Being a parent or carer means that you will have to confront many issues - some of which with you may never have had any previous experience. I have four children and you would have thought that when I had the two youngest, I would have "seen it all, done it all and yes, I have the T-Shirts to prove it." But that is definitely not the case!

Yes, there were issues with the elder two, but most of them were the problems that most parents anticipate. However, despite the years of parenting experience I acquired during the late 70s, 80s and early 90s (there is a big gap between children number 2 and number 3) nothing prepared me for some of the issues my family has had to deal with since the birth of babies number 3 and 4.

I am a "natural" researcher. I find it easy (well most of the time) to research what I need to know on the internet and then use that knowledge to either help my family or get my family the help they need. However, not everyone has the time and/or the ability to do this. Since I became a Squidoo lensmaster I have read some very good lenses written by lensmasters who are either qualified to write lenses on their chosen topics or they, like me, have a lot of experience in dealing with the issues about which they write.

PLEASE read the guidelines BEFORE you submit your lenses

IMPORTANT!




IT IS EXTREMELY IMPORTANT that you read through ALL the guidelines BEFORE you submit your lens to the Group!

It is also crucial that you have "Contact" enabled so that I can get in touch with you if necessary.

Why create a new group?

The idea for the Children and Parenting Group evolved as I want to be able to provide parents and carers with a selection of well written lenses that will help them deal with a variety of difficult issues, whether they be school, health or family related.

The Group is for lensmasters who want to genuinely pass on their experience for the benefit of others and for any parent or carer who is looking for help.

I do not use the term "kids"

Something for you to think about

In the UK there is frequently a lot of discussion about the standards of schools. Failing schools are closed but they may be given a "last chance" when a Head Teacher is appointed to try to improve the school.

One such Head Teacher discovered that not only did his pupils not respect his staff, the teachers themselves were failing to show respect towards the pupils. Moral was very, very low.

In addition to doing the obvious things like trying to work out how to stop bullying (they stopped the lunchbreak and all students did supervised activities) they also looked at how the staff spoke to the children. One of the rules that the Head brought in for the staff was to stop calling the students "kids". This Head maintains that this was one of the simple strategies that had the biggest impact on staff/pupil relations.

So now you know why this group is called "Children and Parenting"!

Our Newest Lensmasters

Margo_Arrowsmith, DollyJean, mulberry, ngio64, SharonMay

Topics that will and will not be accepted into the group

All Lenses MUST be G-Rated

The aim of "Children and Parenting" is to build a group of well written and researched lenses, that cover the many serious issues that can confront children, their parents and carers. I am not interested in creating "the biggest child care group on Squidoo" and am aiming for a specific quality not quantity.

All lenses must be G-Rated as I hope that children and teenagers will be able to find help here.

To give you an idea what I am looking for, here is some examples of topics that will be accepted:

  • children with special needs or disabilities
  • medical problems
  • education
  • social problems

    Examples of the sorts of lenses I am NOT looking for are:

  • the 10 best presents for a child
  • children's book and film reviews
  • "help" lenses that are full of link lists to other lenses/websites
  • lenses that do not have many text/write modules with the lensmasters own material

    Great lenses but they fit in best elsewhere!

    • Submitting your lens

    Submit your lens for approval

    Providing the title looks relevant to the group, I will visit your lens

    You will receive an email whether or not your lens has been accepted into the group

    If I think the lens is "borderline" then I will send you feedback

    I cannot send feedback if you have not enabled "Contact Me" and I will have now alternative but to reject the lens

    Lens Writing Guidelines

    What makes a quality lens?

    Your lens needs to be genuinely helpful to parents and carers. Relevant Amazon and ebay links are OK but in addition to at least four Text/Write modules your lens should also have links to other lenses and web pages that are similar to or complement your topic.

    Take an honest look at your lens - will it stand up on it's own and be helpful to people with an interest in the topic WITHOUT lots of links to affiliate products?

    You should also have the "contact me" button enabled and a Guest book.

    Featured lenses - Health & Conditions

    featured lens Auditory Processing Disorder

    Auditory Processing Disorder (APD) is a little known condition that may affect 10% of children, the majority of whom are undiagnosed. According to Contact a Family it was first recognised in the USA in the 1960s. APD is a term that is often used to...

    featured lens Dyslexiology

    Should you let dyslexia be a barrier to your success? Certainly not. How do you overcome it? Dyslexiologists refuse to accept that dyslexia is a barrier to doing well. So it's difficult to spell - so what? When you're 'grown up', you won't need to be...

    featured lens Parenting Help for Autistic Children

    Parents having children with autism could be very stressful. To Begin with, they need to pick up a whole domain of knowledge regarding autism which are a steep stressful learning curve for most. Parents may feel frustrated, diminished confidence and...

    featured lens Childhood Anxiety and Selective Mutism

    featured lens Dyslexia Is A Sign of a Highly Intelligent and Creative Person

    When my son entered fourth grade, his school work came to a screeching halt. After a very frustrating year, I found out he was dyslexic. I immediately began researching dyslexia. From the beginning I felt very drawn to Ron Davis' approach. He is a dy...

