~Educational DVD's "NOT NURTURING" material~

"Oh no~ I'm so late for the meeting! Yahti! Do make sure that you'll play ashley's favourite Barney DVD later if you're busy all right? remember to keep my baby occupied, im leaving now!"

Hmmm.....sounds FAMILIAR?

It is indeed quite common nowadays that technology and media are now slowly taking over the place of various areas in our lives for example: from FAN to AIR-CONDITIONER, POSTING LETTERS to E-MAILS, TELEPHONES to HAND PHONES, educational BOOKS to educational TV programmes and etc.

It is a fact that technology does help to make our lives easier in many ways and that the media too has provided us tons of convenience in getting information, communication and etc.

HOWEVER....

When it comes to educating our toddlers as young as 1 year old to 3 years.....

Is it appropriate to replace Educational DVDs to our daily interaction with our little ones whenever we give excuses of "NO TIME, TOO BUSY, or IT'S OKAY! MY CHILD LOVES IT...SO WHY NOT?"

The following article adapted from "MY CHILD" magazine has provided views and studies from various researches concerning the matter of Educational DVDs as NOT NURTURING material to toddlers.

"Research recently has shown that toddlers shown "educational" DVDs actually have worse vocabularies than children who didn't.

Far from an IQ boost for them, they appear to hinder learning, according to a team from California University who carried out a study of almost 100 one-and-two-years-olds, using a DVD from the Baby Einstein range.

Being with their parents proved more stimulating, says Jean Gross, an educational psychologist, who said that middle class children are struggling to communicate because working parents are unable to spend enough quality time with them, read them bedtime stories or eat meals with them. "BABIES ARE PRIMED TO RESPOND TO A FACE, NOT A MACHINE," says Gross.

According to speech and behavioural expert Sioban Boyce, the middle class habit of speaking to little children as though they were adults is not only pretentious but also harmful.

Addressing little children like grown-ups can have long-term consequences on their ability to communicate properly as they get older. They might find it hard to maintain friendships and can become either introverted or frustrated, and even aggresive.

"By understanding big expressions, where we elongate vowels, make noises and adopt a sing-song tone, babies learn to "read" our faces and body language as well as understanding what we are trying to convey, whether thats excitement or anticipation or sadness or anger," says Boyce.

A DVD, no matter how "fun and stimulating", is no substitute for one-to-one interaction. Babies are fascinated by faces, says Boyce, as they need to look at them properly understand what they are saying.

The toddler years: Play and Toys

THIS IS THE TIME when children are into everything and it can be very hard work and difficult for whoever has the job of keeping them safe and happy.

Sometimes it is easy to forget that what makes your toddler so exhausting - her ENERGY, her CURIOUSITY, her EAGERNESS, her DESIRE for new experiences and her DETERMINATION to do things for herself - are the very qualities that make her fun to be with and that you should be encouraging for they will be important assets throughout her schooldays and in adult life....

AS SHE PLAYS.....

your toddler is learning to HANDLE and CONTROL the things around her, and each success gives her CONFIDENCE to go on to the next stage.

If you can provide your child with playthings which will allow her to make DISCOVERIES and EXPERIENCE new things as she needs to, you will be able to make your life together easier and more rewarding and you might find yourself saying "no" a little less often to your little ones.

Here are 7 SIMPLE GUIDES to the playthings your child will enjoy, and what will interest her as her skills develop.

1) Introduce PULL-ALONG or PUSH-ALONG TOYS ON WHEELS to the child when she is able to walk more STEADILY and CONFIDENTLY because such toys helps child develop her gross motor skills as she learns how to balance as well as enjoying the noises they make for fun.

NOTE: Pulling along a wiggly toy can help GET RID A LOT OF ENERGY at that active time of the day!

2) Introduce SIT-ASTRIDE TOYS, ROCKING HORSE, VEHICLE or ANIMAL ON WHEELS when she can get on and off things and can push along with her legs to encourage a sense of speed, for control as well as balancing.

3) Introduce SAND, PLAYDOUGH and FINGER PAINT when she can be trusted not to put things into her mouth to allow child to experience texture, sensation as well as colours around them.

