School authorities continually claim that they want more parent cooperation and participation in their children’s education. They complain when parents don’t show up for parent-teacher conferences or push their children to do their homework.

Yet this constant cry for parent cooperation is often a smoke screen pretense to make parents think they have some control over their children’s education. In most cases, parents have no such control. Teachers and principals may placate parents or ask for their cooperation, but they rarely make the important changes parents ask for.

For example, most parents want their children to learn to do basic arithmetic without using calculators as a crutch. A poll by Public Agenda found that 86 percent of parents want students to learn arithmetic by hand before they use calculators. However, the math-teaching policy for most public schools today is that all children beginning in kindergarten have access to calculators at all times to do math problems.

Most school districts make important teaching-method or curriculum decisions in secret, without parents’ knowledge or approval. A parent’s only recourse is to complain to principals or school authorities after these authorities have dictated their curriculum or teaching methods, and the parent sees the damage to their children. Unfortunately, such complaints are often futile.

Most parents don’t realize that school authorities don’t want their opinion. Too often, school authorities ignore parents’ suggestions or complaints because they truly believe they are the experts and parents are just annoying amateurs. As a result, some teachers, principals, or administrators feel insulted when parents make suggestions or complaints. Many school officials believe parents should not have any real input in their children’s education. That is one reason why school authorities hold their committee meetings in secret.

Another reason is that school authorities fear that parents will complain about certain classes and curriculum subjects. For instance, many public schools have introduced classes and books about homosexuality into elementary and high-school sex-education classes. When parents find out about these classes, they frequently complain to the school principal and local politicians. To avoid these complaints, public schools often try to keep secret from parents what they teach in these sex-ed classes.

Moreover, teachers, principals, and school authorities don’t have to listen to those amateur, irritating parents who complain that their kids can’t read. Public-school employees get tenure after a few years. That means, in effect, that it’s almost impossible to fire them, no matter how bad or even mediocre they are. If you couldn’t be fired, would you care about parent’s complaints? That’s why they don’t, and that’s why public-school teachers or principals can be arrogant or indifferent to parent’s legitimate complaints.

Parents, the solution is to stop hitting your head against the brick wall of arrogant public-school employees. Just walk around the wall and don’t look back. That is, consider taking your children out of public school and find real education choice and control in the education free-market. Consider homeschooling or some of the many quality, low-cost, K-12 Internet private schools listed in the Resource section of “Public Schools, Public Menace.”

By: Joel Turtel

About the Author:

Children’s Beds

Finding those perfect Christmas gift ideas can be challenging. You want the gift to say I am thinking of you, I know what you like (this is not a generic re-gift) and you want the gift to impress, if only just a little bit. Yet, when it comes to buying gifts for our parents, it can be challenging.

Most parents seem to have everything they want. Most parents also have enough money to buy what they want. Where does that leave us in the shopping department? Sometimes, it leaves us at a lost. But if we really think about those gifts before we go shopping, we can come up with some really interesting presents that parents are sure to love. Here are a few examples to get you started.

Hobbies: Does mom like to sew? Does dad like to fish or hunt? You may think they have all the tools for their favorite hobbies. But think, again. New equipment and new stuff are always coming onto the market. Buy dad that new lure and reel? Buy mom some new patterns or even a newer, fancier sewing machine with all the extras. Do not settle on buying more of the hobby products you know they all ready have.

Food and other treats: Parents are like everyone else, they love to eat and they have their favorite treats. Why not check out the many gift baskets available both in stores and online (that can be delivered right to your door or your parents’ door)? You can buy these food gift baskets that contain many fine luxury items such as: dark chocolates, fine wines, gourmet cheeses and crackers. Plus, you add tempting breads, nuts, muffins, cookies and cakes to those baskets. Be sure the basket itself is nice. Mom may want to reuse it for decorating or storage purchases.

Useful services: Does dad hate to mow? Is mom tired of washing those windows? You could hire a service to come in and do those chores for mom and dad. They can be assigned to come as often as you can afford or as often as mom and dad prefers. Imagine the burden it will lift off all their shoulders to see the work being done, without them having to do it?

