Bear Hunt,' by Michael Rosen. This book provides beautiful repetition for children to learn off by heart. ​ There are also musical versions of this song, the quality of which varies. The one I like the best is the Upbeat version. ​ 'Where is the Green Sheep,' by Mem Fox ​ 'Wombat Stew,' by Marcia Vaughn 3). FIRST PICTURE DICTIONARIES AND CONCEPT BOOKS ​ Around the age of one I introduced a first picture dictionary style book published by Brimax called "Share With Us: Letters, Numbers, Words, Animals" by Karen O'Callaghan and Illustrated by Eric Rowe, Bob Hersey, Robert Morton and Tim Hayward and it remains one of the best educational books I have seen available for young children developing language. At the time I paid $8.95 and it was the best teaching resource I ever purchased. (You can see the label still on the cover.) ​And while there were various sections in the book highlighting specific letters I went straight to the Picture Dictionary section most when my children were youngest because the images shown were excellent for vocabulary building. For example snake, spaceship, sun, submarine, school, shark, etc and highlighting their beginning sounds incidentally on the same page. ​ Later in the book they had sections on a variety of animals in their environment so my children were able to begin to classify them. But equally importantly the book illustrated many prepositions up, down, behind, in front, around, next to, etc, concepts crucial for a child to succeed in a beginning school environment. They also identified opposites in, out, fast, slow, high, low, etc. And action words like jumping, running, crawling, etc. ​ They had illustrations of weather and people in the community who help us like policeman, firemen, teachers, etc and the images were good enough for children to see the links to the real thing and while I'd love to the illustrations it would break copyright to do so, so I've used photo equivalents instead to give you the idea. I​t also contained examples of mathematical concepts including: counting from one to ten counting backwards from ten to one with a rocket ship blasting off after zero numerals a numeral, a corresponding word and equal dots locating specific numbers of items in scenes colours and specific examples of them time sorting and classification, done both incidentally and directly. e.g. things for eating with, clothing, etc. And that helped my children make sense of their world. ​ Now while I used this book with both of my own children from one through to around three years of age I used it over and over with children I taught on a one to one basis to help develop their language. It was particularly useful for working with children with language delay because there were so many complex scenes in the book for children to describe. ​ I checked to see if it's still available and it is, online, but new it's over $80. There are however 2nd hand copies available. Although I feel the images are dated, the concepts are timeless and there are 2nd hand copies available online. ​ Out of all of the books I used in my teaching career as illustrated by the condition of this book, this was the one I used the most with young children. 6). BOOKS THAT ARE HUMOROUS ​ Books that are funny delight both children and their parents. Some of the ones I particularly like are: ​ 'The Gruffalo' by Julia Donaldson, 'Edward the Emu,' by Sheena Knowles 'Caps For Sale,' by Esphyr Slobodkina (which is great to reenact with your children being the monkeys, you the pedlar and using old ice cream containers as the hats. I did it with my class over years and the children howled with laughter.) 'The Monster at the End of This Book' and 'Please Do Not Open This Book' (Parts of the Sesame Street Series) were two of my young children's favourites. 'The Teacher Eater,' by Roald Dahl Piranhas Don't Eat Bananas by Aaron Blabey 'The Wonkey Donkey' by Craig Smith ​ You'll be noticing that some of the books fall into other sections as well as this category. 7). BOOKS THAT HAVE A STRONG SOCIAL MESSAGE ​ ​I really like all of the following books as I feel they have an underlying social message and in my opinion they do it very well. Anchor 2 Anchor 3 Anchor 4 Anchor 5 Anchor 6 Anchor 7 8). INFORMATIVE BOOKS ​ First Flaps-First Facts Series by Teresa O'Brien is a great beginning series for providing factual information. There are a number of simpler flap books available and this series is one of the better ones in my opinion. Titles include: Creatures of the Great Barrier Reef, Animals in the Wild, Animals of the Jungle, Animals of Australia, Dinosaurs, Animals of the Ocean. ​ One of the best informative books I have ever seen is 'The Robot Zoo' by John Kelly. It's suitable for children from 4+ if you read it to them to around 10 years of age. The drawings are very complex and I used it over and over with my youngest son and many of the children I taught. It was particularly useful for children to use as an input for their own drawings. Some of the detail some of my students incorporated in their drawings was amazing. ​ I also like many of the Usborne Books, particularly some of the ones designed for young children and the 'Look Inside Series' for older children, especially the ones about the body. ​ 'My First Big Book of the Human Body,' was popular with the students I taught as the images were fantastic and the movable parts made it really interesting for the reader. ​ There are a multitude of semi factual books like 'The Dinosaur Series' by Michael Salmon. These allow young children to become familiar with new facts in a story form. And I look at linking information books to children's real life experiences For example: my son was fascinated by dinosaurs and the complexity of the books he managed to listen to at the age of 4 was quite incredible. He quickly learnt most dinosaur names and specifics about creatures that used to inhabit the earth after we went to a museum and he saw some of their skeletons. ​ There are some excellent dramatic versions about dinosaurs that provide information such as the ones by 'Modern Publishing' and are