1. Lead by example. Serve as a role model by volunteering at your child’s school or engaging them in frequent conversation about community service. Explain the benefits of community service to your child and help them understand social responsibility and diversity in their communities.

2. Involve your child in selecting a project or cause in which to participate. There are a variety of resources to help you and your child become involved in your community. Check with your child’s school for any community service activities.

3. Consider a developmentally appropriate cause based on your child’s interest and skill level. There are a variety of ways your child can donate his or her time. For instance, several Arts & Crafts charities give your child an opportunity to paint, create cuddly dolls and bags for sick children.

4. Prepare you child for the experience by asking questions, providing options and listening to their needs and wants.

5. Praise their efforts and talk about your volunteer experience once it is complete. It’s helpful to ask your child what he or she learned from the experience. Ask your child if he or she had fun helping. Communication is key.

6. Start small. Recycling at home is a great way to incorporate community service into your daily or weekly routine. Show your child which items to recycle and teach them about how it helps the community.

Daily Schedule
1. Allow plenty of time for children to make choices in child-directed play. Child-directed play allow children to choose from a variety of activities including dress up, sand play, clay, art, etc.

2. Plan group time based on children’s ability to attend. Children should always feel involved and part of the group.

3. Provide ample time for transitions to minimize children’s frustrations.

4. Create routines that encourage children to be independent. Routines help children feel comfortable and secure. A consistent routine provides certain expectations and helps reduce any behavioral problems.

Environment and Activities
1. Place toys and materials on low shelves, easily accessible to the children.

2. Provide supplies that reflect children’s identity and culture.

3. Enhance the dramatic play center with mirrors and dress up clothes to allow children to explore.

4. Label bins and toy shelves so children can participate in clean up.

5. Keep hand washing supplies and self help materials within children’s reach. Hand washing supplies help in preventing the spread of germs.

Here are some very useful tips!

Interactions
1. It’s important to talk positively with children about identity and physical characteristics. Use positive words and offer praise to help children feel a sense of accomplishment. The more you encourage children, the more they gain confidence to do things on their own.

2. Make sure to give children individual attention during activities and routines. Take time to listen to what each child has to say and ask questions. The child should feel like his or her thoughts are important.
3. It’s helpful to call children by name and include their perspective in conversations. Make sure that every child knows that what he or she has to say is worthy of being heard.
4. React to teasing or rejecting among children by intervening to discuss similarities and differences.
5. You should speak with children at their eye level often throughout the day. Speaking at eye level increases communication effectiveness through eye contact.

I noticed that there are still peeps who checks and lurks at this blog! I see you! hehe But thanks for taking the time to drop by and dropped an EC to some others;-) I know I haven’t been updating this space for a while due to some more important stuff. But I still hope I can keep up and post something informative finds and what’s not! I’ll be leaving for a month vacation this weekend and who knows if I can update this site or not again. But hopefully new photos from the warmer place!

Have a great days ahead! See ya when I see you;-)

I was reading few things online and came across this 11 ways on how to have healthy relationship. Thought it would be nice to share this here.

