Sadly body image concerns, eating disorders and low self esteem are increasingly occurring in children. Eating disorders include a range of physical, psychological and behavioral features that often have an impact on social functioning and can invade most areas of a child’s life. Instead of living happy, playful and healthy lives children are concerning themselves with anxiety and distress about their shape and size. It is estimated that an astounding 40% of nine year olds have already dieted and we are beginning to see four and five year olds expressing the need to diet. It is such an awful shame because these children are loosing their childhood and a crucial stage of their life when they are growing and developing into individuals.
Although eating and weight disorders are common in children there is a scarcity of practical guidance on treatment methods for eating disorders for young people. Through extensive research I found some books available for parents and adults with regards to recognizing and helping a child who has an eating disorder. Unfortunately I didn’t find much guidance available for children themselves. There is certainly a lack of material available for children to prevent the body image concerns inflicted upon them by the media, magazines, celebrity gossip and constant diet tips in the papers and in society.
Don’t get me wrong I think it is very beneficial to offer books for parents to be able to recognize the symptoms of eating disorders as many children don’t recognize, acknowledge or accept that they have themselves have a problem. Recognition of eating disorders as a real and treatable disease is critically important. The consequences of eating disorders can be severe. For example, one in ten cases of anorexia nervosa leads to death from starvation, cardiac arrest, kidney failure, other medical complications, or even suicide. Without treatment, up to twenty percent (20%) of people with serious eating disorders die. However, early identification and treatment leads to more favorable outcomes. With treatment, the mortality rate falls to two to three percent (2-3%). For this reason we need to make sure that we let children know that there is help available and make them recognize their problems.
More important than this though- is the need for effective preventional tools. If we want children to grow up to love and accept their bodies, they must be raised to love and accept themselves. We need to teach children it's what's on the inside of a person that counts, not what's on the outside. These pre-conceived images of beauty, the desire to be as thin as certain celebrity icons and the need to be on the next hyped diet phase that society boosts; all need to be contradicted and reinforced with corrective messages. To be an effective preventional tool for children it would need to be in the language that children can understand. It must also be creative and appealing in order to be engaging and influential. The perfect medium would be a book. The reason being a child can sit and read it independently and at a convenient time for them. Literature and books often serve as a catalyst for conversations between children with friends and children with adults. This is a perfect conversation means for approaching the subjects like healthy eating and body image.
There is certainly a niche in the market for books for children that tackle the issues of eating disorders and body issues in children. An enjoyable fun fantasy book, with characters a child could relate to, with vivid images and creative illustrations would be perfect. The media sadly sends out confusing and misleading messages which has resulted in risk factors for eating disorders and low self esteem for children being dissatisfied with their body. There just isn’t enough reading material for children to read to prevent these misleading messages. Children are constantly exposed to the message that we should all be thin and not with the message that they need to accept people for who they are and not what they look like. They are not given the message that they should be proud of who they are, they are not being given the drive to appreciate themselves and their abilities, instead they are being given the message that they must be thin to be happy and successful. They are being given the message that to be accepted, to be popular and to be respected they must be thin.
I hope that with the books and literature that is being created today, there will be an influx of children’s books that counteract the many magazines, celebrity gossip and constant diet tips that children have been reading to start their eating disorders. I hope with these, children will learn to be proud of whom they are and respect others for who they are inside and not judge them for how they look. I hope children everywhere will be able to love and accept who they are. I hope they will be less likely to strive to attain society's definition of the "ideal" body image and they will love and accept their own bodies, no matter what size they are. I hope books will be filled with corrective messages that go straight to the heart of child body image issues. I hope the new books will help children live happy and healthy lives that wont lead to the staggering amount of eating disorders that exist in children now.
Thank you for reading my article and I hope you too share the desire for authors to write inspiring books for children to prevent eating disorders and show children how to live happy lives and develop into kind and respectful people.
Hi, im Kaley from Sing Stars MK, my blog explores the benefits that Singing, Performing Arts and Creative Play has on the development of young children. I hope my blog will encourage parents to raise empowered, confident children with high self esteems. Children that will live fun, happy lives with a creative flare that will inspire them to aspire to live out their dreams. Children that believe they should have the chance to shine, to explore their talents and be the best they can be!
Wednesday, 29 April 2009
The Benefits Of Childhood Role Models
We all know that as a child you are at your most vulnerable and impressionable age. While they are learning and experiencing new things they are actively taking in anything and everything around them. A child will copy or imitate any behavior they see as they have no other option than to believe that this is the normal and correct way to act. A child is also blessed with having that innocence to behave in the exact way they feel at the exact time they wish to feel it. This is an act of impulse and not an act that they have necessarily observed. This can sometimes be to an adult’s dismay, especially if they see fit to show they are angry by throwing a bag of crisps across an aisle in a supermarket, or sing at the top of their voice because they are happy during a 4 minute silence. For this reason it is important to understand a child’s behavior and learn when a child is doing wrong because they are imitating an act they have observed as opposed to when they are behaving badly as they are expressing themselves and have not yet learnt the right and wrongs. This would imply then that once a child knows right and wrong they can change and develop their behavior to reflect their environments. For this reason it is important that they are surrounded with both positive and beneficial influences. There are many methods of impressionable forms for a child including parents, siblings, relatives, other children in school, other children in the neighborhood, teachers, other adults, characters in tv programmes, characters in films, cartoon characters, celebrities in the media, virtual people in computer games and characters in books, just to name a few.
Obviously in most cases the child’s parents are the first form of positive learning. A child will copy a parent eat, drink, cover their mouth when they cough, clean their teeth, say sorry when they do something wrong and clean up when they make a mess. They can also learn valuable lesson from their parents like to get straight up and try again even when you’ve fallen over, learn to read, potty training, learn to share, learn what is right and learn what is wrong. It would be perfect if every parent was a perfect role model and there were no other inflicting factors to ruin all the perfect parents hard work. But we all know this isn’t the case. We know that other factors can change the good the parent has done during the early stages. A child can learn naughty things at school from other children, they can see or hear about their favorite celebrities fighting, they can see adults arguing in the street and see the violence in the computer games. They may now deploy these bad habits and copy these behaviors instead of continuing the great values taught to them by their parents. This is a great shame. For this reason it is important that right through childhood and adolescence a child has access to good role models as well as their parents. This will collaborate to a greater quantity of positive values to counteract the mass amount of negative things that we as adults know surround them. This hopefully will result in a child not having any lasting impressions on them.
We also know that unfortunately not all children get the initial values installed in them by perfect parents. But we should not be giving up on these children just because they haven’t had the perfect upbringing. Because no matter what some people might say, temperaments can change with the right learning source and the right encouragement can inspire children to live fulfilled and positive lifestyles. Sadly some children copy parents who have shown them that it is ok to use violence in order to achieve something. They can be taught that it is ok to steal, to drink alcohol under-aged, that it is ok to act badly and treat people in a way that shows they have no respect for them. Which is a great shame and not a necessarily a childs fault. There have been case studies that with the right role models a child can learn good behavior that differs from what they have previously been shown. They now live actively helping others and reaching their full potentials productively and with great values and attitudes.