ideal for children a bit older as some of the images are of dinosaurs being eaten by other dinosaurs. They are quite thick and concentrate on specific types of dinosaurs during specific time periods. But you may have a son like mine who loved them at the age of four and he'd listen to a thirty page complex story in one go and want more. ​ ​ ' A First Book of Dos and Don'ts' by A J Wood Dinosaur Playhouse: manners 'The Rainbow Fish' by Mark Pfister: sharing and being brave 'Red' by Michael Hall: being true to yourself 'That Is Not My Hat' by John Klassen: honesty and natural consequences 'Where the Forest Meets the Sea,' by Jeannie Baker: conservation 'Lester and Clyde' by James Herbert Reece: conservation and friendship 'Square,' by Max Barnett: perseverance, seeing things through different perspectives 'Julian is a Mermaid ,' by Jessica Love: tolerance and acceptance 'Be Kind,' by Pat Zietlow Miller: kindness 'Tough Boris,' by Mem Fox: grief and loss 'There's a Sea in My Bedroom,' by Jane Tanner: overcoming fear 'The Chalk Rainbow,' by Deborah Kelly: diversity, acceptance and tolerance 'Pearl Barley and Charlie Parsley' and 'Stanley Paste' by Aaron Blabey 'Lessons of a Lac' and 'Grey-Glasses-itis' by Lynn Jenkins as part of the Lessons of a Lac Series provides strategies to deal with difficulties in life If I'm looking at great information books I look at the quality of the illustrations or photographs. ​ I found that books that have heaps of text and minimal illustrations can quickly become boring for young children. ​ These were some of the books I regularly used with four year olds and they loved them. Rainforest: A Photographic Journey by Thomas Marent. This is my absolute favourite photographic factual book. The images are remarkable, and the children I taught were fascinated by them. There was additional information for parents and I learnt right alongside the children. Australian Sea Fishes North of 30 Degrees, Australian Sea Fishes South of 30 Degrees and by Neville Coleman and Sea Life all have fantastic images of sea creatures in their environment Coral Seas by Roger Steene has similarly striking photographs Living Planet by Lanting, Rowell, Doubilet National Geographic has some amazing images available but you need to be aware because they cater to an adult market some of the images may be disturbing for children so you would have to look through them first to determine their suitability. Steve Parish has a multitude of beautifully photographed books with text catering to a variety of age groups. 'If a child is to keep alive his inborn sense of wonder, he needs the companionship of at least one adult to share it, rediscovering with him the joy, excitement and mystery of the world we live in.' Rachel Carson. Share this page with a friend Anchor 8 Steps To Learning 4: Next For more examples of Best Parenting Advice go to the following links: The Importance of Counting Incidental Maths Fun Maths Games Why Be Consistent? Consistency, Consistency, Consistency Why Spend Postive Time Together? A father playing chess with his son can help create a positive relationship Why Natural Consequences? The Value of Natural Consequences Back to Top Best Parenting Advice.com is a high quality parenting website designed with child and family success in mind. It highlights what successful parents do differently to those who struggle. Best Parenting advice.com provides free online resources for busy parents who want the best practical advice on: how to give kids a best start in life, better tips for parenting toddlers, effective child rearing strategies, behaviour management tips, successful goal setting and organizational strategies for successful families, easy family dinner recipes, self-care tips for time-poor parents and free kids learning games. The aim of Best Parenting Advice.com is to provide quality practical parenting tips and advice to best help children and families succeed, using the convenience of a website. ​ This website provides examples of what worked for me over decades and you are welcome to use these ideas as you see fit but you do so at your own risk. Best Parenting Advice.com does not provide any guarantee that this information will work in every circumstance with every family or with every child. It is your responsibility as a user of this website to ensure that you adhere to any recommended safety suggestions either implicit or explicit on this site and supervise your children while playing any games suggested. Similarly users of this website are advised to follow any recommendations for seeking professional advice as all information on this site is generic. Best Parenting Advice.com is an independent website and is not affiliated with any other groups, clubs, religious organizations or educational systems. Best parenting takes time. The best parenting advice ever is simple: Do your best, don't give up and love your children, no matter what.

Back to Top SELF CARE FOR PARENTS More on the Table in Minutes Making Family Life Easy 5 ​ ​ The Value of Cutting Up Two or Three Days Worth of Vegetables at a Time. When preparing daily meals having something, even partly organized, can make a difference between getting a meal on the table, or resorting to take away. ​ Cutting up three days worth of vegetables at a time saves time and clean up. ​ It allows small pieces of vegetables to be salvaged and easily used for soups, fried rice and stirfries It takes little more effort to cut up three days’ worth of fresh vegetables than just the one day’s worth. I minimized the time I spent getting things in and out of the fridge and sorting through bags. And best of all, it prevents you finding those “dead vegies” at the back of the fridge that you would otherwise waste. HINT: I try to reuse the same bags that the fruit or vegetables come in from the supermarket and redistribute the cut vegetables into each bag. ​ I tie them up tightly and store them in the crisper ready to use. This process provides good sized portions of vegetables that can be accessed on even your busiest days. I cook the vegetables in a steamer which minimizes