Mini-vacations or trips to the day spa: Would dad enjoy a mini vacation, near a golf course? Would mom like a mini vacation in a day spa? With a little bit of searching, you are sure to find both entertaining and relaxing treats for both of them. Imagine their pleasure of getting away and doing something that makes them happy. Do not worry about not having anything to wrap in a pretty box. You can always wrap the reservation tickets.

Remember when it comes to buying Christmas gifts for your parents, actually think about your parents and what they would like, not what they need or what is expected. If you do that, then the ideas should start flowing.

By: Jeffrey Meier

About the Author:

Bunk Beds

ABSTRACT

The importance of parental involvement as an accelerating and motivating factor in their children’s education is a worldwide-accepted fact. This research project provides an in depth explanation along with specific reasons, the importance of parents’ involvement in their children’s education. It also discusses the parenting techniques, their types and their consequences if neglected. It also describes the ways to measure the outcome of the positive parental involvement. Furthermore, it mentions the teachers involvement and the difficulties faced by the teachers in getting parents involved in their children’s (this is further supported by the examples of two teachers who with their deliberate efforts won the parents over to devote their maximum attention towards their children), single-parent involvement, children’s own efforts to improve their academic levels and joint home-school based interventions. A detailed analysis of the different main ideas is given, based on the findings from other research surveys and projects.

INTRODUCTION:

Parental involvement can be seen to fall into three types: 1) Behavioral, 2) Intellectual and 3) Personal. The research explores the effect of multi-dimensional participation of parents and the resulting progress of children in their studies when different parental resources were dedicated to them. Actively participating parents help their children in their academic development by going to schools and participating in open houses. By keenly observing the behavior of their children they can rightly judge the kind of behavior or the allocation of resources required by their children. Such caring parents can also motivate teachers to become more attentive towards a particular student, thus maintaining the cycle of parent-teacher involvement. Encourage Building up cognitive and perception abilities in a child is a major concern in the upbringing of the child. The way the parents involve their children in cognitive learning is by exposing them to different cognitively stimulating activities and materials such as books, electronic media and current events at home. This helps the child to practice all sorts of language comprehending skills at the school. The results show a remarkably positive behavior at the school and with peers.

Two parenting processes namely the Supportive Parenting (SP) and Harsh Parenting (HP) helped a lot in the research of parental involvement in their children’s education. By adjusting the levels of supportive parenting, different levels of successful outcomes were observed. Supportive parenting in even kindergarten students yielded positive results. Four measures of supportive parenting were used in the study, they were:

1. Proactive teaching.

2. Calm discussion in disciplinary encounters.

3. Warmth.

4. Interest and involvement in peer activities.

The assessments were conducted when children entered kindergarten and when they reached grade 6. There was a factor noted to hinder children’s development: family adversity. It was the result of a multipurpose negative process that included the risk of low socio-economic status, single-parenting and family stress. Child maladjustments were found to be more common in families with such adversities. No matter how much negative impacts were cast, SP was found to overcome the risks associated with family adversity. SP was strongly related to adjustment procedures in grade 6 children who had single parent family or experienced low socio-economic status (SES) in their early childhood.

In a way to socialize their children, parents adopted the techniques of calm discussion and proactive teaching. They helped lessen the behavioral problems by carrying long discussions with their children, cultivating in them a sense of respect, calmness and peace of mind. Mothers also participated actively in reducing the peer stress among their children. It is also a widely accepted fact that supportive parenting plays an important role in the children’s development of empathy, prosocial behavior and emotional competence. On the negative side, the absence of supportive parenting may be related to the development of internal problems such as anxiety and depression.

Lack of the necessary parental care and attention is the main factor for the subsequent rise in the percentage of juvenile delinquency (crime among children). The absence of parental instructions causes children to develop irreversible behavioral and emotional problems. They in order to seek attention, resort to crimes thinking that in this way they could fulfill their wishes. They may revert to uncontrolled violence if not kept an eye upon. Such criminal activities cannot be brought to a halt until their distressing symptoms of low self-esteem, depression, dysphonic mood, tension and worries, and other disturbances are relieved. And the importance of parents’ role in this regard cannot be over-emphasized.

