Ms Rowe, who today releases her book, Manners Magic for Children, says failing to learn manners leaves children isolated.

“I think it’s almost cruel not to teach children manners,” she says. “Being the smartest kid in the class or the best athlete in the school are achievements to be proud of, but not if the teachers and coaches find you rude and your classmates and their parents dislike you.

“It’s stressful for children if they don’t know why the others don’t like them.”

Ms Rowe says parents need to be responsible for teaching children manners from an early age. “But some parents don’t know good manners to pass on, some thought it wasn’t important, some thought their children would absorb good manners by osmosis and some thought their children would somehow magically turn into polite adults. You can’t expect children to know these things if they haven’t been taught,” she says.

Bridgewater mother Libby Tweeddale started teaching children Jack, 11, Isobel, 9, and Eleanor, 5, manners when they were learning to talk.

“It’s never too early to start teaching manners,” she says. “

Ms Tweeddale says using good manners helps her children make friends.

“My kids get upset when kids at school are rude and don’t use their manners. The kids that don’t have nice manners are the ones who push and bully in the playground. No one likes them.”

Read more…AdelaideNow… Never too young to learn manners

Visit Good Parenting Magazine

There have been numerous changes to SASA over the past 12 months or so.  At the beginning of 2009 we moved our forums the Stepfamily Zone to a new website http://www.stepfamilyzone.com.au/forums

Now as of the 1st January, after 10 years, SASA no longer exists. Not gone completely or forever, but instead has gone into hibernation.

The good news is that a new website is now being developed Stepfamily Australia

The SASA will remain in place mainly because of the amount of information that can be found here.

The development of Stepfamily Australia, in our opinion, is essential to ensure that information and support is available to Stepfamilies in Australia

Read more…Home – Stepfamily Association of South Australia

By July 1, about 60 per cent of divorced fathers will pay less under the overhaul of the system.

The lobby group representing single parents is urging the Rudd Government to review rules passed by the Howard government two years ago that drastically changed the system.

The previous government’s changes, supported by Labor, included allowing fathers who see their children every week to have their support payments cut.

For example, the payments of fathers with at least one day a week access are reduced by 24 per cent.

A spokesperson for the Child Support Agency said that since the start of the assessments mailout there had been 97,307 calls related to the new scheme.

Human Services Minister Joe Ludwig said this was a more balanced way of working out child support, treating both parents’ incomes equally.

“The CSA is holding community information sessions to help parents understand the new scheme,” he said. “I encourage parents to attend these information meetings.”

In 2005, John Howard commissioned Sydney University law professor Patrick Parkinson to design a new system to balance the interests of men and women.

Under his plan, custodial parents, mostly women, keep their current family tax benefits, which are shared between both parents under the old scheme.

But the parent with custody receives less in maintenance payments, leaving them worse off.

Sole Parents Union president Kathleen Swinbourne said the “vast majority” of single mothers were facing cuts of $10 to $100 a week under the shake-up.

Source: Single mums facing child support cuts | NEWS.com.au

New data shows many parents, most of them fathers living in Queensland’s resort towns have turned their backs on their children.

Child Support Agency statistics show parents in leading tourist destinations including Broadbeach, Mermaid Beach and Palm Beach, on the Gold Coast, and Deception Bay, north of Brisbane, are the least likely to meet their child-support payments.

CSA has ranked the 10 postcodes with the worst payment rates, seven of which are in Queensland.

About 5 per cent of parents across the nation failed to pay any maintenance in the past financial year, even if they only had to cough up $10 a week.

Commentators said unemployment and the high number of single parents in the region could be the cause.

Coastal dads top nation’s child-pay shame | NEWS.com.au

Read more  Top Five Baby Shower Game Ideas – Family and Parenting Directory

Handling child behavior problems   by Sylvie. Brinton.

Is your child giving you a lot of headaches? Is he/she disobedient and answers back when you tell him/her off? If all of this happens, it means you are dealing with child behavior problems, and if you do not take any measures, these problems will increase. In time you will notice that the only solution to child discipline problems will come in the form of professional help.