the loss of colour, texture and nutritive value. HINT: I often make soup or stir fries from pieces that broke off the cauliflower or broccoli or from the pieces that many people discard like the smaller cauliflower leaves and the centre stalks. I also peel the broccoli stalks and use them for stir fried vegetables or soup and store them in an airtight container for a day or two. I again store these vegetables in airtight containers in the fridge ready for salads, soups or quiches. ​ ​ I asked a number of my working friends for some of their best easy pumpkin recipes. The ones below are fantastic. ​ The criteria was they were family recipes that always worked, were quick to make and most importantly were delicious. ​ Click on the links below for: ​​Combined with some of the frozen chicken fillets I keep in the freezer, a soup or stir fry can be put together in minutes. And if I boil a kettle of water for noodles, or rice, to speed up the initial boiling, then they can also be on the table within twelve minutes. ​ This is providing fresh healthy food fast for your family. ​ ​ ​You may have noticed I do not pre-cut potatoes, pumpkin or sweet potato. ​ But what I do instead is chop up large amounts of pumpkin and sweet potato and then bake them. Sometimes I also bake an onion or two as well. Making Family Life Easy 6: Next Share this page with a friend 'You don't need a silver fork to eat good food.' ​ Paul Prudhomme Jan's Pumpkin Soup Anne Maree's Pumpkin Risotto Lorraine's Pumpkin Quiche ​These recipes and more can be found in the Easy Healthy Recipes Section of this site. Links below: Easy Healthy Breakfasts Easy Healthy Soups Easy Healthy Chicken Recipes Easy Healthy Fish Recipes Easy Healthy Lamb Recipes Easy Healthy Beef Recipes Best Lunchbox Story Ever Healthy Lunch Easy Pasta and Pizza Recipes Easy Healthy Rice Recipes Back to Top Best Parenting Advice.com is a high quality parenting website designed with child and family success in mind. It highlights what successful parents do differently to those who struggle. Best Parenting advice.com provides free online resources for busy parents who want the best practical advice on: how to give kids a best start in life, better tips for parenting toddlers, effective child rearing strategies, behaviour management tips, successful goal setting and organizational strategies for successful families, easy family dinner recipes, self-care tips for time-poor parents and free kids learning games. The aim of Best Parenting Advice.com is to provide quality practical parenting tips and advice to best help children and families succeed, using the convenience of a website. ​ This website provides examples of what worked for me over decades and you are welcome to use these ideas as you see fit but you do so at your own risk. Best Parenting Advice.com does not provide any guarantee that this information will work in every circumstance with every family or with every child. It is your responsibility as a user of this website to ensure that you adhere to any recommended safety suggestions either implicit or explicit on this site and supervise your children while playing any games suggested. Similarly users of this website are advised to follow any recommendations for seeking professional advice as all information on this site is generic. Best Parenting Advice.com is an independent website and is not affiliated with any other groups, clubs, religious organizations or educational systems. Best parenting takes time. The best parenting advice ever is simple: Do your best, don't give up and love your children, no matter what.

back to top EASY TASTY RECIPES Quick & Easy Cakes & Desserts Peanut Butter Fudge by Alison Ingredients 400g can sweetened condensed milk 375g packed choc melts ( ¼ cup crunchy peanut butter ½ cup chopped peanuts or walnuts-optional Method 1. Combine condensed milk & choc melts in a saucepan over low heat until chocolate melts 2. Mix in peanut butter & nuts 3. Pour into lined 28cm x 18cm slab tin & refrigerate until set 4. Cut into squares Share this recipe with a friend For more Easy Tasty Recipes go to the following links: More Easy Tasty Cakes and Desserts easy tasty cakes and desserts lemon slice delicious Easy Healthy Soups East Healthy Fish Recipes easy healthy fish dinner recipe salmon mornay Easy Healthy Chicken Recipes yummy drummy easy healthy chicken dinner recipe Easy Healthy Beef Recipes Easy Pasta and Pizza Recipes Easy Healthy Rice Recipes Easy Healthy Breakfasts Easy Healthy Lamb Recipes Back to Top Best Parenting Advice.com is a high quality parenting website designed with child and family success in mind. This site provides free resources for busy parents who want best practical advice on: effective child rearing strategies, easy healthy family meals, self-care tips for time-poor parents and fun learning games to help best educate children while also encouraging positive relationships within the family. One of the best pieces of parenting advice to help support healthy cooperative families, is to provide regular nutritious meals, eaten together as a family as often as possible. Best parenting advice provides a range of quick and easy family dinner recipes supplied by busy working parents. These are the recipes asked for: because they taste great, they're quick and easy they're family friendly and they're foolproof. ​ This site provides examples of what worked for me over decades and you are welcome to use these ideas as you see fit but you do so at your own risk. This site does not provide any guarantee that this information will work in every circumstance with every family or every child. It is your responsibility as a user of this site to ensure that you adhere to any recommended safety suggestions either implicit or explicit on this site and supervise your children while playing any games suggested. Best Parenting Advice.com is not affiliated with any other groups, clubs, religious organizations or educational systems. Best parenting takes time. The best parenting advice ever is simple: Do your best, don't give up and love your children, no matter what.

