Against Closed Eyes In Marketing

Nursing mothers are continually searching for the best top to wear that is equally stylish and functional. It’s possible to discreetly breastfeedin public, without using an additional towel or blanket to mask. Good nursing tops come in distinct varieties, some are merely large shirts, others have a second layer in the front, so you can nurse and cover up with the second layer, and still others offer easy entry via openings at the top.

After creating the choice to breastfeed your baby, it is important to make sure that you have the necessary tops to make the process a straightforward one. The lengthier a person aims to nurse their child, the more critical it is to have great nursing tops. Recently clothing designers have done an amazing job of producing tops that are not only incredibly practical to nursing moms, but they are fashionable as well.

Covered Layers Provide Additional Protection.

One way to stay protected is to wear a top that has a hidden additional layer in the front of the shirt. With this type of shirt you lift the first layer up and cover your baby with it. Underneath you will locate a top with double openings for simple breastfeeding. With this variety of shirt, you can stay fully protected with the top layer of your shirt. The only downside is that in the start, it’s a little uneasy to get used to finding where the openings are, so you may need to use a blanket for coverage, while you are getting used to making use of the shirt.

Pull Down Tops Give Ease of Use.

Probably the easiest shirts to use are ones that have some sort of closure at the top that you are able to open to enable easy access for breastfeeding. With this variety of shirt you are the most exposed, so if you are a modest person you will certainly need some variety of cover up, but the simplicity of use is second to none. These types of shirts either have a double opening in an under layer for ease of access or they have a closure that you open up for the feeding, so that you don’t fully stretch the fabric of the shirt.

The Oversized Shirt.

If you are just searching for a functional top, proceed and try out an oversized T-Shirt. The nice thing is that any shirt that gives you some extra space will work. Your baby basically goes under your shirt, so you don’t have to be concerned about being protected up.

It Comes Down To Convenience.

The perfect nursing top is different for every person. The most important things to look for have to do with each person individually. If you are a modest person, you will want the types of shirts that allow full protection; the pull down variety nursing tops won’t work for you. If you are more worried about fashion, just about any top will work; simply keep a blanket handy for when you need to cover up.

Discover more info and a variety of fashionable Nursing Tops at Frugi

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Safety regulations must obviously be the most significant concern when picking out a seat for your son, but the style variations aren’t simply cosmetic touches, and you should understand what the effects of your choice are exactly before it’s final. The greatest baby safety seats, manufactured by brands like Disney, Safety 1st, Graco, and many more, are made with babies of up to twelve months or twenty pounds in mind. As the majority — though not all — of these are rear facing exclusively, you’ll need to decide which will be best for you and check when purchasing that your chosen item fits the way you want it to. As an additional benefit the finest baby safety seats are designed as lightweight baby carriers, eliminating the need to disturb your child when moving him to or from your car. Prefer a chair your daughter won’t be too big for so swiftly? In cases like this, look at a convertible product. Enduring throughout the age bracket during which babies need safety chairs, the more expensive price tag is due to their being useful as long as necessary. If you’re leaning toward a convertible chair but you also need a baby carrier, you have a decision to make.

That being said,types of chairs aren’t perfectly equal. Safety chair reviews are the simplest method of gaining a comprehension of exactly what all the models offer and which features are the most useful. Plus, you’ll find that studying safety chair reviews contains a dependable third-party judgment to ensure you’ll pick a top quality seat.

child booster seats are designed specifically for children weighing between thirty to forty pounds until they reach eighty. Whether it’s the employment of the car’s integral safety belt or the five-point harness design — booster seats fasten using one of two methods and either may give your little one greater comfort, so it’s clever to actively find out how it feels before you buy. Educational and other toys are often built into these seats, helping to keep your child happy as you focus on the road.

We don’t deny that you have a difficult choice ahead, due to the importance of finding something which matches the needs of the moment, and your lifestyle and budget are also significant factors. Simply put, the comparison reviews on offer comprise the most useful guide you can hope for.

