Thursday, February 16, 2023

8 Month Update


Miss Juniper (the reason things have been quiet around the blog for a while) is now 8 months old! I thought it was time to do a quick update. It is so fascinating to see how uniquely each baby develops!


Physically, Juniper has wanted to walk since birth. She was footling breech and has always tried to push up to standing instead of sitting. She prefers to play standing up against a couch or our play foam than to play sitting. Honestly, her drive to stand probably delayed her sitting and crawling by a little bit. She's already pulling herself up on things and starting to cruise.

As far as learning activities go, she's very different from her brothers. She's been the least interested in looking at words of all my kids. Both the boys LOVED Your Baby Can Read. She will watch it for small bursts, but often not the whole thing. She is more likely to watch a whole Tweedlewink video, but those are much shorter. (She does LOVE Sparkabilities, but those are not word focused). Since it was a struggle to get her to sit still long enough to pay attention to three word flashing sessions a day, we're taking a little break from them. I had to take occasional breaks with the boys as well, just when they were a bit older and wanting to focus on movement. Since teaching a baby has to be joyful, we'll try again when I feel like she might be more interested. I'm not going to force anything!

Juniper likes books, but is a bit pickier than the boys. I'm guessing all of this is because the boys were far enough in age to be home alone with me. Juniper has Archer home, so is exposed to more screens and distractions during the day. We've recently started doing one Little Reader lesson a day and she seems to be liking it (when I can keep Archer from being distracting). You can read about how I implement these resources and teach my babies to read here)
She's is very smiley. She loves her brother to pieces, frequently wanting to grab them, particularly their hair. She already has an independent streak, much preferring foods she can feed herself to ones I feed her. She wants to be with the big kids doing what they're doing and going where they're going. 

Thursday, February 9, 2023

Seven Tips To Help Your Child Grow Into A Well-Rounded Individual

 When you become a parent, you want to strive to be the best version you can be for your children so they too can grow up to be the best that they can be in life. Of course, we’re all human and so making mistakes is part of the process. 


However, a child in their childhood is something you want to tread carefully in so that they have the best opportunities and knowledge to become well-rounded human beings at both this point and in their own adult life.


With that being said, here are several tips to help your child grow into a well-rounded individual.


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Teach them some helpful life lessons for the future

To help them grow into a responsible adult, life lessons are important. These life lessons come in all shapes and sizes. Some will be taught to them by you, their parents, others by others they look up to whether that’s teachers, other family members, and friends.


Some life lessons are fairly obvious and need to be taught to help keep children safe, like not to talk to or go with strangers when left alone. Other life lessons are often not clear until they make a mistake and they learn from that mistake.


As a parent, there are plenty of life lessons you can teach them when they’re young and perhaps could have helped you when you were their age. 

Involve them in table discussions on social and economical issues

To help them get involved with the world around them as they get older and to show an interest in it all, involve them in table discussions. These discussions might take place at the dinner table and in a variety of other environments whether that’s after watching the news or listening to a radio show on the way to school.


Talking about social and economical issues, as well as general topics that warrant healthy discussion, is a good trait and skill for your children to have. Everyone is entitled to their own viewpoints and opinions but they should also be aware of other opinions and perhaps have their own opinions questioned.


Exploring Unique Educational Opportunities

Introducing them to unique educational paths, such as Caribbean pre-med programs, is a valuable life lesson. Discussing these opportunities can broaden their horizons, showing that there are diverse ways to achieve their aspirations, like a career in medicine. It encourages independence and a global mindset, which is crucial in today's interconnected world.

Get them interested in extra-curricular activities or hobbies

Extra-curricular activities or hobbies outside of school hours are healthy and should be taken full advantage of as a parent. From swimming lessons to comic conventions, there’s an abundance of interests that children will likely have and these interests can change. 


As a parent, it’s exciting to see your child explore their passions and anything that could potentially result in a career in the future. Make sure you’re encouraging them to take part in these activities where possible.

Offer them additional learning resources online

There are plenty of additional learning resources online that are worth making use of as a parent. It’s a struggle to find local classes and in-person teaching opportunities that are affordable, which is what makes online learning resources so appealing to many.


A platform like Generation Genius is a great way to provide your child with all of the learning materials required for their Science and Maths knowledge. It’s these helpful resources that make all the difference in what they come away with when leaving education.

Praise them and reward their achievements

When it comes to the achievements they make in their life, always look to reward them for it. Praising, at the very least, is important because it shows them that with hard work, they’ll reap the benefits of it. Of course, it’s also important to show that even with achievements, rewards might not always follow - though many of us wish constant rewards were true.


Try to create a home environment that’s always praising and rewarding for the most part, when it comes to progress in life.

Don’t punish or create negativity when they fail at something

Talking of accomplishments, we’re all human and therefore we fail from time to time. Some of us are more so than others but that doesn’t take away from the progress they do make in life. Try to avoid punishing them or creating negativity towards failure because failure is in fact an opportunity for growth.

Provide unconditional love in the home

Lastly, make sure that your love in the home is present and unconditional. The home environment is one that’s safe and a place to come back to, should the outside world get too much. 


With all these tips in hand, you’re giving your child or children the best chance of living life to the fullest and achieving great things in life.



*This is a contributed post


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