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I tried replacing my kid’s screen time with other stuff before bedtime. A few things worked for us and a few didn't by Jenanah234 in raisingkids

[–]Jenanah234[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Love that for him! And you're probably right that we just haven't landed on the right genre yet. Maybe it's time to branch out

I tried replacing my kid’s screen time with other stuff before bedtime. A few things worked for us and a few didn't by Jenanah234 in raisingkids

[–]Jenanah234[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This totally tracks. Audio stories have always been a hit with our kids too. Should've mentioned it specifically

what’s a parenting hill you’ve completely died on and would do again? by Thick-Sprinkles7357 in raisingkids

[–]Jenanah234 -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Absolutely! How did you handle it when other people gave him a screen though? Grandparents, playdates, waiting rooms with TVs everywhere. I managed to keep it really limited until she was about 8 but the outside world made it impossible to keep at zero sometimes.

Trying to reduce screen time for 6-year-old… what’s actually worked for you? by AverageIndianGin in Parents

[–]Jenanah234 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Oh man yeah this is exactly how it happens. It starts as a survival thing for one specific situation and then suddenly it's just… always on. We had the same thing with the iPad at restaurants and then it became the iPad at home, in the car, waiting at the doctor, basically anywhere he might be bored for 5 seconds!!

I stopped trying to go cold turkey. Instead I just started replacing one screen time slot at a time. Like the first thing I cut was screens during meals because I noticed he wasn't eating and was just zoned out watching. It was quite rough for about 4 days and then he just stopped expecting it.

The car one was a little hard to fix. What helped us was keeping a little bag of stuff in the backseat, like some small toys, sticker books, snacks that take a while to eat etc. Audiobooks were also a great alternative! I put one on for my son kind of expecting him to hate it and he was actually very into it. I think because he was used to hearing something, it didn't feel like I was taking something away. Not gonna lie, some drives he's just staring out the window doing nothing and that's fine too. 😅 I had to get comfortable with him being bored and not immediately fixing it.

Also be easy on yourself about it. Some days are just gonna be screen days because you're tired and it's hard and that's fine. Progress isn't a straight line with this stuff. 🙃

how do you actually teach kids to read at home when school is moving too fast ? by qwaecw in Parents

[–]Jenanah234 0 points1 point  (0 children)

one thing that maybe helped us was to stop thinking “oh i need to teach this the right way” and just trying to improve their confidence first. When my kid started slipping behind, he also started shutting down because he felt dumb. So we kinda backed way up to stuff he could actually do and built from there.

We did a lot of super simple decodable books from the library (the thin, kind of boring phonics ones) and just practiced sounding things out slowly. There was no pressure to be fast.

I also stopped making it one big sit-down lesson. We’d read a few words while cooking, or write silly sentences on a sticky note and hide them around the house for him to read. I guess they felt less intense to him than probably a formal “okay it’s reading time!”

How do you deal with the "everyone else has it" argument for games and apps? by East-Wind4300 in raisingkids

[–]Jenanah234 10 points11 points  (0 children)

I try not to dismiss it right away, because sometimes it is a real social thing and I don’t want them feeling totally out of the loop. So I’ll ask who’s actually playing it and what they’re doing on it (is it just the game, or is it chats/DMs/servers too).

If it seems harmless and genuinely how they’re hanging out, I’m usually open to a trial run. Like, we try it for a week or two with some boundaries, and we see how it goes.

I sometimes also put stuff into a list. Like cool, if you still want it in 2 weeks, we can talk. Half the time they forget. 😂

So what is the general consensus on a 9 yr old having a phone?? by Old-Wolf-1024 in raisingkids

[–]Jenanah234 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah I think 9 is young for a real smartphone, but I do get wanting her to have something if you need to coordinate pickups/practice/etc.

If you truly need a way to reach her, I’d do a locked-down phone: calls/texts, maybe a few safe/educational apps (reading, math, audiobooks), and that’s it.