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The
Editor's Desk - From Beneath the Clutter
Feature Article - How do you get time to run your business?
Guest Article -
Help Your Children to Love Reading
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Could be a fun week for me - I have jury duty, starting tomorrow! I could have gotten out of it, since I don't have regular childcare for Ariel, and if I don't work I don't get paid, but I decided to try it. So naturally things went wrong. My inlaws, who are going to watch Ariel for me, may have to leave town shortly to visit a sick relative. Guess that's what I get for trying to do my civic duty.
By the way, I've added several new companies to the Work at Home Jobs section, and added a Freelancing segment. If you still need a work at home job, it's time to take a look.
Don't forget, you can contribute your articles or tips anytime for consideration. Just use the contact form.
How do you get time to run your business?
Running a home business can be one of the most rewarding and difficult things you do as a parent. If you're just building your business, you're probably on a tight budget, and cannot afford to spend money on child care, and in any case, that's not why you're working at home. You want time with your children.
There are always times, however, when that is just not possible, but finances won't allow you to send your child away to daycare. What do you do?
One option to consider is starting or joining a babysitting co-op. This is a group of parents who work at home or need child care for other reasons who take care of each others' children as needed. The children get playmates and you get time to get things done.
These really are not terribly difficult to set up, especially if you already know other work at home parents in your area. You will need to work out a system that will work for you. Some are very casual, but most use a points system, possibly organized by a secretary for the group.
A typical points system will pay perhaps 4 points per hour for watching one child, plus 2 points per hour per additional child for each family. You will want to have rules to ensure that no part either earns or owes too many points, to keep things fair to the other families. You may want to have evening, weekend or holiday care be valued higher than daytime care, so that families can get their time together.
Of course, you will want to make sure you know the other families well. It is best if you all take a look at each others' homes, so you know how child safe the home is, if guns are kept, what pets are there, and so forth. Most co-ops, once established, require a member's recommendation for new members to join, and then they must be approved by an additional member. Some have slight fees to pay for basic supplies. You will want to have your rules spelled out to keep members from feeling as though they are being taken advantage of by others.
Often, it works best to have parents with children of similar ages watch each other's children. It is also nice to have group get-togethers, so that all the families know each other well and are comfortable. Once a month is plenty.
Now, this may all sound complicated. Of course, with the internet, things have become simpler. There is a website that can handle these details for you, and it's free. Go take a look at http://www.babysitterexchange.com/ . It's a great resource.
Stephanie Foster is the owner of Home with the Kids, a resource that knows that there's more to staying home with your family than just business. From money saving tips to parenting and marriage tips, to work at home jobs and businesses, you can get information and support here. You can visit the site at http://www.homewiththekids.com.
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Help Your Children to Love Reading
It is so important to create an environment that promotes the love of reading. Not only is reading necessary for survival in today's world, it is educational, it sparks imagination, it is a stress reliever, provides entertainment and enjoyment, the list goes on. Here are some ideas to help you help your child love reading.
- The most important thing a parent can do to teach a child to love reading is for the parent to let the children see how much you love reading. You need to set the example.
- Set aside a time each day when everyone in the family reads. Perhaps it is for half an hour after school or before bed every day. Be consistent.
- Read to your children. Even after they are old enough to read themselves, it is still a treat to have a parent read to them.
- Never punish your child by taking away books.
- Share books you loved growing up.
- Create a tradition of reading one chapter from a book each night before bed. I remember a teacher in the fifth grade would read a chapter each day from "Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of Nimh" by Zena Bernstein (Illustrator) and Robert C. O'Brien (Author). I looked forward to class every day so I could find out what happened next!
- Start a family book club. Everyone reads the same book and pick a night to discuss it. I suggest checking out copies from the library, I wouldn't want to buy several copies of the same book. Or you can take turns reading from the same book.
- Every child should have a reading nook in his or her bedroom. A simple beanbag chair or other cozy chair, a small table with a reading lamp and a small bookcase are all that is needed. If space is especially limited, just a comfy chair and reading lamp will suffice.
- Creating a calming, relaxing space in your child's room is also important. There should be no television or video games in the bedroom. The room should also be neat and not have a lot of stuff. Studies show simplicity and neatness are calming where a lot of stuff or messiness can clutter the mind.
- If your children are small, perhaps the reading nook should be either in a common room or the parent and child should each have a chair in the child's room.
- Let your child choose his or her own books. Don't limit the reading material (within reason) they choose. If s/he wants to read educational books, comic books or music magazines, let him/her. The goal is to let your child love reading.
- If all your child wants to read is magazines or other reading material you consider not great, then perhaps you can find something your child is very interested in and find books on that subject. If your son is only interested in reading music magazines, perhaps you can buy books such as a biography on one of his favorite musicians, books on musical history, books that teach how to play music, etc.
I hope you find some useful ideas. Remember, the family that reads together, stays together. Have fun!
Tracy Catarius is the owner of Greatest Kid's books, a site devoted to children's education and Mattcmama's, a resource site for parents. You can visit these sites here: http://www.greatestkidsbooks.com and http://www.mattcmamas.com. She lives in Massachusetts with her husband and is the mother of one son and one daughter. She also has a personal family library of approximately 1,000 books on various subjects.
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