Here is a quick exercise. Write down your children’s names, ages, and the amount of sleep that they typically get each night. Then read on.
Studies show that our children just aren’t getting enough sleep, but sleep is an important part of our children’s overall health. Lack of sleep makes it difficult for children to keep their focus in school, and can lead to irritable or hyper types of behaviors. Read this article in Kids Health for more detailed information.
How much sleep should children get each night? Here are the standard recommendations:
- For ages 1 to 3, about 10 to 13 hours.
- Preschoolers to preteens should receive about 10 to 12 hours.
- Teen should receive about 8.5 to 9.5 hours.
Take a look at the list you made earlier. Is your child getting enough sleep?
Let’s keep our children healthy and focused by practicing good sleep habits. For example:
1. Remove the TV from your child’s bedroom
2. Have a set bedtime routine (i.e. brush teeth, shower, read a book, go to bed).
3. Limit the amount of afterschool activities so that your children have adequate time to do their homework and wind-down before bedtime.
4. Maintain a calm, quiet atmosphere after the first child is put to bed.
When I was about seven months pregnant I bought my son-to-be his first book—Joy by Joyce Caroll Thomas. I read that book to my stomach almost every night. The lyrical words were very calming as I read them out loud. After my son was born, I read the book to him every night around 6:30 PM and slowly added other books to his reading time. My son is now six-years-old and every night around 6:30 PM he selects a book for us to read together (every now and again he still chooses Joy). It’s a great bonding and learning time for us.
I love writing books for children, because I know how important it is for parents to start reading with their children at an early age. Reading books regularly with your children helps them to develop language skills, begin enjoying books, and starts them on a path to reading forthemselves. Books expose children to new words and ideas. They are the foundation for learning. It’s never too early or too late to start a reading routine with your children.
I recently published two great books to add to your child’s library! Purchase I Am and I Love today! Also check out the I Am CD filled with lyrical, inspiring songs and composed with a Caribbean flair.
As parents, we wear many hats such as teachers, motivators, chauffeurs, chefs…and the list goes on! Now we must add Food Detectives to that list. When I realized that my child had food allergies, I had to become a food detective immediately. At first, it was just one more thing that I had to do, however, reading food labels has helped me to make smarter food choices for my family. Here is a great article in KidsHeath on how to interpret labels.
For example, let’s take a look at cereals. Do you know what is in your child’s cereal? There is one particular brand that I LOVED so much that I sometimes ate it for dinner. After I became a food detective and realized how much sugar it contained, I just couldn’t buy it anymore. The image below shows three examples of nutrition labels from popular cereals. The first label is from the cereal that I use to eat. As you can see, it contains 20 grams of sugar per serving. The second label is the cereal that I now eat, and it contains only 6 grams of sugar per serving. The third example is a popular kid’s cereal that has 15 grams of sugar per serving. The sugar content is just one of the many things to investigate when reading food labels. So put on your detective hats and begin investigating!
Cereal Nutrition Labels
Self-esteem is simply how we feel about ourselves. Children’s self-esteem will fluctuate at different stages in their lives. Therefore, it’s important to stay in tuned with your children. There is a great article in Kids Health that provides more in-depth information on self-esteem.
We need to invest time and energy in building our children’s self-esteem. They need to hear that they are talented, strong, intelligent, gifted, and loved. We have to help our children define themselves, so they don’t rely on their peers to define them.
I created the I Am workshop to encourage children to start thinking positively about who they are and what they have to offer. Part of the workshop requires them to write down positive words that describe their character such as honest, brave, strong, etc. Many children found this exercise difficult even when they were provided with a list of words.
Do your children need a self-esteem check-up? Ask your children to write down a list of positive words that best describe them, and give them a few examples. If you have more than one child, do this exercise separately with each child. For children age twelve and under, ask for five words. For children age thirteen and older, ask for ten words. How difficult was it for them to complete this exercise? Email your thoughts and comments to admin@123mangotree.com.
Welcome to the official launch of 123 Mango Tree! It has been an exciting journey preparing for the launch and I’m so glad to be able to share it with you all. This site was created to promote literacy through reading, art, and music. We provide free videos that entertain and educate children, word puzzles that challenge them, and a place for children to showcase their artwork. We created The Lunch Box blog for parents and teachers to share ideas on how to prepare our children for the world. 123 Mango Tree also has an eStore with empowering books for parents to read with their children and other great products. Please sign up to receive our monthly newsletter. We will be adding new art, videos, and puzzles so visit often.
Peace, love, and respect!
