From August 2012

Dads’ Interactions with Babies Predicts Toddler Behaviour

There have been a number of studies over the last 20 years showing the benefits of father involvement – the presence of a dad or other significant male figure in children’s lives – and the lifetime impact that has. Having a positive dad or male in a child’s life is linked to better school readiness, social and emotional competence, empathy and better lifelong health. Studies have also shown that lack of father involvement is a major risk factor that can lead to delinquency, depression and early involvement in substance abuse and sex.

*The Effects of Father Involvement: An Updated Research Summary of the Evidence Inventory© Centre for Families, Work & Well-Being, University of Guelph 2007
A new British study in the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry shows a connection with the quality of father-child interactions at 3 months of age, and behaviour concerns at 1 year and later. The researchers looked at the fathers’ engagement, sensitivity and responsiveness with their infants, scored on standard scales, then at the child’s behaviour at 1 year of age through a questionnaire their parents completed. The parents rated their kids on externalizing behaviours such as aggression, being oppositional, being overactive and others.  

   Read more

(Source: www.bccf.ca)  

 

Creating a Healthy Home Environment for Kids

The Canadian Partnership for Children’s Health and Environment’s website has great tips, fact sheets and videos to help parents create a healthier home environment for kids. Some highlighted environmental topics are “Go green when you clean”, which suggests avoiding non-toxic cleaning products, and “Get drastic with plastic”, which recommends steering clear of storing food in plastic containers, and instead using glass or ceramic containers. This useful website can be found here. 

 (source: www.firstcallbc.org)

 

Summer Family Fun Highlights this weekend…

The Muppets Outdoor Movie! Fresh-faced Amy Adams stars in the most recent of the Muppet movies. Friday Aug 24th, 8:30pm at Queen’s Park Stadium. Cash-only concession on site.

Don’t forget to check the Kids New West Calendar for other fun summer activities! This weekend there are free swims, free skates, and Los Tambaros performing at the Queens Park Bandshell…http://kidsnewwest.ca/news/events/

Summer Activity Challenge Ballots-Return for Prizes by September 9th

Many New West families have been enjoying the Kids New West Summer Activity Calendar again this year. If you haven’t seen it yet, read it here: Kids New West Summer Activity Guide 2012

New this year! The Summer Activity Challenge. Families who’ve been having fun together and keeping active this summer, can submit a ballot to win great prizes, including gift certificates for recreation classes, family games, and some great fall reading. .. It’s easy! Just drop off a slip with parent’s name, children’s ages, and your contact information by Sept. 9th, to Centennial Community Centre, the Queens Park Arenex, Queensborough Community Centre, or the Children’s Department at the New West Public Library. For more details, see the first page of the KNW Summer Calendar. Winners will be contacted by September 14th.

Bullying on the Rise for Girls, Decreasing for Boys

Efforts to combat school-aged bullying in Canada may be working – for boys.  

 Girls, on the other hand, are experiencing an increase in the amount they are bullied, and finding it more difficult to cope with everyday psychological stressors. Unfortunately, the gap in numbers continues to grow between boys and girls on all sorts of measures of health and well-being.  

 According to the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health’s Ontario Student Drug Use and Health Survey, which sampled 9,288 students in grades 7 through 12 in Ontario, found that, increasingly, more girls than boys are facing school bullying (31% vs. 26%). The survey also determined that the most prevalent form of bullying in schools is by verbal attack, with 25% of students reporting that they had been bullied in this manner. Additionally, 1 in 5 students who participated in the survey reported that they had been bullied over the internet in the past 12 months, and girls were nearly twice as likely as boys to be bullied in this way (28% vs. 15%).  

 So why is it that boys are bullying less and girls are bullying and getting bullied more? It has been suggested that because girls tend to engage in more verbal and relational bullying, that texting and social networking allows them to bully via relational aggression on a bigger scale. Another consideration is that many bullying prevention programs have focused on preventing the bullying style most commonly used by boys, that is — one-on-one, physically aggressive bullying. But, according to the survey, bullying isn’t the only thing that has become increasingly bad for girls.  

 Read more 

(Source: www.bccf.ca)

Networking Session for Parents of People with FASD Sept 27th

Please come to the The APP FASD (Adoptive Parents of People with FASD) Society “Networking” evening on Thursday September 27th at 6:30 PM at the Children’s Foundation in Vancouver.  The theme of the evening is “Lobbying” and the speaker is Al Etmansky, President and Co-Founder of PLAN, (Planned Lifetime Advocacy Network).  Al’s blog:  www.aletmanski.com

More information www.appfasd.org or  RSVP by September 14 to info@appfasd.org.  We look forward to seeing you then.

12th Street Music Festival

Come out and enjoy the 12th Street Music Festival on Sunday August 5 from 11am to 4pm. Highlights include live music, kids zone, street dancing, and great entertainment. If you crave moving and grooving to blues, jazz, country and alternative, then this festival carries a tune or two for you. No festival experience is complete without food and fun, so bring the family, your appetite and your fun-loving selves. More information: www.newweba.ca