Back to Top SELF CARE FOR PARENTS How To Have Meals on the Table in Minutes Do you ever feel like there are never enough hours in the day and you always seem to be rushing? Two things can make a big difference: ​ 1. When a gift of time presents itself (e.g. kid's sport is rained out) use the half a day cooking large amounts of meals. ​ Simultaneously cook up multiple different meals, reusing pots as you go ​ You make one huge mess and then daily life has a much reduced mess ​ 2. The use of a freezer Easy, safe storage of large amounts of food ​ Allows for greater variety of pre-prepared meals Here I have chicken thigh fillets cooked and rolled ready for quick stir fries or wraps. ​ I also always keep wholemeal flour in freezer so it doesn’t get pantry moth. ​ I use the same size flat rectangular containers for storing foods in the freezer as I do for my salads. ​ Containers store the appropriate amounts for four people for curries, stews, spaghetti bolognaise sauce. Chinese food containers work well to store meals for one or two people and also stack very well. 2. To combat this free time starved lifestyle I had what I would call cooking days. ​ This was when I would spend a morning cooking; and I would cook massive amounts of foods and freeze them. ​ If plans I had were cancelled, like say, if my child’s sport was rained out, I saw I had a gift of time which I wasn’t expecting. I've often made 16 to 22 meals for a family of four. I had at least 2 pots cooking away on the stove at the same time as the slow cooker and the frying pan on the bench. While I made a mess at the time, it was one huge mess once not lots of messes daily. I washed and reused pots and cutting boards as I went and this reduced the overall mess. And just one busy morning saved me a month of stressful afternoons of food prep. This efficient use of my time meant I would go out to the supermarket/ butcher very early and get the larger volumes of foods to accommodate the large amounts of food I intended to cook. ​​ This can also be a great way of catching up with your mum, mother-in-law, dad or a family friend that loves you but you never get enough time to see. They will often quite happily work alongside you, especially knowing that they are helping you. ​ ​ Making Family Life Easy 4 ​ ​ 1. The kitchen appliance that made the greatest difference for me was a freezer. And it saved me so much time and money over the years. I always make at least double quantities of spaghetti, curries or stews which I freeze for use later. But I usually try to ideally make quadruple quantities of these recipes and store them. I understand that many of you may put in very long hours. My son as a young surgery registrar regularly puts in twelve or thirteen hour days, often longer. He does it day after day. At times he’s had shifts of ten days straight doing fifteen hour days, or nights. Recently when I looked at some of the organizational aspects of his life it reminded me of the strategies that I used when I had no spare time at all. When you are arriving at home with a family at seven o’clock at night you need food on the table within ten to fifteen minutes. On these days I would rush out to the butcher and buy fresh meat and chicken. I'd cook up: 2kg (5 lb) lots of mince for spaghetti (at least 4 meals), 6 huge slices of chuck steak in the slow cooker for Mexican steak (3 or 4 meals), 16 chicken fillets for each lot of curry I made (at least 3 meals each), 12 lamb forequarter chops for lamb stew (at least 2 meals maybe 3). ​Put on some music and have some fun with it. I help my son out in this way and it's enjoyable, bonding and productive. ​ ​​ ​The use of the freezer means that if you cook large amounts of foods you don’t have to eat it day after day until it is gone. ​ The biggest and best advantage is if you know you'll be coming home late, you can put the pre-made frozen food in the fridge ready for that evening. Dinner takes as long as it takes to boil a kettle and cook the pasta or rice. Making Family Life Easy 5: Next Share this page with a friend You'll note I've allowed large portion sizes for my meals and that's deliberate. In my home the teenagers were often hungry and I found that leftovers were devoured as soon as they came through the door. Having quality food available allowed them to eat well, even though their schedules may have been haphazard, due to either work commitments, or study demands. ​ For more Time and Money Saving Ideas go to the following links: More Meals in Minutes Easy Family Recipes Establishing Healthy Routines Back to Top Best Parenting Advice.com is a high quality parenting website designed with child and family success in mind. It highlights what successful parents do differently to those who struggle. Best Parenting advice.com provides free online resources for busy parents who want the best practical advice on: how to give kids a best start in life, better tips for parenting toddlers, effective child rearing strategies, behaviour management tips, successful goal setting and organizational strategies for successful families, easy family dinner recipes, self-care tips for time-poor parents and free kids learning games. The aim of Best Parenting Advice.com is to provide quality practical parenting tips and advice to best help children and families succeed, using the convenience of a website. ​ This website provides examples of what worked for me over decades and you are welcome to use these ideas as you see fit but you do so at your own risk. Best Parenting Advice.com does not provide any guarantee that this information will work in every circumstance with every family or with every child. It is your responsibility as a user of this website to ensure that you adhere to any recommended safety suggestions either implicit or explicit on this site and supervise your children while playing any games suggested. Similarly users of this website are advised to follow any recommendations for seeking professional advice as all information on this site is generic. Best Parenting Advice.com is an independent website and is not affiliated with any other groups, clubs, religious organizations or educational systems. Best parenting takes time. The best parenting advice ever is simple: Do your best, don't give up and love your children, no matter what.

back to top EASY HEALTHY RECIPES QUICK & EASY CHICKEN DINNERS Baked Chicken, Prunes and Olives Ingredients 14-20 chicken thigh fillets (depending on the size) HINT: Try to ensure uniform size if possible 2 cups prunes 1 cup kalamata olives 1/2 cup olive oil 1 cup white wine 2/3 cup red wine vinegar 10 sprigs thyme 2 bay leaves 2 tablespoons brown sugar Method Tip oil into baking dish and move it around so it covers the bottom Place chicken thigh fillets into the dish Mix white wine, red wine vinegar and brown sugar together and pour over chicken Pour olives and prunes over mixture Place two bay leaves and sprigs of thyme into the liquid keeping them together so they can later be removed Cover with foil and seal edges Cook in oven at 180 degrees for 40 -50 minutes or until chicken is cooked. HINT: You are aiming for chicken to be well cooked but not dry remove foil and serve while hot or let people serve themselves ​ Serve with Pumpkin and Chorizo Couscous, boiled rice and/or steamed vegetables ​ ​HINT: This is an inexpensive family recipe that can be easily scaled up to feed the masses. The quantities above feed six to eight easily. Put it into a large plastic storage container for if you have to take a dish for sharing and reheat in slow cooker. ​ If you needed it for a smorgasborg, or work function (where you're expected to bring something, this is a real winner.) I suggest, if you're sharing with a large group, cut the pieces of chicken into halves or thirds before you cook it and reduce the cooking time by ten minutes. My Favourite Recipes 9: Next Share this recipe with a friend For more Easy Healthy Recipes go to the following links: Easy Healthy Breakfasts Best Ever Lunch box Story best ever lunch box story Easy Healthy Soups Easy Healthy Fish Recipes More Easy Healthy Chicken Recipes Yummy Drummies Easy Healthy Lamb Recipes Easy Healthy Beef Recipes Easy Pasta and Pizza Recipes Easy Healthy Rice Recipes Back to Top Best Parenting Advice.com is a high quality parenting website designed with child and family success in mind. This site provides free resources for busy parents who want best practical advice on: effective child rearing strategies, easy healthy family meals, self-care tips for time-poor parents and fun learning games to help best educate children while also encouraging positive relationships within the family. One of the best pieces of parenting advice to help support healthy cooperative families, is to provide regular nutritious meals, eaten together as a family as often as possible. Best parenting advice provides a range of quick and easy family dinner recipes supplied by busy working parents. These are the recipes asked for: because they taste great, they're quick and easy they're family friendly and they're foolproof. ​ This site provides examples of what worked for me over decades and you are welcome to use these ideas as you see fit but you do so at your own risk. This site does not provide any guarantee that this information will work in every circumstance with every family or every child. It is your responsibility as a user of this site to ensure that you adhere to any recommended safety suggestions either implicit or explicit on this site and supervise your children while playing any games suggested. Best Parenting Advice.com is not affiliated with any other groups, clubs, religious organizations or educational systems. Best parenting takes time. The best parenting advice ever is simple: Do your best, don't give up and love your children, no matter what.

