Permata Aulad

Source: National Literacy Trust - www.talktoyourbaby.org.uk



From the minute she is born, your baby is already amazing. She is born to be sociable but needs your help from her first day to fully develop her social skills. Talking, singing, smiling and listening to your baby will help to develop her brain.

• Babies are born with brains that have a huge capacity for learning and most brain development happens before the age of three. This is the crucial time to help your child learn to talk and communicate.
• He could hear and recognise your voice when he was in the womb, which is why he turns to look at you now. He feels comforted by your voice.

• By the time your baby is around two months old she will be cooing. By three months she will be focusing on you when you make eye contact and talk.

• Between four and six months he will be babbling to you in response to your smiles,
words and sounds, almost as if he is having a real conversation with you.

• It doesn’t sound like words yet because she is still learning how to use and control her lips and tongue. If you look carefully, you will see that her mouth movements are imitating yours. Try sticking out your tongue slowly, and
see if she does the same.

• Her first step is learning to distinguish sounds, such as being able to tell which voice belongs to her mother or father. She can do this in the first few minutes after birth.

• His babbles, gurgles and gestures are his first attempts at having a conversation with you. When you smile and respond it will help him on his way to becoming a talker.

• These clever moments may just feel like playing, but in fact they are important steps in your baby’s language development. This will help him to become happy and
confident, as well as help his future learning.

So, take some time out from household chores and spend time talking, singing,
laughing and communicating with your baby. You can’t wait until she is at nursery,
as that is leaving it too late. You will be helping to get her off to the best possible start, and she really is worth it.

Being firm and gentle -

A summarised information on PLAY taken from the Open University resources.

Why do Children need PLAY?

There is reason to think that children who have their play behaviour severely restricted, or who find it difficult to play, can become very unhappy, or worse. In a study of 26 young male murderers, Brown (1998) reported that normal play behaviour was virtually absent throughout the lives of these highly violent, antisocial men.

According to Katz (1998) there are plenty of opportunities for spontaneous play with blocks, dressing-up clothes, painting, collage and clay, as well as dramatic play.

An excerpt taken from the 'Curriculum Guidance/Frameworks and Play':

From an early age, play is important to a child's development and learning. It isn't just physical. It can involve cognitive, imaginative, creative, emotional and social aspects. It is the main way most children express their impulse to explore, experiment and understand. Children of all ages play.

(Dobson, 2004, p.8)

In some societies and cultures, play is an important element in the protection model of children, a model which presents ‘well-cared’ for children as those who are cocooned from the day-to-day life and anxieties of the adult world:

in modern Western society play has become marginalized and locked itself in a world of its own. It has grown into a highly differentiated and separate activity – an activity that separates children from the real, adult world. It has become one of the expressions for the banishment of children to the margins of society. Play has become an expression of a kind of activity that has no place in real society; something easy that children engage in while waiting for entrance into society.

(Strandell, 2000, p.147)

This particular concept of play arises from a particular view of ‘the child’, a view that sees children as different from adults: they are innocent in the sense that they are untouched by the cares of the adult world; they have the right to be protected; they have a degree of autonomy, but the extent to which they participate in the ‘real’ world is circumscribed, and lacking responsibility is almost synonymous with childhood. It is apparent, then, that attitudes towards children's play are socially, culturally and politically determined. This being the case, we need to be conscious that theories about the value of children's play will vary through time and place, and will be influenced by the dominant discourses about childhood, education and child development.

WHAT IS PLAY?

It seems that defining the word PLAY is very crucial and important. Most may not seem to understand what lies underneath the aims and objectives of PLAY. The quote by Dobson (2004, as above) might explained it all.

Another excerpt taken from the website:

What is important is that practitioners, parents and children within a setting share their ideas about what constitutes play and that we, as adults, are clear about why we value play. In order to do this, you need to take a step back and think about what you think play does and, from there, consider why it is valuable.

Words and phrases such as exploration, fun, freedom, investigation, enquiry, learning, social development, coping with anxieties, making sense of the world and using up energy are some of the many descriptions and interpretations of play activities.

