Posted on: Thursday, July 12, 2007
Here's how to stir children's imaginations
Advertiser Staff
Tips on how to help cultivate your child's imagination:
Encourage new experiences — poetry readings, visiting an art gallery or something as simple as giving your child access to a variety of music and literature in your home. Your child will gain new perspective.
Support experimentation and encourage your child to pursue a variety of interests. Exposing children to various art forms, for example, gives them access to stimuli that will engage them and affect their creativity in and out of the classroom.
Avoid criticizing or comparing your child's creative endeavors to those of other children. Praise your child for inventiveness and encourage him or her to embrace innovative thinking.
Promote creative writing and other artistic outlets. Provide your child with a lined journal or a blank sketching tablet. Let the child know that the notebook is private and that you will not look at it without their permission.
Source: Monique Datta, a seventh- and eighth-grade reading instructor at King Intermediate School/Hawai'i State Teachers Association
U.S. REPORT OFFERS IDEAS ON CUTTING CAMPUS VIOLENCE
A joint report by the departments of Justice, Education, and Health and Human Services offers ideas for reducing the risk of violence on college campuses. The 22-page analysis calls for better communication between educators and mental-health workers, better training for campus police and more help for mentally ill students.
President Bush requested the multi-agency report in April, just days after a mentally ill Virginia Tech student killed 32 classmates and faculty members before fatally shooting himself. The Virginia Tech report calls for more focus on treating people with mental illnesses, as well as making sure they can't buy guns. The federal officials found widespread concern about inadequate mental-health services.
One reason mental illness appears to be more common on campuses now is that improvements in the treatment of mental illness allow more students to go to college, the report said.
Source: McClatchy-Tribune News Service
KEEP STUDENT ACTIVITIES WITHIN BOUNDS
Tips on creating a balanced schedule of activities for kids after school and on weekends:
Try not to schedule any activities for at least one or two days a week.
Look for sports leagues that aren't too competitive and emphasize having fun, learning sportsmanship, understanding rules and developing basic skills.
Remember that each child is different. What's right for one may not work for another.
Read your child and watch for signs of stress. Do they seem tired? Is homework getting done? Do they have enough free time? Are family meals being skipped too much to accommodate activities?
Be aware that some sports require an immense amount of time for practices and games and can cause strain on kids and families.
Remember that kids don't have to do everything at once. Some activities can wait until next year.
Source: The Associated Press/Paul Donahue, child psychologist, and William Doherty, co-founder of Putting Family First
