Writing Vocabulary for Children and Family

foster parents = people who have children living in their existing family for a fixed period, with the original parents’ agreement

Sentence- She wanted to live with the foster parents she lived with at the age of two.

guardians = people who are legally appointed to protect a child’s interests in the absence of parents

Sentence-  Some Guardians pursued the new policy more vigorously than others.

role models = people that children look to and respect as good examples

Sentence-  There aren’t enough positive role models for young people today, especially for minority groups.

ground rules = basic rules governing the way people can behave in a situation

Sentence-  We have already succeeded in working out ground rules with the Department of Defense.

conventions = traditions or social norms that most people follow

Sentence-  Conventions can be modified by changes in behaviour or by reinterpretations of the significance of certain behaviour.

codes of conduct = voluntary rules which people accept in a situation

Sentence-  Several major law firms have recently enacted codes of conduct to delineate appropriate behavior and to ward off official complaints.

bullying = when children attack and intimidate other children

Sentence-  Dr Muffett stressed that he was opposed to bullying in schools and that action would be taken to stamp it out.

truancy = when a pupil leaves school without permission (verb = to play truant from school)

Sentence-  The authorities have responded to complaints of increasing truancy with legislation apparently strict but in practice almost ineffective.

delinquency = minor crime (often by young people)

Sentence-  The problem of juvenile delinquency presented itself for the attention from the whole society.

abduction = the crime of taking or kidnapping people for a criminal reason

Sentence-  He was convicted of abduction with intent to defile and could be sentenced to 20 years to life imprisonment.

peer pressure = the pressure from people in the same group to act in a certain way.

 Sentence-  Peer pressure and self-induced pressure are also intertwined, and they begin almost at the beginning of freshman year.

dual-income = a family where both the father and mother work

Sentence-  In many countries, the dual-income family is the norm nowadays.

breadwinner = the person who earns all or most of the money in a family

Sentence-  When the breadwinner is ill, his children will do anything rather than starve.

child-minding = caring informally (not in schools) for children when parents are busy or  working.

Sentence-  Nursery and child-minding facilities should be introduced if there appears to be a level of demand which would make it cost-effective.

after-school childcare = caring for children in a school setting, as above

Sentence-  Many families rely on after-school childcare because both parents work and commute.

viable = practical and possible to achieve

Sentence-  At a certain age, it’s not viable for men to take a backward step into unskilled work.

peers = people in the same group or level as yourself

Sentence-  While some students work best with their peers, their classmates might benefit more from the personal attention of their teacher.

bonding= the development of close emotional connections between people

Sentence-  Doctors say the children have difficulty bonding because they have never formed an attachment to one caregiver.

patterns of behaviour = ways of acting and doing things (either positive or negative)

Sentence-  They have different instincts, different pheromones, different patterns of behaviour, a different mind structure.

well brought-up (to bring up children = to raise and educate them in your own moral, behavioural or religious conventions)

Sentence-  I was brought up in a very religious family, and I seem to have absorbed their values.