Parent Newsletters - Issue 27

No Limits Learning
kids goals Ezine

Issue 27, January 27th, /07

IN THIS PARENT NEWSLETTER

1. A WORD FROM THE EDITORS
2. HOW TO HELP YOUR CHILD MAGNIFY POSITIVITY
3. ANCHORING
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 kidsgoals.com Newsletter. Hard to believe it is almost the end of January. How is everyone coming along with your goals? Cassie and I have made it one of our goals to make sure to blog every day and so far we are on track. It is not always easy to stay focused and positive when it comes to our goals so the first article will help you and your child to keep a positive outlook, which will help in realizing your goals. The next article deals with anchoring; a powerful tool that you can use when you need to muster up a bit of courage or to give yourself some added willpower to overcome bad habits; such as when you are trying to stop eating junk food or to quit smoking. It is easy to do and more importantly it works!!

Cassie and I are excited to announce that we are having another competition in February where will be giving away 10 Elmo DVDs called "What makes you happy?" Keep checking the kidsgoals website for all the details.

Finally if you haven't already, come visit our blog. Click on this link http://kid-goal-setting.blogspot.com to go there directly or go to the kidsgoals website and click on Parenting Blog. We would love to hear your comments on how we are doing and you will be helping us to realize our goal of writing one blog for every day of the year.

Thank you!

Monicka

2. HOW TO HELP YOUR CHILD MAGNIFY POSITIVE THOUGHTS

A lot of success has to do simply with feeling good. When kids feel good about themselves, the world and others around them, they are more productive and more able to take appropriate action in order to be successful - in friendships, in school, at home and everywhere else.

That said, there are better ways of helping children feel good than just commanding them to "be happy!" So the goal of this article is to give you some very simple techniques and tools that you can use today to gently guide your children - both young and not-so-young - to a better understanding of how their mind/brain/body combination works, in such a way that they can consciously take the things that make them happy each day, and MAGNIFY the positive feelings. Positive feelings are very powerful, so let's help our kids understand how to maximize them...

1. What you physically do with your body affects how you feel.

Teach your child a simple lesson - feeling happy can make you smile, AND smiling can help you feel happy! When your child tells you about something that makes him feel happy - it could be a puppy he sees, or a favorite snack, or something good that happened at school - encourage him to express his happiness physically. What if he jumped up and down and shouted for joy? Gave you a huge grin instead of just a smile? Clapped his hands? Just get him to try some of these things, and he will start to understand that he can amplify his happiness by using his body.

2. You can pretend to have a TV in your head

Introduce your child in a very easy way to the idea of deliberately visualizing by asking him to tell you about something he saw that he liked, or something nice that happened to him. Then as he's telling you, ask him to close his eyes and pretend he is seeing it as a movie in his head. Children naturally have extremely vivid imaginations so he's probably doing this already without being aware of it. By asking him to close his eyes you can then lead him another step further. Suggest, "Take that movie in your head now, and turn up the volume."

Or, "Pretend you have a special remote control that can make the TV picture bigger and brighter. Make the colors really strong."

Or even, "See that movie of the nice thing? Now just go and jump inside the picture and feel what it's like to be right in there!"

Your child might particularly like one of these - the idea is to give him a start on realizing that he can USE his brain to feel even happier. His imagination will do the rest.

3. You can compliment yourself

Optimism and pessimism can be learned, and it's a good idea to teach kids to be optimistic, as it can help to protect them from depression when they grow older - in their teens, for instance.

A key part of optimism is when something bad happens, you see that as an isolated and unlucky event; whereas when something good happens, you think that it is one of many and also that it was good things about YOU that made the good thing happen.

For example, a child gets a good grade in a test. If he's pessimistic, he might say, "I fluked out! I not very smart I just got lucky with the questions this time, next time it will be much harder." On the other hand, if a child is feeling optimistic, he's more likely to think, "Great! I'm a smart kid. Future tests will be easy too!"

Same result, but completely different thinking. So the idea here is to encourage your child to take credit for good things that happen. He can learn that it is OK to compliment himself. "I've got lots of friends because I'm a kind and generous kid!" "I did well on that test because I'm smart!" "My sister lets me play with her toys because I'm so lovable and I take care of her things."

4. You can remember nice things over and over

You can help your child build a habit of appreciating and treasuring anything that makes him happy. A simple way to do this is to give him a corkboard and just suggest that he puts reminders on there of things that make him feel good. He could put pictures of his friends and family on it, cards or letters, things from school. Children of all ages enjoy this and then you can even look at it together each evening and talk about how great it is that your child has all these blessings in his life.

Don't feel like you need to teach your kids all this immediately! Why not just take the ONE idea that appeals to you the most and help your child use it TODAY?

