World Book Day. Encouraging childrens love for books - yippie!!

Its March the 1st today , which can only mean one thing... pinch punch with rabbits , no? Its WORLD BOOK DAY!! Which is a huge "like" for me as its encouraging children to enjoy reading with lots of fun included. Most children today went to school dressed as their favourite characters from their favourite literature. The fantastic Netmums were on hand for help with what children could dress up as. http://www.netmums.com/coffeehouse/home-life-8/seasonal-chat-arts-crafts-99/537886-quick-easy-costume-ideas-book-week.html

So today parents , schools and libraries have helped in the battle of getting our children reading , to get children to put down the computer games and the tap tapping of keyboards and to pick up a book that will be fun and educational! EDUTAINMENT!! After all how great are books? Theyre portable, help childrens literacy, language knowledge ,and not a empty battery that needs charging in sight!! We are all very tied up in technology . I am one of them - i'm all for updating a status or two, "liking" my favourite tv programmes etc, but I also know the importance of book reading for adults and more importantly for our children and their education!

I am constantly horrified by facts and figures about our children not even owning books and how low literacy levels are in the UK compared to other countries and I believe it is the states duty to teach good literacy, parents should take hold of their responsibilities for this issue also!! But thats why I love World Book Day... It brings parents, schools , libraries and children in over 100 countries altogether . It brings everyone together to CELEBRATE!

World Book Day is definitely a great way to inspire children and encourage reading, so we should celebrate it!

A celebration of authors, illustrators and literature. A celebration of books and reading ! “The main aim of World Book Day in the UK and Ireland is to encourage children to explore the pleasures of books and reading by providing them with the opportunity to have a book of their own.” http://www.worldbookday.com/about/

Lots is happening on World Book Day. Half a million children in 21 countries have the chance to join top childrens authors to celebrate the day by a live stream being broadcasted into thousands of schools worldwide. Jaqueline Wilson and Eoin Colfer are said to be involved.

Other activities invloved are in WBD are:

The Biggest Book Show on Earth:
A huge event at the South Bank involving nearly 1,000 children and 15 authors and illustrators will be broadcast to schools, nurseries, bookshops and libraries around the country.

WBD App:
Will launch in February 2012 and a teen event will take place at the Apple Store in Covent Garden, London, and streamed on iTunes.

Storytelling Superstars:
A nationwide search to find the country's best storyteller. Julia Donaldson will be the ambassador and head judge for the competition and discussions are ongoing with a national media partner.

WBD Ambassadors:
Peter Andre has already been confirmed by WBD and it is seeking other ambassadors including sports figures and journalists to pre-promote WBD and drive up awareness of the campaign.

Big Fiction Finds:
WBD is working with Netmums to pre-promote WBD into Netmums' community, using £1 WBD authors on the website and Q&As with authors including Jacqueline Wilson.

Blue Peter:
Discussions are under way to dedicate a "Blue Peter" programme to WBD with features around the day, alongside the announcement of the Blue Peter Book Award winner on WBD.

500 Words:
Radio 2's Chris Evans will launch a 500-Word Short Story Competition in January, which will be promoted to schools and libraries.

For more information please view the website http://www.worldbookday.com/about/

Happy Reading : )

For more inspiration for your children try www.themagicsunglasses.com - well worth a visit!
Written by Kaley Herrick ,researcher of child development related to the creative arts.

Can we help our children love to read?

Yes we can with the help of fantastic authors that inspire childrens imaginations. If a child identifies with the characters, or a book makes them feel good about themselves and improves their selfesteem , they will choose to read books and enjoy to read books.

Why do we need to encourage reading you ask? Because it improves literacy levels , it is educational , it offer stimulus for creative imagination , it is a great source of entertainment away from the computer/tv screen, it will improve concentration , help children explore new opportunities, adventures , experiences. When a parent reads with a child it is great for quality time - one to one - and strengthens the personal relationship and bonding. ,Reading together improves a childs communication skills and helps them learn about language and speech , rhythm for reading and and understanding that reading can be fun and sociable.

So how do we encourage children to love to read? Well I looked first at the Love 2 Read website which offers the opportunity to create personalised books , that children will love.

“The aim of each unique book is to help your child develop a love of reading. It does this by presenting photographs which reflect your child’s world and relating them to simple words. Research shows that if your child loves books they will learn to read much faster and you will be encouraging a lifelong love of reading.” http://www.love2read.co.uk/

A personaised book will make a child feel special and boost their self esteem. It will motivate them to read more books im sure.

