How to truly help your child be self-rooted

When do children enter teenage years? When their ages end in the classic “teen”? Think again! If pre-teen syndrome is a phenomenon, than teenagers are definitely an age before the teen suffix. The point being made here, is that the children we seem to think, will remain so, for a long time, are actually rapidly evolving into youth. The rules of childhood are out by now. Be ready, the fear of the unknown will gradually seep into your days and nights, as your growing child increasingly becomes an alien you don’t know. 

Maybe things are not drastic (yet) for you, but teenage mood swings, loss of values, inability to connect choice with consequence is just a notch away from manifestation. Your child who couldn’t bear to be without you cannot be seen twenty feet around you! In this time of storm and fury, child on to your child, no matter what. Connect with your child using these five psychological aspects. Help your child stay grounded and rooted to themselves – to the values of your culture and beliefs.

1. Morality and Self-Control

Children learn at six or seven that stealing is wrong and has consequences. Their sense of morality is established during these years. When ethics and moral get more complex in teens, kids undergo rage and rebellion. They experience conflict when feel a wrong action was justified: for example stealing medicine by a poor man for his sick child. At this time, talk to children about religious values. Tell them tales of valor and tales with moral lines. Teach them mindfulness and self-control no matter how long it takes for them to imbibe these values. Never give up. Discipline your child with love and generosity. Loss of privilege will work only so many times. What works is the belief that the child is loved regardless of their behavior.

2. Their Relationship with You

Help your child have a healthy self-image. Do you over criticize your children? Do they believe you love them? How do they think of you perceiving them? It doesn’t matter what you think of your children. What matters is what you show them. Let them know you are proud of them. They hear you more than you think they do. Make it clear in your actions and words how much you love them. Be verbal about your love for your child. Let them know that you have high expectations from them. And they don’t have to earn your love to live up to those expectations. Love is unconditional. You are not their boss, but their guardian. As parents, we tend to boss our children, which later on builds a resentful relationship.

3. Forming a Self-Concept

Identity is being formed during the pre-teen years. Children weigh themselves in terms of popularity in school, humor, talent and performance in multiple areas. Help your child recognize their strengths. Children compare themselves in appearance and school work and many other activities in more ways than parents notice. Lead them into self-acceptance. Guide them towards their potentials that only you can recognize best as a parent.

4. Relationships with Friends

This is the time for friendships, social circles, groups and inevitably peer-pressure. Acknowledge the nature of the friendships becoming deeper and more attached. Be prepared when they feel frustrated and left out. Teach to make the right choices when making friends. Teach then the deteriorating effects of bad – character individuals in their lives. Talk about situations in which they can respond in a healthy way to bullying, drug abuse and other current problems face by teens.

5. Succeeding in School

As parents, we want all our children to succeed in school with flying colors. While it may not be possible in all your children, know that comparison in academics can have a great impact on children. The pressures of homework, teachers, general rules, athletics, and the social scene have the potential to exert a lot of pressure. School and grades will continue to be a long-lasting part of your child’s life, so it is important to help them see education in a healthy way. Grades do not define them as a human being, and the most important thing in life is not how well they do on a project. However, this is also an opportunity to teach good work ethic, and to teach them the value of hard work and team spirit. Success lies in the quality of choices made in the journey and not the quantity of points made by the destination.

Art for troubled Teenagers

Troubled teenagers are sadly becoming a world-wide statistic. We watch teens in news and we read about them in newspapers. The epidemics of bad behavioral teen is unusually new in our times. If one suggestion to counteract this rapidly growing issue is to be made, it is simple and practical: adopting art outlets for troubled (or at-risk) teenagers.

Does your teen lash out? Has surprising bouts of anger that borders on rage? Do they seem to avoid you? Do they seem sad and desolate at times?

Have they stopped talking to you lately?

While this may a tough time in parenting for you, do not lose heart. Help yourself and your teen through the power of art classes. Let us convince you through published research results on teens working their way to success through engaging art classes. These studies show that teens who are encouraged to adopt art activities experience:

·        better academic results,

·        greater likelihood of college enrollment,

·        increased self-esteem and resiliency,

·        better workforce opportunities,

·        improved emotional intelligence, and

·        more civic engagement, such as voting and volunteering.

