When Grandparents Must Step In

First, Swing Into Protective Mode

When because of a variety of serious family problems, grandparents feel they must take over, even adopt grandkids, there are a number of issues to address and places to go for help.

  First, what all experts agree is grandparents must swing into protective mode.  Protect your grandchildren and protect yourself—your physical and mental health, safety, legal status, and financial status. Check with an attorney for a variety of custody arrangements in your state before going any further.

  Grandparents taking on the task of raising grandchildren are very courageous. That said, here is what can help with the day to day care.  Although every family is slightly different, there are protective factors to help the new grandfamily prosper. Grandparents can borrow the knowledge based on many years of study by Drs. David Hawkins and Richard Catalano of risk factors and protective factors for preventing problems.

  Grandparents can find out more about the Botvin Life Skills Training, an evidence-based prevention program for schools, families, communities, and places of faith. The information  about life training skills  is at www.lifeskillstraining.com.

   In your own grandfamily experts suggest finding prosocial involvement in the community like Scouts, organized sports, Y, 4-H, faith based clubs, other youth groups, and volunteer to help. Grandkids need recognition for prosocial involvement and behavior. Prosocial means having a positive helpful view toward other people in general.

Look to Training and Research

  Grandparents can develop a strong family unit with reasonable rules, duties, organization, and responsibility.  Provide opportunities for prosocial involvement like helping with the work load around the house, playing, volunteering, discussing together. Provide recognition for prosocial involvement like praise and hugs. Control technology use.

  In school, grandparents can participate, volunteer, check homework and school notes and communicate with the teachers. Be a part of school organizations. Be alert.  Insure children have opportunities for participation in prosocial learning, volunteering, working hard, studying, helping others, and being involved in many activities that nurture their talents and potential.  Find ways for children to receive recognition.

Structure and Social Skills are a Start

Are grandkids learning and using social skills? Establish a moral order of right and wrong in the family. Teach grandkids your faith. Join faith groups and be active as a grandfamily. Search for a school that teaches self- control, self -discipline, responsibility, respect, and helping others. 

  Do the grandkids interact with prosocial peers?  Some grandparents are taking parenting classes, switching schools, and even moving to a different area. However, the change must come from within or grandkids will seek out the same problem peers.

The problem is such an epidemic that there are many sites and places for help. Search for articles about financial help for grandparents on-line:
  See grandfactsheets.org; 
GrandFamilies.org; 
SavvySenior.org;  
GenerationsUnitedHelpGuide.org;  

GrandparentsRaisingGrandchildren at usa.gov. FocusontheFamily.com has many helpful articles especially at “Help for Grandparents Raising Grandchildren.”  
See activities for all age groups at grandparentsteachtoo.blogspot.com and wnmufm.org/ Learning Through the Seasons.
Photos, Fran Darling, fdarling fotos

Kids Love Project Egg Drop

Engineer a Safe Egg Drop!!

There are scrambled eggs, fried eggs, and then eggs for the famous raw egg drop engineering activity.  It provides an opportunity for some real life problem solving using physics principles,  creative engineering fun, and materials found around the house. The beauty is all ages can do this and have a great time together.

  Question and Pool Knowledge

 How can you protect something really fragile like a raw egg if   it is dropped?  Discuss how packages are shipped when 

there is something breakable inside   What are are the problems to consider? Some are the speed which gravity makes it fall and jarring and shaking when it crashes. Start by dropping a simple Lego space ship with an action figure on top.  Take a look at what happens. How can you protect the action figure?

   How are babies protected in cars? How are children and adults protected in cars, on bikes, or playing hockey? What do soldiers have to slow them down and land safely when they jump out of planes? How could you work in teams to protect a raw egg that is dropped from a height of 4 feet?  10 feet, or more? There are so many questions waiting to be answered.

Engineering Materials

  Help children search around the house for construction materials like cardboard, packing material, cotton, drinking straws, tape, string, newspaper, balloons,

Choose Your Engineering Materials

 pipe cleaners, wire, or foam rubber.  What else could be used to slow down the speed of falling and violence of the crash?

  Lay all of the materials out so children can use pencils, markers, and paper to make a few sketches of possible solutions. This important step encourages children to plan. Then they can construct a few devices and discuss possibilities. 

 Keep asking how will you slow down the descent and make the landing gentle? If possible, have a construction team to talk together. Remind your children that they need to look at the egg and put the contraption back together to perfect and try again after the drop. Make a few models, name them, and predict what will happen.

  The team can test by dropping them from a ladder or stairs onto a cookie sheet or tarp. If the first few don’t work, scoop up the cracked eggs to cook later and remind children what Thomas Edison said about resilience when he and his team

Become an Engineering Team!

were inventing the light bulb.  ”I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.” You can take some movies and pictures to share. 

   Really spectacular packages were dropped on Mars in 2004. Google or Bing ” Spirit rover landing on Mars “ and view a video version of the rover parachuting and bouncing around safely on the surface of Mars.  For more science at home see grandparentsteach.blogspot.com and wnmufm.org/Learning Through the Seasons.