There are many other options to inspire reading, not just personalised books. Parents are the most fundamental role models for children, so if we could just encourage them to offer a book to their child, read to them or with them , then the hard work will be done by the time the child goes to school.

A child could be motivated into books by workshops, activities and fun classes that would co-inside with the book. One I would recommend would be The magic sunglasses , written by Auriel Blanche. Who not only has a story that many children enjoy , but the book also offers stimulus for workshops to run along with the book. The Magic Sunglasses itself promotes the encouragement and connection of children. It helps boost confidence and self esteem for each individual. A great read!! www.themagicsunglasses.com

My Top Tips to help your children love reading :

Make books accessible for your child, read to them, have books around the house, take a child to a library (many are children friendly)

Show your child that you also read books. Children see their parents as role models and like to imitate what the see their parents doing.

Give a book as a gift ! children love gifts, it makes them feel special. They will love a book , given with love.

Make Reading Fun!! This can be with how you read a story together, perhaps play games, have activities related to the story. Make sure the books are inspiring and fun themselves. Maybe use puppets, song, etc

Children will find spending time with a parent a good reason to read - turn off the TV and any other distraction and give full enthusiastic attention.

Written by Kaley Herrick ,researcher of child development related to the creative arts.

Do you fear for your children’s safety on social networking sites?

With the increase of technology in this digital world, social networking is a mass phenomenon in popular culture. Each social site has a 13 year old restriction. But with the growing popularity of the internet there is now a market for younger children for social internet interaction.

Myspace , facebook , bebo and the like have a strict over 13 age limit. Due to The Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act http://www.coppa.org/comply.htm

But can we stop children setting up fake profiles? not really! When director of Facebook policy Richard Allan was asked about he issue of younger children setting up accounts he said "There is a place where they can be reported. Those reports come to our staff and if it looks like they are nine or 10 they can just close the account," So really there isn’t an ideal method to stop them creating the accounts in the first place. It is inevitable that children will want to join social networking sites – we are naive if we don’t open our eyes to this. Children are actively using the internet at school and in their homes. This is the digital age and there are many positives to children using the internet. Internet improves educational attainment, makes sourcing information easy , provides entertainment, gives children inspiration and connects them to the big wide world.

But ofcourse with social networking sites comes a lot of danger to our vulnerable children – so perhaps the answer is to offer children’s social networking sites? Ok so many will say children should be outside, actually meeting and socialising with ‘real people’ but there is no evidence that children socialising with other children on the internet replace their actual socialisation. The internet can offer communication to other children in other areas, other countries, other social or other classes . The internet can connect our children globally. Also wouldn’t it be great if children could speak confidently to other children who could be in similar situations, having similar issues, dealing with similar life challenges. Some children are shy and may not feel brave enough to discuss certain things to friends or people they know. How many children actually know the number to Samaritans these day?!!

All this aside children under 13 want to be able to connect on social networking sites. Shockingly “Ofcom estimates that 30% of eight to 11-year-olds have Facebook profiles, despite the joining age of 13.” http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-16836318 Which is worrying because as previously mentioned there isn’t enough moderating within the site to make sure our under 13s are safe! So with this I stress that parents guide them towards child friendly networking sites.

For example Club Penguin has over 150 children joined to it. And with this comes 200 moderators, who search through and look out for words that trigger a safety warning. Mr Lane Merrifeld set up Penguin Power because he felt that the internet at that time offered little chance for his own children to be social and safe. “Club Penguin takes the idea of safety and turns it on its head. Adults are not banned and, in theory, a paedophile could enter the site but their actions would be muted by filters limiting what can be discussed. …….Words such as address, school and phone number are not allowed. It is a truly anonymised environment. There is simply no opportunity for personally identifiable information," http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-16836318

We need more sites like this; not all are successful. For eaxample Little Gossip social website which was shut down due to complaints form many including mumsnet as it resulted in cyber bullying and harmful gossip about youngsters. Mr Nash "I started the site with good intentions and it quickly exploded. I had 66,000 pieces of gossip in the first couple of days and it was impossible to police," he said. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-16836318

So with the best of intentions not all social networksing sites are good for children; Facebook, Little Gossip , Myspace , Bebo , is naming just a few. But to conclude I do think that benefits can come from children being able to connect with other children globally and in a safe manner.

If you are interested in child friendly websites please check out my favourite The Magic Sunglasses Project which connects and empowers children globally.

www.themagicsunglasses.com

Written by Kaley Herrick ,researcher of child development related to the creative arts.

Are our children being damaged by the ‘online age’? Or is there a wealth of development to be found?

