Cheers
Add fun to your kid’s holidays with these
delicious summer coolers. They’re freshand easy to assemble.
Cranberry sparkler
In a shaker, mix 120mll cranberry juice,
30ml orange juice, and 1tsp honey; shake, then pour over ice. Top with a splash
or two of chilled soda and a cherry. An easy-to-make refresher.
Peppermint shake
Combine 90ml low-fat milk, 60ml creamer
(such as Coffee Mate), a drop each of peppermint and vanilla extract, and green
food colouring. Shake and strain into a glass rimmed with crushed candy cane.
Apple pie punch
Stir together 120ml apple juice, 1tsp fresh
lemon juice, and 1/2 grenadine syrup. Pour over crushed
ice and garnish with an apples slice. An irresistible party treat for your kid
and his friends.
Inspire Learning
Ellen Booth Church, a US-based childhood
educational consultant, talks about early development and bringing Kinderpillar
to India.
While choosing a preschool for your
child…
It’s important to see that the school does
not have a set curriculum that is the same every day, but something that speaks
to the child in terms of how they learn. We know about multiple intelligences,
children learn in different ways – some are interactive, some scientific, while
some enjoys language-based learning. So, if you have programme which is diverse
and open-ended, you should go for it. Look for a school go for it. Look for a
school where kids interact with the teachers and are not instructed by them.
Edutainment plays a key role.
Media is a part of a child’s world today
whether it’s the internet or TV. The entertainment has to be good quality.
Children are being exposed to all these, so it’s our job to make it suitable
for them. My role as an educational consultant for Disney or Cartoon Network
involves outlining whether specific content works, or is inappropriate for
kids. The idea is to make entertainment something that inspires children to
learn. We don’t want education television that turn kid’s minds off.
Blend cognitive learning experience with
creative play.
It’s 150 per cent important to combine both
in early childhood learning. You really can’t have one without the other. For
children to truly have cognitive skills like recognizing colours and shapes
learning how to read, and do math, you have to have a creative theme to connect
with it.
Kids have a short attention span – yes
and no.
The yes part is that kids have a short
attention span. And, the no part is that they have the short attention span
depending on what we are asking them to do. The activity has to be self
inspired, involving an interactive parent or a guiding teacher. A workbook page
or something more didactic in learning will bore the child.
Kinderpillar Ivy League Kids is well
suited for Indian climes.
I don’t think that it has a US approach. I
just believe that it’s a good philosophy that has come from the US. It has
already been tested there. We’ll combine traditional Indian values with this
approach, and won’t plop down with what we have. The first preschool will open
in Chandigarh by November this year.
Health News
Drink up
Dehydration on the playing field can put
kids at risk for heat-related illness. Prevent it by making sure your kid
drinks water before, during, and after sports practise. (At the each break he
should chug 150ml, or 10 big gulps.) If your lid complains of thirst, a dry or
sticky mouth, headache, fatigue, and if he lacks energy, take him out of the
game and have him hydrate immediately.
A Cotton Swab Caution
Did you know it’s common to puncture a
child’s eardrum when cleaning it with a cotton swab? Remove earwax safely with
this advice from US-based Dr. Christopher Hampson, and Child Advisor Dr. Atul
Ahuja.
Don’ts
·
Clean more than twice a week. Earwax is actually
beneficial and helps keep the ear canal moisturized, while preventing debris
and dirt from getting in.
·
Use cotton swabs or other small objects to clean
ears. If a swab is inserted too far, it can bruise or tear a hole in the
eardrum, which could lead to permanent hearing loss.
·
Use OTC solutions to clean the ears if your
child has ear tubes. Ingredients such as peroxide and alcohol can cause burning
if they get in the tube. It’s a strict no for kids who have got a myringotomy
surgery done.
Dos
·
Use a tissue or a warm washcloth. This way you
can gently clean earwax from the opening of the ear canal, and it is safe as
well.
·
See your physician if your child is in pain or
complains about muffled hearing. This could be caused by an excessive amount of
wax. Your doctor will either remove the plug or prescribe a solution.
·
Try mineral oil drop. It’s absolutely fine to
use two or three drops twice a week to soften earwax and prevent build-up.
Which is more helpful?
Q: Disinfecting wipes or disinfecting
spays?
A: Both wipes and sprays are effective as
long as you use a new wipe for each surface, and if they contain one of three
ingredients: ammonia, bleach, or quaternary ammonium compounds.
Q: hand washing or using a hand sanitizer?
A: soap loosens bacteria and viruses from
the skin, and helps wash them down the drain, while sanitizers kill the germs.
Both methods are equally effective, experts say, but if your child’s hands are
dirty, head for the sink. “Hand sanitizers can’t get to viruses if they’re
hiding behind dirt,” says US-based Dr. Neil Schachter. Make sure your kid does
at least one real hand washing for every five uses of sanitizer.