    Bullying

    Anti-bullying week in the UK is 17th-24th November 2008.

    featured lens How to Protect Your Child From Bullies

    Hi! I'm Coral. For 35 years I have taught kids in inner cities, African townships and rural England, have been the headteacher of three state primary schools in the UK, led the Department of Education Excellence Awards team and inspected schools for...

    featured lens Does bullying run in families?

    This is the second in a series of lenses that deal with bullying. Many parents can tell you about the bullying that goes on at their children's schools. However, how many of us stop to think about the reasons why a child bullies? In many cases we kn...

    featured lens Bullying At Primary School

    I hope your children are never bullied, but if they are then I hope our experience will help you. In this lens I give information about what we learned. There's also links to other resources, including a link to my diary, which gives a more personal...

    Parenting

    featured lens Everything You Need to Know About ATTACHMENT PARENTING

    Attachment Parenting Attachment Parenting or also known as Positive Parenting, a phrase coined by pediatrician William Sears, it is a parenting philosophy based on the principles of the attachment theory in developmental psychology.

    featured lens Teach Children Character

    It is in your power to be the parent of a child who grows up with emotional intelligence. Start building your child's character today. Here, you'll find the motivation and encouragement you may be searching for to help you raise your child to have th...

    featured lens Raising Boys

    Boys are different - have you noticed? What are the most important issues in raising boys? What parenting advice will be the most useful for families with boys? Why are boys vulnerable and how do we overcome this vulnerability?

    featured lens Self-confidence for children

    Asked that question, of all the parents I have ever spoken to, the answer is invariably, 'I want him to be happy.' Not, 'I want him to be top of the class,' or 'I want her to get into the best school.'  So what is the magic ingredient? What makes...

    featured lens Raising Funds for CLIC Sargent

    This is the story of Daniel who at the age of 5 years contracted leukemia while he was living abroad in Cyprus with his little brother and parents. By the way if you see anything in the google adds you are interested in, go have a look and then you...

    More Parenting Lenses

    featured lens Only Children

    I'm an only child with an only child of my own by choice. When I close my eyes and imagine the perfect family size this is it. When I was in college I started a yahoo club (they were clubs back then) for onlies. That's been abandoned for a while but I...

    featured lens Good Enough Parenting: Stop Worrying and Start Parenting

    Johnny was a perfect baby and achieved all developmental milestones early. He walked at nine months, fed himself with a spoon by 1 year and could identify letters and words at 3. Everything was perfect and his parents were so proud. Well, except tha...

    featured lens Potty Training Strong Willed Children

    This is my review of several potty training techniques that I have used for the last 2 years and my journey in potty training my strong willed daughter.

    featured lens Obama's Daughters

    Can you image what it would be like to stand next to your parents and watch them mark ballots that select your father for the Presidency of the United States? I first remember when Caroline and John-John were in the White House. I was 12. I was for...

    featured lens Your Child's Financial Future Starts Today!

    A child's financial education should begin as soon as possible; the sooner the better. You can start to help kids make responsible financial decisions before they even know what money is. Start with any material object. When you give your 2 year old...

    Even more Parenting Lenses

    featured lens Very Special Kids

    Very Special Kids supports families throughout their experience of caring for children with life-threatening illnesses, from diagnosis through to recovery or bereavement. Very Special Kids

    featured lens My child stopped bedwetting in 1 week

    featured lens The Influence of Advertising

    The influence of advertising on our lives, for both children and adults, has changed over the years. In the early days, advertising for toys and other products for children was primarily targeted toward parents and their message was direct. Today h...

    Children's Diet

    featured lens Die, Dye! The effect of food dyes on children's behavior and thinking.

    Have your kids lost their minds? Are you losing yours? This lens will help any parent who worries about their kids' behavior. Many food choices contain artificial food coloring that can have negative effects upon children's behavior, impulse control...

    School and alternative education

    featured lens What happened to RECESS?

    Do you remember the games you played during recess as a child? Think about all the physical activity that involved and what you learned from those recess games. Did you know that more and more recess is being replaced by testing and homework? While...

    featured lens A Guide To Unschooling

    Unschooling (a term coined by John Holt) differs from other forms of homeschooling in that it's not directed by a teacher or a curriculum.  Parents who unschool their children provide a wide range of resources ...

    featured lens Easing Your Child's Back To School Worries

    The summer is just about over and its back to school again. No more going to bed late, sleeping in every morning, or playing outside until dark. Now the routine has to change. Beginning kindergarten, going back to primary school, or to a child care p...

    featured lens Social Stories

    A Social Story is a very prescriptive way of identifying and addressing a problem behaviour and giving direction on how we'd like to change it. Social Stories are usually written for children (or adults) on the Autistic Spectrum but are also benefic...

    Safety

    featured lens Safe Child!

