Saturday, August 8, 2009

Kids Diet Equipoise Food

As a parent, one issue that is constantly on my mind is that of ensuring my children are properly nourished. Fortunately, my children have the eating habits of J.R.R. Tolkien's hobbits- they eat at least three breakfasts before lunch. This gives me ample opportunity to ensure that their nutrition intake is set for the rest of the day. I am sure that other parents have the same concerns, though possibly not the easy time I have with feeding my kids.

Kid Eating
Photo: nascity

I would like to share some of the nutrition "secrets" I have encountered in my seemingly endless trips to the refrigerator to keep my little hollowed out munchers happy. The first secret is that nutrition is not a secret at all. Every container of food you buy has nutritional values listed on a label on the side. These values are very important in determining whether or not the charges of the stay-at-home parent are receiving all the vitamins, minerals, fiber, protein and the hundred other nutritional necessities that keep the mind of the stay-at-home parent occupied. The second important secret is milk. Milk is the nectar of the gods. By making sure your kids drink just one cup of milk with each meal, you will have taken care of their body’s needs for vitamins A, D and B12, as well as calcium, some iron content and even protein.

Other dairy products also help fill these needs, so cheese and yogurt are also good add-ons for snacks or to meals. Breakfast foods such as oatmeal and most cereals are also chock-full of vitamins, minerals, and fiber. Sugar cereals should be used sparingly, as a treat. There are lots of other ways to add some zing to a cereal that kids may otherwise think of as bland. Breakfast can also include fruit (bananas are an especially good power food) and juice, although too much juice in a day is bad both for a child’s sugar intake and their teeth.

Kids should be allowed some juice, though, and the new style fruit and veggie juice is ideal as it tastes just like regular juice but contains vegetable content as well (such as spinach and carrots), and thus is a good equalizer for a child who is finicky about their vegetables. Whole wheat bread is also very important to a child’s diet. They will only think it is undesirable if a parent or schoolmate points it out to them.

Kid Eating
Photo: DifferentWay

Whole wheat bread, specifically Dempster’s brand, is brimming with nutritional goodness. Recent studies have suggested that vegetables bought frozen may actually be healthier than those cooked fresh. The freezing locks the nutrients into the vegetable immediately, and does not allow the leeching out that otherwise begins as soon as the vegetable is picked from the ground. There are some foods that may seem like a good idea for a snack or supplement to a meal, but in fact they need to be avoided. Uppermost among these are dried banana chips. These little nuggets are actually deep fried, and just a handful contain more fat than a Big Mac! Make sure that you know how the food you are feeding your kids is processed before considering it a healthy food choice.

Saturday, August 1, 2009

Let children learn at home than send them to school

First of all, you don't have to wake them up every morning and bundle them off to school with umpteen numbers of instructions and wait with an anxious heart till they return. Homeschooling gives you more control over the influences that affect your children. The growth of your child is removed from the realm of the unknown.

Learn at Home
Photo: indigoextra.com

Tailoring the curriculum to suit the needs and interests of the children is one of the most benefits of homeschooling. Individual attention is another benefit of homeschooling. For instance, if your children need more time to learn Math, then they can reduce the time for their English lessons. There are no fixed hours of learning per subject, a child has the advantage of assigning more number of hours to the subject that seems tough without any additional pressure.

The schooling of the child becomes an extended family activity. The amount of time needed to learn each subject will depend on the abilities and interests of the child. Parents get involved in every step of the learning procedure. Field trips and experiments become family activities. Thus, the child receives more quality time with his parents. The entire family shares games, chores and projects.

The child is also free of any negative peer pressure while making choices and decisions. Competition is limited when it comes to homeschooling. The child does not need to prove his ability with regards to other children. His confidence remains intact. Since parents have a deep understanding of their child, they can plan the learning program to pique the child's interest. It is also possible to intersperse difficult tasks with fun activities. A tough hour with Algebra can be followed by a trip to the nearest museum. Learning becomes fun. Parents can also tailor the curriculum to suit the learning style of the children.

Learn at Home
Photo: mytimekids.com

Homeschooling allows parents to take control over the moral and religious learning of the child. Some children learn through reading, while others need to write and still others need to see objects in action. Parents have the flexibility to incorporate their beliefs and ideologies into the child's curriculum. There is no confusion in the child's mind either because there is no variation between what is being taught and what is being practiced. By the way, more and more parents are getting disillusioned with the public school system. They believe that their children are being pushed too hard or too little. Other worrying issues pertaining to discipline and ethics also make the school system less welcome.

Many repudiate the educational philosophy of grouping children solely on the basis of their age. Some parents themselves have unhappy memories of their own public school experience that motivates them to opt for homeschooling when it comes to their own children. Homeschooling is the best way to teach a child if you have the time, the ability and the interest to follow through with his education. After all, nobody can understand or appreciate your child more than yourself.