We are constantly told by the press that in today’s day and age family life is in the decline and that our parents are career focused and too busy to offer the support, motivation and encouragement that is needed to bring up happy, intelligent and self motivated children. We are told that parents damage their children’s brains by sitting them in front of the TV or computers every evening and weekend. With this, we are led to believe that we have intolerant, celebrity obsessed, social network crazed , violent children in the modern world!! But lets turn this around, lets paint a different picture, one which I believe to be much more promising for our children’s future.

I still see children playing and laughing in the parks, I still see children being ambitious, trying new things, joining classes , interacting at school, socializing in the ‘real world’ , surely the internet just adds to the many bows to our children’s strings. Lets give tour children and our parents some credit – the internet andcomputers etc are in our culture now. I suggest maybe some people anti-internet do not like change. Ofcourse like most things related to children – a safety aspect and a need for ground rules is paramount. The internet has a wealth of information – much that is not suitable for a child. As long as this is monitered the internet has a wealth of positivity to offer children, opportunities that we adults didn’t have the fortune of having.

The internet gives children access to information that will improve educational attainment . It also helps children socially! There is no evidence that children REPLACE actual socialization with virtual. On the internet children have the opportunity to engage with a larger group of people both virtually and in real life. The internet can also provide entertainment – the internet offers a world of possibilities to a child at their finger tips – it can offer inspiration, can stimulate imagination , help children explore the world in a second , they can gain new experiences, learn new things and learn about themselves – what they like, etc. When children are online they are thinking, reading, analyzing, creating opinions and using their brains. None of this is ever documented as the media like to portray all the negatives!!

According to http://www.verdick.org there are other positive factors for children using the internet; Physical development, cognitive development and social development. They suggest the use of the internet offers better hand to eye co-ordination, and improvement of fine motor skills due to using the mouse and keyboard. They also say “Children who use the Internet show gains in cognitive abilities such as memory, spatial and logical problem solving, critical thinking, concentration, abstraction and comprehension. The Internet exposes children to information to improve the quality of learning that they can transform into knowledge. Through the use of the Internet, children’s language and literacy development is often promoted, allowing for greater gains in verbal and nonverbal skills.”

Ofcourse there are other risks with the internet , it can be a minefield with spams, spontaneous pop-ups, cyber bullying etc. But as long as these things are monitored and parental restrictions put in place these issues can be controlled.

A recent survey conducted by consumer research firm Intersperience suggested that 60% of children aged between 12 and 16 would be "sad" without a web connection, while 48% said they would be lonely.

A poll conducted for Safer Internet Day by BBC Radio 1's Newsbeat found that only 6% of 13-19-year-olds were likely to accept a friends request from someone they did not know, while 69% said that they understood how to change their Facebook privacy settings. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-16836318

Maybe we are not giving our children enough credit, children have internet in their lives and it is only going to develop, lets embrace it with care but be open to the opportunities it gives our children that is beneficial to their development – far beyond what we had.

We could always help our children by choosing a good website for them to view. Try the Magic Sunglasses if you are looking for a good positive start . www.themagicsunglasses.com

Written by Kaley Herrick ,researcher of child development related to the creative arts.

Can we rely on parents and celebrities to be good role models?

We all know that children are at their 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.

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 but we know this isn’t the case. We also know that many external factors like school, friends, tv programmes, computer games and the such can ruin all the perfect parents' hard work.

So for these reasons we cannot rely purely on parents alone for ROLE MODEL SECURITY even if they are ‘perfect parents’!

So then we look to people in the public eye. These being celebrities, famous actors, singers, athletes, olympians. Do our children really look to history for their role models nowadays? Unfortunately I think popular culture tends to rule when role models are concerned. But can we rely on real people being good role models. People make mistakes remember!! But maybe this is also ok to teach children…. So we have popular celebrities who do have positive effects without much threat of tabloid negativity. We have Peter Andre a great dad, who is encouraging the nation to help their children to enjoy reading again. We have Gok Wan helping our teens to be confident , have self belief to tackle their anxieties. We have Jamie Oliver encouraging healthy eating for our children. But unfortunately we have other role models causing controversy. With racism on the field with John Terry, Xfactor stars on drugs, Miley Cyrus caught on camera in nightly antics , can we really trust the celebrities? Where as I personally quite like Katie Price aka 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?

Maybe we shouldn’t rely on the celebs? So if we cant rely on celebs or the parents? Surely the only alternatives to ensure a healthy role model is to use historians , who cannot let our children down. Florence Nightingale, Mother Theresa, Otto Schindler, Nelson Mandela , Ann Frank , Ghandi , Issac Newton , Martin Luther King, etc . But is this realistic, we cant pick role models for the children they choose them themselves?

