Molina helps present veterans
medals in Presidents’ Day ceremony
Feb. 17 was a holiday for most peo-
ple, but not everyone. Sometimes dedica-
tion goes beyond the 40-hour work week.
For Tony Molina, Tribal veterans rep-
resentative for the Confederated Tribes of
Siletz Indians, dedication to the veterans
is ’round the clock.
Presidents’ Day found Molina present-
ing Veterans of Oregon Honorable Service
Medals at Lakeview Senior Living in
Lincoln City, Ore. He was there with John
Neuman, the originator of the Veterans of
Oregon Medal Ceremony, who also created
the Field of Honor (field of 1,000 full-size
American flags), and Jim Reed from the
Oregon Coast Veterans Association.
With the assistance of Teresa
Simmons, they presented serial-numbered
service medals and certificates to military
veterans who reside at Lakeview and
family members of veterans who have
walked on.
Janet Shinner, community relations
director at Lakeview, was responsible for
initiating this honor ceremony and made
arrangements for family members, rela-
tives and friends to join in the celebration.
There were smiles, thank yous and
very few dry eyes at the conclusion of a
moving ceremony for those who served
to protect the rights of all of us and too
often are forgotten.
Courtesy photos
John Neuman and Tony Molina (above)
John Neuman (back row, right), Tony
Molina (back row, second from right),
Jim Reed (back row, third from right)
and Teresa Simmons (back row,
center) join residents of Lakeview
Senior Living and others during the
awards ceremony.
Suggestions for Child Guidance
(aka Discipline)
By Robin Limbert, Tribal Head Start
Education Coordinator
There are three things that I cannot
stress enough in child guidance. These are:
1. Consistency
2. Routine
3. Expectations
Consistency, consistency,
consistency
This will be the key to guiding your
child and getting the results you want. If
you, the parent, are consistent with your
child you will naturally set up routine
and expectations, both of which your
child needs, especially in early childhood.
These will make your child feel safe and
secure. If you are not consistent, how can
you expect your child to be consistent?
For example: If I tell my child to
stop doing something, but then let them
continue to do it, I have given the mes-
sage that my child does not have to follow
directions. I have not been consistent.
Routine, routine, routine
Setting a routine for your child will
increase your child’s independence and
security and will reduce confrontations
between you and your child. If your child
knows they have to brush their teeth and
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put on pajamas at 8 p.m. every night, they
will know this is their routine. Your child
is much less likely to argue with you if
you have set up a routine.
Big changes or changes without
warning are very upsetting to children,
especially in early childhood. If you can
prepare your child for changes, however,
you will have fewer struggles when the
time comes for the change.
For example: If your child usually goes
to your neighbors after school, but tomor-
row they will be going to grandma’s house,
prepare them ahead of time. Tell them the
night before and remind them again in the
morning before they go to school.
If you don’t have a set routine, it’s not
too late. But you’ll have to be patient; it
will probably take a few months for your
child to learn and accept the new routine.
But having a clear routine and set bound-
aries for your child helps them to learn
what behavior is OK and not OK.
expectations, expectations,
expectations
With routine and consistency in mind,
you need to make sure your expectations
are appropriate for your child’s age and
developmental stage. Remember, your
child’s attention span is only 1 minute
for each year of age. So, a 3-year-old will
March 2014
generally only be able to stay on task for
3 minutes or sit for 3 minutes on timeout.
If you ask your 3-year-old to clean up
their bedroom, you’re asking too much
of them. You can, however, ask them to
put away five toys or offer to help them
clean up. Both of these would be within
their ability and you will end up getting
the results you want.
what about discipline?
What happens when you’ve been con-
sistent, you’ve set a routine and you had
clear and appropriate expectations – and
your child still acts out? You need to figure
out what works for you and your child.
For many children, spanking or
timeout will not affect them. They will
continue to do the behavior you’re trying
to stop. Instead of increasing the amount
of discipline, try something different.
There must be something out there that
will work for you and your child and get
the results you want.
If you volunteer in the classroom,
you’ve probably noticed that we do not
use timeout, we use choices. We will try to
prevent misbehavior first by redirecting. If
a child is being disruptive in one area, we
will redirect them to a different activity.
If the child continues to be disrup-
tive, we will then give them choices. For
example, “You can either go play with the
blocks or you can sit at the table until you
are ready to come join the group again.
What is your choice?”
The wonderful thing about choices
is that you are really the one making
the decision because you get to pick the
choice. But your child feels they have the
control and are independent because they
get to choose between the two. (Don’t
tell them, though. You have to keep this a
secret or else it won’t work.)
Something what works great for my
children is “work jobs,” which are like
chores. If my kids are acting up, I’ll assign
them a work job. If they continue, I’ll give
them another work job. This is something
that works well for my kids.
If you try work jobs, make sure they
are consistent with your child’s abilities.
But most importantly, find what works for
you and your child.
For some of you, this information
may mean making big changes or you
may decide these suggestions do not
work for you. But I guarantee you if you
are consistent, set routines and have clear
and appropriate expectations, you will see
huge changes in your child’s behavior
and you will set a foundation for positive
behavior throughout your child’s life.