October 22, 2019 - Raising World Children

Teaching Kids With Attention Problems How to Recycle

Teaching Kids with Attention Problems About Recycling

The children who have attention disorders should learn how to recycle at home and school in the same way as the other children. However, it can take more time to explain how to recycle items correctly, and you may need to find interesting teaching methods. Many children who have poor attention spans are able to learn more with hands-on training methods, so you should prepare ways to teach these children in a real-life format.

Take a Walk While Picking Up Trash

If your kid or kids tend to enjoy hands on activities, you can bring them outside to pick up the trash from your yard or a park. Make sure to supply gloves and trash bags, but you should watch carefully to make sure that your children don’t collect anything sharp, including broken glass or drug syringes. After collecting the paper items and soft drink cans, have the kids determine how much of the trash is recyclable. Make it into a game, and be understanding if they get distracted by other things.

Visit a Recycling Center

For children who enjoy heavy machinery or learn visually, you could teach them another way. Plan a field trip to a recycling center so that your children can see how the trash is sorted by type into glass, plastic, paper and other materials. The employees at the recycling center can discuss the importance of separating the types of materials along with making sure that the things are clean enough for the recycling process.

Create a Recycling Station

It is important to have easily recognizable recycling green bins at home. While there are many types of trash dumpsters, green is the color that tells children that the container is designed for recyclable items. With the noticeable green color, it is easier for children with poor attention spans to remember to place an item in the correct container. It also helps to have a dedicated recycling bin right next to the other garbage cans so your child doesn’t have to adjust their routine much to throw the right things away. Put a sign up that reminds them which item goes in which bin.

Learn How to Compost

Children with attention-deficit issues can also learn how to compost many types of trash so that there is rich soil for planting flowers or a vegetable garden. Create a composting pile for the proper types of garbage and trash, and also, you should allow your children to take turns stirring the rotting items to create the soil. After the trash decomposes into soil, use the dirt to plant flower or vegetable seeds. Hands on activities like gardening can be more interesting to children who have trouble connecting to activities that can otherwise feel disconnected from their daily lives.

Lifelong Learning

Work with your children come up with ways to remember to recycle and reuse. This can include organizing their room and giving them specific places to put objects, which can help them remember to put recycling in a specific place as well. Be gentle when reminding them, and work with them to set up a schedule for them to clean and throw things in the trash or recycling. A motivating reward system can help them tie their behavior to later benefits and make them get excited about recycling.

Even if your child has attention deficit issues, he or she can still begin to learn important principles on avoiding waste and reusing and recycling. Use these tips to teach your child to recycle and care for his or her planet.

Brooke Chaplan is a freelance writer and blogger. She lives and works out of her home in Los Lunas, New Mexico. She loves the outdoors and spends most of her time hiking, biking, and gardening. For more information, contact Brooke via Facebook at facebook.com/brooke.chaplan or Twitter @BrookeChaplan

Do You Know These 7 Interesting Facts about Asia?

The largest continent on the planet, Asia is full of centuries-old tradition and present-day trends. Several interesting facts about Asia remain untold, and learning them will undoubtedly leave you bewildered.

Here are 7 interesting facts about Asia:

1) Countries in Asia consume ninety percent of the rice produced in the world –

An essential food throughout the continent, rice makes for a staple for breakfast, lunch as well as dinner. Concerning food consumption, Asia differs from the rest of the world due to its high need for rice. So vital is rice for living here that many Asians use “rice” as a conversation starter.

Asians consume about ninety percent of the world’s rice yield with China, India, and Indonesia, partaking sixty percent of it alone. The latter half of the twentieth century saw the individual average rice consumption in Asia rising steadily from 85 kilograms annually to 103. This period also marked the start of the Green Revolution when farmers received over 1000 modernized rice varieties.

2) All Vietnamese people share the same birthday –

In Vietnam, people count their age based on the number of Vietnamese New Year they’ve celebrated, unlike the rest of the world, counting it from the day of their birth. So, in Vietnam, everybody turns another year older on “Tet Nguyen Dan” which means “Vietnamese New Year’s Day.”

Every year, Tet Nguyen Dan doesn’t fall on the same date because it is by the lunar (moon) cycle. The date falls in the latter half of the winter season, i.e., late January or the beginning of February, and the “Tet” lasts for many days. So, among several Tet traditions, the New Year also makes for a birthday celebration. A baby’s first Tet would make him officially one year old, even if his actual birth took place before the New Year’s Day.

