Eating breakfast together strengthens the family and helps child development

Eating breakfast together as a family? You’ve got to be kidding, right?

Some mornings, it’s enough worry to even get the children and adults out of the house with the right kit in time for school and work.

Yet new research confirms that families who find time to eat breakfast together are not only strengthened as a unit, but their kids could well do better in school and be more emotionally stable and socially developed.

We’ve already reported on how important it is for families to eat together but this usually focuses on the evening meal.

How can you make breakfast a shared, and stress-free, experience?

Nutella, who sponsored the survey, offers child psychologist Laverne Antrobus’ five tips for a great family breakfast:

1. It’s all in the preparation: Get the children involved, help them to lay the table or, if old enough, make the toast and pour out drinks
2. Variety is key: Allowing more choice, and giving children foods they like, will minimise disagreements and maintain focus on spending quality time together. Also try to give them something that sets them up for the morning ahead so a low sugar cereal on one day and then on another wholegrain toast with a hazelnut based spread like nutella.
3. Give yourself a goal: Set targets that are realistic and can be achieved; think about how many times a week eating together is possible given everyone’s schedule
4. Don’t get distracted: Even if you can’t sit down all together every time avoid the daily distractions and noise of the TV & radio, it will allow you to focus on the conversation you are having
5. Eyes and ears: Listen to what they are saying, ask open-ended questions and give them the opportunity to use this time to find out what’s on their mind.

More advice? Visit the Wake Up To Nutella web site.

Do you have any tips for a great family breakfast? Leave a comment below.

Seven out of ten Brits in relationships say online flirting is OK

For many, flirting by those already in a romantic / committed relationship isn’t seen as a problem, and even less so when it comes to doing it over the Internet. This is borne out by a new survey which found that seven out of ten Brits don’t believe there’s anything wrong in flirting with people online.

Ironically, the research was carried out by a web site encouraging online flirting. Of the 2,600 who took part, all of whom said they had a spouse or full-time partner, about the same number of men and women answered the question “Would you consider flirting online as cheating?” with a resounding “No!”

Many see this as harmless entertainment, but I’m not convinced.

Several years ago the phenomenon of online flirting was being studied, and Nathan Tabor wrote a great article titled Adultery is killing the American family which touches on how Internet usage can affect a relationship.

And do you remember the recent report of a Second Life affair which split a couple up?

Harmless fun or something more sinister?

I realise that there are such things as “open” relationships, and that flirting and eyeing other people up even when romantically involved with someone is often thought acceptable, but I’m a little concerned that 70% of Brits think absolutely nothing of doing it.

There’s something insidious about doing it online, too, because of the increased perception of anonymity.

Relationships really need all the help they can get, and I’m not at all convinced this developing trend will encourage healthy couples.

What do you think?

Photo by believekevin

Child-friendly alarm clock plays “What’s the time Mister Wolf”

The “Teach Me Time” talking alarm clock is the perfect invention for young children who are learning to tell the time, as well as their parents who can help to reinforce bedtime and getting-up-time rules.

The clock has both analogue and digital clocks, so a child learns to tell the time in two different ways at the same time.

There’s also a Teach Me Time game which puts a random time on the analogue clock and asks the child to say what time it is.

The alarm clock also features a dual-coloured night-light which glows green when it’s “OK to wake” and glows a soft yellow colour throughout bedtime.

Available in three different colours for £39.99.

Buy the Teach Me Time! Talking Alarm Clock & Nightlight

Children’s TV celebs announce 2009 TOTAL Green School Awards winner

The winner of this year’s TOTAL Green School Awards has been announced by CBBC presenter Michael Absalom and the BBC’s Really Wild Show presenter Steve Backshall.

Lutley Primary School from Halesowen has won the national competition for schoolchildren which aims to generate interest in the environment and raise awareness of the need for sustainable energy sources.

This year, 341 entries from 17,500 children aged between 7-11 were received.

The wining project was the brainchild of 30 pupils aged between nine and 11 years, who created an oasis in the school grounds. In 2007, the children planted a vegetable garden and they have since harvested and shared the produce with their classmates. After this success, the pupils obtained a grant which was used to build a covered outdoor classroom made from home-made cob bricks (a mixture of clay and straw). The children have also planted trees in the school grounds and created a wildlife garden with a pond and beautiful dragonfly mosaic.

The winners were announced at the national finals held at London Zoo in Regent’s Park.

All students in the winning group receive an all expenses paid Environmental Discovery Course with the YPTE, which comprises a four-night environment adventure exploring the British countryside.

The awards comprise four categories, each allowing group work on environmental topics in a diverse range of subjects including, Art, English, History and Mathematics as well as Science Technology and Geography. From the huge number of entries received, winners for each of the four categories; Totally Active, Totally Clued Up, Totally Creative and Totally Powered Up, were chosen from each of the five regions; Scotland, Wales, Central England, North and South England. The four winners from each region attended a regional final where the national finalists were selected by a panel of judges.

More information on the awards is available at TotalGreenSchoolAwards.org

Gadget Watch: Firefly glowPhone

Here’s a really simple mobile phone designed for younger children. The bright pink (or black) Firefly glowPhone is simple to set up and only has five main buttons, arranged in a butterfly pattern, so is much easier and less fiddly to use for small fingers.

Two of the buttons can be assigned to call mum or dad, while the middle one has arrow keys for moving around options. There’s a 1.5-inch colour screen which can display customised wallpapers, and there are also built-in games and ringtones.

Important features include an emergency button on the side of the phone, and the ability for parents to lock the phone to allow certain calls to be made or received.

The phone works on Pay-As-You-Go, so your child won’t rack up a huge phone bill.

If you think your younger child should own a mobile phone (half of under-10s in the UK do, apparently) then this might be worth considering. It’s likely that older kids and teenagers will want the latest, expensive, “grown-up” mainstream mobile phones.

The handset launch has been delayed but it’s expected to cost around £85 and you’ll find places to buy it at the Firefly Mobile Ireland web site.

(Via Tech Digest)

Dad’s the taxi: kids driven 56,000 miles by dedicated parent

Did your dad used to ferry you about in the car when you were a child or teenager? If so, you’re not alone.

New research from Motors.co.uk suggests that dads will travel over 56,000 miles and spend six months of their life as a free taxi cab service to their children.

The poll of 973 fathers’ driving habits found that the average driving dad travels over 60 miles and spends an average of 3 hours every week ferrying their children to school, sports
clubs and social events.

Of course, the poll also decided to inject some sex appeal into proceedings by asking who dad’s ideal passenger would be. Joanna Lumley was voted the most desirable passenger by a quarter of driving dads, with Girls Aloud singer Cheryl Cole second most popular (16%).

UK fathers are secretly dreaming of being James Bond whilst on the school run, with most dads listing an Aston Martin as their ideal car.

With all this going on, it’s not surprising that a third of the kids interviewed said that they were embarrassed by their dad’s car (or is that just “dad”?) on the school run. Goes with the job, doesn’t it?

“The results of this survey show that the UK’s driving dads are spending more time than ever driving their children around with the average father spending six months of their lives on the school run. This Father’s Day, motors.co.uk is calling for all dads to have the day off to spend some quality time at home with their families without a car in sight,” said Katie Armitage, marketing manager for motors.co.uk.

UK parents worry about but don’t monitor kids’ online activities, survey finds

Take a look through our articles about the Internet and you’ll already find plenty of examples of parents worried about what their children are up to online.

It’s not surprising, therefore, that another survey has raised similar concerns.

The computer security firm Trend Micro interviewed over 1,000 British parents and teenagers and found out:

• that over half of parents claim not to have a clue what their children are doing online.
• only 3% of parents are actively monitoring their child’s Internet activities.
• 55% of parents said they wished their kids would spend more time learning than on social networks.
• Nearly three quarters of those surveyed said they were worried that under-18s would lose essential face-to-face and English language skills as a result.

“The best way for a parent to overcome their fears about technology and what their children are up to online is to take the time to have a look at the technology their children are using,” said Will Gardner, CEO, Childnet. “Better still, get them to guide you through it. A conversation on how to keep safe and look after others online is a must.”

“Social interaction online is evolving at a constant and rapid rate and the digital generation know all the tricks of the trade,” said Rik Ferguson, security expert at Trend Micro. “With the summer holidays fast approaching, parents should put simple but effective measures in place to ensure their kids do not fall victim to unnecessary dangers. Parents need to become more tech savvy first before they can start educating their kids on what’s right and wrong.”

Trend Micro’s ten online safety tips are:

1. Keep all computers in common areas.
2. Agree to time limits for using the Internet and all social devices.
3. Keep software security up-to-date.
4. Talk with your kids about entering personal information online.
5. Run a manual scan with your software security and check browser history.
6. Set profiles on social networking sites to private.
7. Encourage children to be respectful of others.
8. Teach children to have multiple passwords that are NOT associated with names, nicknames or commonly found information over the net.
9. Most importantly, keep informed about the latest outbreaks and dangers on the Internet.
10. Buy Trend Micro internet security 2009. The latest software has enhanced parental controls. This means that parents can better tailor controls depending on the particular family member. New functionalities include the ability to control the date and time each child can go on the Internet and also the option to specify categories of information (such as home addresses, telephone numbers, passwords, etc.) they do not wish to be sent from a computer.

Gadget Watch: The rise of Blu-ray

This post looks at one of the latest bits of home entertainment kit. You’ve probably started to hear “Blu-ray” mentioned at the end of adverts for films. Read on for an explanation and find out how you can enter the world of high definition.

The rise of high-definition TV formatting and Blu-ray has seen a change in home entertainment and we are now able to create a full cinema experience within the family home, which is a great bonus during the currently economic climate.

What is Blu-ray? Blu-ray is a high-definition disc format and DVD is a standard-definition format. The higher definition means that Blu-ray is a significant improvement over DVD in terms of picture and sound quality, delivering a whole new exciting way to experience movies, games and music. Blu-ray discs play through either a BD player or Playstation III enabling the highest quality viewing experience available to date.

This new technology often sounds intimidating, however it’s surprisingly simple to use! You don’t have to throw out the existing collection of DVDs as they still play on these machines and in fact the Blu-ray player will even enhance the quality of your DVDs. Price has also been a worry in the past but this is a another surprise, with BD players now starting at £80.00 and Blu-ray discs available nationwide.

So, is Blu-ray here to stay? It’s a resounding yes, as 3D TV is still a little way off the HD images that Blu-ray provides are second to none. I recently viewed Disney’s Enchanted on both DVD and Blu-ray, the difference was astounding and I was able to create the cinema experience from my very own living room with a little help from the kids.

The science bit, how does it work?

The Blu-ray Disc offers better video quality and to do this each disc needs to hold more information so it is burnt using a different laser to a DVD. As these discs can hold more content they also have an array of bonus features and many players now offer connection to the Internet. This enables you to download additional content or features about the program or movie you are viewing.

With Blu-ray sales predicted to exceed 15m in 2009 we have been quicker to switch to the format than we were to relinquish the VHS. Recent sales figures from Disney home entertainment show that 1 in 10 sales of Wall-E were purchased on Blu-ray rather than DVD.

It’s actually quite simple:

1. Make sure your TV is HD ready – check to see if there is an HD symbol on your TV as nearly half of all homes in the UK already have an HD TV.

2. Get a Blu-ray player. There are over 67 different players now available, prices starting from £80.00.

3. Connect your Blu-ray player to your HD TV with an HDMI cable – it should be in the box with your Blu-ray player.

4. Blu-ray not only looks better but it sounds better too. Enjoy this enhanced audio quality with a simple surround sound system.

5. Connect to the Internet through your Blu-ray player to download bonus features and games that you and the kids can enjoy (most modern Blu-ray players support this feature – look for ones that say “BD Live”).

For more information on family titles available on Blu-ray visit http://disney.go.com/disneyvideos/bluray/