Jared's Little Corner

Is there anything worse than being miles from your destination with your kids in the back squealing, falling out with each other and endlessly whining “are we there yet?”.

It’s the battle all parents have to face, but with the right preparation you can limit the damage and enjoy stress-free and pleasant journeys.

Buy a baby-friendly car

Start off right with a car suitable for your family’s needs. Safety is always high on the priority list for parents, so check out the air bags and braking system.

Kids always come with plenty of baggage: whether it’s buggies, changing bags or toys. Make life easier for yourself and find a car with plenty of space to fit in the buggy and spare clothes. Storage in the passenger area of the car can also be used to your benefit by placing toys and activities within your child’s reach.

Little extras like tinted rear windows (or adding in sun blinds) will make the journey more comfortable for your kids.

If your current car doesn’t fit the bill or you need a car abroad, check out sites with child friendly car options, such as Intelligent Car Leasing who provide UK car leasing and contract hire to personal customers.

Organize car activities before you start the car

Preparation is key. Arm yourself ahead of time with as many distractions and activities as you can. Ask your kids to pick out some of their favorite music to play on the journey. Kids can fill out activity printables on the lap trays, or on a clipboard.

Simple coloring pads and wax crayons will help keep younger children entertained, whilst older kids may want to take a DVD player and headphones, or a small games console.

Classic travel games such as “I Spy” or looking for a particular color car are also great to use up a bit of extra time. (more…)

Even though the word Autism is commonly heard, still there are several speculations about Autism and of the people affected by it. In the Philippines, it is estimated that there are around 1 million people living with Autism, yet not everybody can understand what it it’s like. The Autism spectrum Disorder is a condition where a person who is diagnosed with it will not have the same experiences but are noticed by the core symptoms.

Meet Calel, he is a 6-year old who was diagnosed with ASD {Autism Spectrum Disorder} at the age of four. A year ago, he discovered his love for animals and drawing and once he starts on a sketch pad he just cannot stop – his mother Marie, started posting his artwork on Facebook, when a friend commented that if in the case the drawing is produced to be printed on a t-shirt – he definitely would buy.

After a few months, Marie launched Calel’s Wacky Art Shirts for 3 reasons: to help with Calel’s therapy needs, to develop the business to eventually be taken over by Calel (when he gets older) and to spread Autism awareness.

Anybody would know that Occupational aned Speech therapy is costly, plus there are limited specialists in the Philippines. Kids with ASD need to attend SPED (Special Education) classes which can cost up to 60,000Php a year. For every shirt purchased, this will help Calel’s parents to make sure he gets the special treatments that he needs.

Calel’s future is still unclear at the age of 6, he shows signs of progress but it is hard to tell if he will be able to live a normal life or yet alone become employed, if this becomes a success, Calel’s Wacky Art Shirts may become his own business to handle.

With the first batch of t-shirts printed and distributed, people that order have started to ask about Calel and his condition ~ this helps Marie to talk about Autism and educate them on what Calel and their parents experience day-to-day including the highs and low.

There are so many designs to choose from and each is unique which you will surely love. T-shirt’s come in kids, men, and women’s sizes.

Calel’s Wacky Art Shirts are being offered at introductory prizes for the first 100 customers.

Please visit their Instagram account for updates and designs: instagram.com/calelswackyartshirts

You may help Calel by purchasing a shirt through their Shoppee account: https://shopee.ph/mamaneesshop

They are also accepting donations for art materials like sketch pads, crayons, colored pencils and pens.

Teaching can both be fun and difficult, much like learning. When kids are little, they can easily learn by simply observing and repeating what they hear. Let them watch for a couple of minutes, and they’ll be able to soak knowledge like a sponge.

Once they start school, however, parents tend to pass the full responsibility of teaching their children. What we may not know is that hands-on teaching at home can greatly affect a child’s learning ability, resulting in a better performance in school. But with the busy world we live in and all the things our kids have to learn in school, how is it possible?

You don’t need all the time the world to teach kids. However, there are simple ways on how you can help your children learn at the comforts of your home, some of which are the following:

Set a timely schedule for school-related activities

Being organized is the best way to teach children on how to be a responsible young adult. By dedicating a specific time in a day for doing homework, studying or doing projects, learning won’t stop and they’ll be able to retain more learnings. They’ll eventually get into the daily routine which is essential as more knowledge will be taught to them as they progress.

Read bedtime stories to them

Do you know that by telling your child a bedtime story, they are able to learn about essay writing, listening comprehension and reading comprehension? By asking questions, they’ll be able to identify which part is the beginning, body, and ending of the story. By asking them to repeat the story, you’re teaching them how to summarize, and by reading with them, they get to learn how to read and pronounce words the right way.

Ask your child to tell you the things he can observe

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