3) One of Thailand’s markets lies right over train tracks – A genuinely unique Thai market and located near Bangkok, the Maeklong Railway Market lies right on a passing train’s tracks! This market has numerous stalls displaying local produce such as fruits and veggies, seafood and meats, sweet foods, clothing, and fresh flowers.

Several times throughout the day, as the warning bell rings loudly through the speaker, the vendors have to drawback their awnings. It’s because a train runs right in the middle of the buzzing market, sufficiently close for touch. This aspect certainly makes the Maeklong Railway Market stand out among Thailand’s several markets

The market remarkably adjusts itself and encloses the train while it rolls through. The vendors pull back the awnings just to the extent required and move the baskets of local produce just enough to keep them from being sliced by the train’s wheels.

Once the train passes, the vendors instantly restore the awnings where they were initially. Everyone resumes their normal activities as though nothing unbelievable did ever happen.

The train runs through the market eight times per day, including the trips in the return direction. So, one gets eight opportunities daily to watch the spectacular sight of the train rolling through the market just after the vendors have closed down their umbrellas.

4) The Spring Temple Buddha is the tallest sculpture worldwide – Towering at 420 feet, on top of a lotus-shaped pedestal as high as 66 feet, the Spring Temple Buddha located in the Chinese township of Zhaocun is the tallest sculpture in the world. If you’re seeking something fresh and thrilling, yet remarkably peaceful and quiet, you should be heading straight to visit the marvelous sculpture in China.

The sculpture features a famous statue representing the Vairocana Buddha. Built in the period from 1997 to 2008, the statue is made up of large quantities of gold, copper alloy, and steel occupying almost 11,000 square feet. The ornately layered copper gives the figure its brilliant appeal.

A diamond seat, holding 6,666 smaller statues of Buddha and lying beneath the Buddha, further enhances the sculpture’s beauty. It also contains the holy Buddhist monastery where people come seeking eternal peace.

5) Indonesia is the world’s largest island country – With 17,508 islands extending between the Pacific Ocean and the Indian Ocean, and with 741,050 square miles of overall land area, Indonesia is the world’s largest archipelagic nation. This archipelago stretches across the equatorial line and covers almost an eighth of the circumference of the earth.

Several groups of islands make up the entire archipelago, namely, Sumatra, Java, Kalimantan, Sulawesi, Nusa Tenggara, Timor, Maluku, and Papua New Guinea. Indonesians reside in about 6,000 islands, with 51% of the country’s total population living on Java island. The coastal area encompassing Indonesia has global significance, mainly for trading purposes.

6) The largest flower in the world grows in South-East Asia -he Rafflesia flower, named after Sir Raffles who founded Singapore and found the flower while on an expedition, grows in the tropical forests of South-East Asia, most abundantly in Indonesia. Rafflesia, the formal state flower of Indonesia, is a huge flower measuring a meter across, and its unique shape and size have earned it a symbolic status.

With twenty species of the flower existing in the world, a typical Rafflesia flower has five dull-red, leather-textured, spotted petals resembling the shape of a cabbage and a large, bowl-like center.

When the Rafflesia blooms, it emits an extremely unpleasant odor that attracts insects, thus helping pollination. Rare and beautifully exotic, the Rafflesia, weighing 22 pounds, is the most substantial flower worldwide. Rafflesia is a parasite growing on the hardy Tetrastigma vine only and blooms for not more than 3-5 days annually.

7) Rub’ al Khali desert is the largest desert worldwide with continuous sand – Spanning approximately 6,50,000 sq km and more than a quarter of Saudi Arabia’s complete area, Rub’ al Khali, meaning “Empty Quarter,” is the largest desert in the world with continuous sand. This desert region occupying the southern Arabian Peninsula constitutes the Arabian Desert’s most significant portion.

Featuring diverse topography, the western part of Rub’ al Khali desert is 2000 feet above mean sea level with thin and soft sand. While the desert’s eastern portion is only at 600 feet, consisting of dunes, sheets, and sabkhas, also called salt flats.