3) Introduce TOY TELEPHONE and TOY HOUSEHOLD EQUIPMENT when she wants to be like you to stimulate her imagination. (and sometimes.... the REAL THING!) =)

4) Introduce PEG-BOARD, CRAYONS, BUTTONS, CONSTRUCTION TOYS, JIGSAWS and POSTING TOYS when she can handle small things to develop child's manipulative and coordinating skills.

6) Introduce SMALL CARS, DOLLS AND PRAMS, FARM ANIMALS, WENDY HOUSE or WIGWAM when she wants to create a world of her own to express her understanding of the world.

7) Introduce a PLENTY OF PICTURE BOOKS, STORIES and RHYMES when she enjoys books, looking at pictures singing and dancing so that she can learn about the world she lives in and develop child's language skills (E.g. print awareness, sounds and words)

Have an awesome time spent with your little ones during her years of discoveries and exploration! Enjoy! (^~^)

REFERENCE

Brant, H & . (1986). The Complete Mothercare Manual (2nd ed.). London: Conran Octopus Ltd.

I like to move it move it..i like to play it play it! =)

Lol. It seems like we can never stop moving, whether we are listening to the music or walking about, we'll just shake our heads or legs while doing our things, adjusting our positions while listening to the lecture, and some of us even love talking to friends!

Likewise, Children are like us too! =) they love playing around with their toys, catching about with their playmates, moving up and down in the house....They just CAN'T STOP but to play and move about as if they are like some sort of moving machines that won't stop until you tell them to!

Sometimes it really drives parents or teachers up to the wall and somehow they just wish that they could "turn off the little machine"~HOW DO WE GET THE CHILDREN TO BE STILL??

So one day, something just striked me up at class as l had a great idea in mind after hearing a sharing from the lecturer. She said : "Why not make use of children's energy and observe the positive results out from it?" I'm sure parents would not want their child's energy to go wasted when they can't stop playing all day long: running about, jumping all around and end up not learning anything valueble.

And because of this......

It seemed to be rather difficult for parents and teachers to provide the appropriate experiences for the children as they do not fully understand the meaning of play.

Hence, it somehow stopped them from planning suitable play activities for the children that are meaningful whereby children can enjoy and learn at the same time.

Apart from that, it is also observed that a lot of parents nowadays still fail to understand the importance of early childhood's stages and development as most of the time they prefer their children to concentrate more on worksheets ( the more worksheet the better it is for my chidl!) rather than a play based learning to prepare them for their next level of education.

(Below: a conversation between two parents.)

Parent A: " Hey~ Miss Chen, how's your child doing in the XXX kindergarten so far?"(play-based kindergarten)

Parent B:" Oh dear, it is a terrible kindergarten!"

Parent A : " Why do you say so...?"

Parent B: " I don't even understand what are the teachers doing there! they would just allow my child to play...play...play...and play...! they never gave my child any homework to do so far!

Parent A : I see.. but if i'm not mistaken, your child is only three years old. Am i right?"

Parent B : "Yes....that is why i sent her to that school, wanting her to be smart... But unfortunately, the school seems to be not doing anything but just letting the children play! i can let my child play at home, so what's the point of bringing my child to the school and spend my money for my child when all she does is just playing all day long?"

It was really sad to hear that conversation when i was standing beside them while waiting for my dad to pick me up. I believed that, the early childhood stages are the best time to help children develop physically,intellectually, emotionally and socially as well as picking up language skills. As an adult, it is our responsibility to help them grow holistically.

Since this particular parent don't allow her child to play in school and even said, "I can let my child to play at home! " Based on this statement she made, i hope she will let her child to play at home...and Not must not be just any play, but a meaningful experience of play!"

Parents can help their children to develop and refine their motor skills even though they are at home.

Get the children interested in sports by playing football, badminton or any other fun activities that can be also done at home.



Spend quality time with the child and guide him how to write - making simple markings, drawing simple things and painting meaningful drawings. Guide him the right way of holding his pencil, crayon or brush.



Create activities or provide some play materials that will lead the child to problem solving as well as providing opportunities to be creative and making decisions.

