I Choose Us - Self improvement and motivation for women.

When you foster the love of learning in your children, you set them up for a lifetime of happiness and success. Children are born with a drive to learn and explore the world around them, and parents have the ability to nudge them in the direction of continuous learning.

Your ultimate goal as a parent should be to discover your child's preferred method of learning. You can do this by encouraging them to pursue hobbies that they find exciting and enriching. You also need to maintain the wisdom to know when your children might need an extra push in a certain area or whether they need to change their course entirely.

Consider some of these simple strategies to foster a joy of learning:

1.    Reading Stories. Your children are never too young to enjoy a story. Start reading to them when they're babies and you'll foster a lifetime of love for the subject. When it comes to reading, as long as they keep practicing the skill they'll keep getting better at it. Encourage your children to read more, regardless of their age or topic of interest, as long as it's age-appropriate.

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When your children are little, you purchase things for them that they may need or want. Once they hit the teenage years, that’s a different story.  As the parent of a teenager, you need to have a plan for teaching teens to save money.  When you child  hits the teenage years the things they want seem to increase and so does the price. They still seem to think you have all the money in the world and you can and should buy them whatever they want.

Once they hit 16, they should get a job. But it can start earlier than that if you want it to. They can mow lawns, shovel sidewalks, or babysit. Working hard and making money will teach them the value of a dollar. Once they start making money they will probably want to spend quickly too. Teaching teens to save money may be difficult at first, but you need to do it.

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When your children are young, they depend on you for their every need. Sometimes it's difficult for you to sit back and watch them develop their own independence. It might be tough but when you allow your child to make his or her own mistakes and learn life lessons early, they'll grow into happy and healthy adults.

The best thing you can do is to find a balance because you don't want to allow your child too much independence too early. You want to be able to watch your child develop independence from the sidelines so you can step in when needed.

Consider these tips as you nudge your child towards an independent life:

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There are two common causes for child obesity, namely an improper diet and lack of exercise.  Children who sit most of the time during the day and consume more calories than they burn will gain weight, which can cause child obesity if it is allowed to continue.  Since there are so many more opportunities for children to play games inside, which are normally stationary like video games or computer games, children are not getting as much exercise as there were able to get in earlier years. 

Today, children have to have more scheduled exercise activities in their lives, such as organized sports, so that they burn enough calories during the day compared to what they eat.  In earlier times, there were not the draws of technology to keep children indoors, so outdoor activities were more common giving children the exercise they needed as well as keeping them out of the house where food is readily available.

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The child obesity rate has been going up rapidly in recent years which has caused a scare for parents as well as increasing health problems in children.  Technology, which is wonderful in so many ways, contributes to the problem of child obesity since it offers so many different opportunities for games and entertainment that were not available in the past.  

As a result, many children are staying indoors and living sedentary lifestyles, watching movies and playing video games rather than playing outdoors and getting physical activity.  In addition, staying indoors also makes food readily available at all times which is a big temptation for children who do not yet have full control over their eating habits.

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Having a loving relationship with your children is a beautiful thing. However, it may not always come easily because children express love in their own unique way. You love your children very much, so it's important to learn each child's unique and preferred ways of communicating love.

Determine Your Child's "Love Language"

The best way to make your child feel loved and safe is to discover how they would like to be loved and go with their preference.

This may not be the same way that you like to be loved yourself:

•    Many children enjoy "feeling" and desire lots of hugs and kisses.
•    Some children are more "hearing" oriented and want to hear how much you love them.
•    Others want to "see" expressions of your love through cards, notes, or other visual means.
•    Some want you nearby at all times, while others are happiest with their independence.

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