July 1 2010

"The Old Lakota was wise. He knew that man's heart away from nature becomes hard; he knew that lack of respect for growing, living things soon led to a lack of respect for humans too. So he kept his youth close to its softening influence" Chief Luther Standing Bear


Yogurt and Fruit

Serves 3
combine ingredients

1 1/2 cups plain nonfat yogurt (organic)
1 cup fresh peach slices
1/2 cup fresh strawberries
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 Tbs. honey


Growing Child

Lack of understanding and improper punishment can create a child with a problem. The 2 1/2 year old exhibits a strong will power and he recognizes the many ways to successfully manipulate his parents. He may refuse to eat, go to sleep or cooperate. Nevertheless, when you inflict punishment on child of this age, he is not to young to feel angry with you. This anger he feels may frighten him. Some parents use words, "you'll be the death of me", "you drive me crazy", which can be as equally destructive as physical punishment. The child grasps the parent's anger. He doesn't know that this anger is temporary and that angry feelings are normal. What he learns is to imitate aggression which often takes the form of tantrums. Parent and child feed the flames of each others passions, precipitating a vicious cycle.
We know that a child intuitively wants to be good and please his parents. By reflection his thoughts back to him, he has an emotional release and can save face: "I know you're angry, and I know how you feel. You don't want to put away the toys. You want to play. Come, let's put them away together. In spite of this a child doesn't always accept the situation, in which case it is necessary to distract him. Not every cause must be resolved. It's important to make allowances for individual differences. It is not to soon to set reasonable limits which for this age must be clear-cut. Avoid unnecessary confrontations which result from too many "no's", "don't touch" and "stop".

This is from Growing Child. I found the advice, avoid unnecessary confrontations, to be very valuable. I enjoyed reading child development books when I was raising my kids. I want to just put information out here, random bits of stuff, and hope that it can help. Since it's my nieces and nephews who have children and not my own kids, maybe I can do this with just genuine caring and desire to help.

4 months

At four months baby likes to

Raise herself up by her arms.
Turn her torso from one side to the other
Hold her feet in the air and kick when lying on her back.
Chew on things she can bring to her mouth
Babble for pleasure.
Splash with hands and feet in the bath.

Give your baby

A variety of objects to examine and explore ( a cube, a ball, rattle, bell)
More dangling toys to watch and swipe at with hands or feet.
Music and nursery rhyme records.
Changes of scenery both inside and outside the house.


3 year old
Questions are the techniques children use to find answers and to increase knowledge.
Activities which provoke creative imagination. "What could you do with four eyes that you cannot do with two? Name things that fly, things that are green." etc.
Activities which demand the making of theories: "What new ways can you think of to use envelopes, scotch tape, newspaper."
Activities to promote flexibility: Have them cut out different shapes from a magazine and paste them into designs.

Help your child get his room organized so that he can later get his letters organized. It is as simple as that. Have a time each day ( the same time) with help from mom and dad he gets his room in order. There should be a place for all his possessions, and he should learn the place where each object belongs. He is learning about space and how objects are organized in space. Later on in school this concept will help him learn the difference between b,d, p and q. Clothing also, Let him put his clothing items in their proper places to the extent that he is able to cope with the problems.