So I put to you my opinion – The only role models we can truly rely upon are creative stimulus, ie characters in books, characters in TV programmes and the such? For example The Magic Sunglasses Project includes great role models. A book that continues into a workshop, then ongoing stories for your child to develop and learn. Auriel Blanche the author, 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. 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. Samantha gives many good examples that the reader can emulate and learn from and is therefore a great role model. So please if you have a child please introduce them to Samantha. Have a look yourself at The Magic Sunglasses website - http://www.themagicsunglasses.com

Is it important that celebs like Gok Wan, help our troubled teens with self belief?

Many of us have negative opinions of today’s celebrtites. We have concerns for the effects their role model statuses have on our impressionable youths. For this reason , I stress that we be greatful for the fab celebs we do have out there. You now know my love of Mr Peter Andre but another celebrity on my list is the presenter, author and fashion stylist , Gok Wan. He has helped the nation to be brave and bare their all. He is now focusing on the need to help our teens to be confident , to live with self belief and have a healthy self esteem to be encouraged to reach their potentials and live fulfilled , happy lives. Gok Wans new show Goks Teens: The naked truth, gives troubled teens the advice, confidence and self-belief they need to tackle their issues and anxieties. Fantastic in my opinion…. But here’s what the press have to say about it:

‘The programme is an eye-opener for the rest of us – and humbling too, because it highlights exactly what families such as the Watson’s have to contend with.’ Jenny Johnston, Daily Mail (Weekend)

‘Unmissable TV for parents and teens alike.’ Bella

‘In this new series, the modern-day Mr Motivator helps teenagers tackle issues such as body dysmorphia and eating disorders…Bravo, Gok, on another inspiring series! *****’ RM, TV Times Magazine

‘The exploration of various body confidence issues is a thoroughly well-intentioned piece of TV.’ Phil Harrison, Time Out

Gok also asked some other celebrity mates about their teenage years and to share their tips for teens today for his programme , so we can be positive that there are many celebrities out there who would also be good role models for our children. Included in the programme is;Sara cox (broadcaster), Stephanie davis (hollyoaks) Mica Paris (singer) Mann (rapper) Matthew Horne (gavina nd Stacey) Joe Calzaghe (boxer) Jody Cundy (paralympian) Jo Brand (comedian) Jemma Kid (makeup artist) Gorden Ramsey (chef) Fearne Cotton (presenter) Duncan James (singer) Catherine Tate (comedien) Ben Cohen (rugby player) Alesha Dixon (presenter)

So all in favour of Gok Wan say “ai” yes, Teenagers are at a fundamental age, and its fantastic what Gok Wan is doing – using his celebrity status for a great cause. However do you think that these positive affirmations would be much more beneficial if tackled at an earlier age, teenage life is hard enough perhaps if this was dealt with before this age, there will be so much more potential for our teens. So I suggest that we build children’s confidences as toddlers, babies even… perhaps with music/dance/play classes, to socialise and interact with others and explore themselves, their personal enjoyments and talents. Then perhaps at primary age our children could take part in interactive workshops, read stories , join confidence building clubs etc to improve self esteem and self respect. Projects like my favourite The Magic Sunglasses Project could be used. www.themagicsunglasses.com

With this article I leave you with this thought…..

Gok wan is doing a fantastic job, and we should be thankful that there are some celebrities that make perfect role models out there right now…but lets take a little responsibility for empowering our children to live confidently with a self esteem that allows for; self belief , respect for themselves and sensitivity for others and their individualities. Lets tackle these problems before they can become issues… lets help our own babies/toddlers/children before they reach the vulnerable and impressionable teenage years!!!

Can the inspirational Gok Wan help our children without the support of the government?