back to top BEST STARTS FOR KIDS Experimenting With Dot Painting ​ Prompts Type Aboriginal Artworks into Google Images Look at Australian aboriginal art and discuss the use of repetitive dots and patterns to inspire dot painting Discuss the concept of earth colours: Named because paints were made from the earth Note the use of specific symbols (often repeated in artworks) to depict meaning. e.g. river, meeting place, person, etc ​ Simple ideas: use various sized paper, cardboard shapes (like a shield for example) or a long cylinder (to make a didgeridoo,) rocks, fabric, boxes use different types of paint: water or acrylic use different brushes, sticks, printing media ​ ​ You may like to paint the background first so the dots stand out in contrast. And experiment first to find the best technique to create uniform circles (dots.) I have found the best result is achieved by loading just the very tip of the brush. ​ Extension Type Mandala into Google Images Look at and discuss the extensive use of repetitive dots to create and supplement line usage patterns Substitute paint for black textas and plain white paper Extend using a variety of different colours ​ ​ Share this page with a friend ​As a starting point for young children you can supply food colouring as water paint for as little as $3.60 in small bottles that your children can dot paint with, without creating any mess at all. Or cheap paint sets can be bought for around $10 and the quality of the paint is reasonable. It's important though to supply some reasonable quality paintbrushes ranging in size from fine to thick as this allows them to create quality work. ​ But I believe the best results for dot painting will be achieved using acrylics ​ ​Some of the skills they will likely develop are: increased hand eye coordination increased hand strength and technique mathematical language linked to colour mixing and shades: lighter and darker increased knowledge of colour blending (making earth colours) creativity and the joy associated with creativity perseverance refining & trial and error processes the ability to plan then create or not plan and create self-esteem & confidence building ​ Some Mathematical Language: blend light lighter lightest dark darker darkest red, crimson, orange, salmon, apricot yellow, ochre, lemon white black grey brown, tan, muddy primary colour secondary colour Some Language Linked to Materials and Technique ​ paint: line, solid, swish, press, hold, acrylic, oil, water paper: water colour (absorbent) craft (divide, fold) tissue, tracing, newsprint, cartridge, waxed, textured, cardboard, repeating pattern circle, dot, cylinder Go Back to Activities Gallery Back to Top Best Parenting Advice.com is a high quality parenting website designed with child and family success in mind. It highlights what successful parents do differently to those who struggle. Best Parenting advice.com provides free online resources for busy parents who want the best practical advice on: how to give kids a best start in life, better tips for parenting toddlers, effective child rearing strategies, behaviour management tips, successful goal setting and organizational strategies for successful families, easy family dinner recipes, self-care tips for time-poor parents and free kids learning games. The aim of Best Parenting Advice.com is to provide quality practical parenting tips and advice to best help children and families succeed, using the convenience of a website. ​ This website provides examples of what worked for me over decades and you are welcome to use these ideas as you see fit but you do so at your own risk. Best Parenting Advice.com does not provide any guarantee that this information will work in every circumstance with every family or with every child. It is your responsibility as a user of this website to ensure that you adhere to any recommended safety suggestions either implicit or explicit on this site and supervise your children while playing any games suggested. Similarly users of this website are advised to follow any recommendations for seeking professional advice as all information on this site is generic. Best Parenting Advice.com is an independent website and is not affiliated with any other groups, clubs, religious organizations or educational systems. Best parenting takes time. The best parenting advice ever is simple: Do your best, don't give up and love your children, no matter what.

