WHY IS PLAY IMPORTANT?

Play is important because it helps children grow strong and healthy.
When children run, jump, roll, throw, catch, or swing they are building muscles. They burn energy that makes them tired and hungry. Physical play improves strength, endurance, and balance. Body coordination improves when children play in physical ways. Physical play helps
children sleep and eat better.

Play is important because children can learn about the meaning of things in the world.
Games help children learn what words mean, like "stop" or "go." Play with sand and buckets help children learn what "full" or "empty" means. They learn to collect and use information. They learn about time. They discover how things feel and taste. Children learn about art, science, math, music, nature, animals, and people when they play.

Play is important because it helps children learn about people.
While playing, children will learn to take turns and share. They will act out their feelings, listen and talk to playmates, and follow rules. They will try leading and following. They will start to understand themselves and others. Play helps them know what they like and what they don't like. During play they can pretend what it's like to be someone else, like a firefighter, doctor, mother, or teacher. They can pretend they are a baby or grandfather.

Play is important because it helps children learn and grow in a way that helps them feel good about themselves.
Children enjoy play. It is easier to learn when we are relaxed. We remember things we've done when the things were fun. Even when play is hard, children are excited when they discover that they can control their bodies and actions. "I did it!" means "I feel good about me." Good play offers children success.

Play is important because it is practice for being grown-up.
Children at play learn to pay attention and to stick with a job. They learn to face problems and solve them. Play helps them learn what is right and wrong. They learn to be good sports, honest, and not to cheat. Children develop their imagination when they play. They learn to follow directions. All these skills will be important when children become grownups.

KINDS OF PLAY

Did you ever think about all the different ways children play? You could make a long list, but it is easier to remember if we put them into groups.

ACTIVE, PHYSICAL PLAY
Children are supposed to be active. They will swing, cut, saw, pound, roll, spin, and run. They will have contests and races. They will form teams and play "red rover" or jump rope alone. Children need lots of space for playing ball, but not much space to play jacks. Children enjoy dancing.

DRAMATIC, IMAGINATIVE PLAY
This kind of play is make-believe play where children can act out their wishes: "I wish I were a princess; let's pretend we're going to the moon; let's play dress-up; I'll be a firefighter." Children can pretend they are anything - a person, animal, car, or even a banana! Children can act out stories, write a play, or have a circus.

CREATIVE, EXPRESSIVE PLAY
Children are free to create new things - pictures, designs, ways to do things. They paint, cut, sew, draw, build, twist, and write. They sing, hum, whistle, or beat a drum.

SOCIAL PLAY
Young children like to play alone, but around 3 years they will begin to play with others. Think of all the things two or more children can do together. Social play is interaction between children. Group games, races, talking to each other on toy telephones, and playing house are social activities.

MENTAL PLAY
Mental play is exploring and discovering. Words, numbers, touching, tasting, and seeing are part of mental play. Children use their minds to remember what cards have been played and plan how to win a card game. A baby learns that someone picks up what the baby drops from the high chair. It becomes a "game." Children count and read. They start collections; butterflies, stamps, insects, and coins and learn to classify them. It is fun to find a new thing to add to a collection. Children tell jokes and riddles about flowers on a nature walk, and learn colors from balloons.







Great articles to share : national network for childcare

Criteria For Selecting Story Books

How do you choose story books?

a) Age level appropriateness

* language and words used -simple
* easily understanding
* familiar to experiences of child
* pictures--big,clear and colourful for younger children
* interesting

b) Plot

* interesting
* lots of action
* building to climax,some suspense
* problem solving, decision making
* conclusion satisfying

c) Style

* words,phrases--repeated,rhyming
* silly words
* suprise endings
* direct quotes
* children can participated by
>asking question
-direction
-problem solving
-opinions
-decision making
>Repeated phrase ,rhyming words
>Doing actions
>related songs/rhymes.

d)Values

* appropriate for today's children .
* the value from those old days to pass down to today's children .
* six-step approaches
* truth in the story

e) Storyteller's enthusiasm

* the storyteller should be enthusiasm in doing so .

Health and Domestic Science

Health is wealth. As human beings, in order to stay physically and mentally healthy, we need to eat right, exercise regularly and be able to deal with alleviate stress. We will be able to lead our lives well in terms of carrying out our daily routines be it at work or at home ease.

The same applies for young children .At home ,its parents who play a vital role in ensuring that their children are healthy .This can be done through the provision of a balanced diet and physical activities like bringing them outdoors to recreational parks to play. In school, it is the teachers who take on the role.

However, before they can do so, teachers will have to learn, understanding and acquire the necessary skills and knowledge in Health and Domestic Science. Upon gaining expertise in the area, teachers will then be able to educate children about the importance of health in all its aspects. For example teacher can plan appropriate lessons to promote healthy eating lifestyle through cookery.

Once the foundation is laid at a very young age, from then on children will be well aware and capable of taking good care of themselves in the later stages or parts of their lives. In the long run, this also meant that major health problems that our world has been facing like the current HIN1, HIV, and diabetes and so on will be minimized if not totally eradiated. Significant social issues like smoking drug addiction , anemia ,bulimia and so on will also be reduced if children know how the importance of caring for their bodies and minds.

As the future belongs to the children of today, educating them now was as early as possible will give them the wisdom to decide what kind of lifestyle they want to lead when they grow up. Schools and teachers can so their part in helping children understand and come to terms with health issues and to make choices and decisions related to them. For instance, children will have the voice to say no and put a stop to additives and chemicals used in the production of processed food which are harmful to health.

It is also important that teachers have a basic understanding of illness and disorders like epilepsy, asthma and diabetes .Not only will they be able to help children with these conditions, they will be able to support their families and enable the rest of the children to accept them for who they are.


Above are the reasons why Health and Domestic Science should be included in pre-school teacher education.

Maslow and Montessori: Education of the Human Potential

[The child] learns everything without knowing he is learning it, and in doing so he passes little by little from the unconscious to the conscious, treading always in the paths of joy and love. ~Maria Montessori, The Absorbent Mind

Abraham Maslow developed a humanistic approach to psychology in the early 1940’s. Rather than focusing on behavior as a result of stimuli and reinforcement or the psychoanalytical idea of unconscious instinct, Maslow focused on the capability of humans to reach their fullest potential. Rather than looking and trying to make sense of the dysfunctional brain, he searched for what it was that made humans exceptional. In a sense, he looked at what it was to be human.

Maslow created a set of hierarchical needs that best describe the growth of the human psyche. By analyzing the environment, he synthesized that given the right environment, humans will develop to their fullest potential, that of self-actualization. If the environment is not right, therein lies the potential for damage to the human spirit.

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs is usually portrayed as a pyramid, with the most basic needs providing the supporting foundation. He theorized that if these basic needs were not met the higher needs, such as loving others, contributing to society, and expressing unique talents, could not be actualized.

Maslow’s Hierarchy in the Montessori Environment

Educational humanism is a philosophy which believes that developing the human intellect is what makes humans stand apart from the rest of the animal world. Humanists, such as Maslow and Montessori, believe it is necessary to study and develop the whole person over the course of his or her lifetime. Teacher candidates in traditional training programs are often asked to look at how their classrooms and lessons are addressing Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. The same can be done in the Montessori environment.

* Physiological – A Montessori environment is full of movement. Children are free to move about the classroom at will. In addition, the activities of Practical Life provide the opportunities to develop both gross and fine motor movement.
* Safety – The Montessori Environment is prepared with the child in mind. The classroom and materials are beautiful, simple in design, accessible to all children, and kept in a tidy, precise order. The Montessori environment is organized which allows the child to feel safe and secure, knowing his or her world is in order.
* Belonging – There is a sense of mutual respect in the Montessori environment. Children learn to develop friendship through the lessons in Grace and Courtesy by being helpful and kind to others.
* Esteem – Success builds self-esteem. The materials and lessons in the Montessori environment are self-correcting with a built in control of error. This allows the child to immediately see mistakes and learn from them rather on relying on others to point out his faults.
* Self-Actualization – Montessori said “No one can be free unless he is independent.” (The Absorbent Mind). By helping a child to develop independence and autonomy, the Montessori teacher is helping the child reach self-actualization or his full potential as a fully functioning member of society.

The Role of Education

Maslow and Montessori both felt that traditional education systems had the potential to be more of a hindrance than a help to development. Both recognized that children are to be respected as fellow human beings. Indeed, Maslow’s ideas on educating children coincide with Montessori’s own philosophy. He believed that education should help children:

* Be authentic.
* Transcend their cultural conditioning and become world citizens.
* Find their vocation and right mate.
* Know that life is precious.
* Be good and joyous in all kinds of situations.
* Learn from their inner nature.
* See that basic needs are satisfied.
* Refresh their consciousness; appreciate beauty and other good things in life.
* Understand that controls are good, and complete abandon is bad.
* Transcend trifling problems.
* Grapple with serious problems such as injustice, pain suffering and death.
* Be given practice in making choices.

~Abraham Maslow, A Theory of Human Motivation (1943).

Is your Montessori environment meeting the needs of all your children? Observe closely and ask yourself how you are addressing Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs within your Montessori environment and what you could add to make sure you are reaching and following all in your care.

The word education must not be understood in the sense of teaching but of assisting the psychological development of the child. ~Maria Montessori, The Montessori Method

NAMC’s Upper Elementary Health Sciences manual contains further related information and activities.

North American Montessori Center: http://www.montessoritraining.net/

Chater 4,The correct way to teach children ,

http://happyfamilyeu.blogspot.com/

" My son, the real purpose of education is to open the wisdom of his roof, so he was able to keen observation of the bad things in society, insight into a social contradictions and shortcomings. Our human ideals should never be like Adam and Eve, it is only satisfied in knowing that they are exposed to the physical circumstances of life had a happy paradise. To this end, I would never allow her son to become spiritually blind optimist.

Approach to education with the game

After starting from the infancy of education, Karl seems smarter than the children of the same age, more clever, faster reaction, stronger ability in all aspects. I think he's mentally ready, so from his two years old when he began to teach literacy, but this is by no means compulsory. "Can not be forced to teach" This is what I advocate is one of the major principles of education law.
I think that no matter what to teach, first of all must strive to arouse children's interest. Only when a child has interest in, the multiplier can be achieved with good results. The best way to arouse interest in their children is the way the game of education, this approach results in the son's early training years have been revealed.

The game is an animal instinct, so animals love the game. Old cat kitten fun of the tail, puppies and older dogs biting each other frame, which is Why? According to zoologists study, kittens teasing old cat's tail, is to develop its future capacity to be able to bite animals. Clearly, animal training skills to the next generation are carried out in the game.

I am her son's education are based on the methods of the game. First of all, when he was over six months, I was in his room and the walls of about one meter high places thick white paste, white paper with red paper cut-paste text and numbers. In White's another place, orderly paste a simple word, such as: cats, dogs, rats, finishing pigs, rabbits, hats, mats, tables, chairs and so on. Please note that these words are nouns. In another parallel paste from 1 to 10 of 10 line figures, drawing on the music map somewhere.

Because the baby's well-developed auditory than visual, I decided to start teaching his son from the hearing ABC. When I pointed out that the ABC letter, my wife sang like to sing his son to listen to Side. Of course, because Karl, after all, only 6-month-old baby, so he feels like listening to like fallen on deaf ears. However, we no give up , every day for him, giving him, and finally worked, my son has been impressed on the letter, which makes it easy when it was literate he later learned.

As a result of previous experience in literacy teaching his son when I also used this set of methods. ....."


我教育儿子的真正目的，就是要为他打开智慧的天窗，使他能够敏锐的观察到社会上的坏事，洞察出社会上的矛盾和缺陷。我们人类的理想，决不应当象亚当和夏娃那样，仅仅满足于在不知自己是裸露着身体的情况下过快乐的天堂生活。为此，我决不能让儿子成为精神上的盲目乐观主义者。

用游戏的方式进行教育经过从婴儿期就开始的教育，卡尔显得比同龄的孩子更聪明，更机灵，反应更快，各方面的能力也更强。他在智力上已经准备好了，所以从他二岁时就开始教他认字，但这决不是强迫性的。“不能强迫施教”，这是我主张的教育法的一大原则。我认为我认为不管教什么，首先必须努力唤起孩子的兴趣。只有当孩子有了兴趣时，才能取得事半功倍的良好效果。而唤起孩子兴趣的最好办法是用游戏的方式进行教育，这种方法的效果在儿子的早期训练里已表露无遗。

游戏是动物的本能，所以动物都喜欢游戏。小猫戏弄老猫的尾巴，小狗和老狗互相咬架，这是为什么呢？

根据动物学家的研究，小猫戏弄老猫的尾巴，是为了发展它将来能咬死野兽的能力。
显然，动物训练下一代的技能都是在游戏中进行的。

我对儿子的教育都是采用游戏的方法进行的。

首先，当他满六个月时，我就在他的房间四壁大约一米高的地方贴上厚厚的白纸，白纸上贴上用红纸剪下的文字和数字。在白纸的另一个地方，有秩序的贴上简单的单词，如：猫、狗、老鼠、肥猪、兔子、帽子、席子、桌子、椅子等等。请注意，这些单词都是名词。

当我指出ABC字母时，我妻子就像唱歌似地唱给儿子听。因为婴儿的听觉比视觉发达，我决心对儿子从听觉入手教ABC。
在另一处并列贴上从1到10的十行数字，在某处画上乐谱图。 当然，因为卡尔毕竟只是6个月大的婴儿，所以，他的感觉就像听耳边风似的。 但我们不泄气，天天给他听，给他看，终于奏效了，儿子对字母有了深刻的印象，这使他后来认字时非常轻松就学会了。

由于有了前面的经验，在教儿子认字时我也采用了这一套方法。

Carl Weter's educational law
who inspired me

Disciplining Your Child

http://happyfamilyeu.blogspot.com/


Is there a difference between discipline and punishment? YES!!

What is discipline?

Discipline is guidance.

When we guide children toward positive behavior and learning, we are promoting a healthy attitude. Positive guidance encourages a child to think before he acts. Positive guidance promotes self-control. Different styles of discipline produce results that are different. Discipline requires thought, planning, and patience.

What is punishment?

Punishment is usually hitting, spanking, or any type of control behavior. Basically there are four kinds of punishment:

• Physical. Slapping, spanking, switching, paddling, using a belt or hair brush, and so on.
• With words. Shaming, ridiculing, or using cruel words.
• Holding back rewards. Example: "You can't watch TV if your chores aren't done."
• Penalizing the child. Example: "Because you told a lie, you can't have your allowance."

Punishment is usually used because:

a. It's quick and easy
b. Parents don't know other methods
c. Punishment asserts adult power
d. It vents adult frustration

Punishment does not promote self discipline. It only stops misbehavior for that moment. Punishment may fulfill a short-term goal, but it actually interferes with the accomplishment of your long-term goal of self control.

The consequences for children include the following lessons:
1. Those who love you the most are also those who hit you.
2. It is right to hit those you are closest to.
3. It is okay to hit people who are smaller than you are.
4. Violence is okay when other things don't work.

Parents and teachers would probably rather teach their children other more positive lessons.

Children who are disciplined without affection respond only to power--which means punishment and "have to be made to do."

When discipline is administered in such a way as to hurt a child's self-esteem or self-worth, the child's standards may become rigid or self-punishing. However, affection without discipline may result in children who deny responsibility or blame others. Parents and teachers of successful children maintain control.

Discipline is

Helping a child learn to get along with family and friends.
Teaching a child to behave in an agreeable way.
Helping a child learn to control behavior.

Effective Discipline

The use of discipline is a thinking and trying process. Remember:
• Effective discipline is good for parent and child.
• A child learns to take responsibility for his or her behavior.
• The parent keeps a warm relationship with the child.
• The goal is to teach the child how to behave, not to make the child suffer.


Guidance Tips

• When you discipline, explain why.

• Set clear and safe limits. Be sure children know these limits. Be consistent.

• Keep discipline positive. Tell children what to do instead of what not to do.

• Teach by example. Be a good example. If you hit children for hitting others, they won't understand why they can't hit.

• Guide through consequences. If a child leaves his toys outside and the toys are stolen or damaged--no toys.
• Build self-esteem and respect. Avoid words that reduce self-esteem.

• Plan ahead. Prevent misbehavior by eliminating situations that spell trouble. For example, make sure children have been fed and are rested before going to the grocery store.

• Address the situation; do not judge the child. This is important because diminished self-esteem leads to insecurity, even hostility.

• Be firm. Clearly and firmly state that the child does what needs to be done. Speak in a tone that lets your child know you mean what you say and you expect the child to do it. It doesn't mean yelling or threatening. Being firm works for any age child and for many situations.

• Keep your cool. Listen calmly to your child's explanation of the problem; talk about ways to deal with it. Come to a solution that's agreeable to you and the child--this helps the child learn to be responsible for his behavior.




Revised by Dr. Louise Davis, Extension Child and Family Development Specialist

Children and Difficult Behaviour

Every child misbehaves from time to time. This is always distressing to us as parents because we would all like to be perfect parents of perfect children!
There are many reasons for a child's misbehavior, and many ways for parents to help the child improve. Difficult behavior includes:

• using bad language,
• behaving aggressively or violently,
• destroying property,
• lying,
• stealing,
• refusing to cooperate with necessary tasks, such as getting dressed in the morning, going to bed at night or doing school work.

Unintentional and intentional misbehavior

Children can misbehave by accident or on purpose, and it is important to understand the difference, for example:

• Accidental misbehavior - Your eight-year old throws a snowball in a friendly sand ball fight and injures another child because a stone was accidentally packed into the sand ball.

• Intentional misbehavior - Your child steals candy from the corner store after you refused to give his/ her allowance two days early.

Why do children misbehave?

Sometimes, the causes of misbehavior are easy to see; other times, they are hidden.

The reasons may include:

• Impulsiveness and inexperience - A lot of misbehavior happens because the child does not know any better. For example, the eight-year old with the sand ball was excited and having fun (impulsive) and may be too young to understand that even the simplest actions can be dangerous when done carelessly (inexperience).

• resentment and anger at rules
- Nobody likes being told what to do, and that includes children. Yet, children get told what to do and how to do it all the time! So, it is not surprising that they misbehave out of resentment or anger. For example, your three-year old may hit a playmate after you insist that toys be shared, or your teenager may yell, swear and slam doors after being told repeatedly to clean up his/her room.

• resentment and anger at unfair treatment
-Sometimes, we take out our own anger and frustrations on our children. We may yell at our children for being noisy when the real reason is we are angry about something that happened at work. We all do this kind of thing occasionally, but if we do it all the time, our children will respond with resentful and angry behaviour of their own.

• frustration from too much pressure to perform
-Sometimes we push our children to achieve too much too soon. If a child is always being pressured to do things, like stand up on skates before he/she is physically ready or play games that are too difficult for his/her age, he/she may refuse to learn new things at home or slack off at school.

• fears: real or imaginary
- If your child suddenly refuses to do things that he/she used to do, it may be because of a real or imagined fear. For example, your child may suddenly refuse to get on the school bus because he/she has been frightened by a larger, hostile child who has started taking the same bus (real), or it may be a case of resisting going to bed because "there's a Tyrannosaurus Rex in the closet!"
(imaginary).


What can you do to change difficult behaviour?

The most important things you can do are to be patient, avoid losing your temper and remember that love is more persuasive than punishment. Before you act, try to think a few things through - ask yourself questions. Then, act as calmly and as thoughtfully as you can.

• Does my child know that he/she is loved? Make sure your child knows that you love him/ her, and it does not hurt to tell them over and over again. Love brings love in return, and it is a lot harder for anyone, child or adult, to behave in ways that will hurt someone he / she loves.

• Is it necessary for my child to do this, or is it OK for him/her to choose? Obviously, there are times when you can give your children no choice. Unsafe, destructive, dishonest or rude behaviour has to be corrected, and children must learn what the limits are. However, leave some reasonable choices to your children - what to wear, what to eat for breakfast (as long as it is healthy!) and how to schedule time for homework and play.

• Did my child do this on purpose? Becoming angry at a child for misbehaving because he/she did not know any better will do more harm than good. In the case of the eight-year old with the snowball, you can deal with the problem by using the incident to teach some basic lessons in safety. However, you should remember that you will have to keep repeating that kind of lesson many times before your child automatically thinks in terms of safety without prompting from you.

• If I lose my temper, am I going to make matters worse? Suppose your three-year old goes to your bedroom and breaks a string of pearls after being reprimanded. Obviously, he/ she is enraged, and if you respond with rage, you will be continuing a cycle of anger from which it may be difficult to escape. Try to let your child know that you understand his/ her anger and the reason for it, and try to get your child to put his/her angry feelings into words. Try to help your child think about making amends for the damage done.

• Learn to use the "time out" method to help your child regain composure and self control. Give your child some time alone, not as a punishment, but as an opportunity to recover from a bout of misbehavior. Send your child to his/her room and encourage him/her to read, color or play with a favourite toy until he / she is calmed down. Then try to discuss the behavior problem constructively with your child.

• Is the punishment I have given too harsh? If you punished your child when you were angry, you may later think that you were too harsh. Trust your feelings. Remember that changing your mind is not necessarily a sign of weakness. Children have a very keen sense of fair play and will respect an adult who changes his/her mind in favour of greater fairness.

• Try to put consistent routines in place for your children. Children need the security provided by regular routines and events in a stable environment. Security and stability make it easier for children to behave in a stable and cooperative manner.

• Allow for some breaks in routine to reduce boredom. Once routines are established, they can be broken from time to time for special reasons. This gives children a chance to experience fun and variety, and still lets them return to the security of familiar routines afterwards.

• Remember that every child needs to know there are limits. Setting limits and quietly but firmly insisting on certain standards of behavior provides your child with a sense of security and help make him/her feel safe and secure.

A good start ...

“ Give me a child for the first seven years , and you may do what you like with it afterwards ” ( Jesuit maxim).


The Jesuits were right .The influence of early learning is so important that,if you children a good start , there is much less risk of things going wrong later ; but if you don't (and things do) , it is difficult and expensive to put them right .(Ball, 1994) . No other stage of human development requires as much learning and results in as many changes as in the 1st 3 years of life.

Infants' and toddlers' early experience will influence their ability to learn ,feelings of self-worth ,sense of competence , and capacity to love and care for others.Hence ,the work of parenting , caring for and educating young children from birth to 3 years of age, during this time of rapid growth and development , is among the most important work that exist.



This is our < Award Apple Tree > and a time table created by son last year;

What is hand eye coordibation and how to improve it

What is coordination?You want your child to improve their ability to handle different objects.Learn how to help improve your child's hand-eye coordination at a young age.

When your child gets to be one or two years old, you’ll want to start giving her activities that allow her to learn how her hands manipulate objects and how different things fit together. This development of hand-eye coordination is critical in her overall physical development.

You should get several toys for your child that involve fitting things together. You can get cups or bowls from your kitchen if you have to. But by letting her play with these objects, she’ll learn how things fit together and learn some valuable tips about life.

You also should get some jigsaw puzzles. Get some simple ones (the recommended ages for puzzles are found on the outside of the boxes). Let her play with them. You may want to help her with the puzzle at first to get her started, so she knows how it works. Let her figure out how the pieces fit together and work together.

Get some blocks or tower toys. Let your child build things with blocks that encourage playing and coordination. These toys help your child learn what items can fit on top of each other and stack easily.

By the time your child reaches two or three years of age, she’ll be ready to start throwing things and wanting to catch them. This is a great way to improve hand-eye coordination. Play catch with your child and help her develop her skills. You may want to get a large kick ball to kick around as well. Your toddler can use the big ball to roll, kick and play with.

The best thing you can do when trying to improve hand-eye coordination with your child is to let your child play with the toys on her own. You may feel the urge to show your child how it works. But part of the fun with hand-eye toys is figuring out how they fit together and work.



more useful information by essortment

Carl Weter's Education

I'm pleased that to be introduced this 200-year-old book of fame by Ijean some time in year 2006. It's hard to find an English copied nowadays, not even in Amazon. The only original English version is sitting in Harvard nowadays. I'm happy that I found a Chinese version in year 2007 and I've finished reading it in my first round.

I always believe that family education is more important than schooling. And, a stable relationship between the parents can ease any situation when it comes to a parenting difficulty. Carl's educational law gives me some ideas of patience and persistence in pre-child education. And, I can't wait to test it by myself when I'm pregnant, ha!

There's one thing puzzle me from Carl's education law is, how do we apply some of his rules into the 21st babies in this Technology-era? Hmm, I guess LOVE is the answer. Well, this is one of the books that I highly recommend to all my lovely friends - dad and mom!



Posted by Eunice,Dolphin in Tahiti at 3:27 PM

Who inspired me more!

My children like drawing very much! Almost everyday there will doing the same things,take out a paper , drawing materials and start their "journey" (exploring) >_<

No matter the drawing is good or not? , but we're always appreciated their "works" ! ^^

Drawing is part of their play games too...

