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No materials, including but not limited to: pictures, articles, verbiage may be used with out the written consent of the editor of ThickSistah.com!
All Violators will be prosecuted.
FORUM & Chat
Thick Family
One way to start improving your school's parent-school partnerships is by assessing present practices.
*The following questions can help you evaluate how well your school is reaching out to parents.
*Which partnership practices are currently working well at each grade level?
*Which partnership practices should be improved or added in each grade?
*How do you want your school's family involvement practices to look three years from now?
*Which present practices should change and which should continue?
*Which families are you reaching and which are hard to reach?
*What can be better done to communicate with the latter?
*What costs are associated with the improvements you want?
*How will you evaluate the results of your efforts?
*What opportunities will you arrange for teachers, parents, and students to share information on successful practices in order to strengthen their own efforts?
*The following questions can help you evaluate how well your school is reaching out to parents.
*Which partnership practices are currently working well at each grade level?
*Which partnership practices should be improved or added in each grade?
*How do you want your school's family involvement practices to look three years from now?
*Which present practices should change and which should continue?
*Which families are you reaching and which are hard to reach?
*What can be better done to communicate with the latter?
*What costs are associated with the improvements you want?
*How will you evaluate the results of your efforts?
*What opportunities will you arrange for teachers, parents, and students to share information on successful practices in order to strengthen their own efforts?
Children Around The World Need US!
Population and Family Characteristics
http://www.childstats.gov/
americaschildren/index.asp
In 2003, there were 73 million children ages 0–17 in the United States, or 25 percent of the population, down from a peak of 36 percent at the end of the baby boom (1964). Children are projected to compose 24 percent of the total population in 2020.
The racial and ethnic diversity of America’s children continues to increase over time. In 2003, 60 percent of U.S. children were White-alone, non-Hispanic, 16 percent were Black-alone, and 4 percent were Asian-alone.1 The proportion of Hispanic children has increased faster than that of any other racial and ethnic group, growing from 9 percent of the child population in 1980 to 19 percent in 2003.
In 2004, 68 percent of children ages 0–17 lived with two married parents, down from 77 percent in 1980. After decreasing from 1980 to 1994, the percentage has remained stable at about 68–69 percent from 1994 to 2004.
Between 1980 and 1994, the rate of childbearing by unmarried women rose sharply for women of all ages. For all age groups combined, this trend ended in 1994. Birth rates for unmarried teenagers have dropped considerably since 1994, while increases in rates for women in their twenties and older have slowed. In 2003, the overall birth rate was 45 births per 1,000 unmarried women ages 15–44.
In 2003, 62 percent of children ages 0–17 lived in counties in which one or more of the Primary National Ambient Air Quality Standards were exceeded, an improvement from 69 percent in 1999.
Children’s exposure to secondhand smoke, as indicated by blood cotinine levels, dropped between 1988–1994 and 1999–2002. Overall, 59 percent of children ages 4–11 had cotinine in their blood in 1999–2002, down from 88 percent in 1988–1994. In 2003, 11 percent of children ages 0–6 lived in homes where someone smoked regularly.
Childhood Obesity Running Out of Control
http://www.winltdusa.com/about/infocenter/
healthnews/articles/obesestats.htm
• 4% overweight 1982 | 16% overweight 1994
• 25% of all white children overweight 2001
• 33% African American and Hispanic children overweight 2001
• Hospital costs associated with childhood obesity rising from $35 Million (1979) to $127 Million (1999)
Surge in Childhood Diabetes
http://www.winltdusa.com/about/infocenter/
healthnews/articles/obesestats.htm
• Between 8% - 45% of newly diagnosed cases of childhood diabetes are type II, associated with obesity.
• Whereas 4% of Childhood diabetes was type II in 1990, that number has risen to approximately 20%
• Depending on the age group (Type II most frequent 10-19 group) and the racial/ethnic mix of group stated
• Of Children diagnosed with Type II diabetes, 85% are obese
http://www.winltdusa.com/about/infocenter/
healthnews/articles/obesestats.htm
• 4% overweight 1982 | 16% overweight 1994
• 25% of all white children overweight 2001
• 33% African American and Hispanic children overweight 2001
• Hospital costs associated with childhood obesity rising from $35 Million (1979) to $127 Million (1999)
Surge in Childhood Diabetes
http://www.winltdusa.com/about/infocenter/
healthnews/articles/obesestats.htm
• Between 8% - 45% of newly diagnosed cases of childhood diabetes are type II, associated with obesity.
• Whereas 4% of Childhood diabetes was type II in 1990, that number has risen to approximately 20%
• Depending on the age group (Type II most frequent 10-19 group) and the racial/ethnic mix of group stated
• Of Children diagnosed with Type II diabetes, 85% are obese
Children & Exercise
THiCKSistah will share with you best practices in parenting and provide you with great resources in the area of counseling, single parenting, family development and more!