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Safety regulations are clearly the chief consideration in selecting a seat for your young children, but the style variations aren’t simply cosmetic touches, and you need to be aware of precisely what effects your choice will carry before you make it rather than have regrets at some later point.

20 pounds, 12 months old — a standard maximum for the majority of top quality chairs on the market from the biggest brands. As the majority — though not all — such chairs are rear facing only, you’ll need to decide which will be best for you and check when buying that what you choose fits the way you want it to. Doubling as a baby carrier, a chair like this one makes it easier to convey your child from place to place — without stirring.

Looking for a seat your daughter won’t be too big for so fast? If that’s the case, you need the convertible style. Convertible seats are safe for your child from their first car trip until they outgrow safety chairs completely, although a higher price comes with a convertible car seat. If you’re leaning toward a convertible chair but also want a baby carrier, you have a difficult decision ahead of you. All chairs are distinct, even within their categories, and it’s because of this that reviews and review web sites can help you as they’ll highlight all the features of each individual chair, assuring you can choose the greatest seat on the market. Due to their independent nature these reviews can be relied upon to be bias free, which means you’re better able to trust them.

Be sure you take a gander at this terrific #1 source for Eddie Bauer lightweight baby strollers ideas

Larger children may rely on the booster chair between approximately thirty to eighty pounds. You can choose between seats using the car’s inbuilt safety belt and those employing a five-point harness design. To make certain your little one will be comfortable, test both types out. Many booster seats provide what may appear to be minor features like attached toys, but when you see how much of your child’s attention is occupied with them you’ll soon see how big an advantage they can be. Settling on your ideal child safety chairs and booster chairs often takes a long time, with the need to weigh the needs of your son against your wallet to reach your final decision. Begin by looking at infant seat and convertible safety seat ratings and reviews to find the best on offer.

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If you would like to familiarise your kids to picture taking then the Vtech Kidizoom Camera is a great way to start. If your kids like to play with your own pricey camera then buying them their own strongly constructed camera will alleviate any concerns you may have about them trashing yours!

You can not only take digital images and make short movie clips, but you can edit them too. This makes for a very entertaining pastime as the kids make and edit their own pictures and learn about photography and the technology behind it too.

The camera boasts a colour LCD screen with a size of 1.8 inches. Photos with a resolution of 640 x 480 can be taken and the short film clips have a resolution of 160 x 120 and a maximum running time of five minutes. The memory is 16 MB on board and it can take an SD card of up to 2 GB. This gives plenty of space for the children to record and store their images.

It is very simple for the kids to view their images and films. This can be done on the camera itself or on a telly or computer. The computer link is via USB and the TV connection is via an A/V cable. All the necessary wiring is supplied with the digital camera.

You can buy the camera in a few different colours and the pink version of the Vtech Kidizoom is one of the most popular choices. The unit also comes in a camouflage pattern and in blue. The camera can be personalised with face plates which are also supplied in the box.

The camera is also able to be used an intriguing games console. Games can be played both on the digital camera or on the tv set set. This makes this gift a real winner with the kids as it can interest them in various unique ways and keep them busy for hours on end.

The Vtech Kidizoom will make a really great gift for any child and if you are wondering what to buy them then this may well be it. It is a fully featured multimedia digital camera and they will be able to entertain the whole family with their short films and photos.

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Big Foot Relay. Have the children add two shoeboxes with them. Tape the hats onto the corners, then cut a one-inch-wide and four-inch long slit in each top. Have the contestants slip their feet into the slits in the boxes and race.

Frisbee Tower. Purchase a caboodle of mini Frisbees and place them in a pile in the midway of the yard. Have the guests divide the Frisbees among themselves. The first player begins the action by placing one of his or her Frisbees on the earth. Each of the following players places his or her Frisbee on upper of the first Frisbee, and the process continues until someone causes the growing tower to topple.