The purposes and reasons for valuing play have included the view that it:

• utilises surplus energy;

• is natural for children and part of the innocence of childhood;

• helps children understand the social world;

• helps children to develop cognitively;

• supports children's developing communication skills;

• helps children to cope with their feelings and fears and to manage their emotional states;

• develops positive dispositions towards challenge, change and self-initiated learning.

• What are the BENEFITS?
  
  
  One of the beliefs challenged by the study's findings was that play is a valuable learning context because the children have ownership and are interested and self-motivated. The data suggested that children were often unable to gain much from a particular play episode because the practitioners assumed the children possessed a range of complex skills, ‘such as making decisions, carrying out their plans, co-operating with peers, sharing resources, problem-creating and problem-solving’, and in some cases this was not the case (Bennett et al., 1997, p.121). Children were also observed as being ‘hands on’, but not ‘brains on’; they would appear to be playing in the way the teacher had hoped and expected they would, but in fact they were not intellectually engaged (Bennett et al., 1997, p.121).
  
  
  It is often argued that play encourages children to be independent learners, but in order to be an independent learner the child has to develop a range of strategies and skills, ranging from selecting resources, through working cooperatively with others, to reflecting on what they know and what they need to know.
  
  
  HOW to achieve?
  
  
  - The Role of Adults in PLAY
  - The Settings helps in developing ideas
  - Be creative;
  - Play can be as simple as it could be, and it won't be necessary to be expensive.
  
  
  What else can PLAY help one to achieve?
  
  

  Observing children's play offers an important way in which adults can monitor and assess children's progress.

  Logging children's use of a particular activity or play scenario helps practitioners monitor how children use their time, their particular interests and any gaps in their experiences, so that practitioners can plan a balanced curriculum that takes note of children's strengths, interests and needs.

  (QCA/DfEE, 2000a, p.24)

  Playtime in a primary school offers a context where children's free play can be observed. Janet May, a teaching assistant from Yelvertoft Primary School, Northampton, describes how she draws on playground observations to inform classroom thinking.

  I love being around the children. It's very interesting for me to see them as a teaching assistant in the classroom, and then as a playtime supervisor outside. I can very often take back a lot of things to the teacher that have happened at playtime. Or maybe something I've seen in a child's character outside that I'm able to discuss with the teacher; and that might explain what's happening in class. So it's quite valuable to be in both situations.

  (Personal communication, May 2006)

  
  
  More...
  
  According to Cagliari, observing children in ‘unstructured’ or play activities may reveal what a child has already learnt. She suggests that in order to be able to plan future activities the adult needs to be a participant observer: taking part in the activity, listening to and discussing the children's ideas and engaging in self-observation in order to identify possible future paths of learning (author's personal notes on Cagliari, 2003a).
  
  Hyder (2005) argues that children can reveal a great deal through their fantasy and imaginative play, and that listening and watching is a crucial part of gaining access to children's ideas and feelings. Cagliari (2003a), however, warns about the dangers of seeing what we want to see. Children's play is complex, and we need to be cautious about assuming that, because we have observed the observable (i.e. what the children are doing or saying), we have accessed their thoughts and ideas. We need to be careful that we see what actually happens and not what we expect or want to see. There are always different ways of interpreting situations; these may not be ‘correct’ from a scientific point of view, but if we are not open to what we didn't expect, if we are not open to different ways in which a topic can be approached, the different connections it is possible to make, the different premises, then it becomes difficult to discover the knowledge-building processes of the children. It is important not to over-predict what will happen.

  • • • Source: The Learning Space, Open University

For more and clearer information, please visit:

http://openlearn.open.ac.uk/mod/oucontent/view.php?id=397481

Source: from Yahoo News

LiveScience Staff

LiveScience.com – Fri Aug 6, 5:25 pm ET
(http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/20100806/sc_livescience/personalitysetforlifeby1stgradestudysuggests)

Our personalities stay pretty much the same throughout our lives, from our early childhood years to after we're over the hill, according to a new study.
The results show personality traits observed in children as young as first graders are a strong predictor of adult behavior.

"We remain recognizably the same person," said study author Christopher Nave, a doctoral candidate at the University of California, Riverside. "This speaks to the importance of understanding personality because it does follow us wherever we go across time and contexts."

