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(If you would
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Welcome!
Welcome to
the first edition of Tips for Effective
Parenting, the newsletter for Parent members
of the National Effective Parenting
Initiative!
This
edition is being sent to you as an example of one
of the many educational benefits parent members
receive, and thereby to serve as encouragement for
you to (1) become a parent member yourself, and/or
(2) give a Parent membership as a gift to a family
member or friend. You can do
either by clicking
here. Other
member benefits include discounts on over 1000
parenting books, videos, CDs, and DVDs, like those
that are recommended in this
newsletter.
Each issue of
Tips for Effective Parenting contains
practical, how-to-do-it articles by some of our
nation's foremost parenting authorities. They also
contain or connect you with helpful articles from
our nation's leading health, mental health and
educational organizations, like the American
Academy of Pediatrics, the Center for Mental
Health Services, the Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention, and from University
departments.
This premiere
edition begins with an article that addresses the
most basic of parenting issues, defining what
effective parenting is. Dr. Kerby
T. Alvy, NEPI's Founder and one of our country's
most experienced and honored parenting
authorities, approaches this matter by drawing
upon decades of research findings that point to a
particular style of parenting as being the most
effective in raising healthy and achieving
children.
Because
parenting styles are learned, Dr. Alvy indicates
that any parent can learn an effective style or
unlearn an ineffective one. He further
orients parents to resources that can be used in
learning to be as productive as
possible.
The second
and third articles are concerned with the holiday
season. The article by parenting expert, Jody
Johnston Pawel, who is also a member of NEPI's
Advisory Board, is designed to help parents deal
with a common and challenging problem that emerges
during the holiday season, Taming the Holiday Gimmees.
That is followed by an
article from the American
Academy of Pediatrics about
Holiday Safety which provides tips on
dealing safely with a wide range of
potentially dangerous holiday events and
items.
The fourth
article in this edition is from the National
Mental Health Information Center, and it addresses
the very serious matter of Helping
Children Cope with Disasters. It
provides sensitive guidance on what to do during
and in the aftermath of disasters like
earthquakes, hurricanes, fires and terrorist
attacks.
NEPI
trusts that you will find this first set of
Tips on Effective Parenting to be helpful
in your being the best parent to your children
that you can be!
And do become a
member of the National Effective Parenting
Initiative if you have already not done so.
Click
here
to join.
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Defining
Effective Parenting
by Kerby T. Alvy,
Ph.D. |
As
the founder of the National Effective Parenting
Initiative, a coalition of individuals and
organizations that advocates, celebrates and
promotes effective parenting and parenting
education, I am often asked what does "effective
parenting" mean?. How is it defined?
This
is an extraordinarily challenging question because
the job of raising children is complex and
involves carrying out a wide range of
responsibilities.
Parents
are responsible for providing the basic resources
that are needed, like a home, food and clothing.
They are responsible for protecting children from
physical or psychological harm, such as protecting
them from predators, prejudice, and
discrimination, as well as protecting them from
diseases, from bullies, gangs and violence.
And
even more encompassing, parents are responsible
for guiding and nurturing all facets of children's
development, including how they get along with
other people (social development), how they feel
about themselves (emotional development), how they
understand the world (cognitive development) and
how they progress in learning and school
(educational development). Thus,
parents are their children's first and foremost
teachers, guidance counselors and
nurturers.
To read the complete
article, click here. |
|
Taming the Holiday
Gimmees
by Jody Johnston Pawel,
LSW,
CFLE |
 Gift-giving
season has begun. If you're like me, you fantasize
about the moment your children open their gifts:
their faces light up with surprise and excitement,
they give you a hug and say, "Thanks, I love it!"
To
reach that moment, however, we often have to
survive that special time of year many parents
dread: The Holiday Gimmees. We see the Gimmees
when our children see another toy
commercial, whine or throw a tantrum in a crowded
store because, heaven forbid, the gift we just
bought wasn't for them! By the time we are
wrapping gifts we often feel more like Scrooge
than Santa, having heard all the creative ways our
children can finish the sentence "I want . . ."
To
tame the Gimmees and instill the spirit of
giving in your children, try some of these
ideas:
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Holiday
Safety
by The
American Academy of
Pediatrics |
|
The holidays are an exciting time of year
for kids, and to help ensure they have a safe
holiday season, here are some tips.
Trees
- When purchasing an artificial tree, look
for the label "Fire Resistant."
- When purchasing a live tree, check for
freshness. A fresh tree is green, needles are
hard to pull from branches and when bent between
your fingers, needles do not break. The trunk
butt of a fresh tree is sticky with resin, and
when tapped on the ground, the tree should not
lose many needles.
- When setting up a tree at home, place it
away from fireplaces, radiators or portable
heaters. Place the tree out of the way of
traffic and do not block doorways.
- Cut a few inches off the trunk of your
tree to expose the fresh wood. This allows for
better water absorption and will help to keep
your tree from drying out and becoming a fire
hazard.
- Be sure to keep the stand filled with
water, because heated rooms can dry live trees
out rapidly.
Lights
- Never use electric lights on a metallic
tree. The tree can become charged with
electricity from faulty lights, and a person
touching a branch could be electrocuted.
- Before using lights outdoors, check
labels to be sure they have been certified for
outdoor use. To hold lights in place, string
them through hooks or insulated staples, not
nails or tacks. Never pull or tug lights to
remove them.
- Check all tree lights-even if you've just
purchased them-before hanging them on your tree.
Make sure all the bulbs work and that there are
no frayed wires, broken sockets or loose
connections.
- Plug all outdoor electric decorations
into circuits with ground fault circuit
interrupters to avoid potential shocks.
- Turn off all lights when you go to bed or
leave the house. The lights could short out and
start a fire.
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Helping Children Cope with
Disasters
by The National Mental Health
Information Center in the U.S. Department of
Health and Human
Services |
 Here are some
tips about talking to children after a disaster
like a fire, hurricane, earthquake or a terrorist
attack.
- Provide children with
opportunities to talk about what they are seeing
on television and the Internet.
Don't be afraid to admit that
you can't answer all their questions.
Answer questions at a level
the child can understand.
Provide ongoing opportunities
for children to talk. They will probably have more
questions as time goes on.
Use this as an opportunity to
establish a family emergency plan. Feeling that
there is something you can do may be very
comforting to both children and adults.
Allow children to discuss
other fears and concerns about unrelated issues.
This is a good opportunity to explore these issues
also.
Monitor children's television
and Internet watching. Some parents may wish to
limit their child's exposure to graphic or
troubling scenes. To the extent possible, watch
reports of the disaster with children. It is at
these times that questions might arise.
Help children understand that
there are no bad emotions and that a wide range of
reactions is normal. Encourage children to express
their feelings to adults (including teachers and
parents) who can help them understand their
sometimes strong and troubling emotions.
Try not to focus on blame.
In addition to the tragic things they see,
help children identify good things, such as heroic
actions, families who are grateful for being
reunited, and the assistance offered by people
throughout the country and the world.
To read the
complete article, click
here. | |
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National Effective Parenting
Initiative Tips for