One of the world’s driest regions, the Rubʿ al Khali, is virtually empty, i.e., without inhabitants and contains ample petroleum reserves below its sands. The Al-Ghawār oil field, extending approximately 260 km in the eastern part of the country, includes several billions of oil barrels.

Conclusion

So, now you know some unusual facts about the Asian continent. If you’re already planning a trip for exploring these facts, don’t forget to carry a scratch-off world map along. Once you’re back home, carte a gratter will remind you of all the exciting facts that you explored.

Day of the Dead and What it Means to Celebrate It

With the popularity of the Disney movie Coco, Day of the Dead has become a pretty well-known holiday. Yet, even if you have seen the movie, you may still be wondering what it’s all about. Where did this tradition come from? What do all the flowers and skeletons mean? Here is everything you need to know about Day of the Dead.

What is Day of the Dead?

Day of the Dead, or Dia de Muertos, is a holiday celebrated throughout Latin America, but it originated in Mexico.

Instead of being a celebration of ghouls and goblins, Day of the Dead is a time to celebrate and honor loved ones who have passed away. Participants believe that on November 1^st and 2^nd, the dead awaken and their spirits come to visit their living family members. The living prepare a feast and receive the spirits as honored guests.

Where did Day of the Dead originate?

According to the History Channel, Day of the Dead originated around 3,000 years ago with the Nahua and Aztec people. They believed that life is cyclical and death is just a normal part of that cycle. Therefore, they created a celebration to honor this part of the cycle.

Originally, the Nahua celebrated the dead in August. However, when the Spanish invaded Mexico, they brought with them All Saints Day and All Souls Day, which is celebrated the first two days of November. As a part of these celebrations, the Spanish would decorate graves with flowers and candles to help the dead find their way back to their homes on earth. Therefore, the Day of the Dead celebrations we witness today is a mixture of these two cultural traditions.

What are the Day of the Dead Traditions?

In Mexico, November 1^st is “Dia de los Inocentes” (Day of the Innocents) or “Dia de los Angelitos” (Day of the Little Angels), which is basically a day to celebrate the lives of young children who have passed. The celebration for adults is the following day, on November 2.

During these celebrations, family members go to the cemetery to clean and decorate the gravestones. Sometimes they place items that their family members loved in life on the gravestones. Other families just place these items on an altar for the deceased in their homes.

On the 1^st and 2^nd , the family gathers for a feast and celebration in remembrance of those who have passed away. The belief is that during these two days, the spirits of those who have passed away are present and celebrating alongside their living family members.

What is the meaning of the Day of the Dead decorations?

The altars are the focus of Day of the Dead celebration. Baby’s breath, which represents the purity of children, adorns the altars of children, alongside toys, candy, and food that children enjoy such as sweet tamales, and atole.

For adults, the altars are covered with marigolds, the iconic orange flower that represents Day of the Dead. In some areas, the flower petals are also used to make a path that leads the souls back home to the family. Instead of sweet tamales they have spicy ones and trade the atloe for that adult’s beverage of choice. The food symbolizes an offering to the souls to welcome them home.

In addition to the tamales and atole, each region also offers the dead “pan de muerto” or bread of the dead. This is a special type of bread made during the Day of the Dead celebrations.

Each altar also has a picture of the people who have passed away, which represents his or her presence. Candles line the altars to light the way back home for the souls. Some altars also have papel picado or cut/chiseled paper with images of saints, skulls, and skeletons and are used as a tablecloth to decorate the altar.

The candy skulls and people dressed as skeletons, or La Catrina, are symbols of the reality of death. They are not meant to be scary but instead normalize death as a part of the cycle of life.

Can I take part in a Day of the Dead celebration if I am not Mexican?

Of course, you can! However, if you are going to attend a public celebration or celebrate with another family, remember to be respectful. The point of the celebration is to take time to remember loved ones. That means it may not be the best place for selfies or Facebook lives. Instead, unplug and take the time to enjoy being with other people.

If you are in the US, you can check here to see if there will be a Day of the Dead celebration near you. If you are feeling super adventurous, hop on a plane and head to Mexico to witness Day of the Dead first hand.

If neither of those is an option, you could also consider having your own Day of the Dead celebration in your home.

If I want to go to Mexico during Day of the Dead, where should I go?