Wishing all children enjoy their drawing too ...

more Eu Kuan Seng 's arts photos at;
http://www.flickriver.com/photos/eu_kuan_seng/



Who inspired me :KARL WETER'S EDUCATIONAL LAW :

威特先生认为，孩子的天赋是方方面面的，父母要善于发现并为之提供良好的环境。只要父母能够发现及时加以夸奖，孩子都是大有可为 的。孩子的潜能是否能最大限度地得到发挥，关键在于父母而不在孩子。父母要及时发现并夸奖他的天赋，孩子定会扬帆前进。

孩子的绘画才能是从分辨各种颜色开始的，如果孩子对颜色有很大的兴趣，并且经常在地上、墙上涂画各种东西，那么这个孩子可能有绘画的天赋，父母就应该为他购买画笔、颜色材料和纸，鼓励孩子画画的兴趣，还应该及时带他去观察大自然风光，开阔孩子的视野。这些都算是对孩子的奖赏，对于开发孩子的天赋十分有益。

对于小卡尔威特的教育，威特先生把培养他的想象能力放在第一位，往往把它看得比知识更重要。不少人教育孩子，总是使劲灌输各种知识，却忽略了他们的想象力。威特先生不主张只把孩子学习知识作为目的，而是主张学习知识只是手段，让孩子通过学习知识去开发他们的各种能力，培养他们的各种能力和素质。

Skills

Doesn't it seem like your preschooler is learning new words, new skills, new ways of interacting every day? Preschool-age children (around ages three to five) are little explorers, eagerly learning about themselves and the world around them. Each day provides new opportunities for learning and growing and embracing that sense of wonder along with our children. Here are some of the skills your preschooler may be working on during these important early years. As always, please consult your pediatrician if you have any concerns about your child's development.

Movement

• locomotor skills (walking, running, hopping, galloping, marching, climbing)
• coordination (pedaling, throwing, catching, kicking, bouncing objects)
• balancing, bending, and rolling, including somersaults
• going up and down stairs unassisted
• jumping and hopping on one foot

Try this: Make an obstacle course for your child - crawling under tables, jumping across the lawn, balancing on a chalk-drawn line, tiptoeing around a chair.

Hand & Finger Skills

• self-help skills, like buttoning, zipping and snapping
• drawing and copying lines, shapes, and letters
• learning to use scissors
• stringing large beads, building block towers, doing puzzles
• using utensils for eating

Try this: Working with soft playdough is great for building hand and finger strength - offer a variety of tools for cutting, rolling, smashing, and poking.

Social

• increasing independence
• playing with other children, rather than just side by side
• imitating adults and playmates; role-playing "mommy" and "daddy"
• taking turns and negotiating during play
• demonstrating kindness and empathy; learning about manners

Try this: Encouraging cooperative activities can help ease some of the conflicts that arise during playtime. Try a scavenger hunt, where 2 or more friends work together to find a list of objects.

Emotional

• expressing a wide range of emotions
• using words to express needs, wants, and feelings
• learning how to regulate emotions
• beginning to distinguish between fantasy and reality

Try this: Puppets, dolls, or stuffed animals provide a safe way for children to explore different emotions - use this role-playing time to model new vocabulary and problem solving skills.

Cognitive

• sorting and comparing groups of objects
• counting to ten or more; counting objects
• asking questions and making simple predictions
• retelling stories
• recognizing and naming basic shapes
• recognizing and naming colors
• developing more complex problem solving skills

Try this: Cooking a simple recipe provides opportunities to explore measurement, numbers, making comparisons, predicting what will happen next, and of course, pride in making something yummy!

Language

• following increasingly complex commands
• speaking in sentences of 5 words or more
• saying name and other personal information
• using pronouns, such as I, you, me, him, her
• using language to describe positions, such as over, under, in

Try this: Guessing games can be a lot of fun, and they are good vocabulary builders too! You could start with a category like animals or food. Then, either provide your child with clues, or let him/her ask questions.

Imagination

• engaging in fantasy play and role playing
• making decisions about how to explore and use different materials
• telling stories

Try this: Put out some basic items, such as a hat, a box, a spoon, and a towel. Encourage your child to become an imaginary animal or superhero or fairy princess using those items. The sillier the better!

Pre-Literacy

• showing interest in books and reading
• developing book-handling skills
• recognizing first name in print
• identifying some letters
• recognizing some rhyming sounds
• retelling familiar stories; making predictions during a story
• learning that sounds are represented by one or more letters
• identifying environmental print, such as a stop sign or store name

Try this: Children love to make their own books - use paper bags, paper plates, construction paper, anything you have on hand. Your child can dictate the words or story to you, and then do some illustrating. A special bedtime story!

Self-Care

• feeding self and using utensils
• choosing clothes and getting dressed
• using potty
• brushing teeth
• washing face and hands

Try this: For some extra practice getting dressed, play "Clothing Store." Lay out clothes that require various skills (zipping, snapping, long sleeves), then let your child "shop" and try on!