Patient care and office duties are usually the services given by dental assistants. The services of assistants is to assist the dentist during the procedure, developing x-ray of patients, preparing the patient before a treatment, preparing the materials when making impressions, disinfecting and sterilizing equipment and instruments, preparing the materials needed for the treatment of each patient. In terms of office duties, a dental assistant must obtain and maintain records, schedule the patients for a smooth flow of service, prepare the billing statements, handle the payments properly, and monitor the instruments and equipment needed in the office.

Laboratory works can also be done by dental assistants as long as they have undergone training to do lab works such as making temporary crowns and making dental cases. There are some instances that dentists delegate the removal of sutures, putting cavity preventive agents on the teeth and anesthetics on the gums. Dental assistants need to maintain and monitor tools when the procedure is going on. Instructing patients about general oral healthcare and postoperative care can also be done by Dental assistants.

The working environment of a dental assistant is solely on Dentist’s office, aiding the dentist with its practice. The responsibility is quite big right? But don’t worry because in terms of salary, dental assistants are well compensated with their work. With the help of a dental assistant, the dentist can focus on the more expensive procedures and treatment and you can see that its demand will grow more in the future.

What skills should a dental assistant should have in order to be successful?

It is very important that you are reliable enough for the work involved, as well as being a team player and having the ability to work with other people. A dental assistant is under the supervision of his or her boss which is the dentist and considered to be very important in the office team.

For an entry-level assistant, there are no formal training required. Though there are some institutions which offer dental assisting programs and training, but majority of dental offices only require assistants who have gained experience through on-the-job training so that the dental assistants will be familiar with the scope of their work. Most dental offices and clinics hire dental assistants that come from a reputable dental training school. But the most important asset must be the ability of the dental assistant to work with as a team, and that each member of the team works comfortably with each other.
The work of a dental assistant can be part-time and full-time depending on the office and the assistant if they require you to have evening, weekends, and/or holiday work. Research shows that majority of dental assistants work as a part-time employee since 2008.

Due to the increasing demands of dental assistants, a very promising career awaits for aspiring dental assistants. Therefore getting into this career would be a great idea.

What are the some of the reasons that you as a parent might consider allowing your child to home school? Oftentimes children find themselves in a negative environment when attending public schools. A negative environment can easily influence your child to partake in negative actions such as disobedience, drugs and alcohol, and acquiring a rebellious I don’t care attitude just to name a few.

Some parents allow their children to home school because of their home’s location. Some rural homes are 10 to 15 miles away or more from a school or school district, they allow their children to attend a public school because of the distance that is traveled each way every day.

When, if ever is homeschooling right for your child? Some parents choose to homeschool their children from kindergarten all the way through their high school years, while others allow their children to attend school through their elementary and middle school years, then pulling them out to homeschool them during their teen years. Many parents feel that this gives them the opportunity to keep an eye on and help direct their children’s thoughts and actions towards a higher education, and positive outlook on their lifestyle, thus avoiding the negative association from school mates.

Some feel that allowing children to attend homeschool from an early age can inhibit their social skills causing them to be hermits in a world where video games and Internet rule most of our children’s lives. Allowing them to interact with other students and teachers helps their social abilities in many situations throughout the rest of their life. You as a parent, are the one who has to decide whether or not homeschooling will be the right decision to make for your child.

Homeschooling is not only the responsibility of your child, but takes a large part on that of the parent who is allowing the child to homeschool. It is your job to make sure that they complete their schoolwork and maintain a constant schedule throughout their daily routine. Often times, children find home school as a way to slack off and put things off until the last minute. It is important that you as a parent and teacher instill the importance of a regular study routine. This includes starting school at the same time every day, and sticking to that schedule throughout the school year.

Here at Milford Montessori, our goal is to help give you the parent of a homeschooling child or the parents of a child who is considering homeschooling helpful tips and advice to ensure that if your child does decide to homeschool that you’re able to make sure that they get the full learning experience out of homeschooling. If done correctly, schooling can be a great stepping stone towards a higher education and allow your child to go to a college or university in the same manner that any child who attends a public or private school could.

Through your many searches, you run across one that really peeks your interest.  It is called Montessori home schooling or teaching.  So naturally you ask yourself what in the world is Montessori teaching.You soon learn that it is a way of life, a philosophy about how human beings might live their lives and treat one another, an attitude of respect and encouragement for each other, no matter how young or how old.  It is a sense of partnership rather than having power and authority over one another.

As parents, we know that newborns come into our lives lacking the ability to be self-sufficient and dependant and so therefore they rely on us for everything.  So not only do we provide nurturing and protection we help them learn how to become independent and start to do things for themselves.  The single greatest drive of a young child is  to become independent, to feel competent and capable and to be seen as worthy of respect.

From personal experience as a parent, you know just how frustrating a child becomes when he is trying to complete a task and just can’t seem to get it right and then come the little tantrums as a result.  So it is only natural for you as the parent to want to take over and do it for him not realizing that this only frustrates them more and perhaps delays their independence causing a delay in their development and self-esteem.