You could honestly go anywhere in Mexico to experience Day of the Dead alongside the locals but according to TripSavvy, you will find the most colorful festivities in the Southern Region of Mexico. Some popular destinations for Day of the Dead explorers are Oaxaca, Chiapas, Michoacán and Mexico City.

Won’t a Day of the Dead Celebration scare my child?

Remember, Day of the Dead is not Halloween. It is not mean to be scary. Day of the dead is a time of connection and remembrance. In fact, if your child fears death or if you have recently lost a loved one, it may be helpful for your family to take some time to address the reality of death and remember those in your family who are no longer with you.

If you’d like to learn more about how to have your own Day of the Dead celebration, download this free three day activity guide that will walk you through bringing culture, joy and connection into your family through your own Day of the Dead celebration this October 31^st-November 2^nd.

Bio: Vanessa Ruiz loves all things language, culture, and diversity. She is the mother of a bilingual, bicultural child and works full time supporting immigrant families. You can find her at Families Embracing Diversity where she guides families to learn to love their differences today to give their children a better tomorrow.

Keep Kids’ Eyes Off Mobile Phones with These Tips

Your child is fast becoming addicted to mobile phone and it worries you. Sure, it’s only natural for a parent to get concerned about a child’s negative attitude. In addition to consistently exposing their retina to white light, mobile phone addiction can also distract kids from educational and other productive activities. So, what can you do to distract your kid from intense mobile phone usage?

Thankfully, it is possible to make your kid’s environment more interesting than mobile phone. But how? Keep reading to learn more.

First, Understand that Too Much Exposure to Screen Has Consequences

High screen-time or too much exposure to gadget or TV screen comes with certain consequences such as the following;

Poor academic performance due to distraction caused by mobile phone addiction
Possibility of being derailed by surfing websites that are not healthy or morally good
Exposure of the retina to streams of white light at all times can drastically impact a child’s vision

So, How Can You Curtail or Stop a Child’s Addiction to Mobile Phones and Other Screen Gadgets?

You should start by devising ways to make their environment more interesting than sticking to the phone all day long. Some helpful tips to achieve this include the following;

Tip #1: Take the Lead

Whether you accept it or not, children tend to learn by example rather than mere instructions. You may not succeed in distracting your kid from phone addiction when you are also a culprit and barely have time for your kids. So, what they see you do is what they will likely do. If you are too drawn to your smartphone, it’s time to be the example for your kid by spending less and less time on your phone. It’s just a question of time, your child will follow suit.

Tip #2: Encourage and Introduce Fun Activities

You should introduce other fun and useful activities to your child. For instance, you can introduce your child to archery. Choose an adjustable bow for your child with the help of an archery shop attendant.

Subsequently, you can engage your backyard (if it is allowed in your area) to start teaching the kid how to shoot bows. Usually, the first target for kids learning to shoot a bowl is balloons. Indeed, most kids would prefer to spend time learning to shoot a bow than staying glued to a phone. Indeed, archery is a fantastic hobby that any kid will love.

You should also make other essential resources accessible to your child. Typical examples of such resources include interesting/educative books, art supplies and board games such as scrabble.

Tip #3: Cut back Phone Usage Times

Abrupt withdrawal of a phone from a child may cause him or her to go into depression and other negative emotions, since the child is already addicted to the gadget.

To prevent this from happening, you should consider limiting phone usage time at first and fill those hours the child is not using phone with other fun and productive activities mentioned in Tip #2. This gradual and more strategic process will be more effective. You will be surprised that the child would eventually lose interest in phones and gadgets without much coercion.

Tip #4: Spend More time with Your Child

Often, kids tend to resort to smartphones or other negative things as succor, since their parents rarely have time for them. So, learn to spend time with your kids. Find out what’s going on with them in school and elsewhere, and play with them as often as you can.

The truth is, kids really yearn for the attention of their parents who are rather busy doing other things that can never be equated with the emotional wellbeing of their kids. In fact, some parents are even the ones encouraging their kids to spend time with mobile phones since they do not get involved in these kids’ lives.

But the truth is, for a child to be well-rounded and groomed, you cannot take out those detailed and intimate moments spent with a child — which is what proper parenting requires.

Tip #5: Get Your Kids involved in House Chores

When a child has extensive idle time, he or she will definitely look for other things to be occupied on. If all your child does is to do home work, eat and play, and do not help out in anyway, he or she will definitely get attracted to mobile phone to stay busy.