Cross Step. Draw a ten-by-ten grid on the sidewalk or patio with chalk. Have each player stand on a different square. One at a time, each participant must move to a new square after crossing out the square she or he was once standing in. The trick is that players cannot step into a square that is settled or crossed out. If a player cannot move to a new square, he or she is out. The game proceeds until one player is left.

Drag the Body. Divide the group into two teams. Give each team a blanket. Have one player from each team lie down on the blanket. The teams must drag the body on the blanket from one end of the yard to the other. Whoever crosses the finish line first, wins.

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Tassel

A tassel refers to an ornament that is like a pendant and consists of a bunch of small cords and threads or strands of thread hanging from a round knob and is hanged on clothes, curtains and in jewelry. A tassel can also be found on a graduation cap during academic institutions’ graduation ceremonies. The tassels hang on the side of the graduation cap during the ceremony. Some academic institutions have created a recent tradition whereby the tassel is moved from one side to the other once the students have graduated. This can be done in unison by the entire class that is graduating or individually.The
tassel

is made from high quality trims and is available in different sizes such as 11, 2, 3, 4, 5, or 6 inches. They are also available in a large variety of colors. In addition, one can have tassels that are customized in different styles and design so that the colors are mixed according to their requirement. One can find designs ranging from sizes to casual renaissance and medium sizes of tassels. One can also find more staid designs and large more elaborate designs. The tassels can be hand made so that one can make their own tassels at home.

GraduationSource, a leader in graduation regalia products since 1960.

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As a hypnotherapist, I am acutely aware of the power of words. A few well-chosen words can induce hypnosis and help my clients with a wide range of problems. I specialise in confidence, self esteem and stress management, so I am particularly interested in the ways in which we influence our own self esteem, and that of others, through use of language.

It makes me wince sometimes, listening to parents speaking to their children. “Are you stupid?” “You naughty boy!” and a personal un-favourite “If you carry on like this you’re going to . . . “

Don’t these parents realise what they’re doing? Everything we say — to ourselves and to others — has predictive power. Not in the sense of a clairvoyant, but because we are creating self-fulfilling prophecies. Tell yourself that you can, and you will. Tell yourself that you can’t, and you won’t.

Of course, life isn’t simply a matter of setting ourselves up with cosy predictions. We still have to do the work. But without self belief, that work becomes harder because it seems impossible. This applies to people of all ages. Just think how much more powerful words are for children, particularly when they come from an authority figure such as a parent or teacher.

How can parents best help their children? Positive parenting is a good first step — focus on rewarding ‘good’ behaviours rather than punishing ‘bad’ones. We can go much further than this, however. We can set our children up for success, relaxation and happiness.

An example from my own family may help. To encourage my nine year old’s writing I asked him to imagine walking through town when he’s grown up and entering a bookshop. There’s something familiar about the display in front of him, and as he draws nearer he sees his own name and photo on the dust cover. It’s a strong image and one which has struck a chord with him. We chat about this from time to time, and he’s started to ask about literary agents and the whole process of getting a book published. In other words, he’s made the transition towards believing that he could be an author.

Children are exceptionally trusting. Describe happy futures and they will work towards these with the same energy which they put into Christmas present lists. Above all, we need to mind our language as parents, and ask ourselves what predictions we are making for our children when we speak to them.

Jim Sullivan is a hypnotherapist specialising in confidence, self esteem and stress management. He may be contacted via http://www.confidenceclub.net

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Studies have shown that:

1 out of 4 children were sent pictures of people who were
naked or having sex?

1 out of 5 children were solicited for sex on the Internet

50% of people have made phone calls with someone the
chatted with online.

Do you know what strangers are saying to your kids?

What can you do to protect your children from unscrupulous
people in the Internet?

Today’s children, and specially teens, spend more time on
the computer. Even though the Internet is nowadays the
primary source of communication for them, it is also a
dangerous place.

There are some unscrupulous people out there that would go
to any extent to engage in indecent conversations and
relationships with your children.

