For many adults, reading a book or newspaper seems effortless. Yet reading effortlessly comes from constant use of basic skills learned at an early age. Once children learn these basic skills, they can eventually read complex books like War and Peace. What are these skills? To read, one must recognize thousands of words. Since all English words are built from only twenty-six letters, the huge task of recognizing letters and their sounds and putting them together to form words becomes greatly simplified....

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Valentine day has always been a special day in my life since Naseer, my husband proposed me to marry him a few years back. Since then, we never missed the chance of cherishing and celebrating every Valentine's Day. But this year we were neither together nor celebrating, yet it was very beautiful. I had the sweetest valentine with me this time and he was snuggled comfortably in to my arms. I am on my journey back home from the air show and am enjoying every moment of my valentine's day. I have always loved taking challenges and am an ardent believer that a good homemaker can be a successful career woman as well....

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Looking for an unusual and memorable gift? Why not preserve a slice of history by creating a time capsule for your loved one? A personalized time capsule can be made for any special event, such as a birthday, wedding anniversary, graduation or even the birth of a child. Your personally designed time capsule preserves history, popular culture, special memories and can help link generations of a family together. It is a unique and thoughtful gift that will be appreciated and long remembered. There are a number of steps to keep in mind when creating a time capsule gift....

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We're all familiar with the over-indulgent parent. Butthere's another parenting practice that can be equallyharmful: over-attentiveness. It's possible to be one or the other - or in some cases, both! Let's look first of all at the differences. Over-Indulgence I'm sure you've come across the stereotype: Parents whoconstantly ply their kids with material goods and treats ofevery kind, and who will go to any length to ensure theirlittle darlings want for nothing, but have the biggest andbest of everything....

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Much has been said about the "gifted child" but in truth every child is born with unlimited potential. As expressed so well by Orison Marden: "Deep within man dwell those slumbering powers; powers that would astonish him, that he never dreamed of possessing; forces that would revolutionize his life if aroused and put into action." This statement can be true for your child. Not just if he's a "gifted child" but any child. Indeed, perhaps we should consider a "gifted child" to be a child whose parents have gifted him with a high self-esteem....

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We all wish that our children should not smoke or drink, should not speak lies, should not steal, should not have a violent nature, etc... but are we setting a good example ourselves? Just yesterday, I was at a friend's place and his daughter came running up to us with her school calendar and asked him to put a remark for being absent for school. They had been to a close relative's wedding and my friend merely wrote "Stomach Pain" and signed the calendar. Aren't you indirectly teaching the child that it is OK to lie?...

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Imagine you were the principal of the school that your child would be attending. Imagine that you were authorized to pick out which teachers to hire. Who would you pick? Let's look at some of the applicants. Would you hire someone to teach your children if she had not graduated from high school or college? Would you want someone to teach your children who used four-letter words pulled directly out of the garbage dump? Would you pick teachers who might drink, smoke pot, or use other illegal drugs in front of the students?...

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Although, not a well publicized statistic, childhood obesity has more than tripled in the past two decades-15% of American children are obese according to the U. S. Obesity Task Force. With TV commercials bombarding children's minds with 'junk food' options and fast food restaurants enticing parents to 'take a break' from tedious cooking by offering toys or a play room, staying on a healthy eating plan is difficult. In addition, playing outside is a distant thought if children are accustomed to using T....

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If you are a member of a stepfamily, you know how difficult it can be to integrate all of the new members and adjust to the new boundaries and rules. The following ideas may help you make a successful transition during this challenging process. Have patience. Establishing new families takes time. Just because you love your new partner, it is unrealistic to think that you will automatically love his or her children. It is equally unrealistic to expect that your new partner's children will instantly love you....

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When parents help their children learn to read, they help open the door to a new world. As a parent, you can begin an endless learning chain: You read to your children, they develop a love of stories and poems, they want to read on their own, they practice reading, and finally they read for their own information or pleasure. They become readers, and their world is forever expanded and enriched. This newsletter focuses primarily on what you can do to help children up to 10 years of age. During these years you can lay the foundation for you child to become a lifelong reader....

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Q: A parent writes in to ask, "You write a lot about the difference between controlling and managing teenagers. What's the difference........., and how do we do it in our family?" A: In the counseling and seminars that I do, I have found that many parents are confused about the difference between controlling and managing their teenagers. In my experience, there is not only a huge difference, it's "the difference that makes a difference" when it comes to successfully dealing with the teen years in a family....

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Single parenting has seemingly become an acceptable norm which is unfortunate. According to the US Census Bureau, there were over 20 million single parents in the United States in the year 2000. That's a staggering statistic, certainly the worldwide number of people who are challenged with single parenting is exponentially higher. When making a divorce decision and you have children, its natural to wonder about the challenges of single parenting and how it will affect your children. You may have seen other people struggle with single parenting or thought about the strain single parenting would seemingly put on you and your children....

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