In an effort to describe parental involvement, many researchers use a term “Transition”(Lombardi, Joan). “Transition” is used to describe the time period in which children move from home to school, from school to after school activities, from one activity to another within a pre-school, or from pre-school to kindergarten. The untiring endeavors of teachers in the phenomenon of transition cannot be ignored. They prepared the children and their parents to face the problems of adjusting to elementary school programs that had different psychology, teaching styles and structure than the programs offered at the kindergarten level. In the elementary level schools the teachers had to face serious challenges in motivating the parents to take interest in their children’s activities. The teachers adopted different methods to involve the parents in day-to-day classroom and home activities. They used to send notes, invitation of parent-teacher meetings, invitation of parental guidance sessions and training sessions, continuously directing the parent’s attention towards their children. Patricia Brown Clark suggests that it is very important to keep the line of communication between teachers and parents open, so that the parents can interact with the teachers and get up to date information of their children’s school activities. One way to involve parents is to schedule school events and arranging classroom activities such as volunteering for libraries, acting as classroom aides or efficiently organizing lunch breaks. The teachers also opt for making phone calls at the children’s houses to keep in touch with the parents and getting to know the extent to which they are contributing towards the welfare of their children. Apart from the above activities, the teachers also assign home activities for both the parents and their children so that the parents remain indulged in their children and the children get to study at home. However, it was a bad and disappointing experience for the teachers when many of the parents failed to respond as expected. Many of the parents were so overwhelmed with their official work that they could hardly take out some time for their beloved children.

Moreover, for some parents their schoolings were not positive and character-boosting experiences, therefore they preferred to keep a distance from their children’s school as well. This made it really difficult and at times impossible for teachers to bring the parental involvement to the desired level. Nevertheless, the activities of two teachers proved greatly fruitful in making parents involved in their children. They were Carlos Valdez, an art teacher and 8th grade class sponsor, and Mike Hogan, the school’s band director. They did it by involving parents in music festivals and other school ceremonies. They proved to be great examples for the future teachers to come.

If the children’s academic development programs are to prove successful they must share two characteristics:

1) Developmentally appropriate practice:

A child’s academic progress is clearly reflected by the appropriate practice he/she administers while in school life. During transitions from pre-school to kindergarten, a child if given the exact developmentally appropriate practice tends to learn a great deal of language and playing skills. He develops a keen interest in exploring his environments and interacting (without hesitation) with his adults.

2) Supportive services:

These include the assistance that the school provides to low-income family students. The services include health care, childcare and community care. This strengthens the relation between school and children and creates a sense of security and confidence among the children. They get to learn that their communities are a part of their school since the school’s supportive services strive to help community development.

It is commonly believed that children are good self-teachers. Their self-initiated strategies help improve their expression, creativity, intellectual capabilities and extra-curricular skills. This idea is proved by the documentation of young children’s work provided by Reggio Emilia :

“The Reggio Emilia educators highlight young children’s amazing capabilities and indicate that it is through the unity of thinking and feeling that young children can explore their world, represent their ideas, and communicate with others at their highest level.”(Edwards, Pope. C, Springate, Wright.K)

The climax rests in the fact that how the parents would know that their sincere involvements are really proving worthwhile for their children. The answer lies in the attitude of the children. The degree of parental involvement can be judged by a child’s attitude towards his school subjects, his academic desires and achievements. There is a direct relationship between academic achievements and the attitude towards school. Schunk in 1981 had the following idea of aspiration or academic desires:

“Level of aspiration is defined as one’s subjective probability that he or she will reach a certain level of education.”(Abu, H. & Maher, M)

As a result children who received adequate parental concern were found to be much more confident in their academic desires and achievements than those who could not get the right amount of parental concern.
The individual involvement of mothers and fathers also plays a vital role in the behavioral development of a child. Students from one-parent household were observed to show less positive attitude towards schools and studies as compared to students from two-parent households. One study aimed at investigating parental concern showed that despite mothers’ sincere endeavors, the role of fathers could not be ignored and both served as an important foundation for the future progress of the child. This can be proved from the following fact:

