Tips for Feeding Preteens

A Preteen is usually defined as being a kid that is between to 10 to 13 years old. The good news is that most kids are just lovely during these years and being naturally active they will eat anything on their plate.

However some preteens might be pickier because they have actually slowed down growing a bit. If the child eats less, it might simply biological. However if there is a lot of emotional drama going on around the food then you might have some problems.

1.
If your child is picky about eating food realize it might be more about you than the food …ego struggles are likely at this age. Patience and non-resistance is key.

2.
Do not be surprised if your child is a binge eater or craves one particular food. As long as it is not an unhealthy food like sugar you should indulge the craving.

3.
Train your child to eat eight servings of antioxidant laden fruit and vegetables a day by eating by color!

4.
Do not be surprised if your preteen starts talking about becoming a vegetarian; this is a 'hot topic' around the first decade of life and should be encouraged as long as your child gets all of the vitamins they need in supplements (especially B12 which is only found in meat.)

5.
Discourage your teen from being an emotional eater; explain how food should not be used to abate extreme feelings or avoid dealing with reality.

6.
Be aware of the signs of anorexia and bulimia and get your pre-adolescent help quickly if you suspect self-image problems; even though these are disorders that are more associated with teenagers they can start a very young age.

7.
Reward your child financially or otherwise somehow if they resist the temptation to eat in the school cafeteria and take a brown bag to lunch

8.
Continue to take your child shopping and encourage him or her to read nutritional labels and try new foods

9.
Encourage your child to cook meals for the family; in some areas of the country you can even send your ten year old to a cooking and nutrition class. Usually these types of classes advertise through a Learning Annex or extended education brochure.

10.
Your child can read and learn from online sources at this point so be sure to take advantage of interactive tools on the internet that might encourage him or her to pay more attention to her health.

Above all be patient, understanding and talk to your kids. Understanding where they are at goes a long way towards helping them develop life-long healthy eating patterns.

Teaching Your Kids Spanish

It's not a bad idea to teach your kids Spanish, especially if you live in the United States. In fact the language outstrips English as the most commonly spoken language in the big urban centers.
When looking for a Spanish course for your child make sure it is organized in a way that will make sure they learn fast. Make sure that they can learn the easy consonants and vowels first. A good course will teach them how to pronounce the more difficult consonants secondly. An effective course will then proceed to go on to teach your child all about greetings, plurals, genders, nouns, adjectives and pronouns. Your child should also be taught how to conjugate verbs and understand the complicated stress and accent marks.
The good news is that most kids learn how to speak Spanish quite quickly as it is quite an easy language to learn. It is not as complicated to get to know as French or English. The most difficult thing about it knows which direction to put accent or stress marks so that you are pronouncing words correctly.
If you need to learn Spanish too you could also go to night school or to your local Learning Annex to learn Spanish. Most high schools and universities also have courses that are labeled Spanish for beginners.
If you want to teach yourself Spanish there are all kinds of programs that you can find online that can help you accomplish this goal. Some of these language programs are available as audio disks and others you can get as MP3s. These teaching programs really do vary in price so it really is worth it to shop around before you buy.
It is also a good idea to read reviews of these language learning products to make sure that they will indeed help you become a fluent speaker. One way to find out if these products are good is to read what other customers have had to say about them. You can find reviews of almost all language teaching programs online.
You might also want to try a cultural immersion program. This is the scenario where you send your kid to another. He or she learns the language simply mingling with the local people. This method of learning a language works really well for younger people.
You and your kids can learn the language by attending the local schools, seeing movies in Spanish and getting a job that forces you to only speak Spanish. The best country to do this in is Spain but there are islands in the Caribbean, such as the Dominican Republic where mainly Spanish is spoken. It's easy to pick this up. You know you have mastered a language when you start thinking in it too.