We are all aware how important language are in our lives. So parents should help their child develop in this area by reading stories, rhymes and poems to him as well as singing along with him. It is interactive, enjoyable and the child would love talking to you while doing these activities.

Remember to help your child feel important and needed in all ways. Allow and guide your child to discover his abilities and skills through the activities that you have prepared for him. Encourage them further even when they do not achieve much as this will help them to gain their self esteem.

Besides of having fun, children are also learning at the same time, this planned activities help children make good use of their time and energy. Apart from, that, it also helps them to be more independent and knowledgeable.

Always allow young children by keeping in mind that we too should provide opportunities for them to explore the environment by themselves.


This is what i would like to say, " It is your child's nature to run about , to play around, but it is OUR responsibilities to guide and nurture them. So, it's time to let your child play to at home, with your help and guidance." ^_^




WISH to know more about creating an appropriate learning environment at home?
Just click here :) http://www.earlychildhoodnews.com/earlychildhood/article_view.aspx?ArticleID=332

Multimedia Today.

There are places where children read, enjoy and respect books because of COMPUTERS.

There are places where children are emotionally involved with discussing complex issues (from environmental to personal choices)because of COMPUTERS.

There are places where lonely,seriously ill children in hospitals can find someone to talk to because of COMPUTERS.

As the industry continue to grow, so does the number of children, teachers and parents making use of the multimedia in teaching, learning and playing.


For the past few years, the impact of multimedia in our homes and school has been profound. Pictures, sound,music and text offer children with different learning styles and strengths multiple paths to the same information.


For instance,


Children can learn to read by hearing a word, by seeing an animation of the word, or by creating their own stories with that word. Children can learn about new cultures by seeing video footage of the people, hearing their music, reading their stories or communicating with them daily through electronic mail.



Children can search through information at their own pace,in a way most meaningful to them.For children who have strengths in understanding visual or auditory information,multimedia can open new path to learning which in the past might have been represented only by text.

SOME people might think that multimedia is replacing our essential traditional forms of media(books and concrete learning experience)

However,

I do not totally agree with them.


I'll give an example in regard to my statement


At certain kindergarten such as Reggio Emilia approach( A project-based approach), They ENCOURAGE children to spent weeks researching information on Asian animals such as cat, dog, chicken and bird in books,magazines and in their local communities.


These same children wrote stories,created puppet shows,and finally gave a multimedia presentation of their own.Based on this statement, we can realised that Multimedia do not replace books or outdoor adventures.


Multimedia DID NOT stop their imagination or creativity .Multimedia simply ENHANCED and SUPOPORTED all of these experiences and offered children one more way to learn.



Let's listen to some of the feedbacks given by the parents shall we? ---> =)

My voice: When we think about child, we will think about play

When we think about children, we will think about PLAY.

Food builds the body; play fuels the mind.

My philosophy of education is "be the voice of children and let kids be kids", it is important to let our children fall in love with learning and nurturing them during their crucial period which is the point of creation of a child's first sense or self or building of a first identity.

It goes without saying that, all parents wish that their own children will be able to have a bright future.

Especially in hope of getting their children into the top school, most parents send their children to tuition classes starting from three years old as soon as they are old enough to hold a pencil without realising the negative effect of stressing out the children as well as cutting off their inner necessity and impulse of children which is "PLAY".

Removing play from early childhood places children at risk. Children may miss the opportunity for play to contribute physical,intellectual,language,emotional,social and spiritual development in a fundamental way.

Hence, I BELIEVE as well that,

Early childhood should be pleasant and enjoyable as the children should be able to play because it is their beginning of stepping into a world that are full of wonders and magic around them.

Therefore i believe that children learn best through play-based learning.

Young children are born with a desire to explore, discover, learn as well as experience because they are ACTIVE LEARNERS who enjoy learning through PLAY in physical activities rather than just sit and listen quietly.

Playing with wooden block: children learn about how tall and how low, pretending to sell fruits at a stall, children learn about numbers.

Whereas using play dough: children learn about shapes, colours, creating and etc. During the play, children are engaged in learning experience that require them to use a range of different skills such as fine motor skills, intellectual skills and creativity.

Whether playing at indoor or outdoor, play is a way in which children learn and in the absence of play, children miss the experience of learning.

