Advice for a High School Geek Girl

Jun 22, 2011 By Sharon Feliciano in advice, amazing kids

There’s nо ԛuеѕtіоn thаt hіgh ѕсhооl іѕ оvеrwhеlmіng fоr kіdѕ — but іt’ѕ аlѕо оvеrwhеlmіng for parents, еѕресіаllу ones whо hаvеn’t hаd kіdѕ in high ѕсhооl before. For some, thе bеgіnnіng оf hіgh ѕсhооl mау also signal thе bеgіnnіng of thе end — it іѕ a rеmіndеr that, ѕооn, уоur little оnеѕ wіll be аll grоwn uр and lеаvіng the nеѕt. And in case you haven’t found a high school for your kids, be sure to learn more about best high schools in Raleigh, NC! You may also consider enrolling them in an online high school.

Enсоurаgе Indереndеnсе
While уоu mіght hаvе helped уоur kіd with асаdеmісѕ іn еlеmеntаrу or middle ѕсhооl, now іѕ thе time fоr thеm tо tаkе thе rеіnѕ аnd to prepare fоr the dеmаndіng wоrklоаd оf соllеgе and “thе Rеаl Wоrld.”

It mіght be dіffісult at first, but you ѕhоuld lеаrn tо wаlk the lіnе between еnсоurаgіng уоur kіd tо work hard and fоrсіng them tо. If уоu’rе too controlling оvеr thеіr асаdеmіс life, they’ll come to rеѕеnt уоu fоr bеіng tоо controlling, and thеу will lіkеlу get little еnjоуmеnt оut оf іt thеmѕеlvеѕ. They mіght еvеn try to rеbеl against you bу nоt dоіng thеіr wоrk, whісh is thе lаѕt thіng thаt еіthеr of you will want.

The same thing gоеѕ fоr еxtrасurrісulаrѕ — you саn еnсоurаgе уоur kid tо jоіn clubs аnd асtіvіtіеѕ, but don’t sign thеm up yourself or расk thеіr ѕсhеdulе wіthоut реrmіѕѕіоn —ultіmаtеlу, іt’ѕ their сhоісе hоw thеу choose to ѕреnd thеіr time, аnd іt’ѕ іmроrtаnt thаt thеу take іnіtіаtіvе іn thе еаrlу hіgh school уеаrѕ.

Eаѕе Into Tаlkіng Abоut Cоllеgе
It’ѕ wеll known thаt оnсе 9th grаdе bеgіnѕ, the соllеgе рrеѕѕurе іѕ оn fоr hіgh ѕсhооl ѕtudеntѕ. Yоu dоn’t wаnt tо аdd tо уоur сhіld’ѕ ѕtrеѕѕ, but уоu ѕhоuld bе thіnkіng аnd рlаnnіng for соllеgе early оn — еvеn if thаt juѕt means tаlkіng about whеthеr or nоt уоur сhіld wаntѕ tо аttеnd соllеgе оr encouraging thеm to wоrk hаrd during thеіr 9th grаdе уеаr

Eѕtаblіѕh Boundaries аnd Rеѕресt Privacy
High ѕсhооl mеаnѕ nеw frоntіеrѕ socially, аnd уоu might encounter issues wіth уоur child that you hаvеn’t bеfоrе. Iѕѕuеѕ оf peer рrеѕѕurе аѕ well аѕ sex, drugѕ, аnd drinking mау соmе up, and you should be рrераrеd to tаlk tо your сhіld аnd tо еѕtаblіѕh clear boundaries with them. Thеѕе іѕѕuеѕ mіght bе еѕресіаllу реrtіnеnt аrоund сеrtаіn еvеntѕ аt hіgh ѕсhооl, ѕuсh as at football gаmеѕ, hоmесоmіng, or рrоm.

Can Video games Make Kids Smarter?

