New addition, home tips!

Now you can see my time saving and money saving tips.  If the idea is good enough for the picky person I am, I’ll share it.  I hope you enjoy the additional blog posts.

More important than what’s put in your child’s backpack, is what’s put in your child’s mind.   Each parent must instill in his/her child the insistence of success.  If low proficiency and failure are no options, students raise their personal goals.   No matter how much a parent

There is no surprise that a child whose home insists on success, whose home who puts a priority on education, is more successful than a child who’s given the supplies and and a good luck pat on the back.

Praise is most affective when children deserve it. Occasionally praise is necessary when the child needs a word of encouragement.  Praise is counterproductive when it’s given to a child who wants it.

‘Affluenza’ teen and his mother detained in Mexico’. (FOX, Dec, ’15)  School teachers face this parent on a daily basis.  It’s the wealthy version of bad parenting.

So, when a parent refuses to allow consequences, no matter the socio-economic group,  the problem only gets bigger.

Parents Are.

When schools are doing much of the parenting, kids are not prepared to be their best selves.  Thus the academic results are poor.   …more to come.

God bless your family.

Some parents are guilted into buying their pre-teen a cell phone.  Don’t be sucked in.

Here’s the deal. Before teen years, your kid is under your watchful eye, not the cell phone’s location app.   Your attentive parenting generally ‘inspires’ a child to do right.  And if he does wrong, it’s your parenting consequences, which leads to better choices.  This approach is time-tested, but only if you plan to pay attention to your kid.

OH, safety…  yes.  Parents will tell you it’s a safety thing.  Nothing replaces responsible parenting.

As it applies to school, cell phones are a terrible distraction. After all, even I would be more interested in checking my phone rather than listening to the teacher.

So if you still insist on buying a cellphone for Jr., remember.  You still need to parent.  Technology never takes the place of your role in your child’s life. In the classroom, a cellphone will hinder learning.

From my classroom experience, I’ve found, the kids without a cell phone are no less safe than those who have them.

A good parent worries about her child’s needs, not about her child’s wants.

Needs and Wants are entirely different.  The kids who have to earn the Wants tend to be more productive adults.

The best quote of July 4th:

“With ALL the world has to offer, with ALL its opportunities, do you REALLY have time to look at a cell phone?”

This quote is from a father with pre-teen boys who, with his wife, provides vast experiences, instead of material things.

God bless your family.

Mary

Today I went to a funeral mass. Why is that important? Well, when the woman’s children eulogized her, they focused on her wonderful parenting. They mentioned how Mom pushed them and demanded their best. The kids remembered that Mom’s motivating ways did not always conjure up good memories. Yet, her no-nonsense parenting style made them upright, successful adults.

Children do not celebrate ineffective parents. Kids celebrate the parent who worked hard enough to be the bad guy, so their kids could be good adults.

The effort a child makes is largely based on the message she hears.  When a child knows someone will excuse her, she will not work.

No matter how difficult the task or the situation, the child must be pushed to continue her quest.  She may not achieve the ultimate goal, but by working forward, she will not doubt, achieve more than she first expected.

While you allow your child to wallow in her own self doubt, and frustration, there will be another parent who is making no excuses for his child.  Very shortly your child will be eclipsed by the children who are not excused from hard work.

I continue to watch society explain how someone is downtrodden,  and can’t do better than his lot in life.  Simply put, telling a child he can’t, means he won’t.

For nearly half of my career I taught intelligent kids who experienced limited, academic success. (Yes, that’s possible)   Most of the students initially entered my program defensive, and with low confidence. I could very well have empathized with them. Instead, I allowed no excuses.  I expected every student to not only pass, but they were also going to excel.  And that’s exactly what they did.   Communicating my confidence in their intelligence, made them believers and ultimately, successful students.

No one has confidence in a child, like a parent.  Push your kids toward success.

God bless your family.