This is not to say that a child acting badly is only a result of a bad upbringing as some children are just naughty or suffer with medical problems such as ADHD. But the use of a good role model in all cases would be beneficial regardless of a child’s upbringing as a child will change and develop through their own learning as they grow, explore and develop. For example I myself have parents that both smoke and where as when I was younger I may have imitated holding a cigarette to my mouth to act like my mum, I now know that it is unhealthy, unsociable and certainly something I wouldn’t want to do. I have formed this judgment by other factors through my own learning and not my parents. That is why it is important that a child, a parent, a teacher or another child recommends a good influential person to act as a role model in a child’s life. It is also important to understand that we as humans can make mistakes, which is why it isn’t always beneficial for a real person to be the only role model. Where as I personally quite like Jordan and appreciate her business and family focus, is it wise to let your child find a role model in her. Should a child look up to Victoria Beckham she may be a great mum and another business woman, but is promoting that beauty in being stick thin and having unhealthy diets a great way to teach your child to be. Is it wise that a child looks up to Lindsey Lohan in her many roles in children’s films including Freaky Friday. When she is actually a misled lady involved in binge drinking and drugs? The answer to this is no, they shouldn’t be role models. Where as these people may not be bad people they are not what we would want our children to think is normal and acceptable. This is why I am recommending the use of a book or another form of children’s literature as a basis for role models. The reason for this is because I find that having the written word and illustrations a child can go back to it when ever they wish. They can never get let down by the character as they will not be able to loose there way as they will always be at the writers hand. There will never be an opening for any mistakes to be made and the wrong ideals will never be portrayed.
I hear you say that surely it is important for a child to understand that it is ok to make mistakes and you can still be a good person in those cases. I do agree and hear what you are saying but surely it is important to do the ground work first and let life show a child that as they get older. At least with a book there will always be that confidence and only positives can be achieved.
So how do you choose a good role model for your children? There are many books and literature available for children with all kinds of angles, themes and all kind of characters. Through my extensive research of the development of children through literature, I have come across a lady called Angela Buck who has written an amazing book called The Magic Sunglasses. As well as being an amazingly influential book she has also developed an ongoing interactive project in order to inspire the values within the book on a larger level.
Angela Buck, who writes under the name of Auriel Blanche understands children and their need for a positive role model. Her overall ambition is to connect and empower children on a global scale. Within her creative and innovative writing she inspires children to appreciate their self worth and to live happy and emotionally healthy lives. She engages children through her stories to use their imaginations to explore their dreams and to reach with in for their personal powers and specialties. She encourages children to live with respect for others and act with good manners and healthy attitudes. With many grandchildren herself Angela wanted to create a character a child could relate to and learn from. She understood that there were so many negative factors influencing children that it was important to offer a character that was positive in every way. A child that could make mistakes and sometime live in her imagination but deep down was a good and well mannered child with only the best intentions. For this reason she created the amazing Samantha. Throughout the book Samantha is always polite and friendly. She is playful and imaginative. She enjoys making her dreams come true and strives to reach her potential. She is a happy child, enthusiastic and charismatic. She is respectful of others and through self discovery learns how to cope with the challenges she faces with optimism and self worth. All of which are attributes that a role model should inspire to give.
Through experience Angela could see that children learn in so many different ways, each child differs to the next. One child can be told the best way to act and behave and do so as they are taught. Others behave as they see fit through observation and copying what they see. For that reason one child may act as they are told by Samantha but others will copy how she deals with each problem. This benefits both ways of learning and therefore of great use to every child. The Magic Sunglasses is a fun fantasy story with a strong inspirational theme, designed to both entertain and stimulate children to think – and discover that each one of them has a special value, a power all their own, which they can use to feel good and to help achieve any dreams they may have and live happier satisfying lives. Samantha, the main character in the book, starts as a shy little girl who dares to dream that she too can be successful. And when she finds the Magic Sunglasses on a market stall at the Saturday market– her whole life changes. After many amazing adventures, while all the time being guided and supported by the wonderful power of the Magic Sunglasses, Samantha realises that she doesn’t need the sunglasses anymore, as she has learnt to develop and rely on the special power within herself. It is time to pass them on now – so they can help someone else with a special dream.
Samantha is 9 years old and therefore relative for a child from 7 to 12. She is a plump girl therefore showing you do not need to be a tiny size 6 to be a super model or a star. It is well known that the fashion industry and celebrities in the public eye cause a lot of body image issues even within children. This has sadly caused eating disorders, depression and anxiety to a lot of children. Samantha being slightly plump should help this issue and show you can be pretty and happy without being what the fashion industry would try to have us believe.
Samantha doesn’t just end with the book, Angela has created an interactive website where a child can on-goingly retrieve information via daily diary entries and letters from Samantha posted on the site. They can also become a member and speak to other children on the live chat room to discuss issues and relate the positive things they are doing theselves. They can also tell others and Samantha their own achievements and attend the ongoing workshops that will be in their local areas.
Samantha gives many good examples that the reader can emulate and learn from and is therefore a great role model. It would be nice if we could be content with the role models closer to home? But we know that it is not an ideal world and sadly this is not always the case. For this reason we are lucky that so many talented authors understand the importance of a childs development and the need for role models within their literature. For children who are lucky enough to have great role models there is definitely no harm in having another just to enforse the ideals we wish upon our children.
So please if you have a child please introduce them to Samantha. Have a look yourself at Angelas website – http://www.themagicsunglasses.com You could even get a copy of the book and a childs own pair of magic sunglasses. Maybe you would like to even join your child for membership .
Obviously in most cases the child’s parents are the first form of positive learning. A child will copy a parent eat, drink, cover their mouth when they cough, clean their teeth, say sorry when they do something wrong and clean up when they make a mess. They can also learn valuable lesson from their parents like to get straight up and try again even when you’ve fallen over, learn to read, potty training, learn to share, learn what is right and learn what is wrong. It would be perfect if every parent was a perfect role model and there were no other inflicting factors to ruin all the perfect parents hard work. But we all know this isn’t the case. We know that other factors can change the good the parent has done during the early stages. A child can learn naughty things at school from other children, they can see or hear about their favorite celebrities fighting, they can see adults arguing in the street and see the violence in the computer games. They may now deploy these bad habits and copy these behaviors instead of continuing the great values taught to them by their parents. This is a great shame. For this reason it is important that right through childhood and adolescence a child has access to good role models as well as their parents. This will collaborate to a greater quantity of positive values to counteract the mass amount of negative things that we as adults know surround them. This hopefully will result in a child not having any lasting impressions on them.
We also know that unfortunately not all children get the initial values installed in them by perfect parents. But we should not be giving up on these children just because they haven’t had the perfect upbringing. Because no matter what some people might say, temperaments can change with the right learning source and the right encouragement can inspire children to live fulfilled and positive lifestyles. Sadly some children copy parents who have shown them that it is ok to use violence in order to achieve something. They can be taught that it is ok to steal, to drink alcohol under-aged, that it is ok to act badly and treat people in a way that shows they have no respect for them. Which is a great shame and not a necessarily a childs fault. There have been case studies that with the right role models a child can learn good behavior that differs from what they have previously been shown. They now live actively helping others and reaching their full potentials productively and with great values and attitudes.
