I’ve often heard parents talking about how difficult it is to get their child(ren) to sit down for a project or to do homework. Back then, with just a toddler on my hands, and my only experience of homework being the one I did 25 years back, I simply couldn’t understand. Now, as my son juggles with “Integrated Primary Science” and “Communicative English” in school, I’m surprised at how much he learns everyday. One day, he came back from school saying he had to take 3 objects for demonstration on the concepts of “transparent, translucent and opaque”. Another day, he needed 5 fun facts on any planet ( he chose Saturn). While I truly enjoy doing these quick 5-minute projects with him, I wonder how he will react when these projects become bigger and take longer. You see – my son ( as most kids this age ) has severe problems sitting down to doing anything which needs him to think constantly on one topic for more than 300 seconds. We have spent endless days of school holidays – zipping from one game to another – Scrabble for 5 minutes, Monopoly for 10, book cricket for 3, UNO for 2, Colouring for 5 (you get the gist) – and still feeling bored  Then, finally, I decided to take matters into my hands and “prepare” him to learn to concentrate on any one topic for 15 minutes at a stretch. Our project was the “Atlas” ! We took a big world map which he has and I asked him to draw each continent, write down the names of the countries with their capitals along with places of interest. While I painstakingly drew each minute country in Africa, he took up “South America”. To his credit, he drew each country neatly, coloured them, labelled them and proudly added it to his “map” collection. But all this was done in exactly 7 minutes and he refused to sit down to another. There went my experiment down the drain. But, I’m a staunch follower of King Bruce and I plan to be at it till I succeed ! Do you think I will ?? Do you think my son will finally learn to sit in one place and work ?

Re-published with permission from the blog of ParentEdge, a bi-monthly parenting magazine that aims to expose parents to global trends in learning and partner with them in the intellectual enrichment of their children.

This blog has been contributed by Meera Srinivasan, our resident expert on health and nutrition.

Being a nutritionist I have always paid attention to what my family eats. But until recently, I was not aware that how they eat is equally important. Research has shown that eating together as a family is key to inculcating healthy eating habits in children.

Researchers at Rutgers University have looked at 68 studies that have examined relationship between family meals, eating habits and children’s health. Amazingly all studies pointed to a similar trend – families who had “meals together” during the growing years had children and teens who ate more fruits and vegetables, other nutrient rich foods and less of soft drinks. The research also indicated that they had a lower BMI (body mass index) than kids whose families did not eat together! Of course, this is not a magic bullet but with so many studies confirming this trend it will be good to pay attention to these findings.

So you may wonder about relevance in India – well the situation in urban households is no longer different, with both parents working long hours and juggling work and children’s schedules. Sitting down together for dinner in most homes is becoming increasingly rare and eating together has become a weekend activity and invariably not at home …

Along with healthier eating habits and lower instances of obesity, there are other significant benefits of family meals:

• Dinner together serves as an anchor for the family, nurtures the sense of belonging. It is a time for everyone to share and reflect about their day
• Conversations around meal time help increase children’s vocabulary making them better readers.
• Children actually do better in school/academics!
• Children become aware of current events and have better social skills. They learn to make conversations and also become good listeners!
• Teens who eat dinners at home regularly are less likely to smoke, drink alcohol or use drugs!
• As mentioned in the January 2013 issue of ParentEdge children learn by observing and experiencing and not by being instructed. If parents have healthy eating habits children tend to have similar eating habits!

How do we make it work?

• Meal time has to be a priority for everyone – make your family understand and once they start doing it, the benefits will ensure that there is no turning back!
• If dinner is not possible, explore breakfast and to start, target a minimum of three meals during the week.
• Make the meals interesting, get the family involved in menu planning and if possible even cooking. Many children these days are showing an interest in cooking and we can be thankful to the Master Chef programmes!
• Turn off mobiles, television during meals, so children understand you are making meal times a priority.
• Conversation starters can be as simple as “what was the best part of your day”, “what went well for you today and what did not?” – and before you realize children are talking and telling you things which may be difficult to get out from them otherwise!

At our home we have dinner together and I find this the most gratifying time of the day!

Re-published with permission from the blog of ParentEdge, a bi-monthly parenting magazine that aims to expose parents to global trends in learning and partner with them in the intellectual enrichment of their children.

As parents we are always scrambling to find ways to keep our children occupied- are there week-end classes, what are the latest books for my kids to read and, if you are a teen’s parent,  is there any quick project that my daughter can work on? Sounds familiar? Parents, especially the involved ones, are so busy trying to optimize their children’s lives that they often miss out on doing the same with their own.

In my case, between managing a full time job and raising two kids, I believed that I had no time to pursue my own interests or to do fun things. In the last couple of years however, I have done some introspection: how easily I give my children fundas on time management?  And how often have I spoken to them on exhibiting a lifelong learning attitude?  How about applying these ideas to myself, I thought? And so I revived my interest in cooking and baking, began reading a lot more widely and regularly and, more recently, started to do a bit of gardening.

Now, when I look around me, I find many others I know being much more than “parents”. My husband, for example, has always found the time to do what interests him; other friends are passionately pursing everything from photography and writing to cycling and music.

As parents, by continuing to develop our own interests, we demonstrate to our children that learning need not stop at any point in time. It can continue forever. More importantly, it helps us develop a sense of balance. Rather than make our children’s lives and hence their achievements our top and most often only priority, if we set aside some time for our own interests, it helps children also get the much needed breathing space. Doing your own thing is obviously a lot of fun too. Last, when it is time for children to set out to chase their own dreams, we have something to fall back on.

So, time to get a life?

Re-published with permission from the blog of ParentEdge, a bi-monthly parenting magazine that aims to expose parents to global trends in learning and partner with them in the intellectual enrichment of their children.

