Category Archives: Toddlers

Toddlers

How to tell if your child is ready for preschool

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Some parents in Singapore wait until their children turn three years old before taking them to preschool. Some, however, take their children much earlier, especially when they want the children to benefit from early childhood interactions. If you want to take your child to preschool before the expected age, how do you know he is ready for preschool? Read more here about what attending preschool will do for your child.

Is Your Child Comfortable with Strangers?

One way to confirm how your child will behave with caregivers and teachers at a preschool is by assessing his re action towards strangers. For example, does he shy away when meeting someone he is not familiar with, or does he chat happily?

Parents are naturally worried about their child’s reaction towards strangers, but a child can be moderately friendly and safe. If you worry about using strangers to evaluate your child’s readiness, check his response when he comes across people, he is not in contact with all the time. It could be your family or friends.

How Independent is Your Child?

Toddlers are naturally great at seeking attention, and preschool teachers understand this. However, some independence is expected. A child who demands attention all the time can be overwhelming for teachers, especially since they are required to give equal attention to all the children. Besides giving the teachers a hard time, a child in need of constant attention will end up in distress when he feels forgotten.

When preparing your toddler for preschool, it is essential to give him space to identify activities he enjoys so that he can spend some time on his own. Over time, he will only seek you out when he needs you.

How Does Your Child Respond When Things Don’t go His Way?

When your child goes to preschool, he will interact with other children. If this is his first time in such an environment, you can be sure there will be a lot of giving and taking. Unfortunately, children have a lot of trouble when it comes to managing their emotions.

Some children explode in rage whenever something doesn’t go his way. In a preschool, this could be several times a day. This can be overwhelming on your child, other children and the teachers. Although aggressive tantrums are expected from toddlers, it is vital for you to guide your child on matters sharing and how to handle a negative response.

It would help if you also learned how to say no whenever you need to so that he can become accustomed to such a response. If your child lashes out whenever he doesn’t get what he wants, he will become socially isolated. In the long run, he will be a lonely, unhappy child at the preschool.

How Responsive is Your Child to Change?

Going to preschool is a massive change for a child who has only known one environment, home, since birth. If you have been travelling, you were always there with him, so the transition wasn’t hard. The only change, in this case, was the where. He was still with the same people he relates to at home.

In preschool, he will encounter many people, all of whom don’t live in his home. He will have a different routine from the one he is used to, and his parents will not be there to hold his hand for several hours.

To a child, this is a different world altogether, and it can be overwhelming. You can predict your child’s reaction based on his response when you are in a different environment. If he clings to you more than usual, he is likely to experience hardship in preschool.

If your child is not prepared for preschool, you can take steps to help him. Fortunately, children accept changes quickly, sometimes much faster than adults. Please take steps to give him some independence while at the same time, let him know you are close enough to support him.

The Best Way to Prepare Your Child for the Future is to Allow Him to Learn Chinese

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enrichment classes for toddlers and kids

Did you know that in todays world learning Chinese can be a great way to secure your child’s future? It continues to be a language on demand. It can give your child an edge in this competitive world. There has been a marked growth in the demand for the Chinese speakers all over the world. Boasting one of the most powerful economy, the growth of the country has also resulted in the surge in the importance of the language itself. If you look at the sought after languages around the world, Mandarin continues to be on the top of the list. Making your child learn Chinese would mean that you are putting him at a significant spot in the future job market given the current trends and the demand for Chinese speaking professionals.

Learning Chinese can prove beneficial in the business scenario

China continues to be the major manufacturing hub of the most popular gadgets and more. With the ever growing trade opportunities Chinese is a language that can give your child a bright scope in the business world of the future as well.

Children can learn multiple languages when they are young

Some might simply stick with talking with the child in one language thinking that multiple languages might delay his speech development. On the contrary, at a younger age children are able to grasp multiple languages and they can learn them fast. Mother tongue should definitely be taught there is no doubt. But teaching Chinese at a very young age has its own benefits. There are numerous enrichment classes for toddlers would all be helpful which might also teach Chinese. These can help improve the Chinese communication skills on the whole.

A competitive skill that can set your child apart

Be it now or in the future Mandarin goes a long way in giving your child that competitive advantage and the right push to boost his career. With the number of people fluent in Chinese still being very less outside China, giving your child a Chinese class at a young age would be a great investment that would secure his future. Besides the other enrichment classes to boost his skills Chinese language classes can be very useful. It can also help your child choose to work internationally in various locations in the future if he is fluent in Chinese. It is now a language which is sought after in several parts of the world.

It is more than a language – it is a culture

After all learning a language also requires a deeper level of understanding the culture of the region as well. And Chinese culture is an interesting one to learn. The culture of China dates back to several thousands of years. And this is also one of the oldest languages. It can thus help understand the history of the country as well as that of the rest of the world. Starting early means that your child would have a lot of time to explore the language and every nuances of it rather than simply learning the literature. It can help understand the significance of various practices and the various segments in history and Chinese culture.

Be a part of a community

Chinese language communities prevail all over the world. They can further expand the exposure of the child and also improve the language efficiency in a lot of ways. Such communities would also give the child opportunities to converse native Chinese and Chinese language speakers from all over the world. It would thus be a practical way of mastering the language.

Singapore’s Enrichment Classes Can Boost Your Toddler’s Developmental Skills

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toddler enrichment classes

A child is expected to sit, walk, and talk, etc. within a predictable time frame. These are called developmental achievements. They occur in five main areas like cognitive, social & emotional, speech & language, fine motor skills, and gross motor skills development.

The kids must be able to learn and solve problems. They should also be able to interact with others and show signs of self-control. This includes playing in turn with others, smiling, and waving bye-bye. Next is to understand and use language for communication. They should, further, be able to pick & hold small objects and learn how to sit or stand with support as their fine and gross motor schools.

Singapore enrichment classes adopt fun and educational activities for toddlers to boost their developmental skills. These classes teach many things from ballet, swimming, gymnastics, cooking, and a lot more. There are also reading, storytelling, music, singing, and visual & performing arts cooking classes. As the toddlers take part in these classes, in a group, they learn how to work as a team and contribute to the group objective.

Find out more about the enrichment toddler classes offered at Chengzhu Mandarin Centre here.

This article by The Finder, Singapore tells how to encourage talents of the toddlers in unique fun-educational ways. Read more here!

Know How to Plan Fun Activities for Toddlers And Infants

No matter if you happen to be a parent or a teacher, you must plan lessons for their growth and development. If your program makes the little darlings smile and giggle, they will be engaged immediately. And, this will stimulate them to learn things.

Infancy and toddle-hood are the times when the babies start knowing about their surroundings using their senses. They also learn to manipulate their body and discover what they can do with this. Using things that demonstrate cause and effect relationship like making noise or bouncing back when things are hit is good at this stage.

One can also provide them playmates like a doll, teddy bear, or materials from around the home. The babies will love to play with these and mimic adults in the process. Such things help to build a strong interpersonal connection.

Infants and toddlers are always after moving. Provide them enough free space for moving freely. They are ever curious and imaginative. Provide them durable books with rich images. Also, sing songs and recite rhymes for learning the language.

This article by ECDA, Singapore dwells on planning fun activities for the growth and development of infants and toddlers. Read more here!

Get the Younger Children Moving and Growing with Physical Activities!

Daily physical activities are good for everybody, especially for children. As a parent, you must also move with the kids to make it family fun. The kids enjoy this and will keep it doing. As a result, they acquire better movement skills.

It is better to start physical activities in early childhood. Age-based physical activities should be introduced for drawing maximum benefit. These can be started even before the babies learn to walk. They can be placed on a large blanket or something like that for learning to tilt their heads. When babies starting walking, things like climbing stairs becomes a fun activity.

One can also give them the practice of bouncing, catching, hitting, and kicking softballs as they age further. Throwing, chasing soap bubbles, silly walking, throwing balls, etc are great for the next stage.

As the year passes, you can also let them have organized sports like riding tri-cycles and then bicycles under supervision. Also, involve them in jumping and dancing to music. Lastly, let your child play in a group.

This article by Baby Bonus, Singapore gives unique parental tips divulging how physical activities are vital for the growth and development of the babies. Read more here!

How to effectively decorate a kids playgroup?

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Are you a school teacher who is planning to before you finalize a playgroup for kids ? There are several ideas you will get but there is a need to select the one that best suits the goals. Kids of the playgroup are at a learning stage in which they should be provided with the right opportunities to maximize their learning. Apart from providing the equipment, it is essential to create an effective and stimulating surrounding as well. For this purpose, here are some ideas to consider for decorating kids playgroup:

Furniture:

As the goal is to create a stimulating environment, the furniture of the playgroup must have all the essentials in it. Comfortable furniture plays a major role in the comfort ability of the kids. If they are comfortable spending time in the playgroup, they will be able to concentrate in an effective way. On the other hand, if the furniture is not comfortable, kids will fail to set their attention towards a specified direction.

Wall decorations:

The next important thing to consider is the wall decorations of the classroom. Interestingly decorative walls can contribute to the better performance of the kids. As they will be looking at different images and pictures on the wall, it will be easier for them to sit and spend a lot of time without getting bored. There are several ideas that can be considered to decorate the walls of the classroom. A great tip is to decorate the wall with the creativities and master pieces of the children. Apart from that, you can spare some space for alphabets or images that will help in the learning procedure of the kids.

Play area:

The next thing that must be included in the kids playgroup interior is the play area. This is what they need the most. A play area within the classroom is essential for inspiring the creativity and imagination of the kids. However, make sure the environment and surroundings of this play area are stimulating and friendly. Also, there should be no shortage of space. Within this area, teachers will be able to encourage students in participating in various activities. This play area can also provide opportunities for the kids to socialize with each other and play at the same time.

Incorporation of decorative supplies:

The next idea that can make a classroom of the kids playgroup much more interesting is the inclusion of decorative supplies. With these supplies, they will be able to engage themselves with a variety of material. As a result, their learning will increase. There are several options of decorative supplies that can be used within the classroom.

The range includes posters, oversized calendars, pocket charts, storage cabinets and bulletin boards. However, it must be noted here that the inclusion of decorative supplies must be done in accordance with the size of the classroom. Oversized and over stuffing will make the area a boring place. Also, the kids will not be able to move freely into the classroom.

Organize the decorations:

There is a lot that can be done if the planning is effective. A teacher will have the liberty to use the decorations in a class room along with the proper organization. For example, a type of equipment can be used which is decorative and has the ability to organize the things at the same time. This is a great way to do two important tasks at one time.

The kids playgroup needs to be decorated in a way that it encourages the learning of kids.

What Are The Milestones A Toddler Can Achieve

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Milestones are worth celebrating as you cross obstacle after obstacle to reach your dream. Classes for toddlers too have milestones that their parents set for them as they grow. A toddler’s milestones aim to achieve overall development of the toddler as he learns and imitates new concepts.

These milestones vary from child to child, they are:-

1) Behavioral milestone – a child waving goodbye, playing, listening and smiling are behavioral milestones for a child. Crossing milestone after milestone displays the mental, physical and psychological growth of the child. There are certain standards that help determine the rate of development of a child. Exploring new concepts through touch, taste, and sight helps the child learn faster through examples and tangible objects. Recognition of familiar faces, names and objects are also part of these milestones.

2) Learning milestone – the parent and teacher encourage the child to learn by captivating the child’s interest with interesting teaching tools which keep the child engaged. Certain aspects that contribute to overcoming this milestone are reading to the child every day, identifying body parts, solving puzzles, sorting shapes, improve vocabulary, encouraging curiosity and growing independently. These can be done in interesting ways by which the child does not feel the pressure of learning something new.

3) Judgment milestone – when the child can make a simple but right judgment about what needs to be done in certain situations is what this milestone is all about. When parents and teachers tell children to do something that is called obedience. But when a child is told not to do something and follows through, it shows the child is able to make the right decision based on the teachings given before. Walking too close to water areas like pools, lakes, ponds, and bathtubs is one such example. Playing close to a plug point or electrical outlet, touching appliances, going into rooms that they are not allowed to go unaccompanied, opening drawers containing medication, knives or detergent; all examples of events where the child has to make a decision based on previously taught instructions.

4) Health milestone – when the child is able to maintain a well-balanced diet, a health milestone is conquered. This indicates that the child is playing and has an active lifestyle because of which he eats. Inculcating the values of healthy eating will directly reflect upon the child’s physical health.

Each milestone is crucial for the development of the child. At http://www.chengzhu.edu.sg/mandarin-centre/adult-accompanied-programmes/playclub/, these milestones are essential and also constitutes as the core of the curriculum.