A study done with 1,200 teenagers revealed that 30% had
been sexually harassed online and about 50% had conducted
cyber love affairs, visited porn sites and read their
parents’ e-mails.

Curiosity can be very dangerous. Even though this is normal
at their age, curiosity can lead to giving out personal
information such as names, addresses, phone numbers, school
names and more.

Since the other person talking to your kids cannot be seen,
a 55-year old can pose as a 16-year old and win your kid’s
trust very easily.

I know that we, as parents, are not always watching what
our kids are doing online but it’s important to know the
options we have to protect our children and avoid major
problems.

There are blocking softwares that you can purchase to
filter web sites containing sex, sexuality and other adult
sites. You can also get a spy software that will let you
know everything your kids are doing online.

These softwares will monitor instant messages, chats,
emails, web site URLs and much more. Not only do you see
what your child types online but what is said back as well.
They monitor both incoming and outgoing activity.
Additionally, your kids will not be able to get around the
software programs by clearing cache or history because they
get everything as it happens, including passwords.

These software programs run in total secrecy, and are very
hard to find in the computer. They will not slow down your
computer, or do anything noticeable to the user. In order
to see the recorded information, all you do is enter your
secret password and they will activate…but only for you.

These programs do not appear in the START menu, nor will
they appear in the CTR-ALT-DEL Task Manager.

Protect Your Children Now.

Maria Estarellas is the webmaster for http://www.1mykids.com
“The Complete Website For The Whole Family”. Parenting Tips, Crafts, Hobbies, School Projects and Essays, Toys, Gifts, Clothing, Articles, Mortgage Tips, How to Start Your Own Online Business and More.

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I’m at the kitchen table writing on my laptop while my ten year old son tackles and pins the six year old neighbor girl in the living room. It’s a wrestling match. When the kitchen timer rings, the next round will be my seven year old daughter against the eleven year old neighbor boy. Sometimes they do tag team.

To the casual observer I may look negligent, but I’m actually quite conscious of every move. My laissez-faire style has developed from countless hours spent observing such altercations from a quietly attentive eye in the back of my head. This group of kids has always displayed an underlying concern for each other. They’ve earned the privilege of holding wrestling matches. Despite the many thumps, thuds and crashes, no one has ever been hurt.

The big ones somehow control their bodies so as not to hurt the little ones. It is really an amazing thing to witness . . . I’m not quite sure how they do it. They’re like puppies. They feel where each person stops and starts, they sense the line between play and abuse, and they really don’t want to cross it. They just need and want to get physical in their play together.

Parents are often concerned about physical interactions between kids. We feel the urge to rush in and protect the little ones. We set down all kinds of rules designed to keep things safe — no hitting, no pushing, sometimes even no name-calling (I’ll tackle that one in another article). But these rules are not necessary for the kids. They are for us, so that we feel like watchful and responsible parents. In most cases, kids do not want to hurt each other. Even when they are fighting for real, not just wrestling. They simply want to defend their own bodies, possessions and personal space.

For example, if one child grabs a toy that another child was already using, the natural reaction will be to grab it back, push the offender away, and then go back to playing. Rarely will the one who was using the toy put it down in order to pursue or punish the offender. And rarely will the offender persist more than once or twice when met with this kind of resistance.

It is only when we grownups interfere with this natural feedback loop that things can get out of control. This is because often we ask the one who was violated to use his or her words to get the toy back. Guess what, folks? This hardly ever works with young children! They are physical, not verbal. I know, we think we are teaching them to be civilized and all that. But to take away a child’s natural and appropriate defense against a violation and substitute one that is usually ineffective leaves the child with no way to protect himself. At which point he becomes an enticing victim, and as he is violated again and again and not allowed to defend himself effectively he gets angry. And when we aren’t looking he really wallops the other kid.

I first observed this dynamic when my daughter was about a year old. She would just grab a toy out of her 3 year old brother’s hand and run away. I had taught him that under no circumstances was he to hit his sister. She totally ignored his civilized request that the toy be returned. So unless he came and got me and asked me to intervene, he lost his toy!