 Art can truly be an inspiration to youth. The results speak for themselves. In todays highly urbanized, nuclear and double income families, art can provide a balm to those rough and sharp edges in relationships. Here are some of the benefits to teens who emerged as successful individuals through art activities:

Self-Expression. Expressing ourselves in constructive ways is a learned skill. We all know at least one person in our life who isn’t great at controlling their anger – perhaps a coworker, friend or neighbor calls people names or slams doors when they don’t get their way. To become successful adults, we must learn to channel our frustrations in a positive way. The arts open the door to self-reflection and self-expression. Learning to communicate through dancing, drawing, writing, or other arts offers a constructive method for a teen to share his/her identity or wrestling with difficult questions.

Stress Relief. Many artistic activities take place in a relaxing environment and offer constructive and safe methods of communicating. Troubled teens are under an enormous amount of stress, and many times, they are not taught how to manage it. In an increasingly complex and pressure-oriented world, teens need positive coping skills. The more our community’s youth are able to find positive ways to deal with stress, the better off we all are. Studies have proven that the arts can be great stress-relievers and coping mechanisms. Examples include listening to music, dancing, drawing, writing in a journal, painting, or playing a musical instrument. An arts program can open the door to positive stress management.

Real-World Skills. Many artistic activities, such as journalism or photography, teach real-world skills, which can lead to lifelong interests, even careers. They help kids explore their physical, creative, and social potential and find out where their interests may lie.

Creativity. Artistic programs can provide an outlet for creativity and problem-solving and encourage a youth’s natural curiosity and interests. The arts provide effective, engaging and creative methods of mental, emotional and physical stimulation, which encourages the overall creative thinking process.Try our CREATIVE GENIUS PROGRAM here.

Self-Confidence. For a teen who is not gifted academically, the chance to excel in the arts can make a huge difference in their self-esteem. Additionally, when children learn new skills and engage in social activities, they become more self-confident. Learning social skills, like cooperation, negotiation, and conflict resolution, in a fun and relaxed environment, will help them interact appropriately with others – a skill valuable in all aspects of life, from home life to the workplace.

Art Programs

 The most effective arts programs for youth contain activities that are designed to provide opportunities for youth to learn new skills, recognize individual youth’s efforts, and reduce the influence of risk factors. These programs become a safe haven for a teen. Successful programs emphasize dynamic teaching tactics such as hands-on learning, apprentice relationships, and the use of technology. They also usually culminate in a public performance or exhibition in an effort to build participants’ self-esteem through public recognition.

WE STRIVE TO NURTURE THE BEST IN YOU. 

5 Reasons Why Children Miss out on Remaining an Artist they all are Born as?

An amazing phenomenon has been observed since the 1930. It is called the Flynn Effect. It is a scientific observation on increasing IQ scores across generations. We are, in fact, smarter than our grandparents and parents! It’s a little surprise. Look around you. Can you identify the many information and sensory enrichment sources that enhance our knowledge and decision making capacity? Did these sources exist when grandma was eight years old? So that explains the increasing figures! 

The ancient “nature Vs nurture” battle in human breeding. Generations get smarter with time. Before you add a chip on your shoulder, just hold the thought. The next generations however have declined in terms of creative performance, by at least 10 points! Now that’s some generation gap not to brag about. Your child is born a creative genius. But you (yes you!) have been over-doing certain actions that kills their creativity.

 Watch out and tell us if you can relate:

Rewards: Why have we shifted the locus of motivation from intrinsic to extrinsic? By rewarding our children with stars, stickers, badges and even sweets we are training them to work the “right” amount! A kids will put in only that much effort that is needed to win a sticker! Sometimes we even make these stickers too easy to achieve! We want creativity boosters not inhibitors. We need to develop the love of their creation not the stickers!

