Parent Fact Sheets

FOOD SAFETY RULES

Food safety and sanitation are important to keeping your family healthy. Understanding the key principles of safe food preparation, handling and storage is vital keeping your family safe from contamination and germs. Many disease that cause diarrhea and even illness like hepatitis can get contracted by eating contaminated and/or spoiled food. Please read the following rules and put into place the tips listed here:

ENJOY EXERCISE WITH YOUR CHILDREN

Exercise is important for children to develop healthy bodies. Even infants need exercise. Why is it so important that children get a lot on exercise? Here are five good reasons for children to get exercise:

• Fighting obesity: It is estimated that nearly 25 million children in the United States are overweight or at risk for becoming overweight. (CDC)

• Prevention of diabetes: A child born today has a one in three chance of contracting diabetes during his lifetime. (CDC)

EMERGENCY EVACUATIONS

You never know when an emergency can happen in your home. For example: tornados, sever storms, fire or flooding can happen suddenly. It is important that you think about what types of emergencies can occur in you’re a have a plan for evacuation. There are things to tke int consideration when making a plan.

• The location of your home. Are you on a main street where you can get help quickly, or do you live out in the country?

• Are you in a designated flood prone area?

• Does your neighborhood often experience power outages?

DEVLOPMENTAL DEVELOPMENT – HOW DO CHILDREN PROCESS DEATH

Young children understand death in progressive stages. There is no easy way to help a child deal with death. No child exhibits the same reaction. Some children may grieve for a longer period of time than others. There is an adjustment period they must go through and there is no set timetable for that to happen. Also depending on the child’s developmental age, they may have different understanding of death.
Here are some ways a child may understand death:

UNDER 5 YEARS OF AGE

DEMANDING CHILDREN -REDUCE A CHILD’S SENSE OF ENTITLEMENT

There is a fine line between entitlement and spoiled. An entitled child feels that they deserve everything they want, and a spoiled child is given everything they want. Parents do not set out to raise an entitled child, however, they may have contributed to the child feeling that the parents owe them anything they want.

CREATING A NURTURING HOME ENVIRONMENT
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NATURE VS NURTURE

There is an age-old debate on whether children develop a certain way because of nature or how they were nurtured. Every child is born with some natural tendencies.

For example: some children are shy while others are very outgoing. Some children can play for extended periods of time and amuse themselves while others get bored and need stimulation very quickly.

COPING WITH CHILDHOOD ANXIETY

It is normal for children to feel worried or anxious to a certain extent. For example first day of school or moving to a new area. As a parent you can help your child cope with anxious situations.

ANXIETY SYMPTOMS IN CHILDREN:

become irritable, tearful or clingy

• have difficulty sleeping

• wake in the night

• start wetting the bed

• have bad dreams

In older children you may notice that they:

lack confidence to try new things or seem unable to face simple, everyday challenges

Your school age child (6 to 12 years) now talks in full sentences and has a good understanding of language. He asks many questions and is curious about the world around him. He can recount experiences and amaze you with the details he remembers. He is beginning to understand how his actions affect others. He can see things from different perspectives. With help from you, he can begin to set goals and to learn how to solve problems. He also enjoy playing with their friends.

TIPS FOR ENCOURAGING COMMUNICATION YOUR SCHOOLAGE CHILDREN: 6 TO 12 YEARS

How you communicate with your infant will have an impact on how he/she develops his/her self-esteem, language, socialization, healthy relationships and the world around them. One of the most important things you can do as a parent is talk to the baby and listen to her. Have lots of positive communication and interaction on a regular basis.