How Reward Charts Could Help Children With Cerebral Palsy

We want to share with you the story of how The Victoria Chart Company was established. Victoria openly discusses her life wihich revolves around children, reward charts and cerebral palsy....

 

'In 2004 I founded The Victoria Chart Company from an idea that I initially created to help my son, Joseph, who at 18 months old was diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy.  A condition which affects him physically, his ability to walk was the main problem. 

 

Unsure of how the future was going to develop, I made a reward chart to give us a focus.  It helped us to monitor his steps and feel good about his progress.  We also covered such topics as sharing nicely, using the potty and as his little sister, Thea, was on the way, we also covered being a nice big brother.  The chart played a huge role in our house, Joseph loved to earn the rewards and show friends and family how well he was doing.  It was a great comfort for me too as I could see how much he enjoyed using it.  The chart acted as a great reminder to me to 'encourage and praise' my son every step of the way - a method that we now apply to all of our charts.

My mom friends were also impressed with the chart and the impact it was having on us.   Many of them asked me to make them one, but would ask that it covered different topics like eating and giving up a pacifier. It was then that I set about designing a chart that not only covered common issues in a young child's life but also gave parents the flexibility to customize to their own child's needs.  Giving parents this flexibility in the use of our charts has proven a huge hit for those who care for special needs children.

I put my heart and soul into developing the initial charts, with the aim of making something good come from my sons diagnosis. That was seven years ago and my business has grown from stength to strength.  We have offices in the US, UK and a distributor in Australia.  I now have a full range of products supporting families through children's life stage developments and we are now recognized as experts in the field of positive development in children.  

My business is more than a full time job now, but I love it.  I attribute the success of The Victoria Chart Company to the fact that each day I watch the effort my son puts into life.  His determination drives me forward to succeed.'

Today, The Victoria Chart Company™ is internationally recognized and is a specialist in creating products for positive development in children. The reward charts are used to build up a child's self-esteem, helping children become confident and, most importantly, proud of their progress.    Visit us at http://www.VictoriaChartCompany.com/  or http://www.victoriachartcompany.co.uk/ and stay up to date with parenting tips, free downloads  and coupons by joining us at www.facebook.com/VictoriaChartCompany or http://www.facebook.com/VictoriaChartCompanyUK

A Parent's Dream! - Good Night Sleep Tight Chart, the ultimate sleep reward chart for children

PRESS RELEASE

The Victoria Chart Company, a leading UK developer of behavior and reward charts for kids, has teamed up with Rebecca Michi, Child's Sleep Consultant to create a reward system to help families build a solid bedtime routine for children.

Sleep influences our entire family's life and wellbeing. For a parent a good nights sleep can be determined by the sleep routine of their child.
We all know how important it is to get a good night's sleep. It helps us to feel refreshed and full of energy. A night without sleep can leave us feeling exhausted and irritable impacting how we perform throughout the day. For a parent, a restful evening and a good night's sleep can be determined by the routine of their child. If there isn't a routine then it can make for a stressful family time.

"One of the most important things we can do for a child is to create a good bedtime routine" says Rebecca Michi, Seattle based Children's Sleep Consultant. "That's why I teamed with The Victoria Chart Company to develop the Good Night, Sleep Tight chart"

Infant and toddler sleep problems can have a detrimental effect on parental mood (i.e. Depression and anxiety), marital satisfaction and parental stress level. Increasing evidence shows that sleep disruption or lack of sleep is harmful to children's learning ability, concentration, mood, attention, behavior. Sleep deprivation in children has been linked to, lowered immune systems, diabetes, depression, hindered physical development, stress and anxiety.

The Good Night Sleep Tight chart is fun, simple to use and brings great results for both parent and child. It is designed as a simple reward chart system using fun colored stickers to acknowledge sucessfully completed steps. A free printable Good Night, Sleep Tight certificate complements the chart and is available to download from The Victoria Chart Company's Facebook page.

The Victoria Chart Company's President and Founder Victoria Ballard says "We are at the forefront of knowing what parents struggle with, the pressures of modern day life can be very disruptive to the simplest of routines. Our Good Night, Sleep Tight chart with its supportive information sheet provides families with the necessary tool to create the all-important, regular bedtime routine for their child".

About The Victoria Chart Company
The Victoria Chart Company was founded in 2004 by Victoria Ballard. Victoria discovered that a reward system she developed worked fabulously well for her children. The system worked so well that she has dedicated her time to creating tools for parents and professionals to help children and their families realize the power of developmental progress that comes from the simple process of Encourage & Praise . The Good Night, Sleep Tight Reward Chart is available for $14.99 from their website. The Victoria Chart Company also produces the My Big Star Chart which is an excellent tool for parents when used as a potty training chart. For help finding something on the website contact Victoria at info@VictoriaChartCompany.com Coupons can be found at http://www.fb.com/VictoriaChartCompany

Spanking kids can cause long-term harm: Canada study

There are many positive and preventative alternatives to spanking and we have created tools for parents and professionals to help children and their families realize the power of developmental progress that comes from the simple process of Encourage & Praise™. A new study, just released,  talks about the long term damage of spanking children when they are misbehaving, as reported by  Cameron French.