back to top EASY TASTY RECIPES Quick & Easy Cakes & Desserts Five Minute Butterscotch Sauce by Debbie Ingredients 30 grams butter ½ cup brown sugar 150 ml (½ carton cream) Method 1. Melt butter on low heat in a saucepan 2. Add brown sugar and stir through butter until all sugar had melted; continuing to stir until brown sugar has dissolved 3. Add cream and stir through, cooking for an additional minute, ensuring that mixture does not boil 4. Serve with banana cake, or sticky date cake and ice cream for an easy dessert Share this recipe with a friend For more Easy Healthy Recipes go to the following links: More Easy Tasty Cakes and Desserts easy tasty cakes and desserts lemon slice delicious Easy Healthy Soups East Healthy Fish Recipes easy healthy fish dinner recipe salmon mornay Easy Healthy Chicken Recipes yummy drummy easy healthy chicken dinner recipe Easy Healthy Beef Recipes Easy Pasta and Pizza Recipes Easy Healthy Rice Recipes Easy Healthy Breakfasts Easy Healthy Lamb Recipes Back to Top Best Parenting Advice.com is a high quality parenting website designed with child and family success in mind. This site provides free resources for busy parents who want best practical advice on: effective child rearing strategies, easy healthy family meals, self-care tips for time-poor parents and fun learning games to help best educate children while also encouraging positive relationships within the family. One of the best pieces of parenting advice to help support healthy cooperative families, is to provide regular nutritious meals, eaten together as a family as often as possible. Best parenting advice provides a range of quick and easy family dinner recipes supplied by busy working parents. These are the recipes asked for: because they taste great, they're quick and easy they're family friendly and they're foolproof. ​ This site provides examples of what worked for me over decades and you are welcome to use these ideas as you see fit but you do so at your own risk. This site does not provide any guarantee that this information will work in every circumstance with every family or every child. It is your responsibility as a user of this site to ensure that you adhere to any recommended safety suggestions either implicit or explicit on this site and supervise your children while playing any games suggested. Best Parenting Advice.com is not affiliated with any other groups, clubs, religious organizations or educational systems. Best parenting takes time. The best parenting advice ever is simple: Do your best, don't give up and love your children, no matter what.

Back to Top EASY HEALTHY FAMILY RECIPES QUICK & EASY SOUPS Deb's 10 Minute Asian Style Soup Ingredients Olive Oil spray 2 chicken fillets (ideally precooked and thawed but you can cook it fresh or alternatively you can use left over chicken.) 1 spring onion 2 Massel chicken stock cubes 1 carrot 3 broccoli stalks 1 cauliflower centre stalk 1 stick celery 1 handful of beans 1 packet of mini Dim Sims or Pork Dumplings 1/3 packet of organic Udon noodles (or Golden Hokkein Noodles) ​ Optional Bok Choy 1 chilli mild ​Method Chop chicken into small pieces suitable for a soup If chicken is uncooked spray saucepan with olive oil spray Add chicken and cook for two minutes Add water and two chicken stock cubes, stirring until chicken stock cubes have dissolved Add Pork Dumplings (or Wontons) and cook for three minutes Meanwhile chop up all vegetables. Add vegetables to soup along with Udon noodles. Cook for another five minutes or until vegetables are still slightly crunchy. Dice spring onion finely and add in the last minute of cooking along with bok choy and chilli for a more authentic Asian meal. ​ ​Serve immediately ​ HINT: To make it easier I keep lots of two cooked chicken fillets frozen and wrapped in the freezer so I can have a soup or stir fry prepared in the time it takes for the noodles to cook (5-10 minutes.) Share this recipe with a friend For more Easy Healthy Recipes go to the following links: Easy Healthy Breakfasts 10 Tips to Make Meals Kid Friendly 10 Tips to Make Meals Kid Friendly More Easy Healthy Soups Easy Healthy Soups Easy Healthy Fish Recipes Easy Healthy Chicken Recipes Yummy Drummies done the healthy way Easy Healthy Lamb Recipes Easy Healthy Beef Recipes Easy Pasta and Pizza Recipes Easy Healthy Rice Recipes Back to Top Best Parenting Advice.com is a high quality parenting website designed with child and family success in mind. This site provides free resources for busy parents who want best practical advice on: effective child rearing strategies, easy healthy family meals, self-care tips for time-poor parents and fun learning games to help best educate children while also encouraging positive relationships within the family. One of the best pieces of parenting advice to help support healthy cooperative families, is to provide regular nutritious meals, eaten together as a family as often as possible. Best parenting advice provides a range of quick and easy family dinner recipes supplied by busy working parents. These are the recipes asked for: because they taste great, they're quick and easy they're family friendly and they're foolproof. ​ This site provides examples of what worked for me over decades and you are welcome to use these ideas as you see fit but you do so at your own risk. This site does not provide any guarantee that this information will work in every circumstance with every family or every child. It is your responsibility as a user of this site to ensure that you adhere to any recommended safety suggestions either implicit or explicit on this site and supervise your children while playing any games suggested. Best Parenting Advice.com is not affiliated with any other groups, clubs, religious organizations or educational systems. Best parenting takes time. The best parenting advice ever is simple: Do your best, don't give up and love your children, no matter what.

