icareguam system of care ambassadors - www.icarguam.com

CMHA Wave 2013 - www.icareguam.com

CMHA Wave 2013

Open Auditions For Musical - www.icareguam.com

Open Audtions for a Musical Directed by Ernest Ochoco

June 12 and 13, 2013 -  3:00 pm

June 19 & 20, 2013 - 5:00 pm

Location: I Famagu'on-ta Office

Suite 107 -F J&G Commercial Center,

Hagatna.

Keep your kids busy, active in summer -www.icareguam.org

PDN Article: June 1, 2013

When children and youths are out of school for the summer, they are usually full of excitement and relief from not having to do school work and getting up early in the morning to catch the school bus. On the other hand, some parents are cringing with the thought of having to find something for their children to do, as well as finding someone to watch and supervise their young ones.

A major challenge when school is out during the summer months is that parents tend to have too much to do and kids don't have enough to do. In preparation for the summer months, it is wise to hold a family meeting and include your children in planning activities for when they are out of school and discuss with them expectations for the summer.

Some ideas that would help are to prepare a calendar of planned events with "to-do list" in preparation for the events, with each family member having a part in making the events happen.

To help children feel a sense of competence and fulfillment, parents can offer their children opportunities to become involved and purposeful every day during the summer months by keeping them busy and engaged.

Create a daily chore chart for each child with age-appropriate chores to do daily before they can play. This will allow them to help around the house and learn to take responsibility, as well as develop team-building skills.

Learning opportunities

Keep your child busy with everyday activities that incorporate learning opportunities in everyday tasks. For example, before going to shop for groceries, go through your kitchen and have your children write the grocery list. When at the grocery store, have them read the list and find the items themselves. Teach them to read the nutrition facts on the items and compare the different brand names.

With the use of a calculator, the child can track expenses, add items, multiply and subtract for the budget. All this takes time, but it allows the child to practice reading skills, letter recognition, budgeting plus other key life skills.

Special projects

Other valuable learning activities are participating as a family in special projects. Discuss with your child about what is important to your community and to your children, then decide on a cause that is worth supporting and how your family wish to be involved.

Some of these special projects could be to donate food and volunteer as a family to serve food for the homeless at the local soup kitchen, Kamalen Karidad. Another worthy cause is to volunteer or help raise money for the local animal shelter, GAIN. Another is to visit the sick and the elderly at St. Dominic's home.

Using your child's talents and interest in helping others will bring about a sense of worthiness, purpose and a valuable lesson on the importance of giving to others.

Create family fun times that stimulate your child's thinking, as well as physical activities for either in the backyard, the park or the beach, with sports equipment items for all ages -- balls, Frisbee, bubbles, sidewall chalk, etc.

Go for a bike ride or a nature walk and explore the environment. Visit the local zoo and see the interesting animals they have there. There are plenty of great outdoor activities to do during the three months that do not cost a lot of money.

Positive activities

Lastly, keep your children busy with positive activities and keep them from getting into trouble. Supervise them and try to be around them and their friends more often. Keep tabs on what your children are doing and enforce the 10 p.m. curfew on kids under 18.

Monitor your child's cellphone and keep a lookout for alcohol and drug use. Keep track of your medicine cabinet and ensure they do not have access to prescription medication or anything that would be harmful to them.

It is a good idea to discuss how to stay safe, develop a safety plan and what to do and who to call in an emergency.

Annie F.B.Unpingco, LCSW, is administrator of I Famagu'on-ta, Child Adolescent Services Division at the Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse.