Parent Newsletters - Issue 24

No Limits Learning
kids goals Ezine

Issue 24, December 16th, /06

IN THIS PARENT NEWSLETTER

1. A WORD FROM THE EDITORS
2. THE GREATEST GIFT OF ALL
3. HELPING CHILDREN APPRECIATE DIVERSITY
4. KIDS CORNER COOKING AND CRAFTS
5. TICKLE YOUR FUNNYBONE (JOKES FOR KIDS BY KIDS)
6. WORDS OF INSPIRATION
7. SPONSORS

1. A WORD FROM THE EDITORS

Welcome to the next issue of the kidsgoals.com Newsletter. Can you believe it is almost Christmas?? Cassie and I were just discussing that we have almost completed a whole year of newsletters, FABULOUS! We are getting a good response with the book competition; and we really appreciate all the positive feedback from our readers. It is wonderful to know that kidsgoals has become an important parenting resource to you and we are on the right track. Cassie and I want to make it the best it can be so please do not hesitate to email either one of us with any ideas or suggestions that you may have. We hope you will enjoy this issue of the newsletter. Make sure you try the fudge recipe it is sooooo easy and very delicious, makes a great gift too.

Merry Christmas,

From Monicka

2. THE GREATEST GIFTS OF ALL

It is hard to believe that Christmas is just around the corner. Time once again to dig out the decorations, send Christmas cards to friends and relatives and check out the flyers and catalogues to find the perfect gifts to place under the tree for our loved ones. We seem to lose sight of what this season is really all about, as we stress ourselves to the limit, battling the crowds in the malls looking for the newest must-have gadget for our children.

Of course we all want the best for our children, to make them happy and to give them all the material things that we never had. These are all good intentions; but when you really get down to it the greatest gifts that you can give your children do not have to cost you a dime.

GIVE THEM YOUR TIME. Next time you are busy doing something and your child comes to you and asks a question, stop everything, look him straight in the eye and give him your undivided attention. No more “Just give me a minute,” or “After my program is over,” or all the other excuses that come so easy to us. Make your child your priority at that moment when he truly needs you.

HUG YOUR CHILDREN MORE. According to family therapist Virginia Satir, we need four hugs a day for survival, eight hugs for maintenance and a minimum of twelve hugs a day to thrive. Scientists have even proven that hugging generates "oxytocin", the feel-good hormone that is involved in social recognition and bonding, and might even be responsible for trust between people.

PLAY WITH YOUR CHILDREN. Show your children that you actually enjoy their company and do things that they like to do whether it be playing a video game, working on a puzzle, or even building a snowman in the backyard.

READ TO YOUR CHILDREN. Even if your kids already know how to read, they still love to snuggle up with you and be read to no matter how old they are. It is also great way for you and them to wind down after a hectic day.

TELL YOUR CHILDREN YOU LOVE THEM. You may think they know you love them; but it is important that you tell them every chance you get. Children never tire of hearing it and that goes for boys as well as girls.

The gift of self-esteem is the greatest gift of all that you can give to your children. Parents must realize that they more than anyone else can promote their children’s self-confidence. By your words and actions you are having a HUGE impact on how your children feel about themselves. As the famous writer Toni Morrison once asked, “Do your children see your eyes light up when they walk into the room?” Maybe THAT is the question we should all be asking ourselves this holiday season.

By Monicka

3. HELPING CHILDREN APPRECIATE DIVERSITY

Christmas is a time when we celebrate long-held traditions and honor our faith. It is a time that our children learn about their parents’ and community’s culture and beliefs. What a great time, also, to help our kids understand about, appreciate and respect other people’s cultures! If your child is old enough to notice that some kids have black skin and some white, or old enough to ask why a classmate’s family has a Menorah instead of a Christmas Tree, here are some ideas to help you explore the idea of a world-wide human family and the importance of appreciating all our fellow human beings.

Are We What We Look Like?

Talk to your child about appearances and whether we can tell much about a person by the way they look. Are we just what we look like? Or are we really much more than that? How do others get to know us – who we are, what we like or don’t like? Is it just by looking at us, or by talking and spending time together?