My rule had disempowered him and set him up to be victimized. It also made me the enforcer, and involved me in almost every one of their interactions. If I was too busy to help, he lost. When I got interrupted repeatedly from whatever I was doing to be the toy police, I lost!

It didn’t take long for me to see that this was just not going to work. I was annoyed from the constant interruptions. My baby daughter was well on her way to becoming a bully. And coincidentally, right around that same time something strange happened to our hallway. It must have become a lot narrower, because suddenly it seemed impossible for them to pass each other in opposite directions without his elbow making contact with her chest and knocking her over. (and we wonder about the roots of sibling rivalry)

So I taught him that he was allowed to take back whatever she grabbed, using words accompanied by force if necessary. And he was also allowed to hold her arms down to her sides when she started hitting him. In this way balance was restored. She learned that there were unpleasant consequences to grabbing and hitting. He learned how to defend his space without becoming overly angry or aggressive. I was relieved to see that they could really work things out on their own without my constant intervention. And as an added bonus, our hallway returned to its normal size.

A key part to this strategy is that the one who is enforcing their boundaries is not allowed to use any more force than is necessary to stop the attack. So if my son were to grab the toy back and then chase her around the house hitting her over the head with it, I’d need to intervene.

When I encouraged this intuitive balancing, conditions became very conducive to forgiveness. Anger did not build up to the level of a grudge. A violation occurred, it was corrected, and they got right back to the business of playing, which was all they wanted to do in the first place.

I wonder what a child raised in this way would have to say about the current world situation? Maybe that people must not be allowed to hurt other people, violate boundaries, or threaten the safety of others. So we will use only exactly as much force as is necessary to protect ourselves and others from violation. And then as soon as possible we’ll get back to the business of living together as stewards of this planet.

Copyright 2001 Karen Alonge

Karen Alonge is an intuitive life coach and parenting consultant with 20 years of experience helping families with all types of challenges. She offers consultations by phone, email, and IM. Clients often notice dramatic changes in their daily experience after only one session. Please visit http://www.karenalonge.com for more information.

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An Education Staff of Athalia School, Tangerang, Indonesia.

If someone has the ability to read does not mean he directly has the interest to read. Reading skill and reading interest are 2 kinds of different matters. Many schools in the developing countries struggle to educate their society to be able to master the reading skills. For example in Indonesia, some parts of the society still have no ability to read because of their poorness in getting education opportunity or because they live in a very remote area.

Many people in developing countries still struggle with the basic needs such as food, clothes and housing so that they do not have idea or budget for books, even for education.

Because of that situation, the culture of reading habit is far from their reach. Even though some of them already have a better living, their thought is still focused on something that is more real, functional, comforting, money- value or something that can improve their prestige like jewelries, hand phones, luxuries housing & cars, expensive toys, etc. Because the culture of reading is not formed yet, the society spend most of their free time for watching TV or chatting.

For some family who has realized the important of books and education, it is still hard for them to increase the reading interest and habit of their children because they have to spend more money for buying books that are getting more expensive. Libraries are rare. Even many schools have no libraries. But there are still some ideas to increase children’s reading habit in the midst of not ideal condition.

First, if you realize that reading habit is important for you and your children, start the reading habit in your own family without blaming the situation around you. Your habit will sooner or later influence your surroundings. Read your children everyday or regularly to form their reading habit and their love of books. It does not matter if you only have ten minutes everyday. It still also gives you good impact. Let your children know that you enjoy the time you share with them for reading. They will love both the time for reading and the time to attach with you.

Second, include expense for books in your budget. It does not matter if you only spend a little of money according to what you can afford. The important thing is you plan and budget it routinely every month. You and your children should often visit bookshop or book fair.

Third, visit any libraries that are available in your neighborhood, schools, universities, clubs, etc. Ask the children to visit the libraries will increase their love for books.

