Author: Gabriella Gometra

Training your child to use the toilet on their own can be a very hard task for new parents. It is important for a child to learn how to use the bathroom once he/she is old enough, and before he/she needs to go to school. There are many different ways that you can make this potty training or toilet teaching a lot easier on yourself and on your child.

The first thing to do is to purchase a proper potty seat for your baby to use while training. Getting an attractive potty seat will make your child want to use it more. Try to get it in your child's favorite color or with their favorite character design. There are also special potty seats that help your child potty train faster, like ones that play music whenever your child uses the potty.

Children naturally love to sing and dance, so try to apply this to their potty training. You can have a special potty song for your child every time they go to the potty, or even a special potty dance to reward them for using the potty properly. This will make your child's potty experience more enjoyable and it will encourage them to use the toilet. There are many different potty dances and songs that parents have access to through the internet and books.

Aside from singing and dancing, you can also let your child read on the potty if they like reading. They can choose a few books that they can only read on the potty, which will encourage them to go to the potty in order to finish their book. There are also books written for children about using the potty.

Another way to get your child to use the potty is to get them interested in it by adding red or blue food coloring to the toilet water. Then, after they're done using the potty, the water will change to a red or green color. This amazes children and will make them want to use the potty more often.

In order to make sure your child takes the opportunity to use the potty when they need to, you can set a schedule for their bathroom breaks. For example, every 30 minutes or so, you should let them go to the bathroom to see if they need to use the potty. Letting them drink plenty of fluids will increase the number of incidents for teaching them potty use. And after a while, your child will get used to it and go even without being told. Never withhold fluids, even when you are frustrated by accidents, because this is not healthy for a child or anyone.

Remember that your child needs to be rewarded and acknowledged when he/she uses the potty properly. For example, give them a treat like a yummy snack or a small toy after they are done using the potty. Or you can give them stickers to stick on a book to note how many times they used the potty correctly. Make sure to tell them how proud you are of them for learning how to use the toilet on their own. Parents who are enthusiastic will find that their children train faster as a general rule.

When potty training your child you should get rid of the diapers so that they don't get the temptation to wet themselves. This includes the kind of disposable pants that do not feel wet against a child's skin like cloth pants will. This will hasten the process of potty training so that your child learns the difference between wet pants and dry pants. You should also get them nice underwear so they will be motivated not to avoice wetting their pants. You can fall back on disposable pants for naptime and nighttime or for leaving the house if the toilet training is going slowly.

Author: ThumbPeople, Inc.

It is extremely important to read to children every day, but how do we find the time?  If we sit down and examine our schedules, it is surprising at how creative we can be when it comes to finding the time to read out loud to our children.  Read the best children books while you are waiting for dinner at a restaurant, while waiting to see the doctor, waiting in line at the store, or even while cooking dinner.  Take a half hour to an hour each evening and turn off the TV to read out loud to your children.  Read a kid's picture book in the morning before school, or read to them at bedtime.

We live in a difficult society, and reading the best children books to our children while they are young will help to prepare them to live in the world and to handle tremendous challenges in life.

Sit down one evening and make it a mission to have adequate time to read to your children.  This can be done in many different ways.  If your schedule is starting to look crowded, "book" time on your calendar for your son or daughter and treat this "meeting" with as much importance (if not more) than any others during your work day.  We need to ask ourselves if that late meeting at work is more important than the excitement of our children when they get to spend time with us.

Another helpful tip is to look over your weekly schedule, find something you can do without, and replace it with reading time for your children.  A lot of things we do (especially when it comes to TV time) can take a backseat when it comes to reading the best children books with our son or daughter.  We need to honestly examine and evaluate how important each activity is during our week and ask ourselves if that time could be used to build a stronger relationship with our children, as well as with God.  

If you are still looking for ideas on how to spend more time with your children, take a look at the flexibility of your work schedule.  Are you able to start your work day earlier so you can come home earlier in the afternoon?  Flexible schedules are a wonderful way to make additional time to read the best children books with your children.  You can either start the day earlier and come home earlier, or spend the morning with your children and work a little bit later.

Don't forget to look at technology as well!  While technology can often be a life saver and save us tremendous amounts of time, when you are spending time with your son or daughter, be conscious of not allowing technology to rule your life and possibly hamper your relationships with your children.  Turn off your cell phone or pager and focus your attention on your child.  It's never any fun for a child to be interrupted from bonding time with you because of a call coming in from the office!  Always remember your relationship with your child is of great importance.

Whatever method you choose, get involved with your children!  Make reading the best children books an active part of your child's life as much as possible. 

Author: Felicity Lightbody

This is a magical age where children assimilate information at super speed they are finishing the biggest learning curve of their entire lives.  After learning about all kinds of movement, sound making and about the world around them, they are now walking and talking, everyday they are finding new pieces of information and soaking it all up like a sponge.

Their surroundings, environment and level of stimulation will certainly have an effect upon their level of learning at the delicate stage.  If you do not take your child to regular group session to interact with other children and experience other people and places then you really should think about joining a stay and play group at one of your local centers, schools or library or even starting your child at nursery.

You will do your best as a parent to teach your child about the world through new experiences, how to play with an interesting and large variety of toys and new words with reading but interactions with other children are very important from an early age. After all they will from the age of 4 or 5 be spending most part of everyday in a classroom environment and if they do not understand the basic rules of interaction with others, they could find school and the whole learning process a hostile and difficult environment.

Children who regularly interact with other children from the age of 2 will have more confidence in social settings, know how to interact with fellow children in an acceptable manner and ultimately deal with the process of separation from their parents better.

In a nursery environment they will learn new things all the time rhymes, songs, sign language, letters numbers, colors, painting, play dough, sticking, making, dressing up and loads of physical play, their world becomes a much bigger place. They will be able to have an independent learning source away from just you and the television, although most parents let their toddlers and nursery age children watch television programs, it simply does not compare to real interaction with other children which is a totally different experience for them.

Another major benefit is adjusting to the many and varied germs around that children will pick up, if they attend a nursery school they will more than likely build up their immune system by getting all of the minor bugs and germs out of the way before their formal education starts at school.

A benefit to the parents is meeting other parents who will undoubtedly share some of your experiences, fears, trials and tribulations as parents and you may even find friends whilst taking your son or daughter to and from nursery.