According to a recent report from the National Center for Educational Statistics (1997), compared to their counterparts, children with involved fathers are more likely to have participated in educational activities with their parents (e.g., to have visited a museum or a historical site with their parents in the past month), and are more likely to have access to multiple types of resources at home as well (as measured by the proportion of parents who belong to community or professional organizations, or regularly volunteer in the community). (Flouri, E. And Buchanan, A, Pg.142)

Also, the parental involvement has been discussed and implemented in terms of interventions or prevention programs, which are nothing but safety measures taken to assure healthy and perfect upbringing of the child. The study uses school-based and home-only intervention programs to find out the extent of intellectual capabilities found in children from different family backgrounds. The success of one school-based interventions can be proved from the following fact, which was a part of “Education Service Improvement Plan 2001-2005” of Edinburgh:

—-The Scottish Executive Discipline Task Force, which studied the causes of poor behavior among pupils in schools produced a report of ‘Better Behavior – Better Learning’ in June 2001. The report included 36 recommendations for action, which were then turned into an Action Plan in 2002. Many of these have implications for the Education Authority. (Craig Millar Instep Project)

References

Abu, H. & Maher, M. (2000). A structural model of attitudes towards school subjects, academic aspiration and achievement. Educational Psychology, 20, 75-84.

Angoff, W.H. (1988). The nature-nurture debate, aptitudes and group differences. American Psychologist, 43, 713-720
Berger, D. (2003). The Developing Person, Worth Publishers

Brown, P. C. (1989). Involving Parents in the Education of Their Children. ERIC Clearinghouse on Elementary and Early Childhood Education Urbana IL.

“Craig Millar Instep Project” [http://www.edinburgh.gov.uk/CEC/Recreation/Libraries/] Local_Organisations/local_Craigmillar_Instep_Project.html&
http://www.inspire.edin.org/pages/paperA.htm – context

DeKlyen, M., Speltz, M.L., & Greenberg, M.T. (1998).
Fathering and early onset conduct problems: Positive and negative parenting, father-son attachment, and the marital context. Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review, 1, 3-21.

Edwards, Carolyn Pope; Springate, Kay Wright (1995), Encouraging Creativity in Early Childhood Classrooms, Eric Digest.

Flouri, E. & Buchanan, A. (2004). Early father’s and mothers involvement and child’s later educational outcomes. Department of Social Policy and Social Work, University of Oxford, UK, British Journal of Educational Psychology 74, 141-153

Fortier, M.S., Vallerand, R.J., & Guay, F. (1995). Academic motivation and school performance: Toward a structural model. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 20, 257-274.

Ganzach, Y. (2000). Parents’ education, cognitive ability, educational expectations and educational attainment: Interactive effects. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 70, 419-441.

Georgiou, S. (1999). Parental attributions as predictors of involvement and influences on child achievement. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 69, 409-429.

Grolnick, W.S., & Slowiaczek, M.L. (1994). Parents’ involvement in children’s schooling: A multidimensional conceptualization and motivational model. Child Development, 65, 237-252.

Halsey, P. (2004). Nurturing the Parent Involvement, Two middle Level Teachers Share their Secrets. Assistant Professor in the College of Education at Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas. Vol 77, No. 4, pages 135-137 WN: 04062038590002

Lombardi, Joan (1992), Beyond Transition: Ensuring Continuity in Early Childhood Services, Eric Digest.

Masse, L.C., & Tremblay, R.E. (1999). Kindergarten disruptive behavior, family adversity, gender and elementary school failure. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 23, 225-240.

Mulkey, L.M., Crain, R.L, & Harrington, A.J.C. (1992). One parent households and achievement: Economic and behavioral explanations of a small effect. Sociology & Education, 65, 48-65.

Pamela A. Halsey (2004) Nurturing the Parent Involvement, Two middle Level Teachers Share their Secrets. Assistant Professor in the College of Education at Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas. Vol 77, No. 4, pages 135-137 WN: 04062038590002.

