Halloween Roundup: Save on Candy, Costumes and Decor

If the cost of Halloween costumes, candies and decor frighten you, don’t fear; the following ideas can help you simplify this ghoulish season without spending an arm and a leg.

Costumes

DIY
You don’t have to be an expert seamstress to make great Halloween costumes. When your kiddos are little, it’s especially easy to go the DIY route since they’re fairly easy to please. In addition to fabric stores, look to the Domestic Queen for ideas for a creative costume.

Shop Early for Savings
Everyone knows the best deals on Halloween costumes happen after Oct. 31, but what good does that do you right now? Thankfully, some stores offer discounts on costumes before the holiday, when it’s actually helpful. For example, you can get a coupon code at FreeShipping.org for 30-percent off costume orders from the The Children’s Place.

Know When to Have Your Child Tested for Learning Differences

Learning Differences in Kids

School more of a challenge than expected?

Signs point to when to have your child tested for learning differences

by Sarah Jayroe

The first day of a new school year should be an exciting time in every child’s life.  There are exciting books to read, science experiments to perform and art projects to create.  There are clubs to join and sports teams to cheer on.  Don’t forget, of course, all of the new friends to make.  The lifelong love of learning is beginning to blossom.  Unfortunately, this is not the sentiment for all students.

For some students, going back to school can be a time of dread.  Anxiety, uneasiness and feelings of low self worth can set in and, unfortunately, can have lasting repercussions.  These are the students that have a feeling that something is “off” or that they are “different.”  These students may not grasp academic concepts like their peers.   How do you know if this is simply a phase or possibly something more?  Could this uneasiness in your child be caused by an undiagnosed learning problem?

Helping Infants and Toddlers Develop Language Skills

Reading to Infants

by Gerry Haggard

There are joys that come with the presence of a tiny child in the home. There are also important responsibilities placed on the caregivers. One of these is modeling beginning language skills that serve as the foundation of learning to read.

How can caregivers communicate with an infant? That very small person’s first attempt to communicate is crying, telling someone that he has a need. Listening parents learn to identify reasons for the crying. An adult can respond, meet the need, and speak in sentences of three words. “Are you wet?” etc.

Even before the age of six months, the baby begins to babble using vowels and consonant sounds that compose his home language. From birth on, singing and listening to nursery rhymes provide modeling for the sounds and words we want the child to produce.