How to make homework a positive experience!

- Know the teacher's homework policies and expectations. Some schools even have online or voicemail programs that let parents review new assignments daily.

- Make homework a priority in your home. Tell your child how important it is to complete each assignment and show your child your support by being physically near while he is working. You can do your own work, clean the kitchen, or pay the bills. Check in occasionally and be available for questions, but try not to give the answers or do the work yourself. Check over the completed homework.

- Organize the workspace and have a routine. Try to have the same homework routine each day. Create a special homework spot. It can be at the kitchen table or a spot in the living room. Few children work well independently in their bedrooms unless you accompany them, especially in the elementary and middle school years. Remember to turn off the tv and remove other distractions.

- Have supplies on hand. Paper, pencils, sharpeners, erasers. An electric pencil sharpener is a good investment. Having each child have their own special supplies is a motivator. - Be flexible when necessary. Although your routine should remain the same, you may have to adjust the homework time on certain days depending on other activities. Allow for a break every 20 minutes if necessary and make sure your child is fed. Hungry children work slower and have more difficulty staying focused.

- Help organize assignments. Have him complete the easier assignments first so he avoids frustration and builds on success.

- Balance guidance and learning through consequences. Children are different and some will embrace parental attempts at organization while others are much more likely to procrastinate or become distracted. Your job is to help them learn how to become responsible students. Sometimes that means letting them face the consequences of putting homework off until the last minute and them working with them to avoid future problems.

- Help find the answers. If you don't know everything, be honest. Then you and your child can find it together. There are lots of helpful web sites. One is BJ Pinchbeck's Homework Helper, compiled by a middle school student for middle school students. - Be firm with your expectatons, encourage your child, and recognize the effort. Be consistent and notice your children's accomplishments.

- Work with the teacher. If your child seems frustrated or constantly resists completing homework assignments, speak with your child's teacher. Don't wait for teacher conferences or report cards if you have concerns about your childn's academic performance. You are your child's best advocate. Take an active role in his education. By tackling issues as they arise, your child will learn to manage assignments successfully and develop good study skills. The teacher and the school will want to give you ideas an suggestions to help you along the way.

Name The New Lion Cubs @ Six Flags Wild Safari

Six Flags Wild Safari is celebrating the birth of a second set of African lion cubs! After 20 years without African lion births in the Wild Safari, the park now has four cubs. Twins Bakari and Sahra were welcomed this past January and now they are joined by two more siblings. You can help name the new lion cubs at sixflags.com/greatadventure and vote for traditional African names and meanings:

• For the female cub choose from: Shujaa (“warrior”), Neema (“born in prosperity”), or Mandisa (“sweetness”)
• For the male cub choose from: Taj (“exalted”), Addae (“morning sun”), or Kali (“strong”)
  

You can see the cubs playing at the Exploration Station. Once the twins can care for themselves, they’ll be re-introduced into the lion pride and will join their siblings in the African Section of the Wild Safari.

The Wild Safari is also celebrating the birth of an addax calf, which is a critically endangered species with less than 300 in the wild. The addax population could be extinct in the near future. The new male addax birth brings the Six Flags Wild Safari herd to 13.

And, last but not least, Six Flags also welcomes three baby scimitar-horned oryx calves into the world. They are now extinct in the wild. They have curved horns that grow to be several feet long. Their coats are mostly white with reddish brown necks and black markings on their forehead down their nose. Now there will be 14 in the herd at the Wild Safari.

You can see all these newborn additions and all the other exotic animals from around the globe (over 1,200 in all) daily through Sept. 7 and weekends through Nov. 1 from 9 am to 4 pm any theme park operating day except Fridays during Fright

What Should We Feel Guilty About?

I just read a great article in e family news from Bright Horizons about parental guilt called "What Should We Feel Guilty About?"

It says we should NOT feel guilty when:

- We go to work
- We go to the gym or out for a walk or run
- We want some time for ourselves. Being a good parent doesn't mean not having a life. In fact all of the above may make us better parents and role models for our children
- Our children get a few bumps and bruises -- physical and emotional. If children don't get to fall down, how will they learn to pick themselves up?

We SHOULD feel guilty when we:
- Don't make time for our children. They don't need all of our time or time-on-demand, but children need ample amounts of our time throughout childhood. Sending a child to an enrichment experience is not equal to having that child spend time with us.
- Are not fully there when we do make time. If we don't turn off the cell phone or Blackberry the time is diminished. It's very sad to see a parent continue to talk on their cell phone after a brief smile to their child and the teacher when picking up their kid from school or daycare.
- Give in and don't stick by 'no'. We all say 'no, no, no, yes' and give in occasionally, but making it a habit doesn't do anyone any favors.
- Put the tv in the child's room and the dvd player in the car. If children don't develop the capacity to amuse themselves, to read, and to have conversations, it could be a huge developmental loss.

DO: See the world through your kids' eyes.Be positive with high expectations because low expectations lead to self-fulfilling prophecies.Be realistic in your parenting based on an understanding of your child.Be optimistic and give your children an optimistic view of life.Be the parent you want to be and the person you want to be and give yourself credit when you are doing your best. Guilt isn't bad if it's realistic and motivates you to try and be the best parent that you can be. All you can do is try. You won't be perfect and your children won't be perfect. Parents should relax and try their best.

Snack Day

So we had our snack day belated birthday celebration in the studio and on the air on Friday morning, and here’s what we had:

Cherry Fruit Pies
Twinkies
Strawberry Twinkies
Yodels
Devil Dogs
Yankee Doodles
Coffee Cakes
Snowballs
Zingers
Ring Dings
Funny Bones
Swiss Roles
and Zebra Cakes

What a fun morning! We didn’t all eat everything, but many of us ‘sampled’ quite a lot of the items! The most popular snack was the Yodels!

Boy Names

I am going to be an Aunt for the first time! And I am trying to help come up with a boy name….not that I’ve been asked to…..but that’s part of the fun!
I’ve narrowed it down to three choices:

Jacob Alexander
Dylan Jacob
Jack

Feel free to tell me what you think: louandliz@943thepoint.com.