Pettit, G.S., Bates, J.E., & Dodge, K.A. (1997). Supportive parenting ecological context and children’s adjustment: A seven year longitudinal study. Child Development, 68, 908-923.

Ramey, C.T., Campbell, F.A, & Ramey, S.L, (1999). Early intervention: Successful pathways to improving intellectual development. Developmental Neuropsychology, 16, 385-392.
Shepard, J. & Carlson, J.S. (2003).

An Empirical Evaluation of School-Based Prevention Programs that Involve Parents. Oklahoma State University and, Michigan State University, copyright, Wiley Periodicals, Psychology in the Schools, Vol. 40 (6), pages 641-656

Updegraff, K.A., McHale, S.M., Crouter, A.C. (1996). Gender roles in marriage: What do they mean for girls’ and boys’ school achievement? Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 25, 73-88.

Yongman, M.W., Kindlon, D., & Earls, F. (1995). Father involvement and cognitive/behavioral outcomes of preterm infants. Journal of American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 34, 58-66.

By: Fawad Imam

About the Author:

Silk Bedding

In 1954, Torrance, California family counsellor Dorothy Law Nolte dashed off a poem in order to meet a deadline for her weekly newspaper column. Called “Children Learn What They Live,” its nineteen lines went on to be translated into thirty-five languages. It was distributed to millions of new parents by a baby products company. And in 2005, Crown Prince Naruhito of Japan said he was raising his three-year-old daughter according to its positive verses.

What Dr. Nolte was expressing in her simple way over half a century ago is simply this: parenting styles affect development. Positive parenting styles affect development positively, and negative parenting styles affect development negatively.

Positive parenting styles are those which not only notice, but acknowledge and praise the good behaviors in children. Children who receive this sort of affirmation develop confidence, high self-esteem, and an eagerness to engage in more of the behavior which will pay off in more praise.

Negative parenting styles affect development in just the opposite way. Negative parents jump on all the mistakes which children cannot avoid making, correcting them harshly and even humiliating the children. Even worse, a negative parenting style simply takes for granted what a child does right or well, and never offers praise of encouragement because good behavior is simply expected.

Parenting styles affect development for either good or bad, and parents need to know that a conscious decision in favor of a positive parenting style is not only an option, but a responsibility. While many people have children without having made the conscious decision to do, loving those children and to remaining in touch with the idea that parenting styles effect the development of those children are choices they can make each and every day.

Children are terrific observers, and one of the benefits of knowing that parenting style affect development is in realizing that children mirror what they observe. A child who experiences positive reinforcement from his or her parents will learn to be supportive and encouraging of others. In a world where no one ever feels valued enough, raising children who truly appreciate the efforts of those around them is a high calling indeed.

On the other hand, negative parenting styles affect development by controlling through intimidation and ridicule. While they may, in the short term, achieve the obedience that a parent desires, in the long term they will teach the child to fear authority and to bully others. And they only work for as long as the parent can physically intimidate the child.

New parents would do very well to reflect on how their own parent’s parenting styles affected their development and to honestly assess what they wish had been done differently. Being aware that they may put to much weight on their own upbringing as a guide to raising their children is a tremendous first in avoiding a parenting style which will have a negative effect on their affect their children’s development.

Parenting styles affect development; children learn what they live; and the simple poem of five decades ago is as true today as it was when it emerged from Dorothy Law Nolte’s typewriter.

By: Matt Garrett

About the Author:

Relaxing Music

What are parenting lesson plans?

Parenting lesson plans are simply organized collections of successful techniques in which parents can educate themselves so that they are better able to negotiate their way among all the pitfalls which lie in wait for those trying to raise healthy, well-adjusted kids.

Parent lesson plans let frustrated parent no that there is nothing new under the child raising summand that whatever challenges they are facing have been part of the parent/child dynamic for as long as there has been one.

The first rule of any good parent lesson plans is that they will all stress the importance of teaching children to anticipate the consequences of their actions. They must be given a chance to learn what is expected, and to know that even if they fail at it, and experience unpleasant consequences, their parents still love them unconditionally.

