tips and tricks

How do you teach a child to write?

How I wish I am a work at home mom now. I would probably have lots of time teaching and helping Ayex with her school work.

Recently, Ayex had a math quiz where I had to review her on tracing and writing the numbers 6-10. I know that I have to prepare our material, dotted lines which she has to trace. How about explaining the strokes she has to follow to make the numbers? How do you explain that to a 3 year-old?

So that night we came home and found she will have a quiz the next day, I ate as fast as I can and clean-up myself. I am making tracing materials for Ayex to practice her writing the numbers 6-10. I didn’t realize that making the materials alone will take time. So much time that I was only able to create one page with the numbers 6-10. Since it was already late (we get home at around 8pm and her class the next day starts at 8am), after Ayex finished that one page, she started to refuse listening to our instructions. Later on, she said Mommy antok na ako. What a mom should do? Of course I let her sleep. And then I worried about how she will perform with the exam. She got 6 out 10 correctly.

I still don’t have the answer to my 2nd question: How do you explain the strokes a child has to follow to create a letter or a number?. All I know now is that I have to be consistent with how her teachers say the strokes so she can easily identify with what I say. The good news is, I found something via Mr. G that will give me more time to teach Ayex how to write because I won’t have to do the tracing materials manually.

The site is a bit hard to navigate but once you find your way, you can create your Handwriting Materials for Free in more of less 5 minutes. I created materials for the numbers 6-10 and saved it in the site for future use. You can search the author Ayex if you need similar materials.

Last Monday, I asked hubby to print one page for each number and photocopy them after. Now, we have several pages at home which we can use anytime to practice the little girl even if there is no quiz at school.

The little girl had another quiz about the numbers 6-10 yesterday, this time she got 8 out 10 correct. She was able to trace all the numbers but did not write the numbers 7 and 9.

Got tips on how to teach a child how to write apart from practice makes perfect, why don’t you share them here?

Leg cramps

As you have read here before, I am preggy with our second child. I am now on my 2nd trimester and everything is going very well. No more morning sickness and I can now feel our baby kick! This one is pretty playful, kept on moving inside almost every hour the whole day. One thing that started to bother me though is leg cramps. If my memory serves me right, I already had leg cramps twice, in this period alone. It now makes me wonder if it’s a bad sign and may have harmful effect on me and the baby.

I searched Mr. Google and here’s what I found out.

Why am I getting cramps in my legs at night?

Just as running, playing a heated game of tennis, or simply standing all day can tire your muscles so much that they cramp, so too can being pregnant. The added weight on your leg muscles often leads to night cramps, which can wake you out of a sound sleep. Leg cramps hit hardest in the second and third trimesters.

Some other possible causes of pregnancy-related leg cramps are thought to be an excess of phosphorus (found in processed meats, snack foods, and fizzy drinks) and a shortage of calcium circulating in your blood, or the pressure of the expanding uterus on the nerves leading to your legs.

How can I relieve the pain?

Fortunately, leg cramps are one of the pregnancy complaints you can do something about.

When a cramp strikes:

Stretch. Start by straightening your leg — heel first — and gingerly flexing your ankle and toes. This will hurt at first but gradually make the pain go away.
Massage the cramped muscle.
Take a warm bath or place a hot water bottle on the cramped area.
Walk it off. Pacing for a few minutes should help.

Can I do anything to stave it off?

Stretch before bed. Stretching your calf muscles several times (as described above) before you go to bed could help prevent night cramps completely.
Avoid standing for long periods or sitting with your legs crossed.
Rotate your ankles and wiggle your toes when sitting, at work, at dinner, or watching TV.
Eat a banana or pineapple, or drink a glass of milk before bed for a quick calcium and potassium boost. Don’t take any herbal or vitamin supplements without first discussing it with your doctor or a medical herbalist.
Eat calcium-rich foods. If you really have trouble with leg cramps, ask your doctor about taking a calcium supplement. (But avoid using any calcium supplements with dolomite or bone meal in them; these often contain lead, which can cross the placenta and harm your baby.)
Do some stretching exercises/warm ups first after waking up.
Try to avoid gaining excessive weight.
When resting, raise your feet up to reduce leg swelling which might aggravate leg cramping.
Avoid eating excessive salty food, as this might lead to edema — what we call manas — of the fingers and legs, that might aggravate the cramping.
Avoid soft drinks, which contain a lot of phosphorus.

What if the pain persists?

If the pain is constant and not just an occasional cramp, or if you notice swelling or tenderness, call your doctor. You could have venous thrombosis, or a blood clot, a fairly rare (one in 2,000 pregnancies) but serious condition requiring immediate medical attention. Source

I’m happy cramps is not very serious and is more common to pregnant women. I just hope it won’t happen to me every night because it does hurt.

Are you a Banana eater?