If you want to improve the quality of the time spent with your child, and make life easier for both of you by avoiding child discipline problems, you need to do anything in your power to prevent them. There are children who suffer from a major disability or disorder, like learning disorders, ADHD, autism, Asperger’s syndrome, or obsessive compulsive disorders. Typically, such conditions easily turn into causes of trouble both for the child and for the parents. They can lead to child behavior problems that are more complicated than just a regular kid acting out. With the more severe cases, the parents need all the help they can get from doctors, teachers, nurses, health visitors and other specialized professionals.

A large number of parents are complaining about the fact that they are confronted with child behavior problems and that they have tried everything, from books to doctors, but still nothing seems to be suited or to actually improve the child’s behavior. Besides the fact that doctors and books can be expensive, it also takes time before a problem like this can be solved.

Today, child discipline problems can be fought back by consulting a variety of data, available not only in books in libraries or bookshops, but also in electronic format over the Internet. Don’t let yourself be beaten by the feeling of hopelessness, take back charge of your own life, and make your home a peaceful and relaxing place.

Sometimes child discipline problems may be solved by using very common methods, like bribing, shouting and threatening, but these methods are easily transformed into vices, when the child discovers the power of his tantrums, hair pulling and constant demanding. But when all the solutions seem to have been used, with no improvement, parents have a tendency to just give up and learn to tolerate their children’s bad behavior. Any expert in child guidance will tell parents that the worse thing they can ever do is give up, because their sons and daughters need to go by an established program of discipline during their early childhood, so that in the future they should behave according to patterns of normality.

The moral concepts and discipline that they discover at home will improve the children’s opportunities for a healthy normal adult life, and will make them interact better with their future family, friends and work colleagues. Starting with an easy rule, for example not to forget to brush their teeth before going to bed, and going to more complex ones, like being polite with older people, children can understand the basics of a quiet life, with the best results and limited conflicts.

About the Author

Child behavior problems rank among the most bothersome issues some parents have to deal with. Most of them seek professional help. Now parents have a little extra help for dealing with child discipline problems in the form of information found here, on good-child-guide.com.

Scrapbooking Ideas for Kids   by Kathleen Hudson

Many times at auctions, or estate sales, a box of books will turn up a real treasure, like a scrapbook that was kept by someone in their youth and sometimes through their adulthood. The book could be 50 or 60 years old, and a source of great fun to look at the pictures, news clippings, and personal mementoes.

The hobby of keeping such collections is enjoying a resurgence of popularity, with people of all ages finding new and inventive ways to record special events or occasions in their lives. Scrapbooking ideas for kids can be very basic to start with, because once they catch on to the fun, they’ll start developing their own sense of style and preference for decorating.

A scrapbook with reasonable quality paper makes a great special occasion gift for a child, along with glue, scissors, and perhaps a simple book on creating your own special treasure trove of memories.

Give them a start on their hobby by helping with the first entry, to celebrate the occasion such as a birthday. Cover a page in the gift paper that the book was wrapped in, and then tape or glue a photo of them in the center of the page. A package of 2″ x 4″ white labels is a handy part of any scrapbooking package, as they provide a clear area to put text, and can be stuck over top of an older label with outdated information. This is a handy way of adding your caption or comments to highly decorated pages.

Colored pencils, crayons, markers, and other artistic tools will also contribute to their enjoyment, as they use them to enhance a page with a photo of their new puppy, by drawing bones, mailmen, balls, and other doggy subjects around the picture.

Scrapbooking ideas for kids are only limited by their imagination in what they collect and use, from photos, to news clippings, souvenir programs from concerts, hair ribbons, ticket stubs from movies and more. They can even make mini scrapbooks of things like a visit to Grandma’s, and give it to her as a Christmas present.

About the Author

Kathleen Hudson is an avid scrapbooker and shares some of her best scrapbooking tips and ideas on her website at http://www.yourscrapbookingtips.com. Visit the site to add new creativity to your scrapbooking layouts.

Scrapbooking for Kids   by Dawn Stegall

As a homeschooling mom of 4 girls, scrapbooking for kids has been on my mind alot lately. Let me back up a bit. My 4 year old was quietly playing one day with a roll of stickers. Afraid I was going to later find a bunch of stickers caught in the carpet, I asked her what she intended to do with them. She pondered for awhile and then said, “I am going to put them in a scrapbook. Mom, can I have my own scrapbook?” For some reason, this caught me by surprise, as I thought how wonderful of an experience this could be! So, I started thinking about it more and have come up with some tips and ideas to share with you on scrapbooking for kids.

First of all, I will admit, I am cheap! I wasn’t sure how excited I would be at the thought of my 4 year old and her sisters cutting up my beautiful papers and glueing everything down in sight! I immediately thought of our local dollar store. They have albums that would be perfect for showcasing their creations in for the time being. The dollar store also offers scrapbooking supplies in the form of kits, stickers and embellishments. We have a reward system in place, where the girls can earn a trip to the dollar store to purchase their own scrapbooking supplies to do with as they please. This alleviates the desire to “mess” with my stash while instilling a sense of responsiblity to earn thier reward!

Here are a few more cost saving tips:

*Have too many pictures to scrap? Let the kids scrap the leftovers. *When developing photos, get double prints. Let the kids scrap with the doubles. *When you complete a project, put the leftovers and unused scraps in a container for them to use. They can create their own embellishments with the scraps. You will be amazed at what they can create!

One thing I do want to mention, when you scrap for the first time with your children, be prepared to help and guide them. Don’t expect to get much done on your own pages until they start to get a feel for what they want to do and accomplish in their own scrapbooks. Now that they are ready to scrap, what should they scrap? Here are a few layout ideas:

*Have them scrap a page all about their favorite things at that particular age. (then repeat it for each year and see how their favorites have changed or stayed the same) *Have your kids scrap about their favorite activities or sporting events they are involved in. I’m sure you have plenty of photos! *Turn it into a learning experience and have them interview the subject of the photo. This would be great for older generations. *If there aren’t enough photos, have them draw pictures of people. Then watch how their drawings progress. Each one of my girls have a specific style of how they draw family members. It is interesting and fun to look at.

What about incorporating their artwork and creations? I am very blessed to get cards, pictures and artwork on an almost daily basis from my girls. But what do you do with all of them? Here are a few ideas:

*Hang on the refrigerator for all to see. Then once the fridge is full, take a picture of your child in front of their artwork and scrap the photo. You can also incorporate their artwork into the layout. *Color copy and reduce the drawings/projects and use as photos in your layout or as embellishments. *Are you near the end of a roll of film? Use up those last couple of shots of your child’s artwork. *Use pocket pages to “hold” your child’s artwork. *Create a “brag” book and give to grandparents or other family members as a special gift!

Even though I can be anal at times, I still want to incorporate my girls work into my scrapbooks as well. Afterall, they aren’t really my scrapbooks but for all to enjoy! Here are a few ideas:

*Use child’s drawings as a background paper. *Use their creations as embellishments. You’ll be amazed at what they can create with some paper, scissors and adhesive! *Interview them. Ask them questions about the photo, layout, their mood. This would make for some awesome journaling!

I hope the above tips will give you some ideas on scrapbooking for kids!

About the Author

Dawn Stegall is a homeschooling mom of 4 girls and owner of http://www.FaithfullyYours.net a Christian scrapbooking resource site. She is also a regular contributor to http://www.ThatScrapbookSite.com a scrapbooking idea center.

Scrapbooking For Kids – Scrapbooking Ideas   by Krystal Phelps

You’re never too young to learn the art of scrapbooking. In fact, teaching kids a few simple skills can help you create time in your schedule to scrapbook while still spending quality time with your family. Different ages can learn different scrapbooking techniques, but all ages should be able to help you make an album or produce albums of their own.