This is not to say that a child acting badly is only a result of a bad upbringing as some children are just naughty or suffer with medical problems such as ADHD. But the use of a good role model in all cases would be beneficial regardless of a child’s upbringing as a child will change and develop through their own learning as they grow, explore and develop. For example I myself have parents that both smoke and where as when I was younger I may have imitated holding a cigarette to my mouth to act like my mum, I now know that it is unhealthy, unsociable and certainly something I wouldn’t want to do. I have formed this judgment by other factors through my own learning and not my parents. That is why it is important that a child, a parent, a teacher or another child recommends a good influential person to act as a role model in a child’s life. It is also important to understand that we as humans can make mistakes, which is why it isn’t always beneficial for a real person to be the only role model. Where as I personally quite like Jordan and appreciate her business and family focus, is it wise to let your child find a role model in her. Should a child look up to Victoria Beckham she may be a great mum and another business woman, but is promoting that beauty in being stick thin and having unhealthy diets a great way to teach your child to be. Is it wise that a child looks up to Lindsey Lohan in her many roles in children’s films including Freaky Friday. When she is actually a misled lady involved in binge drinking and drugs? The answer to this is no, they shouldn’t be role models. Where as these people may not be bad people they are not what we would want our children to think is normal and acceptable. This is why I am recommending the use of a book or another form of children’s literature as a basis for role models. The reason for this is because I find that having the written word and illustrations a child can go back to it when ever they wish. They can never get let down by the character as they will not be able to loose there way as they will always be at the writers hand. There will never be an opening for any mistakes to be made and the wrong ideals will never be portrayed.
I hear you say that surely it is important for a child to understand that it is ok to make mistakes and you can still be a good person in those cases. I do agree and hear what you are saying but surely it is important to do the ground work first and let life show a child that as they get older. At least with a book there will always be that confidence and only positives can be achieved.
So how do you choose a good role model for your children? There are many books and literature available for children with all kinds of angles, themes and all kind of characters. Through my extensive research of the development of children through literature, I have come across a lady called Angela Buck who has written an amazing book called The Magic Sunglasses. As well as being an amazingly influential book she has also developed an ongoing interactive project in order to inspire the values within the book on a larger level.
Angela Buck, who writes under the name of Auriel Blanche understands children and their need for a positive role model. Her overall ambition is to connect and empower children on a global scale. Within her creative and innovative writing she inspires children to appreciate their self worth and to live happy and emotionally healthy lives. She engages children through her stories to use their imaginations to explore their dreams and to reach with in for their personal powers and specialties. She encourages children to live with respect for others and act with good manners and healthy attitudes. With many grandchildren herself Angela wanted to create a character a child could relate to and learn from. She understood that there were so many negative factors influencing children that it was important to offer a character that was positive in every way. A child that could make mistakes and sometime live in her imagination but deep down was a good and well mannered child with only the best intentions. For this reason she created the amazing Samantha. Throughout the book Samantha is always polite and friendly. She is playful and imaginative. She enjoys making her dreams come true and strives to reach her potential. She is a happy child, enthusiastic and charismatic. She is respectful of others and through self discovery learns how to cope with the challenges she faces with optimism and self worth. All of which are attributes that a role model should inspire to give.
Through experience Angela could see that children learn in so many different ways, each child differs to the next. One child can be told the best way to act and behave and do so as they are taught. Others behave as they see fit through observation and copying what they see. For that reason one child may act as they are told by Samantha but others will copy how she deals with each problem. This benefits both ways of learning and therefore of great use to every child. The Magic Sunglasses is a fun fantasy story with a strong inspirational theme, designed to both entertain and stimulate children to think – and discover that each one of them has a special value, a power all their own, which they can use to feel good and to help achieve any dreams they may have and live happier satisfying lives. Samantha, the main character in the book, starts as a shy little girl who dares to dream that she too can be successful. And when she finds the Magic Sunglasses on a market stall at the Saturday market– her whole life changes. After many amazing adventures, while all the time being guided and supported by the wonderful power of the Magic Sunglasses, Samantha realises that she doesn’t need the sunglasses anymore, as she has learnt to develop and rely on the special power within herself. It is time to pass them on now – so they can help someone else with a special dream.
Samantha is 9 years old and therefore relative for a child from 7 to 12. She is a plump girl therefore showing you do not need to be a tiny size 6 to be a super model or a star. It is well known that the fashion industry and celebrities in the public eye cause a lot of body image issues even within children. This has sadly caused eating disorders, depression and anxiety to a lot of children. Samantha being slightly plump should help this issue and show you can be pretty and happy without being what the fashion industry would try to have us believe.
Samantha doesn’t just end with the book, Angela has created an interactive website where a child can on-goingly retrieve information via daily diary entries and letters from Samantha posted on the site. They can also become a member and speak to other children on the live chat room to discuss issues and relate the positive things they are doing theselves. They can also tell others and Samantha their own achievements and attend the ongoing workshops that will be in their local areas.
Samantha gives many good examples that the reader can emulate and learn from and is therefore a great role model. It would be nice if we could be content with the role models closer to home? But we know that it is not an ideal world and sadly this is not always the case. For this reason we are lucky that so many talented authors understand the importance of a childs development and the need for role models within their literature. For children who are lucky enough to have great role models there is definitely no harm in having another just to enforse the ideals we wish upon our children.
So please if you have a child please introduce them to Samantha. Have a look yourself at Angelas website – http://www.themagicsunglasses.com You could even get a copy of the book and a childs own pair of magic sunglasses. Maybe you would like to even join your child for membership .
Raising A Confident Child
Children develop self confidence not because parents tell them they're great, but because of their own achievements and personal beliefs. Encouragement and praise are always good methods, but unless a child believes themselves to be able, they will not have enough self confidence to enable them to fulfill their potential and live happy, healthy lives.
For this reason it is good for children to achieve small things, regularly. Things like cleaning teeth, brushing hair and tying shoe laces are the typical skills a child will develop. It is the result of these small things that will enable a child to enjoy their skills and form their own positive judgments on themselves. Once a child gains their own sense of ability they can then and only then start to live a confident and fulfilled life. A child’s own strength is the necessary power to enable them to grow and succeed. The most perfect parent can praise and encourage, which ofcourse will set the foundations for self belief but it will not always hold with a child through to adulthood. Unless they themselves find the power within them to fuel their own confidence it will not inhabit their values.
Building self confidence must start in the child’s early development. When they learn the art of walking, clapping and making noises as a toddler, they instantly get praise and appreciate their new skills. To enable these milestones to develop and improve they require this praise and appreciation to gain self confidence to try new things. The most confident children are those who get the opportunities to practice and master their skills. So it is extremely important that the confidence building starts at this early stage.
Where confidence is concerned it is important that children learn that mistakes can happen. With an effective boost from us and more importantly themselves, they will learn they can achieve if they just try again, work harder and believe they can succeed. The in-built temperament of a child will obviously affect their confidence levels. Some children may have a more difficult time developing positive self image because of their temperament. Every child is unique, but it is important that they understand that they all have a special quality because they are unique. Some are harder than others to inspire but we must make sure we try.
It is important to understand that no matter how hard we try, as adults we can’t always supervise and physically guide a child all day every day. So it is important they are given the chance to believe in themselves and live with confidence and self belief. This can be achieved, reinforced and inspired in many ways. The most effective way I find is throughout a child’s own personal time, through their entertainment, play and creative times. This is when they are free of issues and absorbed in their own thought and imaginations. With this in mind, the most beneficial forms of inspiring confidence and belief in self worth is through their love of books, TV programmes, toys, special characters. If a child can see their favorite characters living confident and cheerful lives they to will subconsciously re-create these attitudes within themselves- because they themselves believe it- and not as an act they have been informed to portray.
A child’s confidence can only shine through if they are demonstrated these acts of confidence from a source they are happy to copy. A parent can be confident but a child may not be able to relate topics of confidence from them to re-enact in their own lives. With issues and life worries being very different for a child to that of an adult, it is important that they see a child behaving confidently. Friends, other children and pupils at school can show these assets, but it would be much more beneficial if they had a character that they could refer back to, that they can follow and constantly rely upon at the times when they most need the boost. This I believe to be within the books our children read. If a character in a book is confident, able, willing to try and dreams to succeed. A child can relate to the character and take in the attitudes and values of that character. The most perfect character would be one that had an interactive website which could be enjoyed and be influential on a regular basis. A character that had an on-going diary or blog would be beneficial. This will help the child to develop, maintain and be equipped with continuous thoughts and demonstrations of living life confidently and happily.
