- We have a child that is not yet two, and the battles have begun. He refuses to sit in his highchair during meals. What can we do?
Food and children are a common battle field. Never underestimate the powers of the smallest child to push all the right buttons. Nothing strikes fear in a parent’s heart like eating concerns. The most important information I can arm you with are the nutritional needs of a two-year-old, which are four beans, a spoon of peanut butter, several ounces of pure fruit juice and plenty of water, on this a healthy child can thrive. What needs to be addressed is the child’s behavior.
Always associate food with his chair. Whenever possible provide your child with a choice. State clearly, “You need to be in your chair if you are choosing to eat.” The message: no chair, no food. Your child will catch on quickly, but not necessarily quietly. The key to this and to any behavior is the consistency of the parent. All food must be given to the child only when he is in his chair. Hang in there, and the tides will turn.
- When does our child need to be with other children on a regular basis?
The answer here is not based on the child’s needs, but yours. Parents who have the choice to have one of them stay home with their child face the unimaginable task of living, sleeping and eating 24 hours a day, seven days a week at their job. You may need to have your child in some kind of part-time child care. Children from birth through age three do not understand the need for social interaction. Sharing and communication are not their strong points. Children do not begin to interact with each other in play until about four years of age, then they begin to play side by side. Interactive play happens sometime during the fifth year. Understanding what you need as a person and taking care of those needs is the best thing you can do for yourself and your family.
- My child seems fairly bright, yet she struggles with spelling and arithmetic facts. What can I do as a parent?
These are common areas that children struggle with. Spelling and arithmetic both take an amazing amount of visual memory, the ability to hold information in your brain and recall it on command. Memory is trainable, and here are some games that you can play with your child that will help build memory: Milton Bradley’s Memory and Concentration games, Discovery’s Snitch and Simon (electronic game). The key is an activity that requires the child to hold and then use information. Play any of these games nightly, and you should see improvement in 90 days.