Toddlers

Even the youngest age group can learn beginner skills to scrapbooking. One way to get them involved is to have them try their hand at choosing colors and embellishments that they like. You may be surprised at how quickly a four-year-old picks up on concepts such as color schemes and layout design. You can also ask your child to help with the journaling. This works especially well when you create pages where your child is the main focus-ask for his or her thoughts on the day and include this in your journaling. You might be surprised at what they say, so be ready to write down some great quotes! Toddlers can also be given paper and markers to draw pictures about the event, and these can make heart-warming embellishments to your page.

School-age Children

As your child learns basic motor skills, such as how to use scissors, you can let them practice at making their own pages. Let them use the doubles of your pictures or pictures from the roll that are fuzzy or otherwise undesirable for your own album. Scrapbooking paper can be expensive, so unless your child has a genuine love for the craft, you may want to have them use construction paper, which is not acid free but will help you save money if all your child wants to do is play. At this stage, your child may be able to help you choose all the elements for a page or look through scrapbooking layout ideas to pick some of his or her favorites that you can then create. As a pre-teen, your child may have the skills to begin creating his or her own album and using real scrapbooking paper and supplies. This is an investment that will depend on your child’s particular interest and skill level.

Teens

If your child continues to scrapbook at this stage, he or she probably can handle creating a beginning album. A good start is to use the school pictures your child has surely acquired over the years from friends. Encourage your child to be creative and to design pages that interest him or her. If you do digital scrapbooking, this is also a good time to introduce your child to some of the programs available online. The love of scrapbooking may continue past the teen stage and into adulthood, and soon your children may be creating albums that rival your own and teaching their own children how to scrapbook.

About the Author

Save on over 50,000 brand name craft supplies at www.CreateForLess.com.

You’re never too young to learn the art of scrapbooking. In fact, teaching kids a few simple skills can help you create time in your schedule to scrapbook while still spending quality time with your family. Different ages can learn different scrapbooking techniques, but all ages should be able to help you make an album or produce albums of their own.

Toddlers

Even the youngest age group can learn beginner skills to scrapbooking. One way to get them involved is to have them try their hand at choosing colors and embellishments that they like. You may be surprised at how quickly a four-year-old picks up on concepts such as color schemes and layout design. You can also ask your child to help with the journaling. This works especially well when you create pages where your child is the main focus-ask for his or her thoughts on the day and include this in your journaling. You might be surprised at what they say, so be ready to write down some great quotes! Toddlers can also be given paper and markers to draw pictures about the event, and these can make heart-warming embellishments to your page.

School-age Children

As your child learns basic motor skills, such as how to use scissors, you can let them practice at making their own pages. Let them use the doubles of your pictures or pictures from the roll that are fuzzy or otherwise undesirable for your own album. Scrapbooking paper can be expensive, so unless your child has a genuine love for the craft, you may want to have them use construction paper, which is not acid free but will help you save money if all your child wants to do is play. At this stage, your child may be able to help you choose all the elements for a page or look through scrapbooking layout ideas to pick some of his or her favorites that you can then create. As a pre-teen, your child may have the skills to begin creating his or her own album and using real scrapbooking paper and supplies. This is an investment that will depend on your child’s particular interest and skill level.

Teens

If your child continues to scrapbook at this stage, he or she probably can handle creating a beginning album. A good start is to use the school pictures your child has surely acquired over the years from friends. Encourage your child to be creative and to design pages that interest him or her. If you do digital scrapbooking, this is also a good time to introduce your child to some of the programs available online. The love of scrapbooking may continue past the teen stage and into adulthood, and soon your children may be creating albums that rival your own and teaching their own children how to scrapbook.

About the Author

Tom Ambrozewicz is one of the pioneers in using breakthrough audio technology on his web sites. You can read, you can listen to professional narrator reading to you or having MP3 files ready to download if you hate to keep printed files. You can check all scrapbooking tips at Ask-How.info now.