1+1=7
By: Ranyel Ozenne Barriere
I can remember the day I met my husband as if it were yesterday! Sounds a bit like a cliché, I know, but it is so true. I was marrying the man that had answered all of my dreams. He was the memories of my adolescence and the visions of my future. It would be him and I forever; we were going to live a life of solitude in marital bliss.
Oh wait, I failed to mention one tiny detail, the man of my dreams also came with 5 daughters. This was not a major problem because they did not interfere with our life because they did not live with us. Our life of solitude was not going to be disturbed except on rare occasions, so I thought. THEN, we had 2 little girls of our own. There was no getting rid of them on a whim. There was no returning them to their mother on Sundays, they were MY kids! So now, for me 1 + 1 = 7 (1 man + 1 woman = 7 daughters). With all these added responsibilities, I was becoming more and more overwhelmed with maintaining school, work, family, church and my daughters’ extra-curricular activities. $150 for daycare per week, $150 for cheerleading, $50 for dancing and the list goes on and on. So my anticipated life of solitude was now a web of chaos. There was no time for my husband and I to spend some quality time together. There was never intimate cuddling late at night without someone’s toes in my face. Tranquil bubble baths were replaced by speedy showers because the girls were peeking through the shower curtain. See You Later Lifetime, Hello Sponge Bob! Move over Mary Kay, Welcome Home Mary Kate & Ashley. Our lives have changed dramatically, not always for the better, but always for our children. Whoever said children do not consume your life must have been living in complete isolation. My children are not only a part of my world, they are my world.
By: Ranyel Ozenne Barriere
I can remember the day I met my husband as if it were yesterday! Sounds a bit like a cliché, I know, but it is so true. I was marrying the man that had answered all of my dreams. He was the memories of my adolescence and the visions of my future. It would be him and I forever; we were going to live a life of solitude in marital bliss.
Oh wait, I failed to mention one tiny detail, the man of my dreams also came with 5 daughters. This was not a major problem because they did not interfere with our life because they did not live with us. Our life of solitude was not going to be disturbed except on rare occasions, so I thought. THEN, we had 2 little girls of our own. There was no getting rid of them on a whim. There was no returning them to their mother on Sundays, they were MY kids! So now, for me 1 + 1 = 7 (1 man + 1 woman = 7 daughters). With all these added responsibilities, I was becoming more and more overwhelmed with maintaining school, work, family, church and my daughters’ extra-curricular activities. $150 for daycare per week, $150 for cheerleading, $50 for dancing and the list goes on and on. So my anticipated life of solitude was now a web of chaos. There was no time for my husband and I to spend some quality time together. There was never intimate cuddling late at night without someone’s toes in my face. Tranquil bubble baths were replaced by speedy showers because the girls were peeking through the shower curtain. See You Later Lifetime, Hello Sponge Bob! Move over Mary Kay, Welcome Home Mary Kate & Ashley. Our lives have changed dramatically, not always for the better, but always for our children. Whoever said children do not consume your life must have been living in complete isolation. My children are not only a part of my world, they are my world.
Children add an entire new perspective to life and the meaning of it. They offer a sense of eternal bond when born, yet still they can bring a sense intimidation. As parents we want to give our children the very best of everything, but if we do not build our foundation on something solid, then we cannot offer them anything that will not waver in times of turmoil. With the pressures of life constantly weighing down on us, as parents and partners, we must find some “we” time. Schedule times to establish a date night, so that mommy and daddy can speak in a language other than kiddie talk. Maintain an open mind knowing that end justifies the mean and most importantly do not ever get discouraged. Think about it, Barack Obama’s mother never realized that she was carrying the first African-American president and despite the things that his life entailed, she never gave up on him or herself.
Several times my husband did not understand why I was always shuffling my mommy hats around and giving the children the majority of my energy. Yet, when he was left with them for an entire weekend, he quickly changed, what I call his “mommy-tude” or his attitude toward mothers. Renowned theorist Jean Piaget suggests that children are a product of their environment, if the parents are not stable, the children will be unstable. We have to offer our children every opportunity to have a nurturing home where the parents are striving for the betterment of the family because in some situations, 1 + 1 does not always equal 2.
Several times my husband did not understand why I was always shuffling my mommy hats around and giving the children the majority of my energy. Yet, when he was left with them for an entire weekend, he quickly changed, what I call his “mommy-tude” or his attitude toward mothers. Renowned theorist Jean Piaget suggests that children are a product of their environment, if the parents are not stable, the children will be unstable. We have to offer our children every opportunity to have a nurturing home where the parents are striving for the betterment of the family because in some situations, 1 + 1 does not always equal 2.