The parenting lesson plans should stress the need for parents to communicate that their child is always separate from his or her behavior, and while the parents may not like the behavior, they will always love the child.

Parenting lesson plans which can get this one point across will go a very long way in helping parents raise confident responsible children who are not afraid to take on new challenges because their self esteem does not depend on the outcome. And they will not be afraid to take responsibility for those outcomes.

Parenting lesson plans should be instituted as early in the child rearing process as possible, because they will lay the foundation for a child’s social interactions. Successful parenting lesson plans will show parents how to set age-appropriate limits, with appropriate consequences when they are violated. And always let the child know, in age-appropriate words, why the limits are being imposed. “Because I said so,” may be the easiest answer for you, but it is disrespectful of you child and will do nothing to encourage him or her to understand why limits can sometimes be a good thing.

Sometimes consequences can be the best teacher. For instance, you can explain to a child that in your house, people do not call each other hurtful names. The consequences of your children using hurtful names could be having them some play time thinking about the hurtful names, what made them want to use the names, where they heard the names, and how they feel when someone calls them names.

You’ll have to take the time to actively listen to the reasons your children have for using bad names, and let them know that you understand the anger which provoked the use. And you’ll have to let them know why hurtful names are not allowed in your house, and why you hope they won’t use then elsewhere

Parenting lesson plans which let your children communicate with you about the reasons for their inappropriate behavior will both let you give them feedback on why the behavior is inappropriate, and help them feel like they are being treated fairly.

As children enter school, they are going to be confronted with limit after limit placed on their behaviors, and those children whose parenting lesson plans have instilled some self control in them will adjust to in the big wide world much more easily.

By: Matt Garrett

About the Author:

Civil Lawyer

Bringing a child into the world itself is a great responsibility. Holding a newborn and nursing the child makes us feel overwhelmed. But parenting is an ongoing phase and a nourishing activity. This is bound by emotions, by actions and expectations. There are no formula methods or ready-to-apply skills to solve parenting problems, as each child is different. The moment we start parenting, our priorities change. Learning is one thing that remains constant and all of us learn from mistakes.

There are several mistakes we do as parents. Firstly, all of us expect our children to excel in academic and extra curricular performances. When we see our children failing or lagging behind we silently feel a tinge of sadness. What is achieved by our child’s friend cannot be compared with our own child. Each child has a different milestone and though they cannot communicate, each child has varied interest levels. Channeling our own ambitions into the child’s feats is a sign of bad parenting.

The most common problem faced by parents is that their child is often bursting into tantrums. This is another pointer at our own actions and behavior at home. Arguments often occur at homes, between elders or spouses but this is to be avoided in front of children. Often a happy child is a result of a happy environment. The emotional security of the child is not threatened and hence the child stays happy. Physical abuse traumatizes children and swearing should also be avoided in front of them.

Our personality has a direct bearing on our children. Expressing love is very important in a family. Children actually glow when they hear praises and this is encouraging for them. Constant bickering or name calling is a sign of bad parenting. Acknowledging faults and saying sorry is very healthy. Children understand when explained logically and pardon us quite easily.

Explaining to them about an abusive situation and promising them about security helps them erase phobias. Giving children choices in wearing party clothes or choosing the birthday dress is like empowering them. When you give them choices let them take a wholesome decision. Constantly hovering around them makes us a helicopter parent and this threatens their individuality.

By: Jennie Gandhi

About the Author:

Forex Trading

The following article offers some insight to those involved in the wonderful world known as Parenting.

There are just as many parenting styles as there are a number of parents. Experts believe the parenting styles fall into 4 different and identifiable styles: authoritarian, indulgent, authoritative, and uninvolved.

Let’s examine this more closely. The first parenting style is that of the authoritarian parent. These parents are like army commanders. They prefer to issue commands and orders to their children and fully expect their children to carry out their orders without questioning them. Authoritarians do not welcome nor appreciate any feedback from their children. They live by set and defined rules in a structured environment.. These children as we now know, are generally considered to have an unhappy nature about them. Boys generally exhibit hostile behaviour when dealing with frustration, whereas girls tend to give up easily when faced with difficult situations. Both the boys and girls however, tend to perform better in school due to their disciplined upbringing.