back to top Fun Phonics FUN LEARNING GAMES Complex Combination Sounds Level 4: You will notice that sometimes there can be a number of ways to produce the same sound. For example 'ee' (as in street) 'ea' (as in clean) 'ey' (as in donkey) and 'e_e' (as in scene.) ​ The following sounds, along with previous combinations are ideally known by the end of the first year at school. The earlier kids can identify all combination sounds the easier reading is for them. Ensure single lower case sounds and simple digraphs are known first. ​ Many complex combinations, will have already been encountered, and may have been picked up incidentally in routine words at school, such as r ai ny when discussing the weather, or in high frequency words such as b oy . Back: Level 3: Simple Digraphs Check out Level 3 before continuing with Level 4. ​ You can either screen shot letter sheets, copy them on your phone, download and print them. Or if on a desktop you can click on the image, press save image then print it. If you're having difficulty with either you can contact me for pdfs to be sent to you at your email address. ​ The next lot of sounds are more difficult and are used less frequently so your child may benefit from them being taught in isolation and reinforced as they come up during their oral reading. ​ I found it's advisable to revise sound combinations and digraphs every fortnight or so. I was surprised when assessing a Year 3 class at the beginning of the school year how many of them had forgotten their sound combinations during the Christmas holidays. This can greatly affect reading fluency and therefore comprehension. It usually takes less than two minutes to go through the lot once they're known. How to make it fun Lay out three known digraphs close to each other in a row, (each the correct way up for the child.) Sit opposite, facing my child ready to play The Phonics Game. ​ 1. Call out a sound (say ch) and both players attempt to snap the sound before the other player. ​ 2. Call out a different sound (say er) and both players attempt to snap the new sound before the other player. ​ For more Reading Ideas click on the links below: 3. Repeat the process using three different sounds. (say ch, ch, er, ay, er, ay, ch, ay, er, etc) getting faster. You might even change the letter positions. 4. The game continues until you're reasonably sure your child knows the three digraphs involved. ​ 5. Then removing the digraph they appear to know best. Introduce a 'new' digraph that ideally looks different to the others. For example 'oo'. And continue the game again. ​ 6. You can repeat Step 5 over and over again always increasing the number of known digraphs. ​ ​ Share this teaching game with a friend My Favourite Childrens Books I Love Reading How to Best Read a Book For FUN READING GAMES click on the links below: Level 1: Snapping Turtles Game Level 2: Crunch Crocodile Game Level 3: Micey Dicey Game Level 4: Lion Dancing Game Level 5: Iranaconda Game Level 6: I Can Toucan Game For FUN MATHS GAMES click on the links below: Fun Maths Games 3-5 Years Fun Maths Games 5-7 Years Fun Maths Games 8-10 Years Back to Top Best Parenting Advice.com is a high quality parenting website designed with child and family success in mind. This site provides free resources for busy parents who want the best practical advice possible on: effective child rearing strategies, easy healthy family meals, self-care tips for time-poor parents and fun learning games to help best educate children while also encouraging positive relationships within the family. ​ The best parenting advice regarding creating engaged learners is to make learning as much fun as possible. That's why games work best to revise new information. Children practise skills over and over in play situations, yet aren't even aware they're doing it. Best parenting advice.com provides many examples of quick and easy games to help develop both early reading and maths skills. This site provides examples of what worked for me over decades and you are welcome to use these ideas as you see fit but you do so at your own risk. This site does not provide any guarantee that this information will work in every circumstance with every family or every child. It is your responsibility as a user of this site to ensure that you adhere to any recommended safety suggestions either implicit or explicit on this site and supervise your children while playing any games suggested. Best Parenting Advice.com is not affiliated with any other groups, clubs, religious organizations or educational systems. Best parenting takes time. The best parenting advice ever is simple: Do your best, don't give up and love your children, no matter what.

back to top BEST STARTS FOR KIDS Overcoming Separation Anxiety This page contains the following information: Strategies that generally work well Strategies that generally don't work well Staging separation & developing trust Strategies that often don't work well: ​ If your child cries, you come back I'd say to parents: 'Stay all day if you like. I love to have parents see what we do. But once you say you're going... Please go. Regardless of what they do.' ​ Your child is learning a new skill. So make your language supportive. Avoid mixed messages. ​ As parents, say something like: 'I know you can do this. And I know (insert name) will look after you.' Then leave. If they get upset, you're setting up a bad routine if you come back. E.g.: That being: I scream: You come back. Therefore I scream. You can be unknowingly setting your child up to continue to have separation issues... Big time. ​ Leaving a child without staging separation. To put it in perspective, how would you feel if your partner all of a sudden said they were going on a two week holiday... And then left. And they've never done anything like that before. Would you be feeling confident in your relationship or would you feel unsettled? Why would it be any different for your child. Stage separation to build confidence. ​ Leaving a child in a new environment where they haven't been before or haven't met the people For example: Leaving a child in a short term child minding facility while you attend a class like gym, TAFE, a Uni lecture, etc. Your child will be so much better off if you take them to the place a couple of times and play with them there, getting to know the staff, etc. You could even show them where you're going to go, so they know where you are. ​ Leaving your child in a new minding situation for too long. (They need to learn you'll always come back.) For example: Being the last one back to day care to pick them up, can be traumatic for a child only recently left. They watch everyone else get picked up, but them. And this can hijack any good work that has been done to date. It can be hard to come back from. ​ Leaving a child, without telling them you're leaving. ​ And while this may be tempting to do (with a child that screams when you leave them,) it generally only exacerbates the problem, often increasing their anxiety. If you do this, they may even become unsettled generally, as they're waiting for you to bolt. ​ Giving a mixed message. Saying you're going, and then hanging around. Especially if you say 'I'm really going to miss you.' While it may be true and you will miss them, by saying so at this time, it can upset a child. To make it less traumatic maybe save saying you missed them till when you get back. ​ Giving up when first attempts fail. This can be setting your child up for a pattern of separation anxiety. ​ If you don't persevere, what your child has learnt is, they can't be away from you. ​ If your child continues to have separation issues you need to work out a plan with the person you're leaving them with, to ensure the handover routine becomes smooth and more predictable for your