Gifting Children With Social Skills
Teaching social skills is a wonderful gift parents can give to children. Knowing how to behave in public and how to interact with people is invaluable throughout life. Social skills are “common sense” ways of respecting other people and living peacefully in a home, a neighborhood, a community, a society. Simply put, they are the practice of the Golden Rule. (The rule states: treat others as you expect others to treat you.) Although social skills are mostly for the benefit of others, there are hidden benefits for children. Knowing how to behave properly gives children social confidence. Children also thrive on the positive feedback from adults when they behave well.
How can parents teach their children social skills? One way is to set a good example. Children have to see parents behaving kindly and politely in public and at home to make the connection. It’s also vital for parents to be polite to their children. Although parents are within their rights to say, “Pick up your toys,” adding “please” not only gets the message across but gives a lesson in courtesy. Another way to teach social skills is for parents to rehearse new or unfamiliar situations with children. Play “restaurant” or “birthday party” with a teddy bear. At first, play the part of the well-behaved bear to show what’s expected. Then, let the bear do something rude to see if your child corrects him.
Practicing the art of conversation is also a good way to teach the social skill of greeting people and being friendly. Emphasize the importance of this skill with comments, such as “There’s our neighbor, Betty. Let’s go and say hello.” Play-act desired behavior with pets and toys: “Why hello Barney! Did you have a nice day at preschool? What did you play with today?”
Learning social skills will help children with every aspect of their lives, now and in the years to come. Having these skills modeled for them, as well as using them, will prepare children to be better members of families and society as a whole.
Northland Women’s Policy Forum
Saturday, November 7, noon to 5:00 p.m. at Mesabi Range College, Eveleth Campus
…Print and distribute the flyer!
The Northland Women’s Policy Forum is a gathering designed to bring together policy makers, community leaders, advocates, and all those interested learning more about the intersection of women and public policy.
Guests include: Amy Brenengen, Office on the Economic Status of Women; Deb Fitzpatrick, Center on Women and Public Policy, Humphrey institute; Deborah Schlick, Affirmative Options Coalition; Suzanne Koepplinger, Minnesota Indian Women’s Resource Center; Kathleen Murphy, Constitutional Amendment For Equality (CAFE)
AGENDA
12:00 Registration and Lunch
12:30 The Status of Women in Minnesota: The 10,000 foot perspective
1:30 The Status of Women in Minnesota: The “on the ground” perspective (Panel Discussion)
2:30 Facilitated Roundtable Discussions – Three 30‐minute discussions centered around: Economic Justice/Disparities for Women; “What exactly is Policy?”; Around the Kitchen Table – What women’s issues are we talking about around the table that didn’t get mentioned here?
4:00 Women in Public Office
4:30 Interactive Discussion with Elected Officials including State Representative Tom Rukavina; St. Louis County Commissioner Peg Sweeney; City Councilors Nevada Littlewolf and Liz Kuoppala
5:00 Dessert Networking Reception
For more information, email womensforum09@gmail.com or call 1-800-662-5711 ext 423
Sponsored by: Office on the Economic Status of Women; Rural Women’s Leadership Project; The White House Project; Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society, Mesabi Range College; Arrowhead Economic Opportunity Agency; Blandin Foundation; the Women’s Foundation of Minnesota
YMCA Family Halloween Party
To be held at the Mesabi Family YMCA in Mt. Iron.
The YMCA invites area “walkers” and their families to come in costume and have some Halloween fun! Families will enjoy Halloween-themed activities including games, craft projects, story time, & more! This event is free & open to the public. Please stop at the Member Services Desk or call 749-8020 to pre-register!
Start Time: 09:00
Date: 2009-10-30
End Time: 11:30
IDEA: Understanding the Special Education Process
Location: Mesabi Range Comm-Tech College, Rm C151, Virginia
Description: A FREE PACER workshop for parents & professionals. It will cover basic information on special education, IEP’s, evaluation & re-evaluations, records, advocacy, and more! To register, please contact PACER at 1-800-537-2237.
Start Time: 18:30
Date: 2009-10-20
End Time: 21:30
September 2009 - Children’s Defense Fund - Minnesota 2009 Kids Count Data book Released
According to this research, 140,000 children in Minnesota lived in poverty in 2008 - an increase of more than 20% from 2000. These numbers do not include any additional families that may have fallen into poverty due to the current economic recession. CDF estimates that an additional 44,000 - 56,000 children could now be counted as living in poverty.
KIDS COUNT Fact Sheet
Losing Ground:
• 11 percent of Minnesota’s children lived in poverty in 2008.
• 24 percent of Asian children in Minnesota live below the poverty level in 2007, the worst among all 32 states participating in KIDS COUNT with enough Asian children to produce reliable estimates.
• 88,000 Minnesota children did not have health care coverage in 2008, an increase from 2007.
• 270,247 (33 percent) Minnesota children received free/reduced price lunch during the 2008-2009 school year.
Gaining Ground:
• Students dropping out of school has declined 57 percent since 2000.
• 6,277 children were abused and neglected, a 33 percent decrease from 2002.
• 10,895 children were arrested for a serious crime, down from 15,398 in 2000.
Poverty is a significant predictor for a child’s future success in school and in life. Without investments in the early years to lay a solid foundation, these children will struggle to become our future leaders.
Attend the KIDS COUNT Coffee in Grand Rapids, October 28!
2:00 - 3:30 p.m. Blandin Foundation 100 North Pokegama Ave.
Teaching Math to Preschool Children
At first glance, the title of this article may sound strange. How can parents teach math to preschool children? Should they be teaching math? Shouldn’t that be left to preschool teachers? I want parents to think outside the box when it comes to everyday math. I’d like to challenge parents to find ways to incorporate math into their daily life with their children. Think about bathtime, dinnertime, bedtime, and playtime.
There are fun and easy math activities to do as a family. The following is a list of ideas to try with children:
1. Count all your fingers and then count all your toes.
2. Sort buttons, beads, small blocks, etc. into muffin tins.
3. Follow step-by-step instructions to a favorite recipe together.
4. Take several pairs of shoes and throw them into a pile. Now match them up.
5. Weigh different objects on the scale, including children.
6. Practice dialing your phone number.
7. Fill up a small cup with mini-marshmallows and guess how many are inside. Now count them.
8. Trace everyone’s hand on a large piece of paper and look at the sizes. Whose is biggest? Whose is smallest?
9. See how many different shapes your child can identify throughout the house or while driving in the car.
10. Read a story and then retell a part from the beginning, middle or end.
Children are developing a multitude of skills when exploring and playing in their environment. The question is, when and where is math involved? Parents can help by providing opportunities in everyday life.