The second parenting style is the indulgent parent. These parents are generally lenient. They allow a variety of behaviours by their children that some would describe as immature. Essentially, they let the children look after themselves and avoid confronting them at all costs. Indulgent parents may also be described as non-directive or democratic. Non-directive parents are known to parent by default, that is, by taking virtually no action in parenting of their children. Democratic parents, though lenient, are more aware and show a committment to engage with their children.

The third parenting style is that of the authoritative parent. These parents are both demanding and responsive at the same time. Authoritative parents while expecting their their children to behave in a certain manner, don’t impose their authority and welcome a certain amount of questioning. They demonstrate a combination of assertiveness coupled with the ability to respond to their children’s feedback. These children appear to be more lively and have a happier disposition about them. Their self-confidence is more developed they seem to be more sure of their abilities. These children also show better emotional control and are more adept in their social skills. Gender stereotypes are also less of an issue with authoritative parents, as they tend to be more open minded in their outlook towards their children’s behaviour, i.e. boys playing with dolls and girls playing with tools.

Lastly, we look at the parenting style known as “uninvolved parenting”. As the name suggests, these parents are simply uninvolved. They are neither demanding nor responsive of their children and they are not interested in any feedback from them. These parents are the most likely to be irresponsible and more often neglect their children.

We hope you found the above information insightful and will seek out the many more resources available on this topic online.

By: Hanif Khaki

About the Author:

Loan Consolidation

There are four different types of parenting styles that are commonly identified by an expert by the name of Diana Baumrind in the parenting field. These styles are known as authoritarian parenting, permissive parenting, neglectful parenting, and authoritative parenting. There are important differences between each of these styles, and there is one style that is significantly better than the other three. In order to understand which type is the best parenting style; however, we need to review all of them first.

One of the types of parenting styles is the authoritarian style of parenting. This style is characterized by high expectations of compliance and conformity to parental rules and directions. The problem with authoritarian parenting is that the parental rules and directions often change when the parent feels like changing them, so the child never truly knows what is expected. The situation could be described as unfair and threatening. Many children raised by authoritarian parents live in a constant state of fear. They tend to display less self-confidence and are withdrawn socially. Some children might also rebel by openly defying the parents by leaving home at a younger age, partaking in drugs, alcohol, and sexual behavior at a much younger age, dating or marrying a partner whom they know their parents would disapprove of, and often might be estranged from their parents during adulthood.

The second of the four types of parenting styles is permissive parenting. This style is typically characterized by a warm, loving relationship between parent and child, but is flawed by low expectations of behavior. In other words, the permissive parent is usually afraid to make demands on the child much less hold them to any standard. This type of parent simply wants the child to like them at the end of the day and will do anything the child requests to do. Children raised by overly permissive parents tend to suffer from a lack of focus, immaturity and problems with emotional regulation. The children can not control their impulses and do not accept the responsibility for their own actions. When in trouble, the child will simply blame someone else even if it was their own fault. They tend to live and remain close to where they grew up, still dependent, in early adulthood.

Neglectful parenting is another one of the types of parenting styles. This style is best described as a step beyond permissive parenting. The neglectful parent may provide food and shelter, but is generally emotionally uninvolved in the child’s life. A good example of this would be parents who never ask their child questions about their day, their friends, or their education. A neglected child may have serious issues going on outside the home, but the neglectful parent is never aware of them until something potentially tragic occurs. Many times children will grow up feeling resentment against their parents for being neglectful and often might be estranged from them into adulthood.

The last of the types of parenting styles, and definitely the one that is considered ideal, is authoritative parenting. This type of parent holds high expectations of the child’s behavior while allowing the child to talk about those expectations. Parental rules and directions imposed on the child are fair and expressed clearly. The authoritative parent teaches the child about cause and effect, decision-making and self-sufficiency. Authoritative parents raise children who are successful, articulate, happy with themselves, and generous with others. This results in them being liked and respected by their peers and allows them to be generally well-rounded adults.