Fourth, you can decrease the expense of books if you can exchange your books with your friends, relatives or neighbors. Sharing books will increase our knowledge in a cheaper way. You can hold a book club where you and the other members (adults and children) can bring their collection of books and share them.

Fifth, you can make your own books. Reading books does not always mean buying books. We can borrow them, share them or make them by ourselves. Children will be enthusiastic if you make a personal book especially made for them. You can use their photographs, handmade pictures, etc to make the book. You can stick the photographs or pictures on some sheets of blank paper, then you write some comments about them. You can arrange the photographs from the child’s birth till he is growing. You also can cut and stick the brochure from the hospital where the baby was born to complete the book. You or your children can draw something on that books, too. You can put the photographs of grandpa, grandma or other relatives to introduce your big family to your children. You can also stick some pictures that reveal your culture or the customs of your society so that the children will learn about their ancestors’ culture and tradition.

The handmade books can be varied in themes. Maybe you want to tell your children about your job and what you are doing while you are away from them. You can take some pictures of your office, your friends, your projects, places you visited, etc and make a book from that pictures. The children will be happy and trust you because they know what you are doing when they miss you. It is important especially for career women who often leave their children.

It’s cheap but excited if you ask your children to make their own books. They can draw or cut pictures from magazines and write their own stories according to their imagination. If your children is still to young to write, you can ask them to tell you the stories of the pictures and you write it for them. After that, read the books for them. They will be very proud of them.

For you yourself, you can collect a lot information from newspaper, magazines, internet, brochures and any other printing materials to make a clipping of information. For example, if you like cooking, you can collect many recipes from many resources and also add your own recipes that you write or type. Bundle those information to make your personal cooking book. If you need information about technology, you can also do the same although you must work harder to collect more information. The important thing is financial problem and lacking of books do not stop your enthusiastic for reading. There are many ways to get and collect information.

Sixth, there is another way that will make children interested in book. Usually children like watching cartoon like “Nemo, Lion King, Mickey Mouse, Winnie the Pooh” or may be there are some traditional legends, puppets or stories that the children love very much. It is very interesting if they watch the movie or show and then read the books. The books can be bought or made by yourself.

Seventh, It is creative if you can dramatize the story you read to your children. For example, if the story is about a king and a queen, you can pretend to be the king and your child is the queen. You can pile up some pillows as your throne and wear a hat as your crown. You and your children can also roar like lions if there are some lions in the story. Children will be very enthusiastic to do that. You can do what the story is about, too. For example, the story is about going to the zoo, you can go to the zoo, too. Or if the story is about fruit, you can go to the market or supermarket to observe them. Bring the information in the story into reality or action.

Eighth, give books as gifts for your children instead of toys. I do not mean that toys are not good for children. I think educational toys are very important for children but you should introduce books as gifts so that the children will respect books as valuable gifts. You can give books for your children as their birthday presents, Christmas presents or when they have good achievement in schools.

Ninth, your reading habit should be the example for your children because deeds speak louder than words. If your children often see you reading, they will know that reading is a good habit that mom and dad often do. How if you yourself do not like reading but you realized that reading is very important for your children ?. It is a fact that many adults do not like reading but there are some tips that you can do to overcome this problem. Find the books that are suitable with your hobbies. If you like cooking, read many recipes or books about cooking. You can also chase your favorite novels. Talk to yourselves that books are important because they can broaden your point of view, your knowledge, skills and even improve your career as well as give you relaxation. Switch off your television, because we usually spend more time for watching television that what we plan. Put the books on the places that are easy to see and access like in your bedroom, in the living room, in the kitchen, in the car, etc. Ask your friends what books they are reading now or books that are good in their opinion. You will be more motivated if you hear that your friends promoted them to you. Make a list what books you have read and what books you plan to read. You will be satisfied if the list is becoming longer. Visit the bookstores, book fairs and libraries. The best thing to do is do it now ! Do not wait until you have enough time or until you think you want to do it later.