1. Do not expect anyone to be responsible for your happiness. Accept yourself. Respect yourself. Love yourself. Take good care of yourself. If you really want, you CAN always find something to do that makes you feel good about yourself right now. Love yourself, so pursue your true needs. Light up your true desires. Ask yourself why you didn’t? Too often relationships fail because someone is unhappy and blames their partner for making them that way. Your life is ONLY under your control. Keep reminding yourself you are GOOD ENOUGH to have a happy life and a healthy relationship. Make yourself happy, and then share with one another.
2. Make and keep clear agreements. Respect the difference between yourself and your partner. Don’t expect he or she agrees with you on everything. Reach mutual agreement or plan, and then commit to it. Leave the partner if you can’t reach any agreement or you find he or she always makes excuses for breaking the agreement or plan. If you say you’re going to meet your partner for lunch at noon, be on time, or call if you’re going to be late. If you agree to have a monogamous relationship, keep that agreement and/or tell the truth about any feelings you’re having about someone else before you act on them. Keeping agreements shows respect for yourself and your partner, as well as creating a sense of trust and safety.
3. Use communication to establish a common ground to understand different points of view and to create a mutual, collaborative agreement or plan. You can either choose to be right, or you can have a successful relationship. You can’t always have both. Most people argue to be “right” about something. They say. “If you loved me, you would…” and argue to hear the other say, “Okay, you’re right.” If you are generally more interested in being right, this approach will not create a healthy relationship. Having a healthy relationship means that you have your experience, and your partner has his or her experience, and you learn to love and share and learn from those experiences. If you can’t reach any mutual agreement, that doesn’t mean either of you is wrong or bad, it only means you don’t suit each other.
4. Approach your relationship as a learning experience. Each one has important information for you to learn. For example, do you often feel ‘bossed’ around in your relationship, or do you feel powerless? When a relationship is not working, there is usually a familiar way that we feel while in it. We are attracted to the partner with whom we can learn the most, and sometimes the lesson is to let go of a relationship that no longer serves us. A truly healthy relationship will consist of both partners who are interested in learning and expanding a relationship so that it continues to improve.
5. Tell the unarguable truth. Be truthful to yourself and your partner if you want true love. Many people are taught to lie to protect someone’s feelings, either their own or those of their partner. Lies create disconnection between you and your relationship, even if your partner never finds out about it. The unarguable truth is about your true feelings; your partner can argue about anything that happens outside of you, but he or she cannot rationally deny your feelings. Here are some examples: “I felt scared when I saw you talking to him at the party,” “I feel angry when you hang up on me,” and “I felt sad when you walked out during our fight and didn’t want to be around me.”
6. Do not do anything for your partner if it comes with an expectation of reciprocation. The things you do for your partner must always be done because you chose to do them and you wanted to do them. Do not hold your “good deeds” over their head at a later time. Keeping score in a relationship will never work: a person is less likely to notice and value all the contributions of their partner as much as their own.


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I was thinking of just buying flowers online for this coming Mother’s Day to give to my in-laws! And my gosh, I am just glad I found this wholesale calla lilies because it’s definitely cheaper compare to another site and you can also check out different flowers for your fancy! I love calla lilies and my MIL love it too so, I will check if it’s cheaper to order there. I see that they cater any kids of occasions specially for wedding occasion! I am skeptical ordering flowers online but you can read in their reviews that they are good at what they do! We’ll see about it;)

I think I’ve shared something like this in my other blog but thought those who don’t read that one can read it here as well! Being a Mommy of 2 boys, makes me want to read articles about Home and Family stuff! I know, I am not alone in terms of that one. Every Mommy just want to have the best of their children! So finding articles from this site that I found the other day is sure great! I belong to Mommy sites already but first hand experiences or actual advices is great too! Plus I can have new friends! It’s always nice to meet new people online! And this web articles is very new to me! I never thought that you can actually submit articles too! That way, you can share some tips to others! Either your blog has niches in Home and Family, Computer and Technology, Finances, Travel and Leisure they have it there! You can search the site and you can just about everything you are looking for! And if you’re a webgeek you will also find this articles called elements and options which is another thing that I need to read!

Anyway, you check it out because it’s very helpful and useful specially if you love reading internet stuff! And one more thing, there is this article on how to back up your computer safely! This goes to peeps like me! I know how to back up my files but finding something like this and learn from errors is also a great one! Check it out;-)

Some of you saw these already but oh well, here it is again:) I am making my little peanut his first week of life album. I will also make one for my little boy. But I am so slow and these are the ones that I have done yet.

This will be first page. And the last page will be something like this too. But I am thinking of adding a little of course. I am leaning towards clean scrapping for this album because I’ll give it to my in-laws and my Mom come Valentines Day. And I don’t want them to wonder why on earth there are small photos and elements there when they all want to see is my little peanut! hehe Theme for these album will be brown, blue and gold and a little yellow for sure:) I’ll share the finish product ones it’s done! Wish me luck, I need them! haha

And here’s the back and front cover:)

I am hoping to finish them next week!!!