Shadowing: Hovering on your child while they work is another no-no. Always sitting with them and directing their projects makes them feel insufficient or ill-equipped to run their own affairs. Let them be. As long as their working environment is safe, let them pursue their creative ride alone. Risk taking is the precursor to confidence in capabilities. Mistakes are the most valuable part of the learning process. Let them make theirs!

 

 The right answer: Since when is the world black or white? We know as adults, life usually deals in the grey area. Decisions are a mix of rights and wrong, completely contingent on the situation. Creativity is boosted when a problem has multiple solutions! There is no one correct or wrong answer!

Let them get bored: A bored afternoon is the most productive afternoon! After the whining has subsided, wait for the ideas! Don’t be afraid of the boredom. Simply turn off the TV and force your kids to think of ideas to keep them engaged and productive.

Some words of wisdom:

Creativity is boosted when things are done in pursuit to the proposed solutions, not perfection! Each mistake stimulates the imagination to yield more creative ideas. When it comes to drawing, we as parents need to be even more careful.  

What should parents do? According Ryan Woodward:

Tell them how happy you are to see them drawing.

Tell them how much you love to see their drawings and how it makes you feel.

Encourage them to keep drawing what they love to draw.

Above everything, teach them to continue to LOVE to draw. 

Do not talk about getting better.  That talk will fill them with anxiety that they have to start to meet a social standard of good art.  

And that unrealistic standard frequently turns to fear of art and ultimately quitting art.

If this love for drawing is strongly rooted in them at a young age, then there is nothing that will stop their greatness.  They will improve at an accelerated rate because they will still love the act of drawing.  They will stretch their growth beyond the course curriculum because every assignment will be a labor of love, and personal joy, not a grade.  Their careers will find them and their love for the work will expand their capacity for creativity.  They will continue to seek for personal wonder and awe in their work for the rest of their lives and not the paycheck or the pat on the back.  Ultimately, they will be much more happy with their lives. ~ Ryan Woodward

Good luck parents, seems like you have your child’s creativity at your fingertips!

5 signs indicating you to revise your parenting style

We are not born knowing exactly what we should do as parents. This is a huge and overwhelming responsibility that transforms each day into a hard, yet empowering and wonderful experience. That is why we should always be careful at our parenting style. Are our actions in the benefit of the child? What consequences have our choices for their development?

From time to time, each parent should reconsider his parenting style. Sit down and think about what happened in a time frame: how did you and your child change? What conflicts did you have? What could you have done differently?

Just to give you a helping hand, read 5 signs that indicate you should revise your parenting style. Keep in mind this does not mean you are not a good parent! It just suggests you could do some improvements in your child’s benefit:   

                         

1.    You are using a lot the time-out discipline technique,THEN Time to use TIME-IN :)

A technique recommended even by some experts, the time-out is leaving the child in isolation. Yet, recent studies show that this approach, adopted even in a gentle way, may have negative effects on children as they feel a strong need of bonding and connecting to others. The lesson of solitude and isolation is not a good lesson for anyone and much less for children! They will think that each time they do something wrong or are dealing with problems and worries, they should force themselves to be alone.

Researchers studied the brain scans of many children who were isolated during punishment and reached the conclusion their brain looked exactly like the ones of children who got physical abuse.

                 

2.    You are living in the past when it comes to interactions with children

Each period of time has a different dynamic. Each child/parent is different. You cannot relate to your child, thinking about how your parents behaved with you or how you were as a child. Children have their own personality from a very early age so you should respect and value this.

It’s not a good idea either to compare you with other parents skills and try to be better than them.

3.    You are trying to make your child a better version of you

Maybe another way of living in the past, remember your child is not a different version of you, he is a totally different person. He might want something else, act differently and you have no right to shape him as you would like him to be. This pressure might harm children, leading to permanent emotional damage, says the Danish therapist and author Jesper Juul, the one who wrote “Raising Competent Children”.

4.    You are constantly reproaching and adopt criticism

The same Danish therapist says reproach and critics will only lead to frustrating and intimidating your child. Even if you may think this is the only way to motivate him, remember there are plenty of other solutions like setting goals, learning through play, being a model for your child etc. Showing respect – to a child, but with anyone else, too – will draw the same behavior. A toddler, a teenager or an adult – everyone deserves and wait for respect and encouragement.