TORONTO (Reuters) - Spanking children can cause long-term developmental damage and may even lower a child's IQ, according to a new Canadian analysis that seeks to shift the ethical debate over corporal punishment into the medical sphere.
The study, published this week in the Canadian Medical Association Journal, reached its conclusion after examining 20 years of published research on the issue. The authors say the medical finding have been largely overlooked and overshadowed by concerns that parents should have the right to determine how their children are disciplined.

While spanking is certainly not as widespread as it was 20 years ago, many still cling to the practice and see prohibiting spanking as limiting the rights of parents.

That point of view highlights the difficulty in changing hearts and minds on the issue, despite a mountain of accumulated evidence showing the damage physical punishment can have on a child, says Joan Durant, a professor at University of Manitoba and one of the authors of the study."We're really past the point of calling this a controversy. That's a word that's used and I don't know why, because in the research there really is no controversy," she said in an interview. "If we had this level of consistency in findings in any other area of health, we would be acting on it. We'd be pulling out all the stops to work on the issue."

Durant and co-author Ron Ensom, with the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario in Ottawa, cite research showing that physical punishment makes children more aggressive and antisocial, and can cause cognitive impairment and developmental difficulties. Recent studies suggest it may reduce the brain's grey matter in areas relevant to intelligence testing. "What people have realized is that physical punishment doesn't only predict aggression consistently, it also predicts internalizing kinds of difficulties, like depression and substance use," said Durant. "There are no studies that show any long term positive outcomes from physical punishment."

While banned in 32 countries, corporal punishment of children retains at least partial social acceptance in much of the world. Debates on the issue typically revolve around the ethics of using violence to enforce discipline.

With the study, Durant hopes parents will start to look at the issue from a medical perspective. "What we're hoping is that physicians will take that message and do more to counsel parents around this and to help them understand that physical punishment isn't getting them where they want to go," she said. She also hopes that countries that allow the practice - including Canada - will take another look at their child protection laws.
Canada is one of more than 190 countries to have ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, a 1989 treaty that sets out protections for children. The treaty - which has been ratified by all UN member states except for the United States, Somalia and South Sudan - includes a passage stating that countries must protect children from "all forms of physical or mental violence".

"If we had two or three studies that showed that if you took 500 mg of vitamin C a day you could reduce cancer risk, we would all be taking 500 mg of vitamin C a day," Durant said. "Here, we have more than 80 studies, I would say more than 100, that show the same thing (about corporal punishment), and yet we keep calling it controversial."

Today, The Victoria Chart Company™ is internationally recognized and is a specialist in creating products for positive development in children. The reward charts are used to build up a child's self-esteem, helping children become confident and, most importantly, proud of their progress.    Visit us at http://www.VictoriaChartCompany.com/  and stay up to date with parenting tips, free downloads  and coupons  by joining us at www.facebook.com/VictoriaChartCompany

Are Reward Charts Just For Naughty Children?

Most people believe reward and behavior charts are just for naughty children. While it maybe true, reward charts have been proven to help children with behavior problems, they are not just for naughty kids. Reward charts can also be used to help the well behaved children in your life. All children can improve on aspects of their behavior. Being well behaved takes practice. It is something we all have to learn in our childhood. Reward and behavior charts can be used to help teach children many different life skills, which they will need as they get older. Using reward charts, is an easy way for parents, to let their children see that they are making progress in the right direction.

Reward and behavior chart can help all children become more organized. To help children complete all the things, they need to do during the day. They  help children learn about responsibility. You can set up a reward chart with chores for even the smallest child to do. This helps them learn the responsibility of doing work.  It is a good idea to teach your children this at a young age. Some parents, even use reward and behavior charts to help their children learn the value of money. They will pay the child, for doing extra things round the house or in the yard.

Using reward or behavior chart can be used for teaching well and misbehaved children alike. In addition, the children can see the progress that they have made and parents can monitor their progress. Reward and behavior charts can be used from many different things, homework, potty training, eating healthy food, drinking water, picking up toys and much much more. Just use your imagination and, you will find using rewarding and behavior charts, are great ways, to help your children, in all areas, of their life. 

Check out our range of reward charts for children 1 to 12 years of age at http://www.victoriachartcompany.com/ and stay up to date with offers and coupons at www.fb.com/victoriachartcompany