Expansion of Idea - Laughter is the Best Medicine - 2

In today's world, where anxiety and stress tend to rule over us, laughter is the only thing that can help us stay put. Considered as a good agent of relaxation, laughter works as a real stress-buster, as it releases positive energy within. We live in a mechanized world where we have no time to entertain and socialize with people. And hence laughter comes out as the only solution to lighten our moods and relax us a bit, so that we get ready to await our next challenge.

Laughter clubs are seen established throughout the city. We find people coming together in gardens early morning to spend some quality time laughing out and reliving stress. Usually old people are found in larger groups creating their own laughter club in gardens. By laughing out loud they forget the drudgery of life, their old age problems and the pain. Instead of taking anti-depressants, people are getting more and more involved in the favorable effects of laughter. As compared to anti-depressants which can leave you with loads of side effects, laughter brings with it pure pleasure and fun.

Cracking jokes makes us laugh, which in turn stimulates our body and improves blood circulation. Laughing also brings glow to our face and provides an excellent exercise for our facial muscles. So next time you get hit by an anxiety attack, laugh it out and feel the difference. Not only laughter will leave you refreshed but it will boost new vigor and enthusiasm in your dull and boring life. 

Why Do Our Hands and Feet Go Numb?

Very often we experiences our hands and feet go numb. This usually happens when we sit in certain position for a long time or even when our hand or feet is folded for a long time. Once you change your sitting position or stand and relax you legs, give a rub to the numbed portion or pinch it, the tingling sensation within your numbed part slowly recedes and you body regains normalcy.  This numbness is usually temporary and diminishes after a while, but in certain instances, such numbness could become permanent.

What Causes Numbness

While sleeping many of us are in the habit of placing their arms under their head. When we do so the nerve signals are blocked as the pressure is applied on nerves. Same is the case when you cross your legs or fold them into sitting position for a long time. In such cases the body part resumes normalcy as soon as you rub your hand for a while or change the position. But it is not just the position that could block the nerve cells, it could also be some diseases such as kidney failure, diabetes, and vitamin deficiency or a damage due to some accident that could cause to block the nerve cells and stop the blood circulation. Few other reasons could include alcoholism, infections and autoimmune diseases such as Lupus and paralysis.

However the tingling sensation that you experience within your hands or feet may be followed by severe pain. Such a condition where the nerves are distantly blocked right from the part of the body that experiences numbness up to the brain is known as Peripheral Neuropathy. In this condition nerves are blocked distantly right from the brain throughout the spinal chord upto the hand or feet. In such cases a person may find it difficult to feel anything in his hands or legs and the numbness could overpower his sensations.

Numbness which is temporary usually disappears in no time. But certain numbness that has caused due to nerve damage or other diseases need medical evaluation. Medical field has solutions to regenerate the ability of peripheral nerve cells to overcome numbness as long as the nerve cells are not completely destroyed. 

The Power of Being Yourself - How Can You Make A Difference

History is the proof that one person can change, create or destroy the world if he wishes to. If a person has an insight of what he wants to be in life and if he has the will and determination then there is nothing that can stop him from achieving his goals. A single individual does have a redoubtable power to accomplish his goals all by himself without worrying about the hurdles that would be placed in front of him. The realization of dream and the determination to achieve it can make a real difference to not just to one but to the society at large. Thus just by being oneself a person can really make a difference to people around him. In today's world, children seem to think more about bringing such changes within the society. Nowadays we see children wondering about how can they make the difference in the society. They have more to offer to the people around them, as they are young, strong-willed and determined.

History in itself has examples of several such individuals who had made a difference within the society single-handedly. People like Mahatma Gandhi and Gautam Buddha have managed to contribute remarkably to the society all alone by just being themselves. Their ideas and opinions were such that everyone had to accept and walk with them. And they are not just all, there are many such individuals who, just by being themselves and with their determination managed to make a difference to the destiny of an entire nation.

Making a Difference by Contributing to the Society

Once a child is determined to achieve his goals, then age of this individual does not matter at all. Determination within yourself helps to undertake a noteworthy change in not just your life but also on the life of others around you. Even a child can carry on tasks, if he wishes to contribute to the society. If the goal that you plan to achieve is to contribute within the society by making significant involvement, no matter small or big, then you can do so by undertaking simple tasks around you. Such simple tasks would include certain activities that you would wish to undertake depending upon how you wish to contribute to the society. Few of these tasks could include:

1. Visit to an old age home and spending quality time with old and abandoned people. You can read to them, write letters for them, help them with some of their daily chores, participate in activities along with them such as gardening or reading, playing indoor games such as chess.

