Oxford Family Group Daycare
"Caring for your Precious Jewels"
Monday, November 24, 2014
HELPING YOUR KIDS COPE WITH STRESS
ANGER, HUGE ISSUE TO DEAL WITH!
HELPING KIDS TO REMAIN NON-VIOLENT
Violence is part of our world today, but there are many things parents can do to help prevent youth violence. Homes, schools, Daycare should be safe havens for children.
A child who lives with domestic violence is forever changed, but not forever damaged. All children who are exposed to domestic violence are impacted in some way. However, each child is unique. Even children in the same family are affected in different ways, depending upon factors such as age, gender, relationship to the abuser, role in the family and relationships with others.
The effects of domestic violence on children can include: self-harming behaviors, poor boundaries, constant anxiety and stress, feelings of powerlessness, low self-esteem, behavioral problems, taking on adult roles prematurely, constant fear, feelings of isolation, drug and alcohol use and depression. Children who are exposed to domestic violence can also learn how to abuse others as well as how to be victims themselves.
Reducing Violence Begins At Home
Ø Maintain a supportive, loving relationship with your children. Spend time with them on a regular basis.
Ø Reinforce your children’s positive behavior with praise.
Ø Build your children’s self-esteem. Children who feel good about themselves are better able to stand up for themselves in tough social situations.
Ø Set limits, such as “No hitting or name-calling.”
Ø Rather then spanking/physical punishment, use alternatives such as time-out, consequences or withdrawal of privileges.
Ø Set an example by being nonviolent and patient with your children. Learn to manage your own anger, and your children will learn from your example. Express your feelings in words, and teach your children that when they’re upset they can use words instead of hitting.
Ø Teach problem-solving by remaining calm, involving children in discussions and working together to resolve conflicts. When you remain calm in tense situations, your children will learn to control their strong feelings too.
Ø Talk to your children and acknowledge their feelings. When parents listen, their children are less likely to resort to aggressive behavior.
Ø Limit your children’s access to media violence. Explain that the violence they see on TV shows is make-believe, and discuss the consequences of violence in real life.
Ø If children hear about violence in the news, allow them to talk about how it makes them feel. Take time to listen to their feelings of fear, sadness or confusion. Reassure them that you will help keep them safe.
Ø Limit TV viewing to 1–2 hours per day, and keep TV’s out of children’s bedrooms.
Ø Monitor children’s use of TV, Internet and video and computer games.
Ø Discuss gun safety with your children.
Ø Teach children never to touch a gun and to let you or an adult know if they see a gun.
Ø If parents own a gun, keep it unloaded and locked separately from ammunition. Keep firearms far away from children’s reach.
Ø Teach tolerance of other people. Do not discriminate.
Ø Know where your children spend their time after school, and get to know their friends.
Ø Read books with your children.
Ø Identify risk factors that may lead children to become violent.
Teach your children to recognize and regulate their anger. Teach them how anger affects their body. When you are angry, your heart beats faster. You may breathe hard. Your face muscles feel tight. Your eyes might squint. Your body is rigid. You may clench your fists. You may feel like screaming or hitting.
Teach your children that it is normal to feel angry, especially if someone has hurt your feelings. You may want to get even, but hitting or fighting does not solve the problem; thinking and talking are better ways.
Vaccines work by preparing a child's body to fight illness. Each immunization contains either a dead or a weakened germ (or parts of it) that causes a particular disease.
The body practices fighting the disease by making antibodies that recognize specific parts of that germ. This permanent or longstanding response means that if someone is ever exposed to the actual disease, the antibodies are already in place and the body knows how to combat it and the person doesn't get sick. This is called immunity.
The risk of disease from vaccination is extremely small. One live virus vaccine that's no longer used in the United States is oral polio vaccine (OPV). The success of the polio vaccination program has made it possible to replace the live virus vaccine with a killed virus form known as inactivated polio vaccine (IPV). this change has completely eliminated the possibility of polio disease being caused by immunization in the United States.
Being the owner of a daycare, it is my duty to ensure that all children attending the daycare should be vaccinated.
"YOU RAISE ME UP"
“You raise me up, so I can stand on mountains; you raise me up, to walk on stormy seas; I am strong, when I am on your shoulders; you raise me up… to more than I can be.”
-Josh Groban