                     

5.    You are too permissive

The other way round of parenting style – too permissive – wouldn't be a very good way of approaching your child. Kids and teenagers wants you to be a leader who empathizes and paves path for them to behave on their own free will. If you are not trying to make a balance between your rules and gentleness, your permissive style will lead to many flaws: he will not be able to develop an internal happiness, to understand and take responsibilities, you will be overwhelmed by your compromises and your child will neither trust you, nor in himself etc.

  

HAPPY PARENTING 

5 Ways to Raise Self-Engaged Learner

Want to know the secrets of expert pedagogists? The decade old researches on how to create and nurture self-engaged learners? Look no further! In this article, we put together the best ways you can promote self-engagement in your child. By the way, what is “self-engagement” anyway? Many parents with constantly complaining kids or kids who tend to get distracted easily will be able to relate with this idea. How many times have we tried to spread out a painting or a craft activity, including those expensive DIY kits, and settle down with a cup of coffee, only to hear “Mom/Dad! I need help!!” We empathize with you. If you want those prolonged, blissful hours of peace while your child labors over a project, read these tips.

1. The Power of Pep Talk — If there is one powerful weapon, you as a parent have, that cannot be provided by an education system in the world, is the power of “pep talk” with your child. Nothing, we repeat nothing will compare to this power. These talks remain with your child in times of stress and happiness. These talks are what we call “human values”. Try this: “There is nothing on this earth that you cannot do. All challenges were created for humans, you are a human, you can do this.” Talks like these will elevate the self-belief and the sense of worth in your child. Imagine packing them with power in short sessions like these. So the next time they need help, they will be more in control.   

2. Be approachable:  Do you look like a person who exudes fear and forbiddance? That’s sad. If you want your children to be more self-engaged and less disrupting in their activities, win their trust in one thing: make them realize that you are always approachable. Children have the tendency to attract attention when they know they won’t get any! Studies indicate that teachers and care-providers when appear approachable, well prepared, and sensitive to the children’s needs, then children tend to work harder and longer at their tasks! Did you ever think of that?

3. Take it Up Another Notch: Okay, here’s another common misconception amongst parents. We tend to assign relatively easier tasks to our children, especially when it comes to drawing and art activities. Create educational experiences for students that are challenging and enriching and that extend their academic abilities. Connect their home based activities to their future and immediate surrounding, Talk about the value of their tasks in their personal life. Easy learning activities and assignments are not as effective at engaging children as activities and assignments that challenge them. So when do you know your child is actually engaged in their task? When you find them probing, reflecting, questioning, conjecturing, evaluating, and making connections between ideas, they are engaged.  

4. Enable your children to become active citizens — What is the relevance of active dialogue between you and your child when they don’t get to materialize any ideas? Talk about giving back to the community they live in. If there is a charity auction, have your children donate their toys. In fact, try this, for every toy they buy, they need to donate one toy! Talk about recycling, re-inventing and innovations that serve mankind. Don’t worry about sounding too lofty to your child. They need such ideas at this age (before they become too far-fetched in adulthood, unfortunately). So what will happen when they learn citizenship values? Any project they work on at home or school, they would want it to be a part of their environment. Congratulations, you have instantly taught the value of their efforts!

5. Connect with Your Social and Cultural Values — Talk about your culture using multi-media and even family memorabilia. Help them connect with their friends of similar culture, especially during the traditional holidays. This will create a sense of belonging to the world they live in. It will strengthen their identity and satisfy their sense of being. This is especially essential for minority kids who need to be successful not only in the classroom but in extra-curricular activities as well.

Reference Zepke, N., and Leach, L. (2010). Improving student engagement: Ten proposals for action. Active Learning in Higher Education, 11 (3), 167-177.

Why our Parenting Style is Similar to Our Parents

 Does this sound like you: “No, means NO, you cannot do it, because I say so.” Or “ How many times do I have to tell you, now sit down and write on a paper fifty times, you wont do this again!” or “ Don’t run after you finish eating, it is bad for your health.” And many such phrases that actually make you sound like your father or mother. Do you find yourself behaving, acting or even screaming like your parents at your children? You may have sworn that you would never be your parents to your children, but becoming your parents is inevitable. 