2. Visit orphanage and spend time with children who are less fortunate that us. You can distribute books, pens, pencils, drawing materials etc, read to them or play with them.

3. Visit Special schools and take care of specially challenged children.

4. Just lend out a helping hand to someone in need. It could be a kid next door, who needs help with homework or some craft activity or an elderly neighbor who needs to get some medicines from pharmacy.

5. Help your parents to carry on some household chores.

6. Teach kids of nearby slums or even giving tution to your maid's child.

7. Register with a NGO and volunteer for activities which spark your interest such as help in collecting old clothes, donations, toys, books etc.

Making a Difference by Contributing Towards Nature

If the goal that you plan to achieve is to contribute towards nature, then you can make significant involvement towards activities which help restore or balance the nature. Such activities could include:

1. Being considerate towards animals and creating awareness of such.

2. Create awareness among people about environmental degradation and explain them how use of plastic bags could harm the nature.

3. Helping people understand the importance of tree plantation.

4. Encouraging children from the society to join you in plantation drive within the society premises.

5. Create awareness among people and your friends about the importance of saving electricity.

6. Help people understand the importance of saving water.

7. Encouraging children from your society to join you in cleanliness drive.

8. Create awareness among people about importance of recycling paper, cans and plastic bottles.

9. Register with a NGO and volunteer for animal shelter or nature care activities.

However it does not mean that you should spend your entire time towards reaching your goals. A small step at a time should be sufficient too. Starting slow and carrying on until you get the hold of it on how you wish to continue towards achieving your goals is important.

Once you take a first step alone, you will realize that one can single-handedly carry on to make a difference in lives of people, at least few of those around you. The satisfaction that you would get by doing something you enjoy doing most  and the positive effect it would have on lives of others will make your life meaningful. Even teaching your maid's child and seeing him learn something he otherwise would not have will provide you enough encouragement to go on. That would be your first step towards Victory. And finally remember that no one else is going to help you achieve your dreams, you have to use the power of being yourself to bring that change you wish to see for the betterment of the society or the world in large. 

Importance of Reading Aloud

My 15 year old son still wants me to read a story for him before he goes to sleep. And if I am tired and exactly not into the mood to read anything in particular for him, then he makes it a point to read aloud to me, anything maybe a funny article which would bring some smile back to my face and help me forget the stress I faced throughout the day. Though nowadays we don't very often get to enjoy this reading aloud activity much, yet we try to at least once or twice a week, depending on the amount of time we can manage to steal from our busy schedules. He needs this time as much as I do to unwind himself, as we have over the years found out that the reading aloud sessions can be much engaging. Once we start to read aloud, we make it a point to discuss about new word and theories that we come across. And over the years, I have never been ashamed to confess over to him, if I wasn't aware of the meaning of certain words or theories. It is just not necessary that a parent has to know everything, we are parents not super robots! Once we come upon some word that we don't know of, we just grab dictionary and search for the word or if it is a theory we google it. Over the years, we have discovered that the read aloud sessions we engage in also help us to forget about stressful day we faced and end up with something new in our heads which can really be de-stressing.

Reading plays an vital role in developing a child's vocabulary and personality.  Importance of Reading could only to made aware to children by their parents. But sometimes  a child can have problem with reading and understanding words. And this is where reading aloud can really be helpful. Reading is known to improve learning skills of a child but reading aloud can help a child to build confidence and beat the problem of understanding words. With regular practice of reading aloud a child can gain confidence and be fluent in language. One of the most important parenting tip for every parent is to encourage their children to read aloud. And this has to be started right from the young age, when a child practices to read. It is said that a good habit developed at very young age sticks by for a long time and can really prove to be helpful.  Thus making a child read aloud is one of the foundation stone a parent lays as child's first step towards success.

Importance of Reading Aloud

Reading aloud helps a child in lot ways than one could imagine.And the benefits of reading aloud helps your child in long run and it has an important contribution in shaping up his personality as it enhances his language skills, listening skills and learning skills.

Reading Aloud Improves Pronunciation

A regular dose of reading aloud not only improves learning but it also helps to improve pronunciation. If reading aloud is practiced daily by a child, he easily gets hang of the words which he had problem with pronunciation at an early stage. Improvement in pronunciation in turn helps in the development of speech and also improves writing skill.

Reading Aloud Improves Listening Skills

When a child reads aloud, he gets to hear his own voice which helps him to improve his listening skills and also helps him to understand what he is reading. I a parent is reading aloud for a child, a child focuses his attention on the parent and thus his mind learns to focus well without being distracted.

Reading Aloud Improves Writing Skills

The development and improvement of a spelling totally depends upon a child's perception towards a phonic sound and this is where the habit of reading aloud comes into the picture. Reading aloud helps a child to listen to the phonic sound a word makes, to detect the phonic syllables and to visually connect the letters together to form a word. Thus the spelling awareness is boosted. This whole process in turn, helps to improve your child's writing skills.

Reading Aloud Helps to Connect with Books

Reading aloud helps a child to build a positive connection with the books. The basic things which connect a child to a book like how to choose a book, how to hold them while reading, bookmarking, connecting the pictures with the words  and taking care of books are understood by the children. This connection helps a child to explore the path which helps him or her to discover new words, new writing skills and a whole new adventure.

Reading Aloud Helps in Strong Vocabulary Building

With constant reading aloud practice, a child is exposed to new letters, words, sentences, grammatical adaptation and phonic syllables, which helps in building strong vocabulary. Introduction of new words, their meanings and synonyms adds up to his mental database or library of words. This can definitely help a child in language skills and to achieve good grades in theoretical writing.

Reading Aloud Helps a Child to Explore New Ideas

When a child gets into the habit of reading aloud a story, his brain tries to be perceptive by understanding the way a story is about to develop. A child's brain thus works it's way on how the story may end using it's imagination. This helps the child to explore new ideas, to fetch his curiosity and help the brain development by allowing it to work to fullest potential.

Reading Aloud Promotes Fluent Reading

If a child is encouraged by his parents and teachers to read aloud right from his early age, then this habit can help a child with language development and thus build a strong foundation in overall language skills. Early speech problems such as stuttering or stammering can also be resolved by the habit of reading aloud. Even if a child may start slow with the reading aloud process, constant practice would definitely help him to be a fluent reader. This fluency in reading would be developed only by regular practice and a child would achieve great results.

Reading Aloud Helps a Child to Cope with Stress

A small read aloud session before going to bed can help a child to cope up with stress and anxiety, as it completely works as a distraction from the stressful scenario and helps a child to engage in something which can make him relax and get a good sleep.

Reading Aloud - Wonderful Way of Engaging in Quality Time with Children

In today's fast paced world, parents hardly get to spend quality time with children. Hence some reading aloud session not only guarantees quality time with children but also ensures that the time spent with them is engaging and constructive. Parents also get to understand their child's weaknesses and improvement pertaining to  the language and help them develop vocabulary building. A child surely is encouraged in a positive way, if his parents actively participate and engage in the reading aloud sessions.

Top Ten Reading Aloud Tips

Here are few reading aloud tips and strategies that can help you with parenting and to get started with your child in terms of development of skills and language.

1. It is advisable to start the reading aloud sessions for a child from an early age. Start with picture books and phonic sounds. Make the child read the word and study the picture, this way he learns to develop connection with words.

2. Story telling sessions by parents for younger kids work as a foundation stone for reading aloud sessions.

3. Reading aloud practice starts with you reading aloud to your child.

4. In the early stage of reading aloud session, start with you reading a sentence aloud first and making your child repeat it after you.

5. Making use of phonic sound and phonic syllables can be really helpful for better understanding of words for a child.

6. If your child finds it difficult to read out a sentence, then reading in chorus can help him improve.

7. Once a child gets better with the reading aloud technique, challenge him with new books, which are little more complex than the previous ones.

8. Make it a point to read the story in a grammatical way, like pausing and continuing if there is a comma or a full stop. Try and show excitement on exclamations and include a sigh at sad parts of the story.

9. Reading aloud sessions should be followed by the idea of speaking aloud your ideas and opinion about the passage. It is where you discuss out on the certain idea of the passage where a child can learn in-depth new words, concepts and new theories.

10. A parent or a teacher needs to be patient with a child during a read aloud session. Sometimes a child may have doubts of his own surrounding to a particular idea or an ending of a story. He may have several questions regarding it. A parent can encourage a child to come up with his or her own version of ending. His or her efforts should be appreciated and the doubts surrounding a particular idea should be resolved. 

Why Does a Child Lose his Baby Teeth

Baby teeth also know as milk teeth are lost by children between six to eight years of age. A child loses his baby teeth to make space for the permanent teeth. The baby teeth plays a major role in guiding the permanent teeth into its perfect position in the jaw. Hence as soon as a baby tooth falls, the permanent tooth makes its way to its position by pushing through the gum.

What are Lahars

Known to be one of the greatest volcanic hazards, lahars are the flow of debris or mudflow that are usually seen on slopes of a hill. Lahar consists of debris which may include rock fragments and water. The water content is usually high in lahar, and hence causes the debris flow. Lahar can be triggered by various causes. These causes that trigger lahar include -

1. Rainstorms which can cause debris of fragmented rock or mud to mix with flowing water.

2. Due to collapse of a debris dam or a landslide dam which may lead to catastrophic spillage.

3. Volcanic eruptions or volcanic landslides which may generate a debris flow of lava fragments, superheated gases and hot ash.

4. Avalanche which may cause a debris flow of water laden mud, soil, ice fragments and rock fragments.

Source - Google

Lahars travel at great speed up to 50 miles per hour. Since they travel downslope with great force, lahars can be considered to be one of the greatest hazards to life and property. Lahars are known to wipe out building, trees, roads, bridges, vehicles and barriers, since they travel at such great speed.

Few methods which are used to avoid major damage by lahar includes -

- Building of concrete structure.

- Detouring a lahar by constructing retention basins for collecting the mudflow.

- By creating alternate channels for the lahar to pass without maximum damage to property.

- By providing warning systems for precaution

- Evacuation.

Paper Craft Ideas for Kids - How to Make a Spiral Snake

Kids enjoy craft ideas which help them be creative. Such simple craft work with paper should be encouraged to help a child enjoy his free time skillfully. Craft ideas using paper, paint or clay can, not just help a child be creative but also engage them in a productive way. Making simple craft activities can be introduced and encouraged as a hobby. Who knows starting with simple paper craft may just boost your child's talent and help him explore his capabilities.

Spiral Snake 

Making a spiral snake is a simple paper craft idea which can be a fun activity for kids. This spiral snake is easy to make and needs few material which are available at home. A child can make this spiral snake himself, but may require some help with cutting the paper depending on his age, though you could make use of child friendly scissors.

Materials required for making Spiral Snake

White Card Paper - 1 sheet
Child friendly scissors - 1
Pencil - 1
Black marker - 1
Sketch Pens / Felt pens - all colours
Glitter pens - any colour of your choice
Wool thread(of any colour) - 1/2 meter

Method for making Spiral Snake

1

Place a stencil or a circular plate on the card paper and with help of a pencil, draw a circle. Cut the circle with scissor.

2

Starting at any point on the rim of the circle, start drawing a spiral with a pencil slowly and continue working your way up to the center. Once the spiral is completed, using a marker carry on the pencil line to make a permanent spiral. The spiral should be drawn such that it should resemble a coiled-up snake.

3

With the pencil, lightly start marking sections along the spiral, dividing the spiral into different portions. Start from the tip or the tail or spiral snake and slowly move towards the face. It is not necessary that the portions or sections of the spiral should be of equal shape, you can divide them into uneven sections of your choice.

4

Once the sections are marked, start filling each portion with colours and designs of your choice. Try to include different patterns and colours in sections which are placed side by side. Try and use imagination while filling in the colours. Designs can be made by using glitter pens also. There is no specific rule of how you should fill in the colour and draw the designs. The children can use their imagination while doing so. Only remember that each spiral section needs to be coloured differently than its earlier section.

5

Remember to keep little space between each section while filling colours. Once you are done making designs and colouring all the sections, fill in the little space between each section with the help of a black marker.

6

Once the design is complete, start cutting the spiral shape from the tail area along the spiral made with black marker, till the mouth of the snake. Be careful while doing so, as you don't want to cut the snake in the middle.

7

Once done, tie a wool thread by making small hole on the center of the snake face. Tie the other end of the thread to any window curtain rod or any other preferable place, where the snake would get some breeze which will help it move. This spiral snake can be a perfect craft idea which works as a decoration for your child's room.