10 Steps to Teaching Your Child to Communicate Effectively (Pt. 1)

Teaching Your Child to Communicate Effectively (Pt. 1)

Here is part 1 of a 3 part presentation on helping young people learn to effectively communicate in the face to face world! 
It almost seems that today children are born knowing how to communicate electronically, texting, facebook, Instagram ect., ect.... but what about communicating in person? 

Interpersonal, face to face communication, will always be an important part of being a well rounded individual. 

Effective communication is the foundation to success. When one can communicate well, they have a bigger advantage over those who don’t. If you look around at the heads of major companies, you will notice that most everyone has great communication skills. 
But communication starts long before adulthood. In fact, learning to communicate effectively starts even before a child can talk. Let’s look at some ways to help your child learn to communicate effectively. 
1. Start early. Most parents don't think about effective communication skills when their children are babies; however, that is the ideal time to start. While babies don't understand specific words, they do recognize voices and they are affected by tone of voice.
With babies, practice using different tones such as surprised, happy, sad, loud, soft, high, low, etc.  Be available to your children, regardless of their ages.
2. Teach listening skills. Good communication skills start with being a good listener. Show your child that you are interested in what they have to say.  Do this by fully facing the child, giving them eye contact & nodding affirmatively.  Smiling, changing facial expressions according to what is being said and holding comments until your child is finished talking will also show you are paying attention. These visual cues all tell your child that you are listening and what they are saying is important to you. 
In turn, when speaking to your child, ask them to repeat back to you in their own words what you said. Clarify anything they misunderstood and praise them when they get it right. This teaches them good listening skills. 
3. Ask the right questions. At times, children need you to get the ball rolling by helping them open up. The key to doing this is to ask an open-ended question, which has no right or wrong answer.
Begin with who, what, where, or how. An example would be, "What did your friend do that made you mad? “
Stick to asking one question if you can, too many questions may make children close up. Sometimes children pause to think about what they want to share next so be careful not to jump in with another question too quickly.
Thats it for now. Part 2 will be posted in the next couple of days so keep an eye out for it.
Be sure and encourage effective communication skills as an overall effort to help your child develop confidence in their ability to influence their enviornment and the out comes of the events in their lives.  Fuctional Self-Confidence is a must!
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Cyberbullying - We Are Only Seeing A Part Of The Problem

Cyberbullying – An Explanation

We know that physical bullying takes its toll on our loved ones. It affects their self-image, their self-confidence and may have consequences that last a lifetime!

Cyberbullying has increased along with the popularity of the internet. To effectively qualm cyber bullying, it is important not only to know the meaning of cyberbullying, but also how it presents itself and the possible effects. Awareness is the key to preventing any occurrences and to ensure that your children do not become victims.

What one may consider cyberbullying can vary. Essentially, cyberbullying occurs when one teenager singles out another teenager or group of teenagers in a negative way online. This can include harassment, threats and even smearing someone’s name by spreading lies. With the usage of social networking sites such as MySpace and Facebook, it is very easy for teenagers to bully each other in an online environment. 

Cyberbullying is not usually a one-time deal. Most often, it is several messages being exchanged by the parties involved. These messages can take place using an instant messenger such as AIM or Yahoo! Negative blogs can be written about teens that are unaware of such slanderous activities. In some extreme cases, teenagers will hack another teen’s account and post degrading comments or send messages to others posing as that person. 

Many teens do not give the forethought to the issue and do not realize that they are setting themselves up for a possible criminal charge. Others are simply not aware or do not care that they are damaging reputations and causing depression which may even lead to suicide or murder. 

As a parent, it is important to spread awareness to your children about cyberbullying and its effects. What may seem like innocent fun to one teen is embarrassing to another and may lead to social problems. Stories are always in the news about teenagers who have committed suicide because of comments posted online. Teenagers have killed another in similar situations. 

Issuing threats is a criminal matter. However, it is very difficult to sue an offender of cyberbullying as the burden of proof may not exist. Teenagers may claim that the comments were posted by someone who hacked into their account or simply that they were just joking around. 

Many offenders get off with a slap on the wrist as opposed to any criminal charges. When a teenager commits murder or suicide, it can be very hard to prove that the events surrounding the death were caused by cyberbullying. One can argue that the child was depressed before any instances of cyberbullying took place. 