By Cassie

3. ANCHORING

I am sure you have all heard of Pavlov. He was the Russian scientist who got his dog to start to salivate just by ringing a bell. Of course there was a bit more he had to do to get the dog to do this but did you know that you can use this same concept to help you and your children to, overcome bad habits and find confidence in any situation and basically excel at life.

The technique is called anchoring and most of the advertisers use it in their magazines and television ads to condition you into buying their products. For instance when you see an attractive woman or a handsome rugged man smoking a certain brand of cigarettes in a magazine ad you learn to associate smoking this brand with being attractive, macho or sexy; or if you see a television commercial with a family grinning from ear to ear as they munch on hamburgers or fried chicken from a certain restaurant you learn to associate a specific restaurant to being happy.

Advertisers use this strategy because they know it works, so why not use this same approach for something positive? Many actors use anchoring to get over stage fright and you or your children can use the same technique if you have to present a speech or your child has to do an oral report in front of his class.

How to anchor

Get your child to think of a situation when he felt really strong and powerful. It could be when he has spoken up for himself or did something a bit scary such as skiing or riding his bike for the first time. Have him think about how great it felt when he actually faced his fears and learned to ride his bike confidently. If your child can't think of an experience off hand he can make believe one. I use anchoring with my ten-year-old son when he has to face a situation where he is a bit fearful such as speaking in front of the class or appearing in a play at school. I ask him to close his eyes and imagine he is a big tree overlooking the forest. I get him to tell me how he is feeling to describe what the situation looks like, feels like, and even sounds like, the more details the better. The important thing is to try and get your child to make it as real as possible. Remember from past articles on visualization we learned that your mind couldn't differentiate from what is real and what is imaginary so have your child use that to his advantage.

The next step in anchoring is to take the moment when it is most intense to your child and have him stomp his foot or slap his side (not too hard) and say I AM STRONG or I AM POWERFUL loudly or any other word that your child can say that means confidence to him.

Have him repeat the steps a few times until he really starts to feel comfortable with it. You can explain to him the next time he has to face a situation where he feels uncomfortable and lacks confidence he can stomp his foot or slap his side and he will feel confidence surging through him because his brain will associate the action he chooses to mean he is strong and powerful.

Let your child know that we all feel insecure from time to time and that is perfectly normal; but by using this wonderful tool we can find the confidence in ourselves to get through any difficult situation and come out smiling.

By Monicka

4. KIDS CORNER COOKING AND CRAFTS

ROLL UP

( A healthy break from plain old sandwiches and easy enough that the kids can make them up all on their own.)

1 whole wheat flour tortilla
4 slices deli shaved turkey, chicken, ham or other favorite type of deli meat
1 slice cheese any kind
4 thin slices cucumber (optional)
4 slices avocado (optional)
Alfalfa sprouts or lettuce

Layer tortilla with deli - meat, cheese, cucumber and avocado slices, and a handful of sprouts.

Roll it up, wrap tightly in plastic wrap. Perfect for school lunches.

T-SHIRT PILLOW (perfect craft for older children)

Old T-shirt
Filling
Needle and thread or fabric glue

Use old t-shirts that are in good shape that you may have out grown or never wear or buy shirts from charity or thrift shops.

Lay the shirt out flat on a table and sew or glue the armholes and the bottom of the shirt closed. Leave the neck hole area open because that is where you will be putting in the stuffing. You can find soft- fiber stuffing used for quilts at craft and sewing stores. Fill the t-shirt until is nice and full and then close up the neck hole. You can decorate the t-shirt further by sewing or gluing on patches or badges.

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

Q: What has a neck but no head?
A: A bottle

Q: What did the guitar say to the rock star?
A: Quit picking on me!

Q: Here on earth it is true, yesterday is always before today; but there is a place where yesterday always follows today. Where?
A: In a dictionary ha ha

Q: What beverage does the invisible man drink?
A: Evaporated Milk

6. WORDS OF INSPIRATION

"Sometimes your joy is the source of your smile, but sometimes your smile can be the source of your joy." -- Thich Nhat Hanh

"Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful." -- Albert Schweitzer

"The Grand essentials of happiness are: something to do, something to love, and something to hope for." -- Allan Chalmers

"The best remedy for those who are afraid, lonely or unhappy is to go outside, somewhere where they can be quiet, alone with the heavens, nature and God. Because only then does one feel that all is as it should be and that God wishes to see people happy, amidst the simple beauty of nature." -- Anne Frank

"If one advances confidently in the direction of one's dreams, and endeavors to live the life which one has imagined, one will meet with a success unexpected in common hours."-Henry David Thoreau

7. YOUR FEEDBACK

If you would like to request any topics for the newsletter for 2007, please email Cassie or Monicka at kidsgoals.com.

Thank you, from Cassie and Monicka

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