The study will be published in an upcoming issue of the journal Social Psychological and Personality Science.

Tracking personalities



Using data from a 1960s study of approximately 2,400 ethnically diverse schoolchildren (grades 1 - 6) in Hawaii, researchers compared teacher personality ratings of the students with videotaped interviews of 144 of those individuals 40 years later.

They examined four personality attributes - talkativeness (called verbal fluency), adaptability (cope well with new situations), impulsiveness and self-minimizing behavior (essentially being humble to the point of minimizing one's importance).

Among the findings:

Talkative youngsters tended to show interest in intellectual matters, speak fluently, try to control situations, and exhibit a high degree of intelligence as adults.

Children who rated low in verbal fluency were observed as adults to seek advice, give up when faced with obstacles, and exhibit an awkward interpersonal style.

Children rated as highly adaptable tended, as middle-age adults, to behave cheerfully, speak fluently and show interest in intellectual matters. Those who rated low in adaptability as children were observed as adults to say negative things about themselves, seek advice and exhibit an awkward interpersonal style.

Students rated as impulsive were inclined to speak loudly, display a wide range of interests and be talkative as adults. Less impulsive kids tended to be fearful or timid, kept others at a distance and expressed insecurity as adults.

Children characterized as self-minimizing were likely to express guilt, seek reassurance, say negative things about themselves and express insecurity as adults.

Those who were ranked low on a self-minimizing scale tended to speak loudly, show interest in intellectual matters and exhibit condescending behavior as adults.

Changing personality

Previous research has suggested that while our personalities can change, it's not an easy undertaking.

Personality is "a part of us, a part of our biology," Nave said. "Life events still influence our behaviors, yet we must acknowledge the power of personality in understanding future behavior as well."

Future research will "help us understand how personality is related to behavior as well as examine the extent to which we may be able to change our personality," Nave said.

(source http://www.babycentre.co.uk/toddler/pottytraining/abc/)

A -- Assess your child's readiness

B -- Buy the right equipment

C -- Create a routine

D -- Ditch the nappy

E -- Explain the process

F -- Foster independence

G -- Grab some training pants

H -- Handle setbacks gracefully

I -- Introduce night training

J -- Jump for joy -- you're done

Most parents eagerly anticipate potty training as a milestone in their child's development -- if for no other reason than that it means an end to changing nappies. But few mums and dads are prepared for how long it can take. Yes, some children get it within a few days. But many more take several months. You and your child have a better chance of success if you know the basics of training and can make the process clear to your child.

A -- Assess your child's readiness

Most people begin training when their child is about two, but some kids may not be ready until well into their fourth year. Watch for the right signs, such as imitating others' bathroom habits, and don't pressure your child to start before he's ready. It's worth running through a basic checklist to see if he is ready.

B -- Buy the right equipment

First and foremost, this means investing in a child-sized potty or a special seat to attach to your regular toilet. Whichever you choose, make sure your child can stabilise himself with his feet so he can push when he's having a bowel movement. You may also want to pick up an explanatory picture book or video for your child to help him get interested in training.

C -- Create a routine

Sit your child fully clothed on the potty seat once a day -- after breakfast, before his bath, or whenever else he's likely to have a bowel movement . This allows him to get used to the potty and accept it as part of his routine. If he doesn't want to sit on it, that's okay. Never restrain him or physically force him to sit there. And especially don't push the issue if he seems scared.
In both cases, it's better to put the potty away, or at least aside, for a few weeks or a month and then try again. If he's willing to sit there, fine. But at this stage, don't even try to explain why he should use it; you just want him to get used to the thing. Make sure it's always in a convenient place -- since it's portable, your child's potty can be used in the garden or the playroom.

D -- Ditch the nappy

Sit your child on the potty seat without a nappy. Again, let him get used to what it feels like to sit there this way. At this point you can start explaining that this is what Mummy and Daddy (and any older siblings) do every day. That is, undressing before you sit down to go to the bathroom is the grownup thing to do.
If he gets the idea and produces something, that's fine. But don't push him to perform. Again, wait until he's ready and demonstrates a clear interest in using the toilet on his own.