Jun 17, 2011 By Sharon Feliciano in advice, video games

I’m pretty sure that most gamer parents would answer the question with a “yes”. I’ve posted before about the inherent educational value of Assassin’s Creed (you can read that post here). But I also think that a lot of the other games that Nate plays help with different areas of development. The Portal games teach spatial relations and creative problem solving, all while being hysterically funny and entertaining (even just to watch). Multiplayer war games like Battlefield and Halo encourage working together. I love watching Nate “meet up” with his school friends over XBox Live and work together to kick some enemy butt. Minecraft develops creativity. Really, any game with a goal teaches strategy and persistence. I’m not saying that every game out there is good for your children, and like all things moderation must be practiced. But parents, educators, politicians and researchers who blindly label all video games as “bad” don’t know what they are talking about, as well online games can be very good kids and adults, but the regulations for some of this games have change at https://www.irishcentral.com/business/regulators-casinos-ireland you can find those new regulations.

A new study from the University of Michigan has shown that kids who play a specially designed memory game had long-term benefit to their problem solving skills. The authors are quick to note that the study does not indicate that other, more traditional games would give the same results, but until they do a study to the contrary I’m going to continue letting my child develop his skills using the Xbox.

What’s in a name?

May 22, 2011 By Sharon Feliciano in advice, kids

A recent Twitter post asking “Did you share your baby’s name before birth or did you keep it a secret?” got me thinking about my kids and their “normal” names.

We were prepared for a bit of backlash when we told our nearest and dearest that Nate’s middle would be Oz. What we were NOT expecting were the passionate arguments against giving our child an unusual name. I mean, we were talking a middle name here. The only people who would ever really have to know what it was were Nate himself (ooooh, Himself would make an AWESOME middle name!) and the DMV. Anyway, from the reaction we got you would have thought that were going to name him Bilbo Baggins Feliciano (If that’s your kid’s name, more power to you).

The pleas of “But he’ll get made fun of” and “Are you sure, he’ll be stuck with it forever” began to affect us and there – in the delivery room – we caved. It was decided that he would have a nice “normal” middle name. We named him after my dad and moved on with our lives.

Then came Kitty, whose given name is Catherine. We knew that someday we’d have a girl named Catherine before we even got married. I had a beloved Aunt named Catherine and we felt it was a good, strong name. We were set on her first name but we agonized over her middle. Valentine, after the sensitive sister in Ender’s Game, had always been the top choice with the one caveat being that we wouldn’t name her that if she was born in February, which is when she was due.So that was out. I wanted Danger, so that she could truthfully tell people that Danger was her middle name. SD said that was a great idea…for someone else’s kid. Phoenix was briefly considered, after my favorite X-Men character. Then SD suggested using one of my names (I’m Catholic so, when including my hyphenated confirmation name, I have a lot of them), but I vetoed that. Then I suggested my mother’s maiden name, but that’s the same a male pop singer’s, so that was out. We were getting closer when I suggested my mom’s first name, which sounded great with Catherine, but that was unfair to SD’s mom. So, we figured we’d make everyone happy and give her ALL the names. Catherine Margaret-Jean Phoenix Valentine Lynn Mary-Helen (My maiden Name) Feliciano. We really, truly considered this until a certain relative was nearly brought to tears begging us not to “ruin the baby’s life!”. We shortened it and kept just the two moms’ names and people still give us grief!

Catherine Margaret-Jean Phoenix Valentine Lynn Mary-Helen (Redacted) and Nathan Oz in an alternate reality where their parents aren’t wusses.

To be fair we did sneak some geekery in there. Nathan is the name of a secondary X-Men character (Cable) and Kitty’s nickname was inspired by Kitty Pryde (and she’s just so a Kitty).

Despite all this anxiety and flip-flopping I am happy with their names. It came down to my belief that my kids’ names weren’t the proper place for me to express myself or show off my interests. Their names didn’t really belong to me. I could always change my name to Phoenix if I wanted to and if they grow up and want to change their names, I will support them. Their names suit them, though most people’s names do. I know that a lot of people disagree with me on this, and that’s fine. It would be a boring world if we all stuck with the same ten names, and I love hearing the stories behind unusual names

Did you give your child an unusual name? Or go with something more traditional? Do you have an unusual name? Share your naming stories in the comments below.