This article is just a little food for thought, I encourage any readers to search the internet for children’s books that infuse values for self belief and inspire finding special personal inner strengths to help raise a confident child.
For this reason it is good for children to achieve small things, regularly. Things like cleaning teeth, brushing hair and tying shoe laces are the typical skills a child will develop. It is the result of these small things that will enable a child to enjoy their skills and form their own positive judgments on themselves. Once a child gains their own sense of ability they can then and only then start to live a confident and fulfilled life. A child’s own strength is the necessary power to enable them to grow and succeed. The most perfect parent can praise and encourage, which ofcourse will set the foundations for self belief but it will not always hold with a child through to adulthood. Unless they themselves find the power within them to fuel their own confidence it will not inhabit their values.
Building self confidence must start in the child’s early development. When they learn the art of walking, clapping and making noises as a toddler, they instantly get praise and appreciate their new skills. To enable these milestones to develop and improve they require this praise and appreciation to gain self confidence to try new things. The most confident children are those who get the opportunities to practice and master their skills. So it is extremely important that the confidence building starts at this early stage.
Where confidence is concerned it is important that children learn that mistakes can happen. With an effective boost from us and more importantly themselves, they will learn they can achieve if they just try again, work harder and believe they can succeed. The in-built temperament of a child will obviously affect their confidence levels. Some children may have a more difficult time developing positive self image because of their temperament. Every child is unique, but it is important that they understand that they all have a special quality because they are unique. Some are harder than others to inspire but we must make sure we try.
It is important to understand that no matter how hard we try, as adults we can’t always supervise and physically guide a child all day every day. So it is important they are given the chance to believe in themselves and live with confidence and self belief. This can be achieved, reinforced and inspired in many ways. The most effective way I find is throughout a child’s own personal time, through their entertainment, play and creative times. This is when they are free of issues and absorbed in their own thought and imaginations. With this in mind, the most beneficial forms of inspiring confidence and belief in self worth is through their love of books, TV programmes, toys, special characters. If a child can see their favorite characters living confident and cheerful lives they to will subconsciously re-create these attitudes within themselves- because they themselves believe it- and not as an act they have been informed to portray.
A child’s confidence can only shine through if they are demonstrated these acts of confidence from a source they are happy to copy. A parent can be confident but a child may not be able to relate topics of confidence from them to re-enact in their own lives. With issues and life worries being very different for a child to that of an adult, it is important that they see a child behaving confidently. Friends, other children and pupils at school can show these assets, but it would be much more beneficial if they had a character that they could refer back to, that they can follow and constantly rely upon at the times when they most need the boost. This I believe to be within the books our children read. If a character in a book is confident, able, willing to try and dreams to succeed. A child can relate to the character and take in the attitudes and values of that character. The most perfect character would be one that had an interactive website which could be enjoyed and be influential on a regular basis. A character that had an on-going diary or blog would be beneficial. This will help the child to develop, maintain and be equipped with continuous thoughts and demonstrations of living life confidently and happily.
This article is just a little food for thought, I encourage any readers to search the internet for children’s books that infuse values for self belief and inspire finding special personal inner strengths to help raise a confident child.
Teaching Children Race And Religion Equality Through Childrens Literature
Unfortunately over 1,000 racist incidents are reported every year in schools in the county. Since the racist murder of Stephen Lawrence in 1999, schools have taken the matter very seriously and it is now obligatory to record and investigate all racist incidents that occur. A formal evaluation is used to determine whether pupils feel safe from racist incidents. We all understand the critical implications of racism to a child’s upbringing. This will inevitably affect the rest of their lives. This important and fundamental part of life will supply the foundations for the way they will view and understand the world. What they learn during childhood will form the temperaments that will deploy their relationships; intelligence and knowledge. This will then enable them to enrich and fulfill their own lives. A child needs a happy and productive educational environment and a healthy mind to build emotional, social and psychological developments within themselves. For this reason racism along with other forms of bullying can be very detrimental.
Racism is a form of bullying that unfortunately occurs within the country and around the world. It is paramount that we as adults offer methods to challenge racist bullying because it can cause great harm to a child, their families and to the attitudes of people for the future. The questions behind the motives for racist behavior in children have an ambiguous answer. There is not just one determinable form. Unfortunately racism can exist in all races and cultures. It could be thought that these views are affiliated from their parents, family members or local communities. Research shows that racism can often be passed generationally through families and those children are racist because their parents have taught them to be. Other research has found that many children have very distinct views that differ from their parents. These children form their own concern with race and that they themselves establish the culture of racism. It can be the case that they may not understand or have been able to discuss races and religions, or are copying that of other children. Some children have seen to show racist behaviors even though they too have anti racial beliefs. For this reason we must empower children to challenge and understand racism during their education, be it at school or at an after class. We need to help them understand racism and bullying is wrong and that we should respect others and learn about others beliefs and values. But we need the children to adopt these ideals and values on there own terms so that they alone can act on them independently and with knowledgeable conviction.
An influential tool for teaching values in children is through their own literature, self learning and developing their own views with a positive manner. It is always beneficial to inspire values and anti racist behavior through literature as it opens a forum for discussion. Children can also connect by reading an enjoyable book, relating to the themes and learning what is right and wrong through the loveable characters. There are many influential writers that present ideas and solutions for solving problems that exist for children who are at risk of never reaching their full potential due to racism. These authors are very successful in making headway and creating positive attitudes towards equality of multi race and religion’s.
I was recently introduced to a child who is 8 year old and has been a very unhappy little girl. She was suffering from a low self esteem and lived in fear. She was unable to concentrate at school and therefore wasn’t getting very good grades and hated going to school. Not only was here education suffering but she was so low that she was too shy to make friends and spent most of the time on her own. This I believe to be very disconcerting. This child was not enjoying her childhood, she was not learning, forming friendships, living a playful and happy life. It was a shame to me that this child would not be striving to fulfill her own potential and was living a very unhappy life. Through my exploration to find some literature to help this child I found the amazing Angela Buck and her concepts to fight racism and empower children.
Angela Buck also writing as Auriel Blanche is the founder of The Magic Sunglasses Project. This is an excellent conceptual programe to enable children to have the power to live happy healthy lives with positive outlooks. Encouraging children to dream and strive for goals. Helping children to understand and respect others and to believe in themselves and live with self worth. Angela Buck has been quoted for saying “I pray for a generation of individuals who grow up with a natural respect for others regardless of race, religion or cultural background” I believe her to be a very influential lady and if we can empower our children with this respect, it will be a great result for the future generation.