Multi award winning UK TV presenter and highly acclaimed fashion stylist Gok Wan has “…made his mark by giving women the confidence to appreciate their bodies, whatever their size and encouraged women whatever their shape and size to strip for the nation!” http://www.gokwan.com/about-gok/
Most importantly, through his much loved programme How To Look Good Naked , he has inspired women to battle with low self esteem and to live happy healthy and confident lives. Gok Wan has successfully been the driving force for thousand of women all over the country to change their lives and feel amazing in their own natural bodies. We now have women who were unhappy , depressed , unhealthy, scared with deep emotional issues who now believe that we are all individual, we are all beautiful and we all deserve to feel confident with our natural bodies. For bringing this powerful message to the nation , Gok we salute you!! But now we plead that Gok Wan can be able to share this powerful and crucial message to our children!
Being such an amazing instituation Gok Wan was on this case, on the case to help children discover that they are beautiful, to appreciate their natural beauties. In fact in 2009 Gok Wan launched the campaign to get body confidence classes on the National Curriculum. With a huge achievement of 50,000 signatures it still wasn’t implemented. Thankfully Gok hasn’t given up and is re-launching his campaign. Gok Wan is planning to lobby MPs outside of Parliament to get body confidence taught on the national curriculum as part of the PSHE in all the schools. To date, Michael Gove - who is the new Minister for Education - won't see him! With such a great campaign we really should urge the government to back him. Gok Wan really is an inspiration, he has helped women everywhere , now’s the time to enable him to help our children. I think we can all relate to this Gok Wans statement "What I would say is, if you believe that you have ever looked in the mirror and you have never liked what you're looking at and if you've ever felt that you are not as beautiful as you could be, then back this campaign because everyone is very beautiful.” http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/tv/interviews/a318397/gok-wan-goks-teens-the-naked-truth.html
Gok Wan calls this low self esteem and body conscious attitude in children today as a "body hatred epidemic" When asked who is to blame Gok replies
"I think the problem lies in so many different areas. It's so hard to pinpoint because if we could just find one area, we could probably do something about it. But I think it's a combination of the media - we need to be more positive about it, I think it's about education of families as well, education of schools as well. I think it's in every single direction. Body dysmorphia has been carried down over the years and now it's been passed to the next generation and we need to do something about it." http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/tv/interviews/a318397/gok-wan-goks-teens-the-naked-truth.html
So the government , namely Michael Gove wouldnt listen, so Gok then progressed from the popular How to Look good Naked, to Gok’s Teens:The Naked Truth. Through which 12 teenagers lives are followed. In the words of Gok “ Gok's Teens: The Naked Truth is a three-part series for Channel 4 where I draw on my personal experience to help give teenagers the advice, confidence and self belief they need to tackle their issues and anxieties” http://www.gokwan.com/gok-on-tv/
Not only does Gok Wan spend time empowering women with his TV programmes, lobby Mps , inspire our teens he also has many other things to offer us,a few of which detailed below.
With his fabulous glasses collection in Specsavers, Gok Wan is banishing hiding behind your specs! Helping us spectacle wearers look and feel fantastic with his strong, sexy, glamorous range of glasses. Stating that your ‘outfit starts with your glasses’ this fashion stylist is helping us wear spectacles with confidence. http://www.specsavers.co.uk/gok-wan/
Then there’s Gok Wan Gorgeous Collection in Boots with his luxury bath range, helping women feel confident and able to indulge in making themselves feel and look great. The Boots website describes Goks products as “Flamboyant and sophisticated, the new Gorgeous by Gok range is packed with sassy, seductive products, designed to make every woman look and feel gorgeous.” We really do have a lot to be thankful for Mr Wan. http://www.boots.com/en/Gorgeous-by-Gok_1017072/
Gok Wans fabulous lingerie and shapewear collection, designed for Simply Yours, designed to make women feel sexy and confident without the crazy diet binges and drastic plastic surgery options. “I know how much you care about looking gorgeous and feeling even sexier and that's why I've designed this underwear range for Simply Yours that supports you, holds you in and oozes sex appeal. Finally! Support underwear you can flaunt!” Ok so underwear and lingerie isn’t the answer for children and teens but I’m sure Gok Wan has some great ideas and products in mind to help children use clothes and accessories to feel good so they don’t look to drastic other options like eating disorders etc. http://www.gokwan.com/get-gokked/
Then there’s Gok’s TU at Sainsbury range. Making fashion accessible to everyone. Even if they cannot afford designer clothes. In the mirror Gok Wan was quoted for saying “With these clothes, I want women to flirt, flaunt and celebrate their curves. I've spent the last few months working through every detail and believe we've delivered attainable and affordable design like never before. I want to make you feel confident, stylish and positive about your bodies, whatever your budget, size or shape”
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/top-stories/2011/07/20/how-40-gok-wan-dress-transformed-mirror-girl-ruki-sayid-s-figure-115875-23282658/ Gok Wan doesnt care for the elitism in the industry but does care about people and by making clothes accessible to everyone is great!

Look out for ‘Wan way of life’ and his pledge to give something back by encouraging a nation to shed their body conscious inhibitions because we must listen and encourage our children to have the same views. http://www.dare2mag.com/interview/2011/gok-wan/ With this amazing man influencing and caring for the UK women , to empower and inspire them with such an amazing success rate, we are mad to not allow him to drive his campaign to allow these powerful messages to be adapted for children !