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The Artful Life: 10 Crafty Tips to Boost a Child's Self-Confidence and Improve Academic Performance: #6 | Elysian Studios

The Artful Life: 10 Crafty Tips to Boost a Child’s Self-Confidence and Improve Academic Performance: #6

Categories: accessories, DenverEtsy, ETSY, family, jewelry, shopping, The Artful Life

As parents, we strive to help our children grow up to be healthy, productive adults. Times are changing faster than ever, and parents are working harder to make ends meet. With constant introduction to new technology, as individuals and as a family, we have more choices than we’ve ever had before. So how do we stay focused and ensure we give our children the best upbringing possible? In this series we will share some tips we have found that help children develop a positive self image, and encourage success in the classroom.

#6: Give Them a Special Piece of Jewelry

Hand-stamped and riveted pendant by Beadsoul

You know how special you feel when someone gives you a piece of jewelry that has meaning behind it? Kids feel that way too! Whether its for a birthday, to commemorate a special event or holiday, or “just because,” children want to be reminded that they are loved, especially when they’re out in the world without you. Plan something with a simple message, in a style that they can grow with. We think this is a great opportunity to explore Etsy, and the handmade community, to find something unique. Most artisans will happily work with you to customize their designs for you. We have worked with both of these artisans, and love their products! We will happily recommend other artisans to you, based on your needs!

Hand-stamped and dyed leather cuff by CJohannesen

What is something special that you were given as a child, or that you have given to your child?

Stay tuned for tip #7 tomorrow! Did you miss the first tip? Start here

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The Artful Life: 10 Crafty Tips to Boost a Child's Self-Confidence and Improve Academic Performance: #5 | Elysian Studios

The Artful Life: 10 Crafty Tips to Boost a Child’s Self-Confidence and Improve Academic Performance: #5

Categories: Art Education, family, The Artful Life

#5: Volunteer in the Classroom

Image by missyxlovesxyou via Flickr

I am not going to lie to you, this could be one of the most difficult tasks on the list (for us, it’s harder than giving up the cable!) If you have school-age children, one of the most important things you can do is to get yourself into that classroom! Why is this hard? Because when you are dual-income family, there is always work to be done! Even if one of you stays home, there is always work to be done!

However, if you don’t spend time in class, three things don’t happen:

1) Your children don’t see you valuing the time in the classroom. When they see you take time out of your day to assist in their class, they get the message that this is an important place to be!

2) You don’t get to know the teacher and the methods of teaching in the class. Support your teacher, and she/he will support you! This is a very important relationship to have. You will also get a chance to understand the curriculum and the schedule in class.

3) You don’t get to know the other kids in your child’s class. These days, it is getting impossibly hard to have consistent social interaction with classmates outside of school. Kids are busy with all kinds of different activities, and it’s hard to match up schedules. So how do you know how to encourage your child to build relationships if you don’t know who the other kids are? Most kids are great; I love getting to know different children and having the opportunity to work with them. However, some children are a discipline problem in class, and since I know that, I can encourage my child to make different choices. (And when it’s my child acting out-of-line, I can be on top of it!)

How do you get involved with your child’s academic time?

Stay-tuned for tip #6 tomorrow! Did you miss the first tips? Start here

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The Artful Life: 10 Crafty Tips to Boost a Child's Self-Confidence and Improve Academic Performance: #1 | Elysian Studios

The Artful Life: 10 Crafty Tips to Boost a Child’s Self-Confidence and Improve Academic Performance: #1

Categories: family, The Artful Life

#1: Kill the TV

image by George Foster, via Flickr

No you don’t have to leave it by the side of the road, and you don’t have to live without television all together, but have you looked at your cable bill? Not only can you cut some cost from the family budget here, but you can add some serious time to the family schedule! If you are a die-hard sports fan (and most of us are) this will be really hard, but what if you tried living without cable just long enough to re-qualify for that promotional rate? There’s a lot of great things to view on television, but there’s also a lot of junk. Even with the convenience of TiVo and DVR, it’s likely there are a lot of TVs broadcasting a lot of different things around the house.

Take control of your television by watching the shows and movies you want, when you want to watch them. Catch your news and sports scores on the internet and radio. For TV series and movies, instant downloads from Netflix, and DVDs purchased or rented from the library will surprise you with their immense selection. Give kids a break from comparing themselves to the kids on TV, and comparing their stuff with what they see in advertisements. Try watching TV with no commercials and only at designated times of the day.

Too extreme? What do you think?

Stay-tuned for tip #2 tomorrow!