Discuss with your child how we all naturally form first impressions. Ask if they ever had a “first impression” of someone at school. Did they think that someone would not want to play sports because she was a girl? Or that someone would be a smarty-pants because he wears glasses?

Share with your child a story from your own experience of a time you met someone and made an assumption, only to find out later when you got to know the person that they were different than what they “looked” like - we all have a few of those stories! (Note: you might need to explain to your child that to “assume” means to think something is a fact without checking it).

Talk with your child about how they can enjoy themselves and the people they meet more, by being open to getting to know them before deciding what they are like.

What is a Community?

It is very interesting to ask your child who he thinks “we” are … “we” can be a family, a group of friends, a school, a church. Talk to your child about how your community makes up an important part of you and your family’s identity.

Discuss different communities and their special characteristics with your child – different churches for example, different celebrations, how some communities and people keep different festivities. Help your child understand that each community has its own valuable traditions. Talk about how important it is to be interested in and appreciate the DIFFERENCES between communities, and also about how to find things that are the SAME between communities. For example, Christians celebrate Christmas and Jews celebrate Hanukkah, but both Christians and Jews teach their children loving-kindness and generosity.

Finally, let’s all remember and rejoice, at this special time of year, in the knowledge that for kids, tolerance and appreciation of others comes naturally. If you ask your 8-year-old what different races of humans there are in his classroom, and he doesn’t know, it’s because children are by nature “color-blind”! As parents we can build on this natural love of fellow humans and encourage our children to be interested in the diversity of the “world-wide human family”!

“It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.” – From The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

By Cassie

4. KIDS CORNER COOKING AND CRAFTS

Easy & Really Yummy Fudge

3 cups semi sweet chocolate chips (2 - 12 ounce packages)
1 -14 ounce can of sweetened condensed milk
1 Teaspoon vanilla
1 cup chopped walnuts

In pan over very low heat, melt chips with condensed milk. Remove from heat and stir in chopped nuts and vanilla. Spread into a well-buttered 9" square pan as soon as possible it starts to harden rather quickly.

Chill until firm. Cut into squares.

NOTE: This is an easy recipe for children to make and give as holiday gifts to friends or teachers! We made it with half butterscotch chips too. Enjoy!!!

Handprint Wreath

Easy 3 Dimensional Star or Snowflake Ornament (with adult supervision)

What you will need
· Printer
· Paper (use construction paper for a firmer star or snowflake)
· Crayons, markers. Stickers, glitter, small beads or sequins
· Scissors
· Glue
· Small pieces of string or yarn or thin ribbon

Print out pairs of star or snowflake templates found on the kidsgoals website at christmas star craft and christmas snowflake craft.

Color stars or snowflakes and cut them out. Cut on the dotted lines right up to center (you’ll notice that the cut is in a different place for each one of the pair in the template – this is so they fit together correctly!) Slide the stars or snowflakes together. Decorate further if desired with glitter beads sequins etc. Glue string yarn or ribbon onto the top.

5. TICKLE YOUR FUNNYBONE (JOKES FOR KIDS BY KIDS)

How does Good King Wenceslas like his pizza? —Deep and crisp and even

How does Jack Frost travel to work? — By icicle (bicycle)

What did Snow White say while waiting for her photographs to be developed? —Some day my prints (prince) will come.

What is the difference between the Christmas alphabet and the regular alphabet? —The Christmas alphabet has no-el (no L)

6. WORDS OF INSPIRATION

“Christmas gift suggestions:
To your enemy, forgiveness.
To an opponent, tolerance.
To a friend, your heart.
To a customer, service.
To all, charity.
To every child, a good example.
To yourself, respect.”
-- Oren Arnold

“Christmas is not a time nor a season, but a state of mind. To cherish peace and goodwill, to be plenteous in mercy, is to have the real spirit of Christmas.” -- Calvin Coolidge

“It was always said of him, that he knew how to keep Christmas well, if any man alive possessed the knowledge. May that be truly said of us, and all of us! And so, as Tiny Tim observed, God Bless Us, Every One!” — Charles Dickens quoted from A Christmas Carol

7. SPONSORS

If you can suggest any organizations or websites that might want to sponsor this newsletter, or reprint our articles, please email Cassie or Monicka at kidsgoals.com.

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