The Curious Mom

If you’re one of those parents who seems to know everything about looking after little ones, then it’s understandable that you’d want to share that knowledge with other people. After all, this isn’t an aspect of life that comes with a tutorial guide, even though there are many parents out there who wish it did. In any case, parents should share their knowledge: you will only know this stuff because someone else decided to share their knowledge. In this blog, we’re going to take a look at a few ways you can share all that you’ve learned along your parenting journey.

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Learning is a lifelong process, and taking the journey is an important decision, especially for parents and stakeholders of education involved in a learner's journey.

REX, the country's premier learning solutions provider, designs Core Learning Materials that enable learners of all ages to not just absorb information, but more importantly, develop the skills necessary to use, adapt, and apply what they learn in real-world contexts and situations.

Guided by the Whole Child framework, REX taps on its years of experience and collaboration with the country's leading authors and researchers, combining relevant frameworks and methodologies to create learning materials that are intuitively designed to ensure that learners are Safe, Healthy, Engaged, Supported, and Challenged.

The portfolio of printed learning materials designed by REX ranges from Basic Education texts to specifically-designed texts for various Senior High School tracks, to texts designed for Tertiary Education based on the framework of Outcomes-Based Education (OBE), as well as comprehensive texts, guides, codes, and reviewers designed for Legal Education.

What does your child do well? As parents, we know that our children already have the skills one sort or other. Some kids will have a knack for singing, while others will excel in painting.

Letting them explore on their own is essential to discover and nurture their true gifts. For instance, motivating kids to participate in various activities is a good opportunity to discover their interests. Aside from stimulating their creativity, doing this will also help push children to explore their full potential.

While they are young, allowing your kids to realize their talents is helpful in honing their skills. And as parents, we can be the number one support that they need.

Back when we were children, it was almost unheard of that we would play inside, and according to studies, children who grew up in the 70s and 80s spent at least two to three hours playing outside every single weekday. This kept them active, healthy, and social. Today, however, children would much rather stay in and watch TV or play on their computers than go outside and kick a ball around. 

Nature is good for our kids, encourages imagination, keeps away depression, and allows them to develop far better than from behind a tablet screen. Playing outside keeps health issues at bay, makes us all happier, and boosts immune systems. Here are a few tips to encourage your little people to get outside and play this summer.

Invite magic into the garden

Children love a little bit of magic and mystery, so try constructing a fairy house at the bottom of the garden and creating a story around it. You can leave clues outside it before they get up in the morning for them to find, and they can decide what the mischievous fairies were up to overnight!

Make the garden accessible

By making the garden child-friendly, you will automatically encourage them to play out there. You can do this in a number of ways - by sending them out with chalk to draw on the paving stones, or adding a slide or a paddling pool. If you are thinking about buying a trampoline for your garden, you can read Parenting Pod’s Skywalker trampoline reviews here. 

Make nature exciting

Having enthusiasm for nature will rub off on your children, and result in what is known as “parallel play”. So, if you show excitement for hiking, animals, or gardening, your kids will too. Often, children do as we do and not as we say, and you will find them creating their own version of your activity nearby.

Don't be afraid of dirt

By sending your kids outside in their old clothes, you are teaching them that it is okay to get dirty. If you have a little one who would rather wear their fancy clothes, then it could be a good idea to just accept that they will get a bit muddy - after all, the play is far more important than the physical objects! Remember, once dry, most mud is pretty easy to get off, so try not to be too uptight about jumping in puddles or digging.

Take indoors out

If your child loves playing with their building blocks, dolls, or Lego, set out some blankets outside and take their favorite toys with you. By changing the environment, you are changing the way they play, and showing them that life outside can be achievable too. There are guides for outdoor blankets that you might need.

Add water

It’s no secret that kids love playing with water! As a sensory activity, it helps brain development and lays a foundation for scientific and mathematical learning. So encourage splashing, pouring, sloshing, stirring, and anything else which gets them wet!

Remember, the earlier you instill a love of the outdoors in your child, the less likely they are to become indoor people when they grow up.

We live in a world where technology is taking over. For medicine and science, this is naturally a good thing as our technological advances are assisting us to live longer and healthier lives. The only downside to this world full of smartphones, smart TVs and apps, is that there is little in the way of safety rules laid down for our kids.

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If you roll back time thirty or so years, computers were only in their beginnings. Children didn’t grow up with iPads and smart tablets and Kindles – they had bikes, fresh air and imagination to keep them busy. However, we must roll with the changes and get with the program; the world will continue on and excel and we cannot be left behind due to remembering the ‘good old days’. Kids love being able to interact with tablets on games, books, educational apps and the latest version of MovieBox, where they can watch their favorite movies. However, internet safety is so important. So, what you need to do as a parent is to teach your children about technology and how to stay safe while using it. With these golden rules, you can make sure your children are shielded from unpleasant surprises on their coveted tablets: