More Information

Tag Archives | Fathers

Is There Such a Thing as a Perfect Parent?

Parenting isn't PerfectFor the parents out there, have you ever stop and said: “Wow, I’m a heck of a parent,” or do you often find yourself questioning your parenting skills?

It seems as if parenting and guilt were cut from the same fabric . . “I should spend more time with my son, I shouldn’t be so rough with my little girl, I wish I can give them more, I didn’t had to yell at them, I totally forgot about soccer practice… and the list goes on…”

The reality is, nothing in this world is perfect and no matter how much you search for it, there is no single guidebook on how to raise kids. Parenting techniques and approaches vary from culture to culture and parent to parent. Each parent has a different journey. I put together a few things I learned from my parent’s parenting techniques:

Positive Parenting

“Yes, you can!,” although it sounds like a political slogan, these were the words of my mother. As cliche as that might sound, parents’ words can make all the difference. Ms. Fatima highlighted my strengths, complemented my talents, and encouraged my projects. As children grow into early childhood, their world will begin to open up. They will begin to explore and ask lots of questions. Their interactions with family and those around them will help to shape their personality. For that reason, is important to be positive. My father, for example, has always told me life is all about perspective. I remember being five the first time he spoke about the glass being half full or half empty. We all know the answer, of course. The optimist parent would say the glass is half full.

Discipline Consistency

As much as I love Full House and the rest of squeaky clean family shows like Seven Heaven and The Brady Bunch, real families don’t work this way. Not everything is fixed with a hug and not all children listen after being scolded. Every so often you’re bound to break your own rules, especially when they are little and adorable, but discipline consistency is key. Both of my parents have always agreed on what was allowable and forbidden. Simple things as bedtimes, diets, videogame regimen, homework routines, language choices, etc. For example, until this day I can’t seem to say the phrase, “I hate.” It was a bad word in my house. Make sure to be clear and consistent when disciplining your child. Even for separated parents, agreeing on manners, behavior, and discipline styles will avoid confusion for the children. Explain and display the behavior that you expect from them.

Now going back to the question: Is There Such a Thing as a Perfect Parent?

There is no such an alien among us. Who ever says they are a perfect parent is delusional or in denial. Ms. Fatima always says: Parenthood is what you make it, so come as you are, grab your babies and make the journey a special one. The years fly and before you know it, they’ll be taking care of you.

For more information about Hollywood Learning Centers, please call (954) 922-8558 and for more articles like this one, subscribe to our blog!

Continue Reading

The Me! Me! Me! Epidemic Among Children

Hollywood Learning

Drivers cutting in front of you in traffic, people closing the door behind them on your face, millennials stepping on you while chasing Pokemons, teenagers taking selfies on your face, preschoolers pushing classmates to be first in line, toddlers making fits at the grocery store for treats. I mean, I can go on and on, but I’m sure I made my point.

Does it sound familiar? Individualistic, self-centered, self-absorbed, selfie snapchatters, call it what you want, I call it : Me! Me! Me! I even have a theme song for every time I witness this behavior, whether they are young or old, familiar or strangers.

I actually came to terms with this epidemic a few years ago while attending a live speech about “Happiness,” by the Dalai Lamas. He spoke about the difference between community-oriented societies and individualistic cultures. There, I learned that individualism is the belief that one’s personal needs are more important than the needs of a society as a whole. You might think, that sounds like the millennial generations, but research suggest individualistic behaviors began at the turn of the 20th century with the Baby Boomers born after WWII.

It is no secret, we live in an self-centered society. The minute I left the Dalai Lamas’ speech, my friends and I took the train back to our hotel. While on the train, a gentleman sat right next to one my friends, he took his coat off and slapped my friend right on the face when he opened his newspaper. We all laughed and ever since that day, I began detecting this sort of narcissistic behavior.

How do we stop it? How do we raise our children not to grow up to be individualistic, self-centered, self-absorbed, selfie snapchatters narcissist? Well, I’m no expert on the Me-Me-Me syndrome, but one thing is for sure, acknowledging this epidemic is a good start. The man sitting on the train, most likely didn’t noticed my friend, neither did the guy cutting in front of me in traffic, or the woman who closed the door on my face at the bank, but that doesn’t make it “okay.”

We have to teach our children to:

1) Be Aware of Our Surroundings

This includes the people, animals and plants. To be aware of others teaches us to be compassionate, empathetic, welcoming and accepting. All these practices can help them deviate from self-centered and me-me-me tendencies.

2) Serve as an Example

As parents, we can prevent or decrease this behavior in our children by serving as an example. Let’s do the exact opposite of the me-me-me behavior and let’s teach our children how to be giving, kind, and patient. Next time you are driving, let others by  patiently, wait for the person behind you before closing the door, give something away to charity every time you receive a gift. The ideas are countless and the impact measureless.

3) Ignore the Me-Me-Me Siren

Another thing parents can do, or avoid doing, is not always jumping every time the me-me-me siren goes off. Remember, children will go as far as you allow them and as much as we want to spoil them, we have to keep a balance routine for their sake, ours and society’s.

4) Me-Me-Me, Sing it!

You can make a song, a poem, a rhyme or a keyword to use it around your children every time they are displaying this kind of egocentric behavior. They will know what they are doing and either stop or laugh, but acknowledgement is the first step.

If you are curious to see if you or someone around you could have this Me-Me-Me syndrome, click here for a quick test (narcissistic personality inventory (NPI).

If you need to hear the me-me-me song, ask Ms. Fatima to sing it to you. I have sang it to her on a few occasions when necessary. For more blogs like this one, subscribe to Hollywood Learning’s blog!

Continue Reading

What Can We Teach Our Children While Making a Lemonade this Summer!

Lemonade Post

Lemonade has always been a classic summer drink. I mean, who can really say “no” to this cool and refreshing flavor? Yet, today’s article is not just about making a lemonade, but more on what else can we teach our children when preparing a yummy lemonade.

Budgeting yours Expenses

Any great projects begins with putting all the pieces together. After planning how many people will drink the lemonade (family, friends, party attendees), take a few minutes to make a budget. Encourage your children to brainstorm the supplies needed (lemonade, ice, sugar) and go over the recipe to see how much each of these items they will need. Help them narrow down an approximate cost. Provide the approximate total and take them to the grocery store. Teach them how to compare prices and how to buy the supplies based on their budget, just how we do it in real life.

Putting the Pieces Together

After having all the ingredients, get right to it. For this lemonade, you can use Hollywood Learning Center’s recipe:

  • 10 Cups of Water
  • 10 to 12 Lemons
  • 3 Cups of Brown Sugar
  • 2 Tablespoon of Organic Honey (Our secret ingredient)
  • 2 Trays of Ice Cubes

Since recipes usually focus on certain servings, use this time to go over portions and fractions when doubling or dividing the recipe to fulfill your family’s needs. For instance, our recipe is for a large group of 10 children. If you family consist of 5 members, help your children figure out how much of the ingredients they would need.

The Importance of Safety

Teaching our children about safety from young creates well-aware adults. Starting with the lemons, make sure they remove the seeds to avoid anyone from swallowing them and growing lemons on their tummies. Also, depending on their age, teach them to use a knife carefully.

As far as water goes, some lemonades are prepared with cold water and others are prepared on the stove in order to dissolve the sugar. When using the stove, make sure to teach your children that they won’t use one until they are 18. Okay, I might be exaggerating, but you know what I mean. Another safety tip you can throw in there is the importance of watching our sugar intake. Diabetes is one of the most common diseases in school-aged children.

Last, but not least, let’s not forget the one of the most important lesson, have fun and sharing is caring! You have all summer to enjoy and indulge the many teachings that can come from a simple lemonade project.

If you like the post, subscribe to our blog: Parent Survival Guide.

Continue Reading

How To Teach Your Child a Second Language in a Bilingual Casa

How to teach children a second languageHello! Hola! Salut! Ciao! Oi! Здравствуй! Raise your hand if you’re bilingual, trilingual, or multilingual.

Living in South Florida makes this topic very close to casa. Most of us come from other countries and hope and pray our children learn our ancestors’ roots and native language, but this is easier said than done.

Research has proven the many benefits associated with speaking more than one language and the younger the child learns, the better! For that reason, Hollywood Learning Centers , a Ministry of First Presbyterian Church put together a quick list on how to teach your child a second language in a bilingual home.

1. SPEAK, THEY WILL REPEAT

Toddlers and preschoolers are in that age where they’re just getting acquainted with their social vocabulary. As you know, we have to be careful with what we say because they repeat everything they hear. “Kids this age are developing language skills rapidly, and they quickly absorb whatever they hear,” says Erika Levy, Ph.D., assistant professor of speech and language pathology at Columbia University. Why not start with one word here and there? They will either catch the meaning with context clues or they will ask, like they often do, “what does that mean?” Remember, the earlier you introduce a second language, the easier it will be for your child to pick up its unique sounds.

2. APPEALING TO THEIR SENSES

Come on! Vamonos! Everybody, let’s go! Yes, Dora the Explorer is one of the many programmings kids can watch to learn a second language. Find a show or radio station, play a song, or read a book in your native language so they can familiarize with the sounds, words, and phrases. Nowadays, there are even toys and apps you can download. Sooner or later, they will catch o

3. SUBMERSION

In my house, for example, we weren’t allowed to speak English, because Mom (Ms. Fatima, Director of Hollywood Learning Center) thought we got enough English at school. So every time my sister and I will speak English to each other, she will interrupt us and say: Spanish! Or when we used to speak to Mom in English, she will literally pretend she didn’t understand. However, submersion is most effective when you take your children to the native language region for longer than just a few days. Want your children learning a second language ? Choose their next summer vacations wisely.

4. FORMAL CLASSES IN SCHOOL / ACADEMY

Learning at home can be frustrating. If you rather do formal classes in their preschool or an academy, make sure your child doesn’t see it as a must, but as a fun experience. Get involved in the process and reinforce the instructor’s material with them so they learn it fast. Our Hollywood Learning Center offers Spanish Classes Monday through Thursday. For more information, please don’t hesitate to call Ms. Rebecca at 954- 922-8558.

Continue Reading

Introducing : A Parenting Survival Guide

It's time to fly away

We’re very excited for this one!

In a nutshell, First Presbyterian Learning Centers has been around for more than 30 years. Recently, we jumped on the social media trend and realized we actually have a cool following of busy mommies and daddies super heroes.

First Presbyterian Learning Center’s Director, Ms. Fatima Marin, wanted to share her experience as a mother and educator through the voice of her oldest daughter, Fatima Zimichi, a writer and aspiring mother.

Through First Presbyterian Learning Centers’ blog, Parenting Survival Guide, we will celebrate parenthood and strive to provide healthy, simple and unconventional ways to survive parenthood.

We understand parenthood can be difficult and some days we feel like we can do better. What we want to share through this blog is that mothers, fathers, guardians, step mommies and daddies around the world are not  alone. We have a community of families that go through similar scenarios,  a God that has given us this role and believes in us, and now a sweet little blog to guide us step by step.

We want to make sure the blog is friendly, resourceful and fun. We want our readers to feel like they are our neighborhood friends, coming over with their kids to have a cup of tea.

You can experience some of Ms. Fatima’s and the rest of the First Presbyterian team’s anecdotes, home remedies, parental tips, home-made projects and other creative and fun activities parents will love.

Stay tune and feel free to share among your mommy and daddy friends.

Continue Reading