I’m not a fan. There was a time when I don’t eat the fruit as it and only takes it when processed. By processed I mean when it is already something else: bananaque, minatamis na saging, turon, saging con yelo, etc. Until someone challenged me to eat banana.

Until now, I’m still not a fan although I can say that I improved a lot already. I eat it as is and sometimes, I eat bananas more often than I used to. After reading the following, which came from a forwarded email, I’m just glad that I am now eating bananas.

A professor at CCNY for a physiological psych class told his class about bananas. He said the expression ‘going bananas’ is from the effects of bananas on the brain.

Bananas contain three natural sugars – sucrose, fructose and glucose combined with fiber. A banana gives an instant, sustained and substantial boost of energy.

Research has proven that just two bananas provide enough energy for a strenuous 90-minute workout. No wonder the banana is the number one fruit with the world’s leading athletes.

But energy isn’t the only way a banana can help us keep fit. It can also help overcome or prevent a substantial number of illnesses and conditions, making it a must to add to our daily diet.

Depression: According to a recent survey undertaken by MIND amongst people suffering from depression, many felt much better after eating a banana. This is because bananas contain tryptophan, a type of protein that the body converts into serotonin, known to make you relax, improve your mood and generally make you feel happier.

PMS: Forget the pills – eat a banana. The vitamin B6 it contains regulates blood glucose levels, which can affect your mood.

Anemia: High in iron, bananas can stimulate the production of hemoglobin in the blood and so helps in cases of anemia.

Blood Pressure: This unique tropical fruit is extremely high in potassium yet low in salt, making it perfect to beat blood pressure. So much so, the US Food and Drug Administration has just allowed the banana industry to make official claims for the fruit’s ability to reduce the risk of blood pressure and stroke.

Brain Power: 200 students at a Twickenham (Middlesex) school ( England ) were helped through their exams this year by eating bananas at breakfast, break, and lunch in a bid to boost their brain power. Research has shown that the potassium-packed fruit can assist learning by making pupils more alert.

Constipation: High in fiber, including bananas in the diet can help restore normal bowel action, helping to overcome the problem without resorting to laxatives.

Hangovers: One of the quickest ways of curing a hangover is to make a banana milkshake, sweetened with honey. The banana calms the stomach and, with the help of the honey, builds up depleted blood sugar levels, while the milk soothes and re-hydrates your system.

Heartburn: Bananas have a natural antacid effect in the body, so if you suffer from heartburn, try eating a banana for soothing relief.

Morning Sickness: Snacking on bananas between meals helps to keep blood sugar levels up and avoid morning sickness.

Mosquito bites: Before reaching for the insect bite cream, try rubbing the affected area with the inside of a banana skin. Many people find it amazingly successful at reducing swelling and irritation.

Nerves: Bananas are high in B vitamins that help calm the nervous system.

Overweight and at work? Studies at the Institute of Psychology in Austria found pressure at work leads to gorging on comfort food like chocolate and chips. Looking at 5,000 hospital patients, researchers found the most obese were more likely to be in high-pressure jobs. The report concluded that, to avoid panic-induced food cravings, we need to control our blood sugar levels by snacking on high carbohydrate foods every two hours to keep levels steady.

Ulcers: The banana is used as the dietary food against intestinal disorders because of its soft texture and smoothness. It is the only raw fruit that can be eaten without distress in over-chronicler cases. It also neutralizes over-acidity and reduces irritation by coating the lining of the stomach.

Temperature control: Many other cultures see bananas as a ‘cooling’ fruit that can lower both the physical and emotional temperature of expectant mothers. In Thailand, for example, pregnant women eat bananas to ensure their baby is born with a cool temperature.

Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD): Bananas can help SAD sufferers because they contain the natural mood enhancer tryptophan.

Smoking & Tobacco Use: Bananas can also help people trying to give up smoking. The B6, B12 they contain, as well as the potassium and magnesium found in them, help the body recover from the effects of nicotine withdrawal.

Stress: Potassium is a vital mineral, which helps normalize the heartbeat, sends oxygen to the brain and regulates your body’s water balance. When we are stressed, our metabolic rate rises, thereby reducing our potassium levels. These can be rebalanced with the help of a high-potassium banana snack.

Strokes: According to research in The New England Journal of Medicine, eating bananas as part of a regular diet can cut the risk of death by strokes by as much as 40%!

Warts: Those keen on natural alternatives swear that if you want to kill off a wart, take a piece of banana skin and place it on the wart, with the yellow side out. Carefully hold the skin in place with a plaster or surgical tape!

So, a banana really is a natural remedy for many ills. When you compare it to an apple, it has four times the protein, twice the carbohydrate, three times the phosphorus, five times the vitamin A and iron, and twice the other vitamins and minerals. It is also rich in potassium and is one of the best value foods around So maybe its time to change that well-known phrase so that we say, ‘A banana a day keeps the doctor away!’