child. And do it sooner than later. With staging separation as suggested over, separation anxiety is usually short-lived and can be avoided altogether. ​ Or you may find another care situation that is a better fit for all of you. This is what I did with my own son after a failed first attempt. And he went from being absolutely miserable, to loving it in one day. ​ 'It's easier to build strong children than repair broken ones.' ​ Frederick Douglas If you put in the time to get it right from the beginning, your child will learn they can begin to function well without you. This helps builds their confidence and independence. The easiest way to manage separation anxiety is to expect it and plan for it: ​ Stage separation by leaving your child with trusted others for increasing amounts of time ​ Make your child familiar with any new child care environment before leaving them ​ Set up a predictable routine, ideally leaving them with the same caregiver or activity ​ Be positive. Trust caregivers to manage upsets ​ Make sure you're not one of the last parents through the door to collect them Leaving your child for the 1st time? Or are you returning to work after a long break? These commonsense tips to help overcome separation anxiety, have been designed by a preschool teacher with over 30 years practical experience . Strategies that generally work well: ​ Be positive about leaving your child... even if you don't feel it. And make out what you're going to be doing will be unappealing ​ Say something like 'You'll get to have a lovely time playing with... and I'll be going home and doing the boring old ironing.' And smile and be confident about it. Kids pick up on your anxiety. ​ Talk about the fact you'll be leaving them ahead of time so they know to expect it. And emphasize that you'll be back soon. Learn what the expected routine for your child's day might be. Depending upon the age of the child you can talk through what they will do, (emphasizing the fun things,) until you'll be back. ​ Set up a predictable routine for both leaving and picking up your child. ​ I suggest leaving them with the same particular member of staff every time, or with a particular activity they love doing... Or ideally both. Pick a time they're engaged in an activity to say you're leaving and then go. Be positive and confident. ​ Using similar predictable language can help. Say something like: 'I'll see you this afternoon just after you've had your lunch and had a nice long play in the sand pit. Have a wonderful day. I love you.' ​ And go. Initially I suggest you don't look back because if you start blowing kisses, they might decide you're more appealing than the playdough, or carer, they were left with. ​ Reassure them you'll be back soon... And initially make sure you're back soon. ​ Children need to learn you'll be back. And you need to earn their trust here. Increasing the time over weeks works better than just leaving them for eight hours straight. ​ If you have a partner or grandparent, they may be able to assist with pick ups at the beginning so the initial days at day care are shorter. ​ ​ ​ Staging Separation and Developing Trust: Make sure you only leave your child with people you know you can trust. ​ 1. Go into another room, leaving your child for very short periods of time and return. Give them something to do that you know they enjoy. Smile. And always tell them when you're going and you'll be back soon. (I found using large egg timers worked a treat so children knew when the time ran out, you'd be back.) ​ 2. Leave your child with someone they know well and love (like Nan or Pop.) Explain you're leaving. Smile. Explain you'll be back soon. Make sure they have something to do that they will enjoy. Go into the back yard for a few minutes and come back, saying something like... 'See I told you I'd be back soon. What did you do while I was gone?' Bring them a leaf or something from the yard to talk about. ​ 3. Extend the length of time you are away. You could maybe go for a coffee. Again... talk about what you did. I often said I was 'doing the boring old ironing.' That way a child doesn't feel they're missing out on something exciting. ​ 4. Expand on the range of people you leave your child with, (maybe a sister or best friend,) and again make it a short absence. Make sure it's someone your child knows well and that you can trust to handle it, even if your child cries. ​ 5. Continue repeating leaving your child with people you know you can trust to handle any difficulties . For example: Day Care personnel, aunts, good friends, etc and again make the absences relatively short, especially for the first few times you leave them with a new person. ​ 6. Leave them for increasing lengths of time in day care or with family members you trust. Make it easier for both of you. What could surprise you is how hard it might be for you to leave your child, especially if they experience separation anxiety. ​ Initially, I'd ring parents a couple of minutes after they left and their child was already settled and playing happily. Your child minding facility may do the same for you, or text you. Or alternatively if they don't, you could make a short phone call to check how your child is going. ​ If it makes you feel better, ring for reassurance. Why stress if there's no need to. ​ And the people who really care for you and your child, won't mind at all. They'd be happier to know you're confident leaving your child with them. ​ With time, you should both be fine. Anchor 1 Anchor 2 Anchor 3 Share this page with a friend Step By Step: Next ​To learn how to help develop cooperative kids check out the links. It could make your life so much easier: Sleep Routines How to Get your child to sleep. Why Natural Consequences? The Value of Natural Consequences Boundaries Help Raise Good Kids Setting Boundaries Why Be Consistent? Consistency, Consistency, Consistency Why Spend Postive Time Together? A father playing chess with his son can help create a positive relationship Choosing Gratitude Not Entitlement A girl kissing her father Back to Top Best Parenting Advice.com is a high quality parenting website designed with child and family success in mind. It highlights what successful parents do differently to those who struggle. Best Parenting advice.com provides free online resources for busy parents who want the best practical advice on: how to give kids a best start in life, better tips for parenting toddlers, effective child rearing strategies, behaviour management tips, successful goal setting and organizational strategies for successful families, easy family dinner recipes, self-care tips for time-poor parents and free kids learning games. The aim of Best Parenting Advice.com is to provide quality practical parenting tips and advice to best help children and families succeed, using the convenience of a website. ​ This website provides examples of what worked for me over decades and you are welcome to use these ideas as you see fit but you do so at your own risk. Best Parenting Advice.com does not provide any guarantee that this information will work in every circumstance with every family or with every child. It is your responsibility as a user of this website to ensure that you adhere to any recommended safety suggestions either implicit or explicit on this site and supervise your children while playing any games suggested. Similarly users of this website are advised to follow any recommendations for seeking professional advice as all information on this site is generic. Best Parenting Advice.com is an independent website and is not affiliated with any other groups, clubs, religious organizations or educational systems. Best parenting takes time. The best parenting advice ever is simple: Do your best, don't give up and love your children, no matter what.