Tenth, make sure that books and reading habit are one of your priority because you know the benefit of them. From books you can introduce a lot of knowledge to your children. There is no limit of knowledge if we can learn it by ourselves through reading both from books or from the internet. Do not wait until your children able to read to give them books. Start as soon as they were born. If you often communicate with your babies and read stories for them, their language ability will increase. Although they have not been able to response you through words, they absorb the words you speak to them (Beck, 1997). Do not only give fiction books for young children although they usually like fiction with cute pictures like Winne The Pooh or Mickey mouse. They will also be enthusiastic if you give them non fiction books like books of knowledge such as books about human body, solar system, sea animals, etc. Introduce them to the knowledge since they are very young so that they will like the knowledge and their curiosity will increase, too.

Besides, through books we can teach our children about some concept, value or belief. When it is difficult to tell them not to cheat, you can find a children book with interesting pictures that contains of moral teaching concerning cheating. I have an experience with my little boy when he was afraid of visiting a dentist. Before we visited the dentist, I read him a book about going to the dentist. It is a funny story because the dentist is a tiger and the patient is a little tiger. The little tiger is very brave to see the dentist. This book made my son brave enough to see the dentist because he wanted to be a brave little boy like the little tiger was.

But remember that only good books should you and your children read because some books can be very destructive if they are not suitable with your value or belief. For example, there are many books that contains of pornography and violence that can influence you and your children’s mind. You must be very selective in reading or giving books for your children because our mind is not like a computer. You can delete some data in your computer but you can not erase the information or imagination in your children’s mind. If you think that your children have already been fond of wrong books, do not forbid them directly to stop their habit of reading them. Instead, influence them with your opinion that they should be able to choose which books are good and which books are not so that they will not resist. Let them know from the beginning that they can choose their books but give them some limitation which books are acceptable, which books are not and your reason of that limitation.

There is another benefit of books. You can use it to teach your children foreign languages. Children’s brain is easier to absorb language than adult (Beck, 1997). If you take your little children live abroad, they will master the language when they interact with the children from other countries. If a child is raised by a couple of different nationalities, the child will be able to speak two languages of his parents. I know a child whose father is a Japanese and mother is an Indonesian. This child master both Japanese and Indonesian. Because of children’s ability to absorb new languages fast, you can use foreign language story books to introduce and teach them the languages. Maybe you yourselves only know a little about this language but if you can just read it for them, the vocabularies and structures of the language will be remembered by them.

I am an Indonesian. I read my son English story books when he was 3 years old. I just read the books again and again and then he can repeat the story by himself as if he can read it. He can also repeat the structures in a daily conversation. For example, the book says ” Cat can eat. Cat can drink”. While he was eating, he could say “I can eat, I can drink”. There is another book that says ” Teddy flies higher and higher”. While he was playing, he climbed on a chair and then he jumped to the floor saying ” I can fly higher and higher.” I think the influence of the books is very prominent. The important thing is you have to find a simple story book which has a big picture and a few words or sentences and repeat the story many times as long as your children is not boring. You can choose what foreign language you want to introduce to your children. Just find the simple story books and repeat them in a regular basis. Sooner or later he will remember the vocabularies and recognize the structures.

There are many benefits of books, but you do not always have to buy them. As it is explained above, you can borrow them, share them or make them by yourself. Use your imagination to produce your simple drawings. Or use the pictures from newspapers or magazines to make your own books. Arrange the pictures and the words according to your idea and you will have your personal collection cheaply but creatively made just for your children and yourselves. The value can’t be compared. So do not wait until you have enough money to buy books or wait until you have enough time to read or wait until your children are big enough to read books by themselves. Start it now ! No matter the condition of your financial problem is. If you invest your time and your kids’ time for reading good books, you invest better future for your family.

Anna Yulia lives in Tangerang, Indonesia. She is working as an education staff of Athalia School in Tangerang, Indonesia. Athalia School is a Christian School that provides education for playgroup, kindergarten and elementary level.

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