Dr. Montessori teaches that children who feel respected and competent will develop at a far greater level of emotional well being than a child who is simply loved and doted upon.  One of her famous quotes is “The adult should be an aide to life. We must help the child learn how to do it for himself.”  In other words, the primary role of the parent is to help the child to become mature, independent and responsible.  We tend to overprotect, not realizing that our children can only learn about life through experience, just as we did.

Another Montessori teaching is that a child needs two things in life to live happily as an adult:  a strong sense of his or her identity apart from their parents and a sense of their full membership in not only the family, but the larger community in which they live.  So we need to present an honest picture of the world we are living in to our children according to their growing ability to understand.  So be a good example as children tend to learn more from what we do than what we preach!

For example, in the 1970’s and ’80’s parents began to question whether the public school system or even the private ones were right for their children.  And now today an estimated 1.6-2.0 million children are being taught at home by their parents.  Now my interest was really peeked and I wanted to find out all that I could so that maybe I too could become one of those parents teaching their children at home.

Naturally, when I told my mom and dad that I was considering homeschooling the children, they were aghast.  They were certain that  we would be ruining our children’s lives and dooming them to an unproductive future of isolation and illiteracy.  So then this brought up the question in my mind “Can I Really Teach My Children At Home”?  Do I have the temperament or strength to take on such a task?  I don’t even have a teaching degree.  But again through research I found that dedication and hard work, not special training, is what produces outstanding educational results in a homeschool setting.  And believe me, I am a very dedicated and hard working mom and so I began to think “yes” I can do this.

So now that I had my mind made up that I  could do this, where would I find the curriculum and materials?  So my friend insured me that there’s an ever-increasing variety of curriculum – from traditional textbooks to homeschool-specific curriculum and correspondence courses and she would be more than happy to help me get everything that I needed.  And being true to her word, she helped me get everything I needed to get started, so now I had to follow through and by this time the children were very excited at he idea of being able to stay home from a public school and still be able to get their education.  And being taught by mom too!

Now, being the mother of 2 school age children and 1 toddler, how was I going to to do this?  This would mean rearranging my schedule of daily housework and grocery shopping and perhaps even going out to lunch with the girls.  Was I ready to do this?  Could I put myself on a stricter schedule?  Being determined as I was, I knew I could figure out a way, and I did.  I was pleasantly surprised to learn the subjects that can span grade levels and lend themselves to multilevel teaching.  Therefore I was able to design a program where the older child could work independently in the morning while I worked with the younger one and then while the toddler was taking his afternoon nap I was able to work one-on-one with my older child.

Higher education is one of my goals for our children and instilling that in them at an early age is important. Pushing them into a program or career that they may not like is not the way to go about doing this. Just letting them know that to ensure job security and to make a decent living that will support them and their family when they get older, they will likely need to pursue some kind of higher education. This can be in the form of colleges, universities or even technical schools. My husband attended a community college and then moved on to technical x ray technician schools before he finished with his 4 year degree. I personally would like to see my children attend a shorter program, maybe 2 years instead of 4.

So if I, a mother of 3 can do this, you can too!  It just takes a lot of planning and a world of determination on your part and there is nothing you can’t accompolish.  Do it for your kids sake!  They’ll love you for it

It isn’t hard to see what goes on in the public school system these days and that really scares us as parents as well as our children.  Records show that many of today’s children are dropping out of school as early as junior high because they are so afraid of all the drugs and sex and gangs that are so prevalent.  So what are we to do as parents?  We want to protect them, but we also realize that they have to have an education to make it in today’s world.

So now comes the idea of homeschooling.  This can be very overwhelming at first, with so many questions going through your head, can I really do this, what curriculum would I use and where would I get it, and of course what about my children’s socialization?  Will my child or children be able to handle this, or better yet, will we as parents?

Keep in mind that socialization does indeed affect your children and you need to choose those influences you want in their lives.  They will get plenty of socialization from the neighborhood kids, church groups and other outside activities.

So you’ve made the decision to home school.  You have two school age children,  a toddler and a baby.  How will you be able to handle the responsibility?  Well there is a variety of things you can do.  Maybe the toddler and baby could play together while you teach.  You can also use the time while they are napping to teach the older ones.  If the toddler feels left out, let him color in the same room while you are teaching the older ones. Their brains are like little sponges and you will be surprised at the things he will pick up and absorb just by being in the same room.  If their attention span is gone, let them go play.

Getting back to the curriculum – a general list of areas of learning that you will want to incorporate into your homeschooling will be things  which you can teach not only through materials but just as a part of daily life.  You can incorporate learning into your daily life while you’re out for a walk or driving the car or even making diner.  So in other words, you can make life a learning experience.

Take for instance a lesson in Math could be as simple as adding in the grocery store while shopping, counting trees and birds while out for a walk.  A lesson in Science could be learning about different animals and plants and how and why things work.  History – where did I come from, different cities and countries and what about their Maker.  Physical Education – well look at all the playing and games they do.  Also Social Skills-how they interact with adults, their manners and unselfishness.

Another area of learning experience is that of cleaning.  Make it a part of your school day.  What better way to teach your children discipline, organization, home economics and character.  Put up a chart with a list of all the chores and then just rotate it every day.

The World Book Encyclopedia has an online listing of what your child needs to learn for each grade level.  So go ahead and if this is something you think you might could do and feel really good about, and at the same time be able to spend more quality time with your children – just do it!