Angela Buck takes her interactive workshops, her literature and her other business ventures discussed in this article all over the globe. She wishes to tackle these ideals in every country its needed, including our children here in the UK, the children in the richest schools in the United States and the children in poorly educated places like Zimbabwe. She has already successfully connected and empowered children all over the UK and has taught and worked in central Africa in food production, as well as working in Malawi on trials for tomatoes – one of the main staples in local diet there. This is all while completing work for a PhD with London University. So they were not wrong when an associate described her as "a whirlwind in constant motion,"
The Magic Sunglasses
Angela first had the idea for empowerment in our youth with The Magic Sunglasses project several years ago. She realized that children's image reinforcement, self-esteem development, self respect and respect for others were very important and all often overlooked areas. This was the inspiration for her book, the wonderful tale called The Magic Sunglasses. This book is beautifully illustrated with an enchanting storyline. It provides lovely powerful paradigms in a subtle manner for children to adopt and relay in their own lives. Children reading this book will be inspired to follow their dreams and discover that they are as worthy of success (however they choose to define it) as is everybody else they may know. The Magic Sunglasses compromises any inaccurate beliefs and offers a more positive and preferable aspect to life. The reader will follow Samantha the main character throughout the book, they will learn that Samantha doesn’t embellish in perfection, attractiveness or being the best at everything but instead appreciates her own abilities, enjoys her own imagination and strives to promote her own specialties and help others to promote theirs.
This book encourages children to believe in themselves and cultivate internal self worth that isn't dependent on them looking, speaking, thinking or acting in the same way as everyone else around them especially when they see that it is wrong. Samantha promotes an understanding for diversity and accepting everyone for what they are. Samantha also learns throughout the book to be brave and confident. The intention being that the reader should be able to find an inner strength to tell a teacher or an adult that they are being bullied. They will be confident enough and to understand their self worth enough to Never give up! – To know that they might not be able to tackle racism by themselves but to know there are nice friendly people available that they can seek out support from.
Angela found that although her book was creating a grounding of her ethos for many children it was not reaching a large enough audience and with such great potential she believed it could go globally, which it has and is now developing to grow. Her next step was to form an interactive workshop which now goes around schools across the world. From a mud hut in Africa to a school in central London, Angela believes in specialties in children everywhere and therefore offers her workshops everywhere. She believes that participational activities are the key to connect children. Throughout which the children learn about their own hopes and others dreams, learn to believe in each others self worth, inner values and their own potentials. During these workshops children learn to engage with each other and learn common factors of play, fears, dreams and all other aspects that all children have regardless of race or religion. The workshop successfully helps schools create environments that positively value all people and take a stand against racism and where young people feel able to play an active role in doing something about the issues covered themselves.
To continue this empowerment Angela has created an interactive website that the children can regularly connect to. Samanthas secret diary blog can be viewed. The children can learn how she overcomes the problems she is faced with. They can learn of fun dreams and hopes Samantha has and imagines. The can also copy her happy positive and confident attitudes Samantha has. There is also a Chat room on the site so that children can interact to discuss the book or their problems. They can use it to discuss any issues at school, including racism. Speaking with other children in different schools can really help. If a child wishes to write confidentially to Samantha they can do so and Samantha will reply with an uplifting supporting answer which will help their problem. They can leave diary entries in order to let someone know they are in trouble if they find it hard to talk out about racist bullying at home. The Magic Sunglasses Club gives away badges, sunglasses, t shirts, and other gifts, this will enable a child with low self esteem feel apart of a group. They will feel connected to the other members as well as Samantha which will boost moral and confidence. They will feel empowered to tackle problems and not feel so alone. There is also a Members achievements/experiences wall. This is in order to show others their potential, what they are proud about what they are pleased with during the day. Angela believes it is important for a child to be appreciated for their skills. It can be empowering and make a child happy and strive for other potentials There are also online games,and competitions to enable an unhappy child to escape the bullying or concerns for a while and enjoy time not thinking about the troubles but having fun.
HunnyBuns World
The next project was called Hunnybuns World for 3-6 year olds. It is a completely interactive multi-racial and international concept inspiring children of all cultures and nationalities to come together. Angela worked with local nurseries and primary schools on Hunny Buns World to create this beautifully illustrated material. The material is not only great fun for the children but it is also suitable for the national educational curriculum. Prejudice of any kind is often based on ignorance and fear of anything unfamiliar so Hunny Bunns world explores all countries to introduce children to cultures they may not have had the opportunity of knowing.
Hunny Bun is the cute main character and is a lovable little rabbit who lives with her mummy and daddy and baby brother Baby Bun-with cousins and aunts and uncles all over the world. Readers can get there first understanding of other countries, other cultures and other races by learning about Hunny Buns interesting a beautifully delightful family.
Hunny Bun is just like every other child who reads about her. We follow her as she is going to her new school; as she experiences having a baby brother; as she dreams about going on TV; as she visits some of her relatives in Disneyland and as she fears learning to swim. Throughout which the child reading will learn to love, relate to and learn from the character. The main intention is to show the reader how she learns about all the different countries and how they help her along the way. In Hunny Bun's World, children of all nationalities can come together to learn about each other, and the technologies with which they live. Children will then understand the benefits that other cultures can bring to enrich their lives as well as the understanding of other countries and the importance in respecting others and themselves. Angela Buck and her illustrators have created some great characters including Boris from Russia, MoMo from china, Pedro from Mexico and Setina from Hawaii just to name a few.
Honey Bunns world is an on going process where there will eventually be an international series as well as the individual book. Every child will receive a Starter Pack and a Successive Travel Pack with every following issue. Each child will collect memorabilia from their literature treats and gifts along the way. Each of the series will have individual maps which when combined make up the total map of the world. Each with the relevant stickers and collectables e.g. national dress and currency/crops/etc . The Starter Pack will include a cardboard cutout of Hunny. To which a child can add the clothes from each country as they collect each series. They will get a suitcase for Hunny, a mini passport, a mini airline ticket and cards from and to Hunny. They will also get a sheet of reusable stickers to go on the world map as they go along their journeys. Each successive travel pack would include A postcard to and from Hunny, a sample of the currency, a cut out of the national costume to put on Hunny or press out of many other Souvenirs. The motivation for this would be to encourage the inspiration for the children to visit these countries when their older. But mostly to enjoy learning about other cultures and challenge any racism or prejudices they may face or see.
Angela’s ethos for this international series is to empower and connect children globally. With the literature and educational aspects of this series children will learn to respect others as well as be educated themselves. Children will follow Hunny Bunn on her journey and learn other aspects along with racism as she travels the world. Enabling the children to cope and over come any problems they face during their child hood with confidence and positivity. All of which are areas that Angela is working towards with all of her businesses.
It is important that we offer both of these educational treats to children everywhere possible. Angela Bucks projects are as accessible as she can supply herself. But she doesn’t have the power to tell everyone that she and her projects exist. For this reason I myself and anyone that may be reading this article needs to do what they can for the cause. The fact you are reading this alone means that you have our common concern for the development of a child dealing with racist behavior. I think you will agree that the more children Angela Buck can reach the better. It can be a very lonely existence for a child who cannot concentrate at school, make friends or appreciate their own self worth due to inaccurate racist beliefs in other children. We need your help to prevent the negative effects of racism and empower young people across the globe. You have seen the benefits the projects of the magic sunglasses and hunny buns has to offer. So in order to creater a wider audience for it please contact the website http://themagicsunglasses.com/ or get in contact with me on kaley@samap.co.uk
Writing Books For Children
As adults we all remember the books we enthusiastically read as I child. I personally remember the excitement every Friday when I would rush home from school, knowing that my Nan would have the next book in the Roald Dahl collection waiting for me. The Twits and The BFG will be stories I remember forever. As I’m sure they will be by many other children from the 1980’s.