E -- Explain the process

It may help to show your child where his bowel movements go. The next time he goes in his nappy, take him to his potty, sit him down, and empty the nappy beneath him into the bowl. This will help him make the connection between sitting and producing. After you've emptied his potty into the big toilet, let him flush it if he wants to (but don't make him do it if he's scared) so he can see where it goes. Teach him to dress himself and wash his hands when he's done.

F -- Foster independence

Encourage your child to use his potty whenever he feels the urge to go. But make sure he knows that he can tell you, too, and that you'll take him to the bathroom whenever he wants you to. If you can, let him run around sometimes without a nappy (or any clothing below the waist), with the potty nearby. Tell him he can use it whenever he wants to and remind him occasionally that it's there if he needs it.

G -- Grab some training pants

You may like to try using training pants. Some children like them and they help, others just think of them as a slightly different type of nappy and they defeat the object of the exercise. Some children are encouraged by having real underwear instead.

H -- Handle setbacks gracefully

Virtually every child will have several accidents before being completely trained during the day and at night. Don't get angry or punish your child; after all, it's only recently that his muscles have developed sufficiently to allow him to hold his bladder and rectum closed at all. Mastering the process will take time. When he has an accident, calmly clean it up and suggest that next time he try using his potty instead.

I -- Introduce night training

Even when your child is consistently clean and dry all day, it may take him several more months or years to master night training, so don't throw away his nappies just yet. At this age, his body is still too immature to reliably wake him up in the middle of the night just to go to the bathroom. You can help cut down on wet nights by not letting him drink too much before bedtime and telling him that if he does wake up in the middle of the night he can call to you to help him get to the potty. You can also try leaving his potty near the bed in case he wants to use it.

J -- Jump for joy -- you're done!

Believe it or not, when your child is ready to learn this new grown-up skill, he will. And if you wait until he's really ready to start, the process shouldn't be too painful for either of you. He will eventually be trained, and you won't have to think about it again -- at least, not until the next baby...

Sign language for general use would be unusual to certain country or maybe citizens of some places. It is normally known to be used for the disable. BUT, recently had been widely used as a mean of communication amongst children, especially babies and those that develops late speech.

Wonderful isn't it? It does opens up new sets of minds to think of this method as an approach to encourage communication amongst children. Yes, and why NOT?

I used them, and I find it very amusingly good! My children loves Mr Tumble, and from there they learned lots of signings. I even tried it with my second son. Whenever he wants to eat, he would sign me the eating signing and at the same time he says, "Eat! Eat!" Well, it is a language. He is communicating. And with this method, makes it easier for him to convey the message clearly to me. He can now do lots of signings like crocodile, duck, cereal, drink, egg in a cup, etc.. etc.. and all thanks to Mr Tumble.

So, who is this Mr Tumble?
Mr Tumble appears in the Cbeebies TV Programme here in the UK called 'Something Special'. I would suggest highly that the show is shown in my country. I find it very good and useful. Eventhough it lasts for only about 10 minutes every day, I think that it is useful enough that children are learning lots of signings from him.

Mr Tumble or Justin Fletcher had recently received the 'Member of the Order of the British Empire' (MBE) in the 2008 Birthday Honours for services to "children's broadcasting and the voluntary sector" from Queen Elizabeth. He was labelled as a communicator genius by many from England. I thought the same too. The method he uses are excellent!

So, what method is it?

This method is called the MAKATON. You can browse further for more information here. It uses the standard British signing language. It is practised almost in every nursery in England. Nursery teachers are all giving instructions and explaining things to the children with these signings. There are also some free resources in the website where you can download, print and practise them with your children.
All and all, there are lots of things one can explore from this. If you're doing research work, look into this method and see how it assists in child's language development. If you're a parent, you can learn them and maybe it could help you communicate further. If you're a teacher, maybe you can start implementing this with your young students.

One more thing that I feel great about this is that it helps you to communicate emotions out of your children. Expressing emotions can some time be very difficult for either parents or children. But using signings like MAKATON might make it easier. Example would be, 'please calm down', 'are you sad?', 'are we feeling happy today?', 'it's a great day isn't it?', 'I am very sad!', 'I feel very happy today!', etc.


To summarise this all up, if you need further information, do not hesitate to leave your comments here. I'd be more than happy to assist you with further information.