Cyberbullying can take many forms. Teenagers can smear another’s name on a social networking site such as Twitter and Facebook, or create a damaging blog or website devoted to degrading another teen. Cyberbullying only pertains to teenagers and children; when an adult gets involved it becomes cyberstalking and cyberharrassment. 

Knowing the forms of cyberbullying and what to be aware of will help to stop another child from cyberbullying yours. Be sure to discuss cyberbullying and its consequences with your children as well so that they do not become cyberbullies themselves.

We have just put together a quick guide to raising responsible kids. It is free and we will post it up over on the safekidz facebook fanpage.

Stress Management: 8 Stress Relievers for Health and Wellness

Stress Relievers for Health and Wellness: Managing and Controling Your Stress

Stress is something we all face, many of us face different types of stress on a daily basis and it is well known that stress can have adverse effects on our health. 

Managing stress is a great way to ensure that you maintain your health throughout your life time and there are many different ways you can learn to manage stress.

Visit our Family Yoga Center

Stress Relievers

1. Exercise
One of the best ways to manage your stress is to ensure that your body is getting enough exercise. Exercise has been proven to help maintain mental fitness along with physical fitness. Studies have shown that exercise is very effective in improving concentration, helps the body release natural pain killers and helps to ad in more restful sleep. All it takes is five minutes of aerobic exercise to help stimulate the mind and the body producing anti-anxiety effects.  

2. Meditation
Meditation is another great way to manage stress in your life. One of the great things about meditation is that it is absolutely free!

Meditation can actually reverse your stress response which will help to shield you from the effects of chronic stress. Meditation also helps you clear your mind from the things that are causing you stress. 

3. Journaling
Journaling is also and effective stress management tool, because it will help you to clarify your thoughts and feelings. Many people have found that through journaling they are able to come up with a solution to their problems just by seeing it on paper. 

4. Dealing With Mental Stress
One of the reasons mental stress occurs is when the mind is overly focused or concentrated on one thing, this is something typically seen at work. It is important to step away in order to restore balance and clarity and do an activity that does not require any mental concentration. 

This can be a walk around the block, getting out in nature also helps quite a bit, being somewhere without noise, distractions and anything that entails the mind having to focus on something so that you can just “be.”

This is often referred to as “gelling” in slang terms and it can really do wonders to clear and refresh the mind. 

5. Deep Breathing
Deep breathing exercises work great to help people with stress management. It has been proven that when a person focuses on deep slow breathing they are able to trigger a state of relaxation and their body temperature actually raises. Deep breathing exercises are great because they can be used at any time during the day. You don’t have to worry about having somewhere to exercise or having your journal handy you can simply take a few moments and focus on your breathing. 

6. Music
Many people have also found that listening to music can help to reduce stress. Some prefer angry hard rock while others find that listening to soft classical music helps them to relax. One of the best things about using music to reduce stress is that you can listen to music while you go about your life and you don’t have to set a specific time aside for this type of therapy. 

7. Well Balanced Diet
Finally and probably the most important thing you can do to manage the stress that you face is to eat a well-balanced diet.

Avoiding foods that contain caffeine or other stimulants is very important.

These stimulants actually cause the body to be less equipped to handle normal stress. But there are many food that you can add to your diet to help you reduce and manage your stress. 

Best Foods To Reduce Stress
• Walnuts
• Turkey
• Spinach
• Salmon 
• Avocados 
• All green vegetables have all been proven to help the body function properly when dealing with stress. 
• It is also important to ensure you are drinking enough water!

8. Get Away

If at all possible get completely away from the sources of stress. If it’s work, take a break or a short vacation. If it is the kids and the house, then get a sitter and have a spa day or “me day” where you do things you enjoy.

Choose an activity that allows you to unwind, and if that means turning off your phone and tablet and just watching movies all day, then feel free.

Bottom Line

In today’s world, stress cannot be avoided. We deal with it every day from many different sources but the good news is there are things that we can do in order to help us manage the stress we face so that it does not take a toll on our bodies.

If stress is left unchecked it can lead to many different health problems such as chronic anxiety, heart attack, high blood pressure, and depression. 

Simply by following the tips that I have given you, you will be able to manage your stress and reduce the chances that it will cause you future health problems.