News

Berkeley-Albany YMCA Quarterly Newsletter

Fall 2008

Parents have an important role in the social development of their children as they grow and become more independent. Common types of parental support include having conversations with your child, providing transportation to help them get to their scheduled activities or play dates, and inviting their friends over for sleepovers and helping them to prepare things for them to do. New York University’s Child Study Center offers these additional guidelines for parents and mentors:

Get to know your child’s friends. Whether you offer to provide rides for your child and his friends or take them out to dinner, these interactions allow you the chance to better know your child’s friends. While you don’t want to become a member of the group, that doesn’t mean you should be a stranger!

Be a joiner — encourage your child to participate in school groups or sports teams. It can be hard to create friendships with classmates because they may not have the same interests or personalities. Joining clubs and teams helps your child explore a variety of social settings and discover new friends.
Be a role model. Use your own family as a model for relationships and social development. The interactions in healthy relationships between parents, children, and siblings help teach important lessons that children can learn from. By role modeling how to deal with arguments and other events in a positive way, your children are better prepared to deal with their own situations.
Be a good listener. Listen to everything your child has to say.This is a great way to learn about your child and shows them that you really understand them. Let them express their complaints and feelings first before offering your advice or support.
Encourage your child’s efforts. Let your child know when you see them treating someone well or interacting appropriately in a social situation. Your repeated acknowledgements reinforce the positive behaviors you are teaching your child!

Healthy Family Home is a community partnership with the YMCA to help families improve their home environment and jumpstart healthy habits that will lead to a healthier way of living. Are you ready to get your family more active and healthy? Visit the Healthy Family Home website at http://www.healthyfamilyhome.org/ to download the Starter Kit. This Starter Kit provides activities and ideas for grown-ups and kids including how to set family goals, planning weekly family huddles, and how to track weekly progress. You can start tracking today with the tracking sheet above. Use the tips we have provided throughout this newsletter to add to your family’s goals.

Use the tracking poster to log how much time you spend together each day. Follow these steps tobegin tracking what you do:

Have everyone in the family identify a healthy-habit goal.
Remember that everyone needs to be involved to make healthy family habits successful.
Display your tracking poster on the fridge or in another common area. Reward the family when new habits are achieved. Write down rewards ahead of time for motivation.
Use stickers or colored markers to mark each day of the week a family member practices the healthy habits.

Continue creating new goals and updating habits each week to continue working toward a healthierfamily and home environment.

Improve Your Social Life, Improve Your Mind

Start talking! Research has shown that having a good conversation can improve your cognitive ability. Speaking with others activates the area in the brain that regulates memory and attention. The next time you are at the YMCA consider a whole body workout — challenge your body and muscles in the fitness center and work your mind and spirit in the locker room or lobby. Consider saying, “Hi,” to someone new and start a conversation!