Last weekend I stepped outside and headed to the veggie patch, as I needed some parsley for my cooking. I was surprised to see that it was turning yellow, with only a few green tufts left. Glancing around I saw that the rhubarb was bolting, the tomatoes were tiny and had been eaten by a grub, and the other plants were looking wilted. How did this happen to my once lush, productive garden? I stopped to think…..Mmmm, it had been a week since I’d been out there. No wait …. maybe it was 2, or even 3 weeks! I realised that I hadn’t tended to the garden for such a long time due to my work and personal commitments, and as a result it was neglected.
12 months ago that same garden had given me large quantities of tomatoes, parsley and zucchini which I happily shared. 12 months ago I was regularly out in the garden weeding, watering and nurturing it. What a difference!
How does this relate to parenting?
Children need to be nurtured. Just like a plant which needs good soil, water and sunshine to grow, our children also have needs. These must be satisfied in order to grow into healthy, ‘productive’ children.
Their needs are simple….. and it doesn’t involve trips to the toy store or expensive excursions to the latest theme park! Their needs centre around you. They need the basics as all humans do of food, clothing, shelter AND they need love and connection in order to thrive!
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Nutrition for your Infants
/by Sonja PrestonOn my home visits with families, one area of concern for parents is that of nutrition – in terms of when do I start to introduce solids, what to feed their growing child, and how much to feed them. Let’s start at the beginning, with pregnancy.
During pregnancy, it is important that the developing foetus receives adequate nutrition via the mothers diet. When the mother eats a mix diet of healthy foods and adequate intake of water, she is giving her baby the best start.
There is a lot of evidence to show that breastfeeding is the best possible food for your new baby, with all the nutrition they need. There are many cases where breastfeeding is not a possibility, and an appropriate infant formula, when it is made up as per the instructions on the label, can provide the required nutrition. Both breast and formula milk contains a particular fatty substance which is essential for the optimal development of neurons (brain cells) – this is why formula milk should not be diluted.
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No, No, No – Do you ever feel like that’s what you say all day?
/by Sonja PrestonSome days with our toddlers and children feel like they are filled with events which aren’t going well… the children are yelling at each other, or smearing paint on the floor, or hassling the cat, or jumping on the sofa. And we hear ourselves saying ‘No’ for the umpteenth time today… And the children don’t really seem to be listening to us!
Most of us ‘zone out’ if we hear words repeated over and over – meaning that they become less effective in their message because they are overused. ‘No’ may one of those words your child hears too often, and they lean to ignore it.
Do you wish there was another way? Well, here are some other ways to give the message ‘No’, without using that word!
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Activities to Enhance Literacy Skills
/by Sonja PrestonDo you often find yourself wondering what you can do for fun with your child today?
There are many simple activities you can do, which will also help your child’s emerging Literacy skills.
Literacy includes development in the areas of Reading, Writing, Speaking and Listening.
Here are some activities which you can start today:
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A Flourishing Garden
/by Sonja PrestonLast weekend I stepped outside and headed to the veggie patch, as I needed some parsley for my cooking. I was surprised to see that it was turning yellow, with only a few green tufts left. Glancing around I saw that the rhubarb was bolting, the tomatoes were tiny and had been eaten by a grub, and the other plants were looking wilted. How did this happen to my once lush, productive garden? I stopped to think…..Mmmm, it had been a week since I’d been out there. No wait …. maybe it was 2, or even 3 weeks! I realised that I hadn’t tended to the garden for such a long time due to my work and personal commitments, and as a result it was neglected.
12 months ago that same garden had given me large quantities of tomatoes, parsley and zucchini which I happily shared. 12 months ago I was regularly out in the garden weeding, watering and nurturing it. What a difference!
How does this relate to parenting?
Children need to be nurtured. Just like a plant which needs good soil, water and sunshine to grow, our children also have needs. These must be satisfied in order to grow into healthy, ‘productive’ children.
Their needs are simple….. and it doesn’t involve trips to the toy store or expensive excursions to the latest theme park! Their needs centre around you. They need the basics as all humans do of food, clothing, shelter AND they need love and connection in order to thrive!
Read more
My Kids are Now Adults!
/by Sonja PrestonThis article is supplied by guest writer, Rodney Tattam, who writes a weekly blog, called One Page Wonder.
“The best thing parents can do for their children is allow them to be who they were born to be.” ― Nancy Arroyo Ruffin
Week after week I endeavour to post something that has a positive Twenty one years ago we became parents for the very first time and our lives changed forever, and so much for the better. Two years later we were blessed with our second son and life became incredible. At this period there are so many changes happening in your life and so much to learn and comprehend. Most of it, you learn or make up as you go.
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Learning Styles
/by Sonja PrestonHave you ever noticed that learning new things isn’t always easy? That sometimes you ‘just get it’ quickly, and other times it feels hard to learn?
We all have different ways in which we learn best.
There are four main ways in which we learn, and once we know and understand our preferred learning style, it makes learning so much easier – it doesn’t matter whether it’s learning how to make a new recipe, or to change a tyre on the car, or to master something new on the computer…
The different ways are: Visual, Auditory, Kinaesthetic and Auditory-Digital
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Gratitude in Parenting: Being grateful and teaching our children gratitude.
/by Sonja PrestonFlying gives me great pleasure – I get excited just like a child – the thrill of taxiing down the runway, and the glee when the plane lifts and soars above the ground – I sit there, almost grinning like the Cheshire Cat in ‘Alice in Wonderful’.
The next day I’m lying on the grass in my sister, Anita’s backyard, in the sunshine with my niece, gazing through the dappled light of the giant tree at the moving clouds. I felt grateful and blessed to be there, for Cecilie’s company (I only see her every 4-5 years), for the sun when it was mid-winter back home in Tasmania, for being able to laze about instead of working, for the fact I had enough money to take such a trip, and for the joy of being with family again – so many things to be grateful for! Read more
Playing With Blocks
/by Sonja PrestonBlocks are one of those toys which last for years, and can be used in a variety of ways by children of many ages.
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The 5 Words Your Newborn Says
/by Sonja PrestonDo you sometimes have difficulty working out why your baby is crying? What is it, that they want? And even when you’ve tried a few things, they still cry!
Think about this…
Imagine if you were the baby and you were saying: ‘I’m tired’, and your carer feeds you instead! And then when you say again: ‘I’m tired’, then they decide to burp you… or change your nappy – the result would be one unhappy baby – and probably one upset and distressed parent!
This is what often happens with a newborn and new parents. It’s like we are both talking different languages, and can’t really understand what the other is saying. And so we take a guess – and sometimes we are lucky and get it right, and other times not!
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No More Food Fights!
/by Sonja PrestonIt’s a scene played out in may households every day… Young children refusing to eat food, and parents getting stressed about whether the child is getting enough – bet you’ve all been there… I know I have!
Around 14 months of age is when children learn to say, or indicate, the word: ‘no’. They will push away the bottle or spoon and refuse to take more. This is the beginning of their ability to make choices, and that’s a good thing. It is the beginning of their move toward independence. Children need to learn to make choices. And, just like us, sometimes they make ‘good’ choices and other times not. It is only though trial and error that we learn.
In the beginning, they often say ‘no’ when they mean ‘yes’, while they are learning these new words. This makes it super challenging for parents when they go to put the banana away (which the toddler just said No to) and then the toddler cries because he does want it, he just used the wrong word. Like many transitional times in children’s life, this is when they need extra understanding from us – even when it’s a challenging situation for us!
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