Many of the things we say to our children are actually manifestations of our past experiences as children. These words have been programmed into our brains through repeated experiences. The ultimately mold our parenting style. While our parents can be a great influence on our parenting style, but it really isn’t the end of the ideas we may have for bringing up our children. All we need to do is be conscious of our habits and acknowledge the similarities with our parents. In this article we will tell you how you can make a parenting style change.

Simply make a list of things you liked about your parents What did they do that helped you become the person you are today. Did your parents make you confident and secure? Did they lovingly encourage you to become your best self? Did they make you more conscious of your body (weight issues). Did they make you conscious of your actions (being honest). Did they yell a lot? Or were they subdued when very angry? All these reactions have helped made you into YOU! Simply separate your good experiences from your bad ones. Keep the list growing by adding to it over the next few days. Keep adding until you have nothing to add. Consult your siblings to confirm whenever in doubt. 
In addition to their actions as parents, also make a list of your reactions. Did you not always get the love and attention you desired? For example, think about the times when you were sick. Did your parents get you extra treats to help you feel better? Or did they tell you to “brave” it? What would you do when attending your sick child? Think about the time when you lost in a sporting activity. Were your parents hard on you or did they teach you’re the true sports spirit? How are you reacting to your children’s winnings or failures at sports? Were you bullied at school? Was someone unfair with you? How did your parents support you? 

Maybe yours told you to fight your own battles as a part of the “tough love” strategy. Did that toughen you up or left you more bitter or vulnerable. These experiences are worth recalling for the purpose of our list building exercise. The more reactions and actions you have on your list, the more you can choose to create a new parenting path for yourself and your child. 
Now request your partner to do the same. Merge your lists and determine the best course of parenting action for your children. What have you just established here? You managed to be consciously aware of your parenting style. You know which tendencies to avoid and which to build upon. With a supportive spouse, you can do this even more successfully. 
You don’t have to parent like your parents. But you can choose the best styles for your children. A little practice is all you need. And being mindful. While you are at it, do call your parents to apologize for being such a tough kid! Weren’t they right when they said “Wait till you have your own kid?”

What is the hype about “right brain training” anyway?

Why is right brain training and creative thinking skills important for future generation?

What is the hype about “right brain thinking” anyway? Why the fuss? Why the focus? And above all, is it worth our time? Before we divulge some best practices (implemented at Discover Me) regarding the benefits of right brain engagement, we want to tell you that, yes you the reader….you can still train your brain and think “differently”.

Why think differently?

What is the difference anyway?

Hang in there! Neither what we are about to reveal is anything new, nor it is as complicated as learning to swim or driving a car. All you need to do is, appreciate the types of processing related to the right and left sections of your brain and practice engaging them both.

If you are like me, you think with your left brain, at least most of the time! You execute your tasks with logic and order. This means, all daily math related computations – adding up groceries while you shop, pouring left-over food in the appropriate container, budgeting your expenses and even planning a party at home. Marvelous isn’t it? The left hemisphere is also dominant in language processing. You hear something, you recognize the language and you reply accordingly. Recall what you had for dinner last night. What was the name of the last movie you saw in the theater? What was the name of your childhood pet? Thanks to your left brain processing, you know the answers to those questions.

The right brain deals with creativity. The right brain will help you analyze the tone and the context of the person speaking to you. It will help you react to the tone! Did you have the moment of euphoria when you recognized a friend fifteen years post high-school? Thank your right brain that is mainly in charge of spatial abilities and face recognition. What about nostalgia associated with those notes of music you heard as a child? Have you ever hung a wall-hanging approximately adjacent to the window? Estimations and rough comparisons are also within the realm of the right brain. The right brain also helps you make sense of the visuals and imagery. 

Creative thinking is something we as adults are required to indulge in when solving problems at work and at home. Creative thinking enables us to carry out the left brain processing in the desired direction. Creativity and innovation have been the corner stone to success in any project.