Parents should strive to raise their children with the authoritative style of parenting.

By: Jason Kaminski

About the Author:

Criminal Lawyers

During the last century the number of Americans living beyond age 65 has doubled. This astounding increase in seniors is starting to put a strain on some baby-boomers. Today more than ever middle aged Americans are facing the task of caring for elderly parents. The baby-boomers will be the first generation to care for their parents more years than they spent caring for their children. As the realization of this becomes apparent it can bring very uneasy feelings.

Many of us never imagine the possibility that caring for our parents may one day become a reality. Likewise many of us are completely unprepared for such a task. Most middle aged Americans are already dealing with the financial issues of planning for retirement. The strain of also planning to care for a parent that has failing health can certainly compound the problem of planning for your future. This is why it is vitally important to at least look at the possibility now. A little planning now could save a disaster later.

It is a natural reaction to avoid this issue until we have a parent that is in need of care. We must keep in mind that having a discussion with our parents now is neccessary to avoid complicated decisions later. Some issues that are important to talk about now are finances, healthcare coverage, living arrangements, and legal considerations. For most people discussing these subjects is awkward and intimidating.

Below you will find a few things to keep in mind as you have this conversation, hopefully they will help ease the process.

1. Choose a time everyone involved can be calm and not interrupted by distractions.

2. Remember we are all human do not be judgemental about decisions that your parents may have made in the past. Hind sight is 20-20, put in the same situation you may have made the same decision at the time.

3. Phrase your interests as questions, give them a chance to express their ideas. Try not to suggest your ideas as the only choice. This conversation should go both ways.

4. Attempt to alleviate your parents concerns. ( This could go a long toward them cooperating with you)

5. Offer alternatives to ideas you do not agree with, you should not argue ideas.

6. If possible try to break the conversation down to several smaller conversations, often a little time to reflect may bring both of you closer to agreement on the issues.

By: Tim Grimsley

About the Author:

Smart Babiles

Teen parenting statistics will show that teen parenting is still a rising occurrence in today’s society despite widely available sex education and numerous birth control methods. Teen parenting statistics also indicate that teenage parents and their child are both at a disadvantage in terms of health, education, and finances.

Teenage mothers face higher health risks than mothers at an older age. Such heath risks include anemia, pregnancy-related high blood pressure, underweight birth, premature delivery, and even death. Majority of these risks result from the fact that most teenage mothers lack prenatal care and not because of immature physical development. According to teenage parenting statistics, about forty percent of teenage mothers did not receive quality or adequate care during pregnancy, resulting in their children born with poor health.

In terms of education, teen parenting statistics show that while it has become socially accepted for teenage mothers to stay in school, unfortunately, an alarming 80 percent of them either choose or feel the need to drop out and only fifty percent of teenage parents who had their first child during the early teenage years will finish high school before they reach thirty. Additionally, teen parenting statistics indicate that it is more likely for someone who has had a child between twenty to twenty four years old to finish college than someone who becomes a parent before the age of nineteen.

The result of this situation is that the child or children of these teenage parents generally exhibit lower cognitive development compared to their peers. These children have the tendency to become underachievers academically and are more likely to become school drop outs, too. Teen parenting statistics also point out that these kids start to engage in sex earlier than most of their peers and have a higher tendency to repeat their parent’s past and become teenage parents also.

Economically, teenage parents who are not able to achieve a high school diploma or finish a GED program generally will experience more difficulty in finding a secure and well-paying job. This is evident in teen parenting statistics showing women who had children after the age of 20 earn twice as much as women who were teenage mothers. In addition, ten percent of teenage mothers are not receiving child support from the child’s father and forty percent rely on various government assistance programs such as food stamps in order to get by.

If you are a teen parent, the present and future challenges of raising your child may be too much for you to bear. If family, friends or your supposed partner is not offering help, keep in mind that you are not alone and that there are many organizations willing to help you.

By: Milos Pesic

About the Author:

Children’s Behavior