    More than 2 and a half million children die annually due to home accidents, accidents that can be prevented. I have two goals with this lens. 1. To help you make sure that this will not happen in your home, to your child. 2. To help you find the in...

    featured lens Your Child and the Cell Phone: The Controversy and the Facts

    Younger and younger children are clamoring for cell phones. Companies like Disney have plans to market to the 8 year old market. Disney had to change their phones to make them 'more grown up' as kids get more sophisticated. It s whole new world. My...

    featured lens Recalled dangerous, or lead contaminated toys

    A site providing information on recalled toys. Since becoming a father, I took a real interest in what toys he plays with after a crib he was using was recalled after a child died. I created Ban Lead Toys because I wanted a way to keep up to date wi...

    Children's Behaviour

    featured lens Generation Born 2008

    In 2025, children born in 2007 will be 18. Oh, I know, this is a very easy math problem. But, because my granddaughter was born in 2007, I have began to entertain what her future will be like. This grandmother has heavy concerns. The following subje...

    featured lens Raising nice kids

    I am knee deep in character education these days - I just finished producing a kids game about virtues (The VirtueGame). When I thought about why this subject resonates so strongly for me, I realized it all boils down to one simple thought - I want n...

    featured lens Raising children in today's society!

    Raising children has so many wonderful rewards but with reward also comes moments where we question whether we as parents are doing everything we can to protect our children and teach them to be strong and not to bow down to the negative peer pr...

    featured lens How Children Learn Bad Behavior

    Our lack of control may become the standard for a generation still left on the vine. As we fiercely persue issues like freedom of speech let us not leave our children behind.

    Keep up to date with what is happening with the Group

    Join my Fanclub

    Currently on Squidoo, there is no feature that allows Groupmasters to Squidcast to Group Members. The only way I can do it, is to send each of you an email but much as I love you all, it is too time consuming.

    I have seen messages left in people's Guestbooks, giving them updates about the Group, which is a lovely idea, but as the number of Lensmasters in the Group grows, this will become extremely time consuming and I think we all know, that there is just not enough Squidoo hours in the day.

    So thanks to a lens written by Lensmaster kab, I have discovered a work around, which is to send a Squidcast, with the Group's name and picture on it, that will go to all of my fans.

    To make sure you receive this Squidcast, you need to be a member of my Fanclub.

    Please note: this is not an attempt to increase the number of Fans I have - those Lensmasters who know me on Squidoo, know that while I love having Fans, the number is not important to me!

    AJ's latest musings on Squidtop

    Loading Fetching RSS feed... please stand by

    Who on earth is AJ?

    AJ is Always Juggling

    If you want to know a bit more about me before joining the group, then these lenses will give you a better idea.

    featured lens Twelve Days of a Green & Ethical Christmas

    Christmas to my family is simply a time of being together. When I was a child there was no such thing as "global warming" and vegetarians were very unusual. Naturally, as I have got older my awareness of the damage the human population is wreaking on...

    featured lens Christmas at AJ's

    Christmas at AJ's is quite a traditional affair. There's Christmas stockings that Santa fills on Christmas Eve, presents under the tree, turkey for lunch, games in the evening and of course we have to watch Dr Who. The only thing that is usually miss...

    featured lens Autumn at AJ's

    Autumn in the UK starts in September and goes through until the beginning of December. Autumn is a huge topic to tackle in just one lens, so in order to narrow it down I decided to write something more personal. Each season has its own special meanin...

    featured lens I Am aj2008

    The AJ stands for Always Juggling. Married....four children.... two still at school.... one very big dog....trying to balance family life with the need to earn an income....trying to do my bit to save the planet.... get involved in amateur dramatics...

    Say hello & tell us which lenses in the group you have visited.

    Once you have visited lenses in the group, let us know what you think about them and then submit your lens. You are free to add links to your own lenses PROVIDING they are relevant to the group. Any irrelevant links will be deleted.

    Lensmaster

    DollyJean wrote...

    Hi AJ thanks for accepting my lens into your group. I liked your lens on bullies. It is very well researched. Parents are sure to find this article very informative.

    ReplyPosted October 30, 2008

    Lensmaster

    conflictuniverse wrote...

    Great group, I'm so pleased you accepted my lens.
    Keep up the good work.
    Gary

    ReplyPosted October 30, 2008

    Lensmaster

    GrowWear wrote...

    Thank you AJ for putting together such an important group full of people who care. I see new members that I need to visit this week! Thank you so much for the Feature. Congratulations on the Great Groups Award!

    ReplyPosted October 21, 2008

    Lensmaster

    Ener-G wrote...

    Oh, dear. I'm having a menopause moment and can't remember the lenses I visited! I visited two wonderful lenses and plan to visit some of the other great ones that are here as well as lensroll them to appropriate lenses that I've created. Thanks for accepting me in the group! I look forward to getting to know people better.

    ReplyPosted October 06, 2008

    Lensmaster

    ngio64 wrote...

    Hi, What a great group you have. I visited, star rated and commented:
    attachmentparentingsource
    social_stories
    DieDye
    I will submit my lens on bedwetting to this group.

    ReplyPosted September 30, 2008

     
    1 of 3 pages

    Copyright © 2008, Squidoo, LLC and respective copyright owners