Next, children develop their physical motor skills or sensorimotor skills best through own experiences that occur in their every day lives.

Gross and fine motor skills learning opportunities can be built directly through play.

For example,children learn how to balance themselves through jumping or climbing and manipulating small objects through playing with finger puppets.

Besides that, playing with a sense of taste, touch, sight and hearing become useful for young children to explore, experiment and gather information about the world.

Sensorimotor play through physical skills help children to master and control the usage of their body parts and to control it more effectively. Therefore, preschool teachers are able to promote and enhance a child's physical development by providing a safe and healthy environment for natural play-based activities.



Apart from that, play involves a lot of thinking process whereby it builds up cognitive skills such as problem solving.

It is an approach that allows children to develop their critical thinking and inner strengths to solve the problems.

Through play experiences, children will adjust their own thinking because it enables them to make sense of their world whereby they will have the ability to use what they have already known to construct new knowledge. It is fairly obvious that the creativity of children through play is the key in developing brain cells better than follow the rigid rules alone. For example,children are able to use their imagination and try out new roles during a role play activity.

In addition,

Through play,

Children learn to use LANGUAGE for different purposes at various settings with different people. At one point, children may be using sophisticated language when playing with their own peers.

In a pretend play, for example, children have to learn how to communicate and express their thoughts about something that they have in mind through talking and showing actions where their peers may not be able to understand at an instant. Hence, this shows that playing appears to be helping children in language development.

NEXT,

Play supports EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT because it provides an environment or a way to express children's feeling.

It is certainly true that when a young child has only limited language abilities, it is better for her to express feeling and thought as well as understanding of her world through play rather than complicated words.

Self-esteem and self-awareness of children can be built by providing more support, encouragement and praise through play.

For instance, teacher encourage children who are shy to participate along with outgoing children when they are comfortable and ready. Thus, they have plenty of interaction with other kids that helps build up their self-confidence. Independence of children can be built too by providing choices for them to play according to their interest and needs.

Furthermore, play is vital to children's social development as it appear to help children develop social skills by interacting with their peers.

Playing with other kids: children learn to appreciate and respond to their peer's feeling by waiting for their turn and being fair to share the toys or materials; For example, they learn slowly that they can't always be the "KING" of the game and expect everything to go according to their ways and wants. Otherwise they'll start losing their playmates if it keeps on going.

Play nourish the growth of a healthy child in every areas of their development (P.I.L.E.S). It is an essential ingredient for developing children's physical skills, intellectual skills, language skills, emotions - spiritual and mind as well as their social skills.

By merely just having a plain understanding on the importance of play is insufficient, it is important for us to put our knowledge into actions for the sake of our young generations.

Hence, bringing up a child from early childhood to adulthood requires an investment of time, attention and thought as every child is unique, different and thus there are no specific formulas that are viable for every child.

What i believe in.....

DO you know THAT....

A child's education begins when a foetus starts to develop in a mother's womb? Various studies have shown that prenatal stimulation through music and speech bring benefits to the child where emotional and intellectual development occurs.

For example: THE FOETUS HEARS FROM THE MOTHER speaking and singing to it, creating a bonding between the mother and child. Likewise, early childhood education provides education and care to children from birth to age 6 according to their individual needs.

Hence, I BELIEVE that......

Early childhood education plays an important role throughout children's development stages because it helps children to develop appropriately by nurturing and guiding them during their first 6 years of early childhood.

This is a time when their brain begins to develop rapidly and allowing them to learn various skills from different perspective such as development in physical, intellectual, language, emotion, and social.

Studies show that, "from infancy through about age 10, brain cells not only form most of the connections they will maintain through life but during this time they retain their greatest malleability" (Dana Alliance for Brain Initiatives, 1996, pg 7, as cited in A position statement of the NAEYC, 1996, pg2).

REALISING the importance of early childhood education, it makes me understand how important it is to shape and nurture these children from all areas as they develop into adulthood, so that they may be able start out their lives meaningfully as young children, leaving a valuable childhood experience to be remember. In the mean time, giving me a desire of wanting to make a change in the life of these little ones as an early childhood edcuator.