How To Create a Happy Child
What every parent wants for their child, is happiness, but it is often hard to obtain and harder to keep. In truth creating a happy child who will grow into a happy adult can be easier if you follow these six steps.
1) Be Consistent
Children crave consistency, however this can be one of the hardest things for a parent to provide. Consistency is practicing what you preach from rules to lifestyle to diet to education. Consistency is having rules not just for your child but for your whole family and sometimes most importantly, consistency is knowing when your child needs you to be a friend and when they need you to be a parent.
2) Good Nutrition
Across the world childhood obesity is growing and growing, we all see it in the news almost every day. This increase is for of a number of reasons, the two largest factors being the rise in the availability and consumption of sugary and fatty foods. It is important for kids to know what to eat, what to drink and when. One good strategy is the colors challenge – tell your kids to eat a different coloured fruit or vegetable in each meal for a week to win a prize, make going to the shops an adventure and make eating the right foods as exciting not a chore. Don’t use bad food as a reward for good behavior.
3) Physical Activity
Another cause for obesity, unhappiness and social exclusion for our children is not only a dwindling of children’s traditional recreational activities like soccer, footy, martial arts, etc but children’s loss of real ‘play’ with other children, running together and having fun outside, creating games. Electronic games, internet, the social network and TV are replacing physical activity, true social interaction and physical activity. Encourage your children to be adventurous and find extracurricular activities and organisations that support them to be active and socially interactive with real people in real time in a safe growth environment.
4) Friends
All kids need friends and all kids crave friendships among their peers, for some kids this is difficult, they have trouble finding similarities with other kids. They don’t understand cultural differences between families or they are so fully committed to their electronic recreational activities that they simply do not have time or sometimes the opportunity to make lasting friendships. Take the time to explain just how important having good friends is to your child and actively help them arrange play dates and sleep overs with kids from school. Many kids don’t get the difference between friends and acquaintances.
5) Education
A good education sets your child up for life, it helps them communicate well, become social accepted and financially stable in later life. It is never too soon to set your child up for success, the key is knowing when you are pushing and when you are encouraging. Whenever you talk about school use positive words make it sound exciting and your child will believe it is, make sure your child still has time for fun… but when its homework time make them knuckle down and instill that work ethic you want them to have. Remember the only place success comes before work is in the dictionary.
6) Support
Children always need people they can go to for help, parents, teachers, mentors and friends. They need as many supportive, and more importantly, trusted people as possible. Make sure you explain clearly to your child how to recognise trusted people and detail all the people they can go to if they are in trouble or need help. This will do wonders for you and your child’s peace of mind.
The Good news is there is a Character Development Academy in Sydenham that not only supports you in your quest to bring up a happy and successful child but helps bring each of these six steps into your and your children’s life.
The Sydney Self Defence Centre has been operating in Marrickville area for more than 30 years. More than just any martial arts school the Sydney Self Defence Centre sees itself as a character development, leadership and roll modeling Academy.
All instructors are consistent, they are skilled to know when a child needs a friend, when they need a teacher, when they need a leader, when they need discipline and when they need help. The Sydney Self Defence Centre is able to provide innovative and unique nutrition talks, workshops and diets for your children and your family, as well as providing unique diet games that will train your child to eat healthy for life.
The Sydney Self Defence Centre provides dynamic strength, fitness and conditioning for each of its members. The curriculum is designed to support a child’s growth, fitness and attitude to getting and staying healthy without getting any injuries.
340 members with more than 180 members under the age of thirteen the academy drops your child into a positive environment full of kids their age, with their efforts all striving for the same goals by working together rather than in competition with each other. The Academy holds many events designed to allow kids the opportunity to bond and become friends. These Anti-bulling workshops, fun camps, Kung Fu camps, movie nights, birthday parties and city excursions. The school is a community of happy individuals and happy families.
Good school grades are very important to all the Instructors of the Sydney Self Defence Centre, a good education allows children to make good choices for the rest of their lives. Because of this all students are asked to keep their grades in the top percentage of their class if they don’t the Academy provides homework space and time to catch up on school work.
Finally the Academy provides your Child with a fine group of Instructors, trusted women and men that you and your child can come to with any problem or whenever they are in danger.
The Sydney Self Defence Centre is here to support your family, your child and you.
Kids or Parents Try a free class phone 9564 2444 or visit www.besafebesmart for more information, classes available for all ages 5-95.