How many times are we praised with terms like “genuine”, “unique”, “out of the box thinking” or even “revolutionary idea”. The right brain is responsible for most of these laurels.

Mind Mapping Exercises for Right Brain Engagement

At Discover Me, we promote right brain thinking through many activities. Research indicates that drawing exercises engages the right brain processing. When subjected to such exercises at a young age, we arouse the creative thinker in the candidate.

Mind Mapping is a technique originally created by Tony Buzan. It uses words connected with arrows or lines. It’s a good way of representing a large amount of interconnecting information in a fairly compact way, and many people also use it for planning presentations or taking notes in meetings. Mind maps include rich pictures that are color-coded, interconnected, radiating from a central idea or a word. How many times have we used this strategy at work as adults? Replacing all words with pictures creates an even more powerful mind map. Perhaps one of the greatest utilization of mind maps is understanding (or demonstrating) a complex idea or a concept. Mind mapping promotes visual thinking that enables the individual to relate ideas presented across the academic curriculum. So a child who is trained to depict ideas visually, will be able to internalize complex information much easily as compared to a child who tried to envision the idea in logical order.

Think of the long-term benefits of this healthy habit cultivated in your child at Discover Me!

Three-dimensional drawing is also a great tool to engage the right brain. At Discover Me, the learner is required to draw and improve this skill until they get as close to the real image as possible. What starts as a tough exercise (especially for artistically challenged individuals) yields into subsequent ease and enjoyable experiences. The idea is to enable your child to think and express visually.

Conclusion

In the current academic setting, where rote memorization continues to dominate the success criteria, creative thinking is compromised. What use are the facts acquired in memory when you cannot apply them in the dynamic real world context. At Discover Me, we prepare creative individuals who are well-equipped to succeed in ambiguous situations. Never underestimate the combined power of the right and left brain thinking!

Turn off the Tube

5 Steps to Raise Self-Engagement Habits in your Child

Turn off the Tube

Why let afternoons idle in front of the tube and vacations amok with broken house rules? I mean, as a growing child, didn’t most of us did the same? If we are repeating history, despite being guilty of our so-called education, then we are worse off than our parents! Is the tube the only way to relax and unwind? Did you know that the T.V is the fastest way to put out creative fires in your child? Especially with cartoons with video game versions that just feed off each other with no meaning and moral in the story line. Moreover, a child learns more with hands on activities than simply watching someone else do it. Let’s engage our children in more creative ways before the next fist fight over the remote!

  

Encourage engaging activities

Is it felt-tip pen drawing that keeps your child rooted in a chair? Is it baking cupcakes? Is it Lego? Or is it mixing paint. Find out the creative side of your child and attune yourself to their creative outlet preferences. Once established, invest in these creative platforms. If it is paints, spend a weekend on buying paints of varying textures. If it is markers, help them develop a collection. By doing so, you are directly encouraging them to engage in their creative activities. Remember, these are their natural, unadulterated creative hobbies. Something that comes intrinsically from them. Not only will they invest more time in such activities, but also produce quality work. This will set the tone for other not-so-preferred tasks. Activities based purely on process, experiencing colors, textures, feel associated with it rather than results it produces.   

Practice Journal or Blog Writing to Communicate with children

In this digital age, raising digital learners, do not create a technological chasm between you and your children and label it as the over rated “generation gap”. In fact, use technology to your benefit by creating mandatory blog writing activities with one single topic: Reflections. Indeed, we reveal more in writing that we intend to. Text-based dialogue is more expressive and even pulls out the most passive issues in the deeper recesses of our minds. Encourage your children to maintain a daily blog on a family website. With a plethora of tools available like Google Sites, Word press and Wix.com, you can quickly create a family account and communicate your writing practice requirements more effectively. You will notice an occasional paragraph or two with some genuine ideas on a creative activity. What they won’t tell you, they will definitely write! We @discoverme encourage children to keep brief account of their daily interactions based on theme of their weekly session —what worked or didn’t work, what they tried,etc either in blog or diary(kids choose their medium)

Practice Using the Design Process to Increase the Quality of Work

Create a culture of “version control” over activities that require greater time and energy expenditure. This helps improve the quality of their performance by providing them with the much needed room for error. For example, the version 1 of the project can only be the final version when everyone is satisfied and find no improvements to make. This habit is a positive step towards accepting constructive feedback and view problems as a systems view. Help your child develop blue prints before tackling their favorite projects. Explain how engineers build prototypes, respond to critical feedback, and refine their design before going into production. Similarly, artists make sketches of big works and revise their ideas before creating their final piece. Drive your children towards high quality work by working in increments and improving through feedback. Process is more focused during the session flow with children taking them though the journey of first draft to final on

Showcase Big Projects

When your child invests their time and energy on a project, regardless of how it turns out, make it a big deal. Teach them the value of hard work and dedication more than the result. Reward them for their diligence and persistence more than the end product. Display their work in an area where it can become a conversation piece with guests and other family members. Take pictures and boast on social media. Share your friend’s comments with your child. Just make it a big deal. Talk about real-life experts that are related to your child’s hobby. Watch or read their biography to deduce their personality, professionalism and work ethics. In this way, you are creating multiple role models for your child to look up to and emulate.We encourage kids to post on their blog and during our session talk more about feelings attached to it –do they feel motivated by efforts they put in .

Our best advice yet? Register for a session or two at Discover Me and learn about your child in a few weeks in a way you never expected! Few of the activities we do @DISCOVERME.

·        Play a game of what if with child wherein you make a statement “what if the sun was pink in color” and the kid makes an another statement saying “maybe and what if the in the pink sun lived a purple cat". Build a scenario or a story using the process mentioned above.

·        Pick any article (pen, fork, etc) and with the child list out as many uses as you can think of for the object. All ideas, however crazy, are ok in the game. Target 50 uses!

·        Draw a picture showing how you would make old enemies like a cat and a goldfish become friends.

·        Act out, with a small group, how you would make friends with an alien visiting Earth.

Let’s EXPLORE, EXPERIENCE, ENHANCE, EMPOWER, & ENJOY OUR CHILD’S POTENTIAL.

11 Spring Break Bucket List Activities

The Spring Break is approaching so every parent should think about some fun and educational activities for Spring Break Bucket List. Remember this is a perfect time for bonding with your child and for improving your relationship with him.

Time could not be enough for you to research a lot, so we thought to give you a helping hand. Here it is our 10 choices when it comes to Spring Break Bucket List. We gathered some useful, funny, interesting and even touching activities for children and parents. We hope to find them inspiring and use them this Spring Break.

1). Get to know something different

Everyone is used to his environment, family, traditions, religion etc. But this could be a good time in finding something new about different in the world around us.

You can either choose a family with a different social status so that the child can learn how other families live, how grateful he should be for what he has, but also to respect other people regardless their social, financial status, appearance etc.

2). Back into the past

It would be fun, but also challenging to live a day back into the past. Tell your child how life was 30-40 years ago. Convince him to make some adjustments for a day: do not use the telephone, the computer, play only outside, riding a bicycle or playing hide and seek, not watching television etc.

3). Enter a competition or enroll him into a new sport

Depending on his assets, find some competitions in your area and enter them. This will be fun, but also challenging. The competitive spirit to a child is very well developed so he might find this a very interesting activity. Of course, be there for him the whole time, encouraging, letting him to tell you his fears, doubts etc.

On the other hand, you could also enroll him into a new sport or teach him a new activity. There is never too late for that and there are never too many sports he can do. Choose a pleasant, Spring relaxing activity like roller skating, biking, tennis, badminton, swimming etc.

4). No judging day

Always remember you are the hero of your child. What you do is the best example for him. That’s why a day without judging would be helpful in building a right, beautiful personality. The rule of no judging will be followed by both of you: do not criticize anyone and try to have a beautiful remark about the ones you meet that day.

5). Take some photos at a new activity

Planting trees, for example, can be both relaxing and educational. The child learns how important is to take care of the environment. In order to be proud by his activity and have some memories with you on such an interesting day, take some photos that you can show afterwards to family and friends.