Early this year, Amy Chua, professor at Yale Law School, shot to fame – not for her legal prowess but because of a book she wrote. An excerpt of ‘Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother’ published in the Wall Street Journal, ignited a global debate on pSo, is there some merit in Chua’s way of thinking? Can we say that one style of parenting is superior to another? Do the results justify the means? And most importantly, what is right for your child?generation Chinese immigrant, advocates that the Chinese style she practiced setting high performance expectations and imposing a strict regimen totally devoid of distractions and social interactions – yielded better outcomes than the laissez faire Western style.arenting. Chua, a second

With increasing demands on the time of both parents and children, and with the world around us changing so quickly, parenting, in today’s fast-paced urban India, is a kin to an emotional roller coaster ride. It can be exciting and exhilarating one moment, but nerve wracking and even scary at other times. With rising disposable incomes, global exposure and increasing access to technology, the world in which Indian children are growing up today is so different from the one their parents grew up in.

As parents, are you equipped to deal with the future shock?

It’s true that children are not born with instruction manuals, but parents across the ages have devised their own methods, as you would surely have, to deal with their own. The method you fall back on to raise your children, or your parenting style, is often shaped by your own experiences with your parents, your cultural context and your family beliefs and values.

A well-researched subject, parenting styles can be broadly divided into four buckets – authoritarian, authoritative, permissive and neglectful. “Do as I say, no questions asked” is authoritarian, whereas, “Let us discuss why it is important for you to do this,” is authoritative. “If you don’t want to do it, don’t do it,” is permissive while, “I don’t really care whether or not you do it,” is neglectful.

Today’s fathers may perhaps recall that their own fathers’ styles were mostly authoritarian! Families with both parents working (who are also on guilt trips!) sometimes adopt the permissive style. In some grown-ups, permissive parenting is also a reaction to the methods adopted in raising them – “I had such a hard time in my childhood with no freedom at all. My daughter should be able to do what she wants.”

Chinese vs. Western Parenting Styles – Recent Brouhaha

“Here are some things my daughters, Sophia and Louisa, were never allowed to do: attend a sleepover, have a playdate, be in a school play, complain about not being in a school play, watch TV or play computer games, choose their own extracurricular activities, get any grade less than an A, not be the No. 1 student in every subject except gym and drama, play any instrument other than the piano or violin, not play the piano or violin,” says Amy Chua, author of ‘Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother’.

Different strokes for different folks – Parenting styles day-to-day

Our guess is that most parents would not have chosen a single parenting style as the response to all the four scenarios described earlier. That is because parenting styles are not cast in concrete – they are not water-tight compartments in which your children and you swim during the entire parenting journey! ParentEdge team’s own research and observations show that there are few parents in India who follow one style predominantly and consistently over time. And that is the way it should be for the following reasons:

The child’s temperament

Parenting is not a one-way street – the child’s own way of responding to people and events (temperament) inter plays with the parent’s style. Factors that indicate temperament are aspects of an individual’s personality that are innate –the ‘nature’ part of your child rather than the ‘nurture’! This explains why your daughter is a hyper-active extrovert, while your son a quiet introvert.

According to psychologists Dr. Stella Chess and Dr. Alexander Thomas, there are nine attributes that help identify a child’s temperament (see Box).We have added some pointers to fine tuning your parenting style to match the attribute of your child. According to research, temperament cannot be forcibly changed and so it is a good idea to work with your child’s temperament rather than try and change it through your style (which can be a frustrating experience).

Change your style as your child grows up

You should also consider adapting your style as your child grows up. For very young children, certain situations demand an authoritarian style as they may not appreciate reasoning and it may be impractical to launch discussions. As an example, your three-year-old is trying to push another child into the swimming pool’s deep end. What will work best is a yell, “Stop that! Now!” On the other hand, teenagers are prone to go through a rebellious phase and continuing an authoritarian style (even in selective situations) that has worked till then may not be a wise thing to do.

Between the ages of three and 18, a child goes through many significant changes physically, mentally and emotionally. A hyper-active toddler could grow into a calm and mature adolescent while quiet pre-schoolers could become a handful as they reach their pre-teens and teens. A clinging infant may blossom into a self-sufficient and confident teenager while a confident tween could grow up to become an insecure, approval-seeking adolescent. You never can predict what’s in store. So, it is really important to watch your children and observe the changes in their temperament as they reach different milestones in their journey to adulthood. Be sure you adapt your approach to be effective at all these different stages.

The sibling factor

We talked earlier of siblings with different temperaments – despite having common genes, differences between siblings are the rule, not the exception. As your children grow up, as parents, you can be often taken by surprise to discover how different each child is from the other. Understanding that each child is unique and figuring out what works best for each of them is an important aspect of parenting. Very often parents are guilty of not being sensitive to differences, and, even worse, drawing in appropriate comparisons. One has to be particularly careful while setting performance goals or benchmarks – academic or otherwise, and avoid force-fitting interests.

A style for an occasion

An authoritarian style may just be what the doctor ordered for a child who is constantly testing boundaries. It may also be occasionally useful to quell willful behaviour, especially in younger children, or when you want to send a stern message to correct an unacceptable behaviour in an adolescent. A permissive style may work perfectly fine with children who are mature, responsible and internally motivated, especially in late adolescent stages. On the other hand, it is fine to use an apparently ”neglectful” approach on certain occasions – for example, you want to get your child out of the habit of seeking approval constantly and teach him to make his own decisions – “I don’t care if it is this or that”- to push him to make his own decisions.

Re-published with permission from the blog of ParentEdge, a bi-monthly parenting magazine that aims to expose parents to global trends in learning and partner with them in the intellectual enrichment of their children.