Thursday, April 24, 2014

Raising a Compassionate Child

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I sat there, amazed, as I watched my 1-1/2 year old comfort another little girl who was sobbing on the ground.

I watched as my daughter comforted this girl who she didn't even know and I wondered, 
where did she learn that?

How did she know that when others cry, they need a hug or someone to show them love and understanding? 

While some children are born with more of an innate sense of compassion than others, there are things that  parents can do to teach and cultivate compassion in children.


1. Teach Gentleness
Physically model to your child what gentleness looks and feels like. Teach your child how to gently pet a dog by taking their hand and guiding it so they know what a gentle touch feels like. If he pushes or pulls or grabs roughly, explain to him that we use our hands to show love for others.


2. Be an Example
Dr. Jim Taylor, a professor of psychology from the University of San Francisco, says that as our children get older, they will notice the daily expressions of compassion we show others. They will notice our "comforting them when they scrape their knees, assuming dinner duties when [a] spouse is stressed out from work, or helping a neighbor with a home project." Children learn from these daily expressions that "compassion doesn't discriminate" and that "acts of compassion can be small or large...or given to friends or strangers." (Source)


3. Use Books and Stories
Books can be a great way to engage children in stories that teach compassion, understanding, and friendship. Parents can also read and tell stories to their children about compassionate people like Martin Luther King Jr., Mother Teresa, and Mohandas Gandhi.


4. Volunteer
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A great way to teach children compassion is to take them out into the community to serve others. This could be as simple as cleaning up a local park or bringing dinner to a struggling neighbor. Some bigger projects could include volunteering at a nursing home or food kitchen. Whatever service you provide, it teaches children to think about others. (This site provides a list of volunteer opportunities in your area)



5.  Monitor Media
Children often model the behavior they see. If they watch television shows filled with disrespectful language, bullying, name-calling, teasing, violence, etc. they are more likely to pick up those behaviors. As parents, we can monitor what types of shows our children watch and encourage shows that promote friendship, sharing, service, and compassion.

What ideas do you have for teaching and cultivating compassion in children?

Additional Tips:
Raising a Compassionate Child - Parenting.com
25 Ways to Teach Children Compassion

Tuesday, April 22, 2014

April Aspire Parent Group and Ready To Learn Workshop

Last week, the ASPIRE Parent Group discussion was centered around finding community resources.  We have compiled a list of the responses for you to use!

How do you go about finding Community Resources? 
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Books at the local library
Baby Wise by Gary Ezzo
Child Whisperer by Carol Tuttle
The Hospital – pre-natal labor class, and lactation resources. 
School Psychologist
The Park - talk to other moms with kids the age of your kids
Websites: www.babycenter.com – sign up to receive weekly emails of your child’s development
www.healthychildren.org 
La Leche – meets the third Wednesday of every month 6:30-7:30 pm at the Provo Public Library

Who are the people in your life you consider a powerful resource?
Family members
Friends with children similar age
Church Groups
Neighbors
Welcome Baby 
Pediatricians
Doctors office

Comment with other resources that are helpful to you as a parent!


The Ready To Learn Parenting Workshop is also a great resource for families!  Our workshop is held right after the ASPIRE Parent Group and families are welcome to attend!  The topic this month was: Shared Reading: Tools to Bring Literacy to Life.  These parenting workshops focus on interacting with your children to help them progress in their reading abilities. Here are some activities you can do with your child to bring literacy to life:
  • Ask your child to make predictions of what will happen next
  • Find a recipe and follow the instructions to cook dinner together
  • Make your own book
  • Put on a puppet show
  • Read aloud to your children

For more activities, and a list of books that promote bringing literature to life, check out the KBYU Ready To Learn workshops by clicking here!

To sign up for the ASPIRE Parent Group  visit: http://helpmegrowutah.org/parents-caregivers/aspire-parent-group
To sign up for the Ready To Learn Parenting Workshop, visit: http://www.welcomebabyuc.org/en/families/ready-learn-parenting-class

Thursday, April 17, 2014

Autism Awareness Month

April is Autism Awareness Month, and we are so excited to see so many people supporting such an important cause! We just wanted to do our part and get the message out there. So check out the links below to find out more about Autism Spectrum Disorders, the amazing people we are supporting, and what events will be happening for Autism Awareness in your area this month.





Share with us below what you are doing for Autism Awareness month. We love to hear from our amazing community supporters!