6). The honesty letter

The moment of truth is here so propose your child a different type of activity. We all have complaints or wishes about each other, but maybe sometime we do not have the courage to verbalize them. So, challenge your child to write you a letter in which to highlight both your qualities, and your flaws. At the end of the letter, ask him to write 3 things he would want to change at you. Of course, you should also write the honesty letter, with him as a main character.

7). How you see yourself after 10 years

Maybe this would be a good start for your child to make dreams. Imagination is one of the most powerful tool of a child so challenge him visualize his future. Ask him to write a letter in which to write how he sees himself in 10 years.

You can do the same. Afterwards, meet and read the letters atloud. It will also be a good idea to put the letters in a box and bury it in a secret place.

8). Buy him a book you loved when you were a child

It’s true, nowadays, we have a lot of fantasy, sci-fi children books, but the charm of that classical stories cannot be surpassed by anything. Thus, go to a book shop and buy your child a classical book you loved in your childhood. One Thousand and One Nights, Black Beauty, David Copperfield, Aesop’s Fables, Robinson Crusoe, Gulliver’s Travels – all these can be very wise choices.  

9). Talk him about faith

Faith is a ticklish topic nowadays, but this does not mean you cannot teach your child things about your religion, about the way you see divinity and other notions like this. Respect, understanding and tolerance should be important values in a child’s life.

10). Make a Wish Spring Tree in your courtyard

If you have a tree in your courtyard, cut paper hearts on which every member of the family should write Spring wishes and hang on that tree. The “legend” says that at the end of summer, all the wishes will come true.

11). Interesting family stories

Family roots are also important so choose to talk to your child about his ancestors a little bit different. Find relevant photos and see if there are some unique and interesting stories. Start with them and try to create a bond between your child and his ancestors too.

Developing brain muscle in your childern

The swimmer  Adrian Moorhouse,  winner of Olympic Gold in 1988 in Seoul, had the same coach from the day of articulating his dream to becoming the best in the world. Terry Denison, his coach, said“You have to be able to accept the ups and downs of life. It teaches people to deal with the disappointments in a way that’s not a major thing, because losing a swimming race is not like losing your arm or seeing a loved one die. I think young people learn that there’s going to be some knocks and some good times. You've got to live with both of them and at the end of the day they’ll both even themselves out. I think it teaches people to be disciplined and that’s most important in this life. I do think it makes people organised as well. They learn to apportion time to certain things in their life and they know that, whatever they are going to do, they've got to give a whole lot of time to do it.”

We all want our children to become self-engaged learners.We want them to feel motivated about their learning. We want them to value effort more then results. We want them to pick themselves up and try again when they fail, because determination and resilience are skills they will need throughout their lives beyond school and college.

Workshop to develop this brain-muscle in your children

WORKSHOP is loaded with activity based learning experiences banking heavily on exploration and experiential learning and self-reflections.

Requirements

4 DAYS(weekends) OF 60 MINUTE LESSONS

Learning Target

– Get Better Mindsets

– Understand that developing a growth mindset is a choice that can positively impact your personal and professional life. Understand that research has proven that intelligence can be developed through effort and skill building.

– How the brain works, difference between growth and fixed mindsets

- Self-Assess their own mindset and develop a toolkit of strategies for future.

- Attitude about self as learner changes, homework completion and attendance improve.

Schedule

Day One - Day Three: (How the Brain Works)

 Learning about the brain and learning and how YOU can grow your intelligence.

Day Four (Feel It! Growth vs. Fixed Mindsets)

Look at our own mindsets and think about how our mindsets impact our life.

DAY FIVE (Feel It! Growth vs. Fixed Mindsets)

Difference between growth and fixed mindset

Day Six: Model It

Day Seven: Talk It

Do skit/role-play

Day Eight: Self-Assess

Self-Assess their own mindset and develop a toolkit of strategies for future.

Conducted By Neetu Shah (child counselor and facilitator with multiple intelligence and habits of mind)

Contact 0554069095