How To Pick Summer Camp Enrichment Classes

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Summer camps are such a natural part of toddler’s lives around the country. Every year hundreds of summer camps are organized by different groups and organizations.  Summer camps provide lifelong skills and memories for your toddlers. Even then, you have to shop around for the summer camp that will suit your goals for your child. No two camps are alike. That’s why you have to raise certain questions and compare several camps before making a decision.

  1. The History of the Camp. There are lots of camps out here. Some are new while others have been around longer. In fact, some have been operating for decades. In today’s world, a summer camp can’t stay open for long if it offers poor services. Staying power is usually a testament to their superior services, excellent staffing, proper marketing and high quality of services. You can also visit the review sites and get the feedback from previous clients before making a decision.
  2. Its Focus and Philosophy. You need to find out what is the focus and priority of the particular summer camp enrichment classes for toddlers Singapore. Is it sports, counselling, career training, motivation, building social skills, religious teaching or is it a mix of all these? How does its focus shape the games, itinerary, skill training and focus of the mentors? While some summer enrichment camps offer generalized services, some have a particular focus on a few areas of interest.

III. Emphasis on creating community. The best camps teach kids on how to get along with others and grow in their ability to be good students and citizens. These camps have the most comprehensive experiences for all toddlers. The other major hallmark of a good summer enrichment camp is a focus on scholarship. That’s because it tends to be the central focus of enrichment for most schools around the country.

  1. Properly Well-Trained Staff. The average number of staffers per child ratio should 1 for every ten campers for kids aged 8 to 14 years. This is ideal since it enables them to monitor what each and every child is engaged in. This ratio can go higher or lower, depending on the activity and the focus of the specific camp. These are issues you can raise with the management prior to making a decision. You should also ensure that the staff does not have a criminal record or history of abuse.
  2. A Communications Plan. The best summer enrichment camps have properly planned communication with parents. They regularly inform you what your kids will participate in. They also have emergency numbers through which you can reach them in case of urgent or emergency issues. The best camps have a consistent and well-spelled-out phone use policies for the campers.

5 Activities to Encourage Preschool Independence

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Introduction. Teaching your kids independence is one of the hardest aspects of raising toddlers. That’s because most parents fear the moment their children will no longer need them to do necessary activities. That sense of losing control causes grief in so many parents of toddlers. However, it’s very critical to teach your kids independence. That’s because at one point, they will need to live alone and be able to take care of themselves. Here are some activities for toddlers to nurture independence in pre-schoolers.

  1. Getting Themselves Dressed. Teaching them how to get dressed is pretty difficult. However, this is more a question of habit rather than skill. Most kids get distracted when they have to dress up. One of the ways of going about this is to incentivise the process. Let them know that they will get a reward if they dress themselves up. Along with this, you have to teach them to pick after themselves, especially when it comes to gloves and socks.
  2. Fixing breakfast or lunch. When it comes to breakfast, there are necessary skills that don’t need your help or supervision. You can teach them how to make waffles in the toaster oven or even prepare their cereal on their own. You can also teach them how to spread butter on their toast. The major issue will be how to teach them that certain foods are not for breakfast e.g. sweets. This is really helpful, given that most mornings are very busy in many households.

III. Preparing toothbrush and brushing teeth. Kids who have older siblings have an easier time learning this activity. That’s because the older sibling can easily guide them. You have to teach them how to squeeze the tube and place the paste onto the brush. You also have to teach them how to brush their teeth and how to clean up after. This can be a very long and messy teaching process.

  1. Putting Away Toys. Misplaced and poorly stored toys are a hazard in the house. One can step on them and slip or get a fracture. They can also be easily swallowed. That’s why you have to teach a toddler how to put them away after playing with them. You have to do it many times until they internalize the process. This is often made harder by the fact that most kids lose interest fast and simply shift to something else after playing with the toy.
  2. Setting/Cleaning Up Table. This training not only builds a sense of independence in them, but also enables them to learn to partner up during chores. It could begin with simple tasks such as taking their own plates to the sink. This could be followed by teaching them how to wipe the table. You could also show them how to arrange plates and cutlery on the table. Soon enough, you can teach them how to clean the utensils.