As a taste of what Mr Tumble is all about, enjoy this short clip:

Cbeebies - Something Special - Mr Tumble goes to school


p.a.m.z

Communication is a need in our daily life. We communicate with languages, many different kinds of languages in this world. This also includes sign-language and some might not even notice that body-languages could send out messages to other people.

There are many different approaches to teaching children to communicate. Sometimes, it is not of that important to get children to say a complete sentence, BUT the message that they are trying to SAY to you, especially to parents. It is upsetting if parents finds it so difficult to understand what their children are trying to explain, when there are barriers to communicate, such would be not being able to produce words properly or could be that they are still babies. However, it is useful to know that one could overcome this, if parents starts using sign languages to their children especially babies. This is a very interesting topic which I would like to cover in another entry, soon.

As for this entry, I would like to stress a number of thing, taken from the famous book, ‘RAISING BOYS by Steve Biddulph’. I have been promoting this book to friends whom feels that there is a need to understand their children (especially boys). There is another version of this book especially for girls, ‘RAISING GIRLS’. Also recommended. (I’d like to THANK my close friend, Dr. Wan Fariza & Husband for sharing with me this, otherwise, I wouldn’t have known.)


So, what is the best way to encourage communication with our children? These are some tips taken from Steve Biddulph famous book: Raising Boys:

1. ‘Talk them up – One step at a time’

Steve explained how important it is that us parents encourage our children to talk by adding one word extra on top of what they are saying. An example would be, say, Adam says,”Mommy, Cat!” Mommy says, ”Yes Adam, Yellow Cat!”. Here, not only the mother is responding to her son, but also introducing a new word ‘YELLOW’ and also describing the cat by its colour.

If our children are able to make longer sentence like, Mia says, “Mia’s Duckie!” Mommy says, “Yes, this is Mia’s Duckie, Quack! Quack!” Here, mom adds more words on top of what Mia had already said. Its adding up to Mia’s vocabulary list too.
Well, it is not as hard as it seem. But practises would be great for parents to make a start on this. You can do it anywhere! In the car, in the market, while shopping for groceries, anywhere! Just start encouraging them. Even if you think your baby is still to young to speak, just talk to them always. You will be surprised that they are actually listening and building up their vocabulary list, which is equally as important as anything else.

2. ‘Explain things to children, every chance you can’

On top of what I have just explained above, this is another way to encourage communication. Always TALK whenever you can, wherever you are. I know, it is tiring sometime for parents whom are working. But, they are your children, and it is a great investment to build up a good communicator later in life, ain’t it?

So, what to talk about? Anything! And this could be about EVERYTHING. And it could be as simple as explaining why the cat is licking its body or why you look so tired. Children are very curious and every single details actually awe them a lot! Even, dripping water would be so amazing to them. TRY IT OUT!

Example: Mommies could involve their children while they are cooking. Explaining why you’re chopping the onions, why you have to put oil in the pan, why is the cooker hot, why are you washing all the vegetables, anything! So, good luck!

3. ‘Read to your kids from an early age’

Another approach would be to encourage reading from the early age. Yes, as early as babies of a few months old, or if you have lots of free times, you could even start from the womb. It is amazing how quickly children adapts to the routine of reading before bed time.

Believe me! I’ve done it! It was hard for me to practise this in the first place. My mom always remind me of this. I never followed.. shame on me. But, living abroad kind of instil the culture of what they practise in school for my children. And it was amazingly great that my children are now holding books, waiting for me on the bed to read them. There would be a queue of books waiting to be read, but the power is in your hand. Limit them according to your strength. (I know most parents would be tired of working stresses in the office). ;D

But yes! A good approach to building up their communication skills, confidence, building up their word knowledge, sentence structure, describing things and so on. Make it a HABIT! Try now, you will get there eventually.


So, I guess, that would be it for the time being. I will try and share more of what I know on children. As for the book, I highly recommend you get them! If you need some translation (Malay), please do not hesitate to contact us. I’d be more than happy to help you out. Or, if you need some particular advice on this matter, please do contact us too. Or leave your messages here, in the comments sections. Thank you.

p.a.m.z