Many kids are naturally curious about the Earth and taking care of the environment. You can do good green habits as a family. You can make small, simple, easy habit changes that all add up to a more environmentally friendly lifestyle.

Here is 10 ways to teach your kids how to be green:

1. Keep your kids busy with activities that don’t promote consumption or waste: walks on the beach, bike rides to a public playground, bus trips to a museum and regular stops at the public library.
2. Make gardening a family activity. Eating means no gas is required to ship those blue-ribbon tomatoes.Good for you: “Kids with exposure to gardening programs do better on science tests, do better socially and develop a sense of responsibility,” says Charlie Nardozzi, senior horticulturist with the National Gardening Association. “And they develop better eating habits.”
3. Take the green lead. Your children will pick up habits from you, so try to conserve .Your kids learn the most from you. If you would like to see certain traits in your children, then lead by example. Take quick showers - you can use a timer - turn off lights, televisions and appliances when you leave the room, and switch to more efficient light bulbs.
4. Participate in cleanup days at a beach or park. Use those outdoor trash cans! Never litter. Keep our waterways clean. When you visit a park or beach, be sure you deposit your trash in containers and volunteer at some state and national cleanups. Read more

A “positive parent” is a loving, understanding, reasonable and protective teacher and model. Each of these words holds special meaning.
Being a parent can feel like a cross between a prison warden and a traffic cop. We say, “”no”" and “”don’t”" to our kids so often, is it any wonder they say it right back to us?

Here are 10 ways to be a positive parenting in your family:

1. A positive parent is loving. Give Unconditional Love.
Research clearly shows that parents must be warm and nurturing, and show unconditional love for their children to flourish. This kind of love is based on listening for and responding sensitively to each child has needs and showing empathy with and respect for each child.

2. A positive parent set consistent limits. Be clear and consistent when disciplining your child. Model the behavior that you expect from him. He or she sets and communicates clear limits and expectations and constructs consequences for irresponsible behaviour that are natural and reasonable, but not punitive. A positive parent is reasonable when she or he sets and communicates clear limits and expectations .

3. A positive parent is a perfect model. Infants and young children are imitators, frequently looking to their parents for guidance in how to handle life’s challenges. To be a perfect model, parents must know themselves, regarding their emotions, values and beliefs, and how they appear to others in the family, on the job and in their community. Read more

How do you choose the best school for your child? School choice options available to parents have increased dramatically in recent years.
Think about your child’s needs and your family’s needs and wants. Consider the personality of your child. A quiet child might fare better in a smaller school or a school with small class size. If you have a budding artiste or scientist, you will want to look for a school that has programs in these areas. Is it important to you that your school be close to home or your place of work? On the other hand, will you need a school with before and after-school care? Check out the following post for ideas on what to consider:

Neighborhood School
Normally, your first option is your neighborhood school. Each public school district sets up its own rules and boundaries for each school in the district, so it is best to check with your local district to find out which school your child will be assigned to, and what the rules are for attending charter schools, magnet schools, or other schools within or outside your local district.

Charter Schools
Charter schools are public schools of choice that operate with freedom from many of the local and state regulations that apply to traditional public schools. Charter schools allow parents, community leaders, educational entrepreneurs, and others the flexibility to innovate, create and provide students with increased educational options. Charter schools exercise increased autonomy in return for stronger accountability. They are sponsored by designated local, state, or other organizations that monitor their quality and integrity while holding them accountable for academic results and fiscal practices. Read more

Motivation is not only essential for adults, but also for children.
What they learn as children will have a huge impact on the rest of their lives.
There is no magic formula for motivating children but there are some lessons that have been shown to be effective:

• 1. Set right expectations. Expect your child to succeed, and her chances for success improve greatly. Expect her to come up short, and the odds are that she will. Children are usually keenly aware of how their parents view them, and they often tailor their actions to those views. So it’s very important to have high expectations—and communicate them to your child. It is equally important to base your expectations on your child as an individual who has strengths and weaknesses like all individuals.

• 2. Lead by example. Your kids learn the most from you. If you would like to see certain traits in your children, then lead by example. If you would like them to be motivated and excited about things, do the same. If you would like your children to use goals, you too should use goals in your daily life.

• 3. Encourage him to express his opinion, talk about his feelings, and make choices. He can pick out a side dish to go with dinner and select his own extracurricular activities. Ask for his input on family decisions, and show that you value it. He will be more likely to engage with the material he studies if he is comfortable asking questions and drawing his own conclusions. Read more

You should never start your day without eating a healthy power breakfast. If you go the entire morning without eating, then when it comes moment to eat lunch your more likely to over eat to compensate for the extra hunger. For the reason that your metabolism has not been given a kick-start by not eating breakfast, this means that you are also more likely to not burn those calories.

As a result, you want to make sure and eat breakfast every morning. The following is a list of breakfast ideas and tips to help ensure that you don not skip the most important meal of the day ever again:

• - Plan breakfast. The time to think about what is for breakfast is not the moment you are about to make a mad dash out the door. Stock up on easy, flavorful, healthy foods that are quick to fix. Put breakfast foods within easy reach, so they are accessible for even the youngest-and shortest-members of the family.

• - Make breakfast a regular, non-negotiable part of everyone’s morning routine. Set aside a specific block of time and resist the temptation to keep hitting that snooze button!

• - Eat mindfully - sit to eat - even for five minutes - and try to focus only on enjoying your meal, savoring the flavors and aromas. “If you’re eating while rushing around — getting yourself or your kids ready for the day — you won’t really feel like you’ve had a meal,” says Lisa R. Young, Ph.D., R.D., adjunct assistant professor of nutrition, food studies, and public health at New York University and author of “The Portion Teller.” When you get to the office and see doughnuts, you will feel like you have already eaten. Read more

Starting your day on a positive trend is one of the most important things you can do. Your morning sets the tone for your day and a simple, effective morning routine can make all the difference. If you begin the day badly they will continue on the same way. Here are some ideas & tips for a stress-free start to a day:

1. Organize for tomorrow today -Before go to sleep each night, ask yourself what you will need for a great morning. The answers to this question are varied, but it is an important starting point. Go ahead and get your coffee maker ready to go. Lay out all your clothes, shaving materials and any other items used to get ready. Have all of your everyday type things lying where you will use them, and you start your day off right. Do the same for your kids.
2. Sleepyheaded child: A tired child in the morning is often a sign of too late a bedtime the night before. Check yours childs are getting enough sleep and limit their use of televisions, PCs, and music in their bedroom if they’re not. As a rule of thumb, a three-year-old needs 11 hours sleep each night, a nine-year-old 10 hours and a fourteen-year-old 9 hours.
3. Set your clocks ahead: Having your clocks and watches set 5 to 10 minutes ahead can keep you on schedule. Read more