With this in mind it irritates me when I hear people say that writing a children’s book is an easy option, a stepping stone to writing an adult book. There is so much consideration needed when writing a children’s book especially when you consider how receptive children are to surrounding influences. It really is important to understand the effect the literature and themes in the book with reflect on the child. Writing a child’s book holds more restrictions than that of an adult book. The theme, vocabulary and the length need to be well thought out. A child is impressionable and will explore the views and thoughts in the literature which will inevitably reflect into their own lives. The language and vocabulary will affect the intellectual and educational aspect of the child’s life so this also needs to be accurately judged. For this reason writing a children’s book is highly complex and time consuming research needs to be put into place. So once the theme, vocabulary and length is in keeping with regulations of the child’s parent and educators- it is now time to engage and connect to the target audience- the child.
A child in certain cases can be an adult’s toughest critic. With their innocence they are sure to show honesty and true emotion to your book in the purest form. They have not yet mastered the art of pleasantly articulating constructive criticism, instead they speak instantly from the heart as and when they see fit. To delve into the world of writing for children it can often be a criticized and invasive place to be. The adults investigating child development through literature- namely parents, teachers, government and publishers, will critique your book. The readers themselves will judge your book. So it is important that you do your research first and foremost. Only then can you let your talent rein free to write creatively. The children’s book writing world may be a tough world to be in, but it will most certainly be a satisfying craft when you succeed and have your fantastically creative book read and enjoyed by children all over the world.
Writing a children’s book requires a vivid imagination, creativity of words and enthusiasm. Most importantly the fundamental aspect is the ability to see through the eyes of a child. For this reason it is paramount that you do your research first. A fresh and curious perception to the world is needed in order to create engaging material for a child. You need your book to relate to the child in order for them to be fully engaged, excited and interest in your book. You need to investigate; what are children today interested in?, what are their likes and dislikes?, which words do they use to communicate with one another?, what books do they read?, what toys do they play with?, what songs do they like?, what clothes do they wear?, what magazines do they buy?, what are they afraid of? , what excites them?. From this you will understand what writing will reach them and inevitably will make your book popular.
Once you have fully researched and investigated children’s preferences, it’s on to the story. This is the part that requires your talent, enthusiasm and creativity to be put into action. This is the most important factor to consider. You need to decide what type of book you want to write, what themes you wish to portray, which messages you wish to inspire and what result you wish to have. Many authors like to develop their books with interactive workshops and if it is business plan, merchandise and sequels may follow. For this reason this will all need to be decided while writing the story. Whatever you decide make sure it fits the research you have found. Even refer back to books you loved as a child and other books available now. While writing your story it is important to remember a child’s concentration is smaller and their attention span is lower than adults. Therefore a story must grip them instantly; it must be simple and uncomplicated. Lastly it should be relevant, fun and entertaining. After all as an author it is important to keep literature as an influential means of contemporary entertainment to rival that of the Xbox and PlayStations.
The language and vocabulary within the literature for children is also important, for both intellect development and focus. It is beneficial to avoid big words that a child will not understand. It is beneficial to strengthen vocabulary in books but if a child cannot read the words they will loose concentration and enjoyment. Research shows that a child does not appreciate more than a few words per sentence. These are quite important words of wisdom for a new writer, as it is easy to run the risk of elaborating and extending texts due to previous writing experience. A book should act as inspiration for positive intellectual, personal and emotional development and therefore should not include slang words, inappropriate language or unsuitable themes. The writing should be of the best quality and standard to suit the age group and should encourage young readers to love their language and to want to read more.
The messages you choose to infuse into the story is important and extremely diverse with option. A book can effectively promote positive affirmations that children can adopt and inflict on their own lives. As long as they story has a happy ending the book will achieve great results for a child’s optimism to life. There are too many negative factors inflicting upon their lives as they’re growing up. A child will enjoy their characters living happily ever after; it will make them feel positive to tackle their own problems throughout the day. Characters should have positive traits: bravery, humor, honesty etc that the child reader can copy.
Literature is a useful tool to not only inspire positive healthy children but it is also a great source of escapism and entertainment for them. As long as a bright, colorful and optimistic realm is created and the themes are relevant to a child, I’m sure it will be enjoyed. This along with the other aspects mentioned previously, are the ingredients required to write a successful children’s book. I encourage with passion any person reading this who feels they can go ahead and write a children’s book. We need as many influential children’s authors actively writing in order to keep this form of inspiration and child development alive.
Friday, 24 April 2009
The Benefits Of Interactive Workshops For Children With Self Confidence Concerns
As adults we believe every child has the right to aspire to be the very best they can. We like our children to be happy, confident, enthusiastic and highly motivated to strive to their best potential!! We as parents, teachers, role models and councilors can often find it difficult to infuse theses elements into a child. For this reason we have motivational writers offering books to be read by children to implement these views. However some children do not enjoy reading or have the ability to read. In this case, they could benefit from an interactive workshop instead. Having been enthused by the methods that are available to create self confidence in children, I came across Angela Buck and became interested in her ethos, the motive for her books and the benefits that her workshops bring to children everywhere. This article discusses the benefits of interactive workshops as a method used within a child’s development. I will relate this discussion to Angela Buck, her books and her beneficial workshops particularly. This is because my interest is in workshops for children with self-confidence issues. Through which I found Angela Buck, successfully transforms children with a lack in confidence with activities that inspire them to explore their hopes and dreams, to respect others and live in a world where anything is possible.
Angela Buck is the author of “The Magic Sunglasses” and founder of "The Magic Sunglasses Project", she has a keen interest in how the right self development can increase self worth and really improve quality and enjoyment of life, especially in children. With this in mind, she has expanded this ethos through her book and is now developing even more interactive concepts for children worldwide.
The Magic Sunglasses is a fun fantasy book for 7-9 yr olds. It is a touching story about a girl named Samantha, who finds some magic sunglasses which enables her to explore her dreams and her own specialties. These personal treasures she finds, then continues and develops without the use of the magic sunglasses. Making the readers intrigued to discover and cherish their own self worth.
For this message to reach as many children as possible Angela has devised a flexible interactive program to be used in schools and centre’s everywhere. Her aim is to spread her ethos globally. Whether it is a mud hut in Africa, a club in New York, a public school at Eton or a youth club in Hackney, Angela will deliver an inspiring workshop to motivate the new generation. The Workshop allows the ethos of The Magic Sunglasses to effectively bring out the message of positivity and inspirations to more intimate groups. By visiting individual classrooms for 20 to 30 minutes at a time she can tailor each presentation to a specific age level and effectively interact with the children in a more intimate environment.
Before she pioneered her workshops Angela Buck asked herself the question; how can I empower children with my vision of self discovery and appreciating own values, to those who don't enjoy reading? How can I reach children who don’t see reading as a form of entertainment? She was aware that some children are reluctant to read. Maybe because they don’t enjoy it, or maybe they simply cannot read or just haven’t been given the opportunity. To create a solution to her quandary she devised an audio version of the book and broadened her audience with this workshop. She now finds that all children, of all ages, of all walks of life, of those who love reading and those who don’t, can now all enjoy and benefit from her concepts. Angela believes her innovative workshops offer varied attributes that develop the inspirations her book ignites from the first read.
Although the emphasis at the workshop will be on taking the ‘special value’ concept out of the book and into life - looking at values, role models etc. The lively, interactive presentations focus on childhood self-esteem but they also holds other implements that are beneficial for children’s development. Another fundamental aspect to Angela’s objective is to offer communication, interaction and the development of social skills. Through her workshop the children are inspired to interact with other children and through their communicational progression their personal development also evolves. Angela has derived activities that promote not only self exploration but the exploration of others. The fact it is an interactive method means children can participate, thus improving confidence as well as knowledge of others. The children will subconsciously develop social skills, communication skills, body language, manners, etiquettes and the diversity within values, religions and ideals. They will also learn to be respectfully aware of others while the go through the journey of self-discovery and self-esteem. Angela Buck’s book and her activities include insights, exercises and learning experiences that are geared to help children develop and deepen their understanding and appreciation of themselves as well as others. Through conversation with peer group and adults on the workshop, the children will also deeper their understanding about the aspects within the book, more than they may do individually. Collectively analyzing it will offer new insights to the concepts and a consensus in views. This improves motivation and confidence to proceed with the factors discussed, within their own lives. This then implements a positive attitude and a pro-active manner after they leave the workshop.