So, start early to involve your kids in house chores and other meaningful activities. When you cook in the kitchen, get them to help handle smaller tasks such as washing vegetables, measuring out ingredients, and cleaning up after cooking. Also, your kids should be involved in keeping the house tidy, watering the plants in the garden and so on.

Finally, you need to understand that there’s no idle time for a kid, they must always have something to do. So, get them involved in meaningful activities to distract them from mobile phone.

4 Activities to Spark Your Child’s Natural Curiosity

One of the most wonderful things about children is that they’re natural curious about the world around them. There’s a lot going on, and most want to know more. If you feel like your child’s mostly focused inward, though, you may want to take steps to encourage that natural curiosity. Below are four activities that can really make a difference.

Go to Nature

Getting out in the natural world is a great way to get a child’s mind moving. Leave behind the technology and the distractions and spend a few hours out in the woods—or even a few days camping. Let your child discover the vast beauty of nature in a safe what that will make him or her really want to learn more about why the world works as it does.

Visit a Museum of Play

There are many excellent childrens’ museums out there, and the best of them put a strong focus on play. While children might think that they’re just getting a chance to play around, what they’re really doing is engaging with the world in a hands-on manner. Playing around in a stream table or building a fortress out of blocks may not seem like it’s constructive, but it’s teaching your child incredibly important lessons.

Check Out a Planetarium

Sometimes it takes spending a moment contemplating the vastness of the universe to really unlock a sense of wonder. There are spectacular planetarium shows in cities across the world, many of which are geared towards children. Giving your child a chance to look out at the vastness of space and to wonder what’s out there can be a good way to help him or her start to think about the world in a more engaging manner.

Visit a Historical Site

Sometimes a look at the past can really help a child to start asking “why”. Checking out a battlefield, an old building, or even a monument is a great way to talk to your child about the world as it was before he or she was born. Just getting exposed to the idea that things were not always as they are now can be a major turning point for some children, and this can lead them to really start interrogating their own worlds.

Getting your child to use his or her natural curiosity is really a matter of providing the right stimuli. Visit museums, planetariums, and historic sites to provide new points of view, and don’t forget to get out into nature to let your child explore. With the right stimuli, your child’s imagination will soar.

How to Help Your Children Through a Difficult Move

Moving to a new home is a difficult experience for everyone, but it is particularly tough for children. They are leaving behind more than just a familiar house. They’re also saying goodbye to friends, a neighborhood, a school, and maybe more. Here are some simple tips for helping your kids adjust to life at a new address.

Remember Their Transition

As we adults struggle to activate utilities, sell real estate, and adjust to a new job, we can easily forget about the kids. For them to come through the move as seamlessly as possible, it is essential that you help them adjust as well. Take them to explore their new school at the first opportunity. Check out the restaurants, stores, parks, and entertainment areas that will interest them. Talk to local groups about sports, orchestra, theater, or whatever hobbies they may have.

Get Them Involved

We often think that packing, hauling, and unpacking is adults’ work, and it is. However, kids need to help a little too. Take care of their furniture, clothes, and “boring” things for them, and then set aside time to work them through the process of packing treasured toys or other belongings. Let them mark the boxes and use all the fun bubble wrap and tape they want.

Keep Some Simple Reminders

If this is the first move for your children, the adjustment is really big. Figure out a way for them to maintain some physical reminders of the old place. It could be a paver from the sidewalk or a plant transferred to the new home. It could even be the door frame where you’ve measured their heights. Whatever you manage to find, bring it along to keep the memories of the old home fresh while they build more memories in the new home.

Just Listen

This may be uncharted territory for your kids. They may feel guilty about being excited to make new friends after leaving their old ones behind. They may be anxious about a totally new school. They may even be almost manic with excitement at the possibilities. Their feelings will run the gamut, and the only thing you can do is listen and support them. In time, you’ll hear the conversations turn more towards the new life and less toward the strain of leaving the old life. Even kids who are generally upbeat will have down times. Just listen.

A move is a major change. When there are kids involved, you can make their transition more seamless by simply keeping their feelings and reactions in mind at all times.

Lizzie Weakley is a freelance writer from Columbus, Ohio. In her free time, she enjoys the outdoors and walks in the park with her three-year-old husky, Snowball.