Tuesday, April 15, 2014

Child Abuse Prevention Month

It’s officially planting season! You may have started to see gardens popping up here and there, but how about a pinwheel garden?! April is National Child Abuse Prevention Month and as part of a nationwide public awareness campaign Pinwheels for Prevention is challenging everyone to GET INVOLVED!  

Why a pinwheel? Pinwheels are a symbol of childhood, fun, and laughter. By getting involved and being engaged as a community, we can work together to prioritize prevention from the very beginning. NO child deserves to be neglected or abused.

So what can YOU do?
  • Teach your child about recognizing abuse. Click here to check out the April packet filled with awesome learning tools including:
    • Make your own pinwheel!
    • Plans for parents
    • Activity calendar
    • Creating your own bookmark
    • Coloring sheets
  • Use your voice! Write to your elected official and let them know you care about preventing child abuse and neglect to Utah’s children
  • Show your support, purchase pinwheels and plant your own pinwheel garden!
  • SPREAD THE WORD. Talk about prevention in your community
  • Take action! Organize a small fundraiser to raise awareness in your community
  • Serve on a committee or board

For more information on events, facts, and ways to get involved visit the Prevent Child Abuse Utah website

What are you doing to spread awareness? Let us know! 

Thursday, April 10, 2014

March Playgroup Recap

During March, playgroup was full of spring-themed crafts to welcome in the new season. We wanted to give everyone a chance to make the crafts at home so click on the links below the pictures for a link to the instructions. Happy crafting!

Play Dough
Click HERE for some awesome DIY play dough! 
We started out the month by making homemade, bright green play dough. The kids had pipe cleaners, figurines, beads, stickers and other items to help them create their own “play dough garden.” At the end of the day, everyone got to take home their play dough so the fun and creativity could continue at home.

Wind Socks
Click HERE for instructions! 
Children love to watch the wind blow around outside. Kids will have a blast making their own wind sock and then watching it blow around in the wind. Help your kids learn about the wind and the weather as they create this fun craft.

Water-colors painting
Follow the link HERE and scroll down to#6 on their list!
Bright colors and flowers are iconic parts of spring. We gave the kids at playgroup the chance to use their imaginations and paint their own pictures about spring with some bright water colors. It was so fun to see the kids gets so excited about their new creations. 

Rain
For more details click HERE
As Spring comes, we welcome in the rain to replace the cold snow we have had all Winter. To help your child learn more about rain and umbrellas, help them make an umbrella out of a paper plate, popsicle stick, and tinsel. They will have fun pretending to have it rain on them for hours!


Tuesday, April 8, 2014

5 Tips for Reading to Children with Special Needs

Have you ever had that experience where you think you're telling this really riveting story and then you look around and...... nobody is paying attention. Party of one! Unfortunately, this happens to me more than I'd like to admit. Parent's out there can relate, sometimes keeping children focused on story time can be intimidating, and children with special needs face challenges of their own when being read to. The good news is that reading can be fun and rewarding when the child is engaged in the experience.

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Carrie Rogers-Whitehead, the senior librarian at Salt Lake County Kearns Library, runs a sensory story time for young children with special needs. These are some of her suggestions for parents reading at home with their kids:


Keep it Visual

Children with special needs like autism can be very visual learners. If you get too verbal it can become frustrating for them, try mixing it up! Use visual aid whenever possible, like a flannel board, pictures, or objects to help them connect to the story!


Keep it Moving 

To help kiddo's with short attention spans, move distractions out of the room (That means cell phones too!) and keep them engaged in the reading process! Make reading interesting and fast-pasted! Check out this mom's strategies for making story time exciting by enacting a storybook.


Keep is Short and Simple 

Choose books with fewer words, or try paraphrasing longer pages. Avoid reading verbatim and give flavor to the story by adding your own inflection or pointing out different illustrations! Allow yourself to be spontaneous and sing a song! You'll be surprised how much fun it is for both of you! Click here to see some of Whitehead's favorite books to read with children with special needs.


Keep Cool

Kids are pretty in tune with how mom and dad are feeling, so stay calm in tough situations. Don't get caught up in finishing a set number of pages or adhering perfectly to a set schedule, if your child needs to rest or take a break, allow them to step away and get a drink or go for a walk. You can come back to the book later.


Keep it Fun

Above all, keep it fun! Reading should be a fun and engaging experience for parent and child. Add a simple craft to spice it up, something that uses senses like touch, smell, or sight. This mom's idea for color storytime comes with a fun simple craft you can do at home!

To check out a list of suggested readings for children with special needs and local library sensory story times, view the original article here!


Friday, April 4, 2014

Five Birds, One Stone

Today at our South Franklin Community Center Playgroup, we did the best little craft activity. This activity is awesome for five reasons. 


1. It takes time and attention. Your little ones will love playing with the cereal, placing the pieces on the glue and coming up with different patterns. 

2. ummm... Snack time and a craft all in one? You just can't go wrong.

3. This is an awesome opportunity to learn COLORS! 

4. It will help develop your child's fine motor skills. Challenge the kids to stay inside the lines. 

5. Who doesn't have all these supplies on hand. It is easy and cheap! So grab your glue, a printed design, any colorful cereal and get crafting! 

Whether it comes out looking like this......

or this.....



Its a win! Happy Friday! 

PS. This playgroup meets every Friday at 11 am. The first half hour we do free time playing with toys, then an activity, snack and a craft. All are welcome! The address is 770 South 700 West Provo Utah. 

Wednesday, April 2, 2014

Help Me Grow and Welcome Baby Giveaway

Here at Help Me Grow and Welcome Baby we are blessed to receive generous donations on a regular basis. We use these donations in our Welcome Baby home packets, at our playgroups and our Parenting classes. Sometimes we get bigger items that we don’t know what to do with, so we have decided to do occasional giveaways to our dedicated readers and followers. 

To enter this giveaway:

1. Subscribe to our blog (or comment if you are already subscribed)
2. Follow us and like the giveaway post on Instagram (@helpmegrowutah)
3. Like our Facebook pages (or like the giveaway post)

We will gather a list of all our likes, comments and new subscriptions and then will do a random drawing next Wednesday April 6th, 2014 to pick the winner. We have a table full of options to choose from. Below are some things we have to give away!  We also have gift cards! Happy Wednesday! 







Tuesday, April 1, 2014

6 Games to Get Your Child Moving!

This one goes out to all the parents out there who have ever looked at their child and wondered how can they have so much energy?? 

Children need to run, jump, play, and be active! Physical activity is crucial in promoting healthy habits that can last a lifetime. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, it helps children develop stronger muscle and bone density, and promotes lung and hearth fitness! Participating in just 20-30 minutes a day can even boost brain function in your child, pretty awesome right?

With that in mind, listed here some rockin ideas to help release some of that pent up energy and get your kids MOVING!

1. Wacky Waiter
Now here is some really FAST food! Grab a large plastic dinner place and a ping-pong ball for each team, and voila! To play you need a starting line, a designated turnaround point, and two teams with at least two players on each team. While holding the plate "waiter style", the first runner on each team places a ping pong ball on their plate. The player carries it to the turnaround point and back to tag the next teammate, and so on. If they drop the ball, pick it up and keep going. The first team to go through all their players first wins! 

2. Foot Volleyball
Forget they gymnasium, all you need for this awesome indoor activity is some yarn or string and a balloon! This activity is perfect for those days when the weather is less that ideal. For instructions on how to play, click here.

3. Hose Head
Okay, so I'm getting a workout just laughing at the thought of this! Use some old tights for an interesting take on keep-away, you'll need some old control-top hose or tights, a sponge ball or rolled-up sock, and at least two players. Hey, maybe mom can even get in on the fun! Learn how to play here.

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4. Shoe Pile Scramble 
This one is so easy! All you need? The shoes on their feet! Have the kids remove their shoes, and place them in a pile. Scramble them up to make it more exciting, then line up the players at the starting line a short distance away. The objective is this: put on your shoes, and make it back to the finish line, fast! Blow the whistle, and see who wins!

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5. Mom (or Dad) Calling
Speaking of getting parents in on the fun! This is an excellent way to stay active with your children, while getting a little social time in with the neighbors too! Here's how to play: Mothers (or dads!) line up side by side, blindfolded. Across the way, have your kids lined up side by side as well. At the "Go" the kids start calling out your name. The mom or dad who can find their child first, wins!
Mom (or Dad) Calling - Image Collection
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6. Stepping Stones 
Finally, you can put a use to those old T-shirts! This is so simple, and a great way to spark their imagination. Each player get's two "stepping stones" (old t-shirts, towels, etc.) and you must cross a pretend stream, personally I prefer a  river of lava. No touching the grass! Stand on one stone, then place the second one ahead and jump onto that stone. Reach back to retrieve the first stone, place it farther ahead, and so on. The first to reach the other side unscathed wins!

Stepping Stones - Image Collection
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Get creative, be active, and have fun! Post below if you have addition awesome ideas!