Parenting and Family Education

Archive for the ‘parenting advice’ Category

Last week some kids may have went to the new film Band Slam, which shows the ups and downs of teenagers playing in a rock/ska band. This week, some fathers may be faced with inspired teens who now wish to start a band and may need some parenting advice on how to help their kids.

Once a teenager has assembled their band together, fathers should try to find a decent practice space for the group. A garage with sound proof walls may do the trick, as well as a basement. It’s also important to impose a strict schedule at the beginning to ensure practice doesn’t go past a certain hour.

It may also be frustrating for your child’s new band to compose their first song. If this occurs, suggest they start with a cover song (and an easy one at that). One of the important elements of a band is for them to be able to play together. Covering a song that everyone knows will help foster that.

When the kids are ready to start writing songs, consider going to the library and pick up a song writing book or look online. One way to help your child get some lyrics down is to buy them a notebook they can carry around with them, to jot down whatever inspiration comes to them.

Finally, when the noise starts to resemble music, call around town to local venues and ask whether or not they’ll take in local bands. Don’t worry if the gig is on a Tuesday night and three people show up. This is all part of the evolution of the band.

This is a great way for fathers to bond with their children, especially if both play musical instruments. One thing to keep in mind is to manage a child’s expectations and remind him or her that starting a band isn’t about making money and touring the country – it’s about bring people together who love playing music.

Parenting is one of the boons bestowed on not all. And ironically, the value of ‘parenting’ is better known by those who aren’t gifted with it. Of late, there have been a myriad of parenting concepts making its way through the dinner table talks to the articles in magazines. Out of the lot, one very commonly heard of concept is that of ‘positive parenting’.

Positive parenting

Positive parenting is a concept that stresses on encouraging kids for their accomplishments rather than just punishing them for their not-so-worthy acts. The concept utilizes the natural human tendency! Wouldn’t you want your good work to be recognized in your work place? Wouldn’t you feel motivated if you were appreciated for your good work and were rewarded with some sort of memento? It’s the similar case with your little sweethearts. They too love it when you appreciate their accomplishments and they get motivated to do such works every time.

Positive parenting ideas

One of the most effective of the positive parenting ideas is the kids reward system. Now, make sure the reward is actually something that your kid loves to the core and has desired it since long. There’s no point in gifting your kid with something he or she is less interested in. So, let’s summarize the entire process of this positive parenting idea:

Set a goal for your kid. Tell your kid that on the accomplishment of the task (it can be anything like cleaning up the room, completion of homework, doing some projects, learning a new instrument and so on) there would be a reward ‘X’. Make sure the ‘X’ is something your kid wants, that way, the reward is a coveted one now.

It’s quite obvious that on the accomplishment of the task you would be rewarding your kid, but make sure you reward the kid for a good try even though the task isn’t accomplished.

For more of positive parenting ideas going online would be a feasible idea.

Parenting is something that has to be experienced to be understood. Parenting advice may be ample, but they have to be modified to suit each case. After all, your child is special and unique.

Parenting is a non-stop occupation. You never know when the next question or crisis will arise, so it’s a good idea to have some handy resources at the ready.

When we’re new parents, the first source we typically call upon is our parents, right? They raised us after all, and we turned out pretty well, didn’t we? But when considering the advice you get from your parents, remember that they might not be especially objective. Truth is, you might not be objective about them and their advice either. That, in fact, can make your parents one of the worst potential sources of parenting advice, because both sides are seeing things from what may be a less-than-objective point of view.

Next in line, we typically turn to our best friends and fellow parents, as well as professionals (family doctor, teachers, clergy, etc.). But these may not be the best resources for parenting advice either. Why? Because we may be looking at our relationship with them (especially our best friends) just as we did with our parents. We respect the relationship, or the title in the case of professionals, and, therefore, we may tend to automatically give credence to advice from these sources.

So, instead of automatically seeking and accepting advice from these traditional sources, here’s what I suggest doing:

First, when seeking advice on parenting from anyone, examine that person’s experience with children as well as with the particular issue on which you’re seeking advice.

Next, examine how that person relates to children, interacts with children, communicates with children, and what sort of value system that person has regarding the parenting of children. If it’s similar to your own, that’s a good foundation.

You might also seek out specialists (therapists, counsellors, etc.) and, if this is the case, you must again apply these same criteria:
- Is the professional/specialist honest, yet tactful with you and your children?
- Is the specialist objective, yet caring?
- Does the specialist have experience as a parent, or with your particular child’s issues?

And what about school-related issues? If you take your problem to a teacher or school counsellor, consider that you may be revealing more about your child or your family than you should. While I wouldn’t necessarily rule out such discussions or resource professionals, just keep in mind that you don’t want to bias a teacher in any way against your.

We all need parenting help and advice at some point. Just remember to do your homework on any source (i.e., consider and weigh the source), and proceed with caution and your own best judgment before leaping to accept any advice.