Another aspect of her workshop is to promote reading within a child’s lifestyle. The workshop encourages and provides interest in reading a book as not only self- exploration but also as an educational tool. Engaging children’s attention to concentrate on the English Language and English Literature is of high importance to Angela Buck. Improving educational literature and intellect within children’s learning is a fundamental aspect of Angela’s ethos. The Magic Sunglasses can be used as an affiliation to the National Curriculum. She wishes to expand children’s educations past the hours of schooling, with her interactive workshops that inspire fun and entertainment within an innovative environment. Their learning being on the forefront of objection, none the less!!
Although the importance is providing inspirational literature as an educational tool, the emphasis will be on having fun. Angela believes creative exploration and the freedom to use their imaginations will encourage aspirations and potentials. Through play and enjoyment a confidence will be built and dreams will be imagined. Think back to when you were a child. We can all remember playing with cardboard boxes and sheets, creating dens, cars, a house, a cave, or a castle. We can all recall having a best friend over and playing prince and princesses, cowboys and Indians. We created magical places, dressed-up as famous people, storybook or movie characters. All of these unstructured, play-filled activities were and still are essential for cultivating imagination. They are remembered and stay with us for our whole lives. Experts reveal that children who engage in imaginative play tend to: have a broader vocabulary, be more content and confident, have an increased ability to show empathy for others and cope better with difficult situations. All of which are aspects of keen interest to Angela, all of which are explored in The Magic Sunglasses. Through the workshop children learn their own self values, act out their own dreams and be infused to aspire their potentials and believe in themselves.
If you yourself have a child, have a school, a community centre, a child care centre, a play school, an after school activities centre, a local gym or anywhere else you believe a child could benefit from learning self worth, learning own special values, improving self esteem, learning to respect others and improve literacy and social skills this workshop is for you!!! Please get in contact via the website: http://www.themagicsunglasses.com/ and mention this article.
Angela Buck is the author of “The Magic Sunglasses” and founder of "The Magic Sunglasses Project", she has a keen interest in how the right self development can increase self worth and really improve quality and enjoyment of life, especially in children. With this in mind, she has expanded this ethos through her book and is now developing even more interactive concepts for children worldwide.
The Magic Sunglasses is a fun fantasy book for 7-9 yr olds. It is a touching story about a girl named Samantha, who finds some magic sunglasses which enables her to explore her dreams and her own specialties. These personal treasures she finds, then continues and develops without the use of the magic sunglasses. Making the readers intrigued to discover and cherish their own self worth.
For this message to reach as many children as possible Angela has devised a flexible interactive program to be used in schools and centre’s everywhere. Her aim is to spread her ethos globally. Whether it is a mud hut in Africa, a club in New York, a public school at Eton or a youth club in Hackney, Angela will deliver an inspiring workshop to motivate the new generation. The Workshop allows the ethos of The Magic Sunglasses to effectively bring out the message of positivity and inspirations to more intimate groups. By visiting individual classrooms for 20 to 30 minutes at a time she can tailor each presentation to a specific age level and effectively interact with the children in a more intimate environment.
Before she pioneered her workshops Angela Buck asked herself the question; how can I empower children with my vision of self discovery and appreciating own values, to those who don't enjoy reading? How can I reach children who don’t see reading as a form of entertainment? She was aware that some children are reluctant to read. Maybe because they don’t enjoy it, or maybe they simply cannot read or just haven’t been given the opportunity. To create a solution to her quandary she devised an audio version of the book and broadened her audience with this workshop. She now finds that all children, of all ages, of all walks of life, of those who love reading and those who don’t, can now all enjoy and benefit from her concepts. Angela believes her innovative workshops offer varied attributes that develop the inspirations her book ignites from the first read.
Although the emphasis at the workshop will be on taking the ‘special value’ concept out of the book and into life - looking at values, role models etc. The lively, interactive presentations focus on childhood self-esteem but they also holds other implements that are beneficial for children’s development. Another fundamental aspect to Angela’s objective is to offer communication, interaction and the development of social skills. Through her workshop the children are inspired to interact with other children and through their communicational progression their personal development also evolves. Angela has derived activities that promote not only self exploration but the exploration of others. The fact it is an interactive method means children can participate, thus improving confidence as well as knowledge of others. The children will subconsciously develop social skills, communication skills, body language, manners, etiquettes and the diversity within values, religions and ideals. They will also learn to be respectfully aware of others while the go through the journey of self-discovery and self-esteem. Angela Buck’s book and her activities include insights, exercises and learning experiences that are geared to help children develop and deepen their understanding and appreciation of themselves as well as others. Through conversation with peer group and adults on the workshop, the children will also deeper their understanding about the aspects within the book, more than they may do individually. Collectively analyzing it will offer new insights to the concepts and a consensus in views. This improves motivation and confidence to proceed with the factors discussed, within their own lives. This then implements a positive attitude and a pro-active manner after they leave the workshop.
Another aspect of her workshop is to promote reading within a child’s lifestyle. The workshop encourages and provides interest in reading a book as not only self- exploration but also as an educational tool. Engaging children’s attention to concentrate on the English Language and English Literature is of high importance to Angela Buck. Improving educational literature and intellect within children’s learning is a fundamental aspect of Angela’s ethos. The Magic Sunglasses can be used as an affiliation to the National Curriculum. She wishes to expand children’s educations past the hours of schooling, with her interactive workshops that inspire fun and entertainment within an innovative environment. Their learning being on the forefront of objection, none the less!!
Although the importance is providing inspirational literature as an educational tool, the emphasis will be on having fun. Angela believes creative exploration and the freedom to use their imaginations will encourage aspirations and potentials. Through play and enjoyment a confidence will be built and dreams will be imagined. Think back to when you were a child. We can all remember playing with cardboard boxes and sheets, creating dens, cars, a house, a cave, or a castle. We can all recall having a best friend over and playing prince and princesses, cowboys and Indians. We created magical places, dressed-up as famous people, storybook or movie characters. All of these unstructured, play-filled activities were and still are essential for cultivating imagination. They are remembered and stay with us for our whole lives. Experts reveal that children who engage in imaginative play tend to: have a broader vocabulary, be more content and confident, have an increased ability to show empathy for others and cope better with difficult situations. All of which are aspects of keen interest to Angela, all of which are explored in The Magic Sunglasses. Through the workshop children learn their own self values, act out their own dreams and be infused to aspire their potentials and believe in themselves.
If you yourself have a child, have a school, a community centre, a child care centre, a play school, an after school activities centre, a local gym or anywhere else you believe a child could benefit from learning self worth, learning own special values, improving self esteem, learning to respect others and improve literacy and social skills this workshop is for you!!! Please get in contact via the website: http://www.themagicsunglasses.com/ and mention this article.
Websites For Children
Pretty much the whole world is on the internet. With many user friendly sites being available and a computer in nearly every household, the parents, the children and even the pets are online. Don’t get me started with the feline networking on facebook.
My only worry about the internet is the accessibility children have to unsavory sites which of course can be blocked with parental control. So as long as we can trust that the adults with computer literacy (which is a completely new discussion) then there are many benefits to the wonderful World Wide Web, for both adults and children. That is mainly due to the availability of information. The whole world of education is simply at the child’s fingertips. I remember having to spend endless days in libraries, searching encyclopedias front to back and research by speaking with the older generation. But now this research and information is far more accessible, which is of course a fantastic asset to the education of children in today’s society. Don’t get me wrong I am only 27 and I wasn’t brought up in the cave man era carving in stone. We did of course have access to computers in school but it wasn’t quite as plentiful. Only yesterday I heard on Radio One a child looking forward to a music lesson as they were editing a soundtrack on a Mac book pro. This I find to be fantastic, we should have some geniusly intelligent people developing in all sectors of employment from scientists, mathematicians and authors to film directors and music composers.
With the increasingly popular social networking sites like Facebook, Bebo and Twitter, children have inevitably been consumed- as have we all. Children can often put themselves in a cyber world of danger which could affect their real world, so it is important that parents are aware of this and monitor accordingly. Psychologists and neurologists believe these sites to be doing more harm than good. We need to remember that children enjoy being on the internet and it is now a way of life for many. So therefore it is important that we supply them with child friendly websites that include a lot of fun and educational implications that will compete and counteract with the social networking sites of Facebook, Bebo and Twitter.
There are many interactive websites that have been created for children. Which are fantastically creative, entertaining and educational. These sites vary dramatically in style, but having researched into them, children find them all enjoyable and easy to play. The bright graphics, sound effects and simulations create the escapism and set a child’s imagination into the playful mind set they desire from their entertainment. With this engagement the children will then learn. The websites available for children boasts variety and options. With many virtual locations and people that resemble reality a child can relate and absorb the information given to them. They can learn the specifics that they individually need help on, without having the distraction of the other children in the class. It is understood that in many classes there are too many children held in a lesson to be able to tailor specifically to an individuals needs. It is also known that naughty children cause unwelcomed distractions to the teachers. This is not the case when a child is using an online website. This is not to say that I am offering the internet as an online schooling, I am not suggesting it is better than a public school. I do not doubt the national curriculum, our schools or our education; I am just purely expressing how some websites can make a useful tool for developing intellect for children- as an accessory to their usual schooling if you will.
I would agree that keeping children engaged in learning with interactive games is far better than the mindless computer games they can play. They are just as much fun but with a better outcome, if is far better that they may have learnt something in their spare time, other than jumping trees, racing cars or fighting which are components of the computer games I am referring to. An interactive website is a good compromise for parents that want homework or home educations to continue while out of school, where the children of course just want to play. So these are perfect; the child will actually enjoying playing but will subconsciously be learning. As long as the parents monitor the time the child is inside and facing a screen for, there will only be benefits to these sites.
So I have mentioned the educational aspect to these sites to correspond with the national curriculum, I have mentioned the engagement aspect of the child and how they will absorb the information through fun. It is also important to mention that these sites create the opportunity to offer simulations of practice so that a child can develop their skills.
I am not keen to suggest that children should use social networking sites to develop social skills as I would suggest that they would be far more beneficial to join real groups and joining in activities. I would suggest that for emotional and social aspects of development they could use websites to assist them. I came across many character websites that are interactive to show how to deal with issues affecting their lives. Well known characters such as Barbie, Polly Pocket and Disney all have websites. So do many children’s book authors, such as the Magic Sunglasses. A child can become members and communicate with other children dealing with the same problems. They can view diaries of characters to learn how they deal with situations and the character act like role models for children.
So as you can see there is an array of varieties of useful websites available for our cyber friendly children of today. If you are a parent, have a search and you will find plenty of diverse and influential websites that your child could benefit from.
My only worry about the internet is the accessibility children have to unsavory sites which of course can be blocked with parental control. So as long as we can trust that the adults with computer literacy (which is a completely new discussion) then there are many benefits to the wonderful World Wide Web, for both adults and children. That is mainly due to the availability of information. The whole world of education is simply at the child’s fingertips. I remember having to spend endless days in libraries, searching encyclopedias front to back and research by speaking with the older generation. But now this research and information is far more accessible, which is of course a fantastic asset to the education of children in today’s society. Don’t get me wrong I am only 27 and I wasn’t brought up in the cave man era carving in stone. We did of course have access to computers in school but it wasn’t quite as plentiful. Only yesterday I heard on Radio One a child looking forward to a music lesson as they were editing a soundtrack on a Mac book pro. This I find to be fantastic, we should have some geniusly intelligent people developing in all sectors of employment from scientists, mathematicians and authors to film directors and music composers.
With the increasingly popular social networking sites like Facebook, Bebo and Twitter, children have inevitably been consumed- as have we all. Children can often put themselves in a cyber world of danger which could affect their real world, so it is important that parents are aware of this and monitor accordingly. Psychologists and neurologists believe these sites to be doing more harm than good. We need to remember that children enjoy being on the internet and it is now a way of life for many. So therefore it is important that we supply them with child friendly websites that include a lot of fun and educational implications that will compete and counteract with the social networking sites of Facebook, Bebo and Twitter.
There are many interactive websites that have been created for children. Which are fantastically creative, entertaining and educational. These sites vary dramatically in style, but having researched into them, children find them all enjoyable and easy to play. The bright graphics, sound effects and simulations create the escapism and set a child’s imagination into the playful mind set they desire from their entertainment. With this engagement the children will then learn. The websites available for children boasts variety and options. With many virtual locations and people that resemble reality a child can relate and absorb the information given to them. They can learn the specifics that they individually need help on, without having the distraction of the other children in the class. It is understood that in many classes there are too many children held in a lesson to be able to tailor specifically to an individuals needs. It is also known that naughty children cause unwelcomed distractions to the teachers. This is not the case when a child is using an online website. This is not to say that I am offering the internet as an online schooling, I am not suggesting it is better than a public school. I do not doubt the national curriculum, our schools or our education; I am just purely expressing how some websites can make a useful tool for developing intellect for children- as an accessory to their usual schooling if you will.
I would agree that keeping children engaged in learning with interactive games is far better than the mindless computer games they can play. They are just as much fun but with a better outcome, if is far better that they may have learnt something in their spare time, other than jumping trees, racing cars or fighting which are components of the computer games I am referring to. An interactive website is a good compromise for parents that want homework or home educations to continue while out of school, where the children of course just want to play. So these are perfect; the child will actually enjoying playing but will subconsciously be learning. As long as the parents monitor the time the child is inside and facing a screen for, there will only be benefits to these sites.
So I have mentioned the educational aspect to these sites to correspond with the national curriculum, I have mentioned the engagement aspect of the child and how they will absorb the information through fun. It is also important to mention that these sites create the opportunity to offer simulations of practice so that a child can develop their skills.
I am not keen to suggest that children should use social networking sites to develop social skills as I would suggest that they would be far more beneficial to join real groups and joining in activities. I would suggest that for emotional and social aspects of development they could use websites to assist them. I came across many character websites that are interactive to show how to deal with issues affecting their lives. Well known characters such as Barbie, Polly Pocket and Disney all have websites. So do many children’s book authors, such as the Magic Sunglasses. A child can become members and communicate with other children dealing with the same problems. They can view diaries of characters to learn how they deal with situations and the character act like role models for children.
So as you can see there is an array of varieties of useful websites available for our cyber friendly children of today. If you are a